Desire-

An Australian woman charged with murdering three people in a suspected mushroom poisoning case is also accused of trying to murder her ex-partner on four occasions, court documents say. Erin Patterson, 49, was charged with three counts of murder and five of attempted murder on Thursday. The murder charges relate to a family lunch she hosted in July at her home in the town of Leongatha, Victoria. Ms Patterson continues to maintain her innocence. She appeared briefly in court on Friday, where her case was adjourned until 3 May to give prosecutors time to analyse computer equipment seized from her home during a police search. She did not apply for bail. About half a dozen TV crews were lined up outside the hearing in the small town of Morwell, about 60km (37 miles) from Leongatha. But for the cameras and curious locals there was no glimpse of Ms Patterson, who was moved from her overnight police cell into the court building via a connecting tunnel. In court documents released to local media on Friday, police allege Ms Patterson attempted to kill her estranged husband Simon Patterson three times between November 2021 and September 2022. The alleged fourth attempt was on the day she served a beef Wellington lunch to his parents Gail and Don Patterson, aunt Heather Wilkinson and her husband Ian Wilkinson. Simon Patterson did not attend the meal. Erin Patterson has said she made the dish using a mixture of button mushrooms bought from a supermarket, and dried mushrooms purchased at an Asian grocery months earlier. All four of her guests were later taken to hospital reporting violent illness, police say. Within days the Patterson couple, both 70, and Ms Wilkinson, 66, had died. Mr Wilkinson, 68, was taken to hospital in a critical condition but later recovered. Police say they believe the four ate death cap mushrooms - which are highly lethal if ingested. Ms Patterson was named as a suspect after she and her two children appeared unharmed after the lunch. But she maintains she never intended to poison her guests and says that she herself was taken to hospital after the meal and given medication to guard against liver damage. "I am now devastated to think that these mushrooms may have contributed to the illness suffered by my loved ones," she wrote in a statement in August. Police have stressed the complexity of the case, describing it as a tragedy that may "reverberate for years to come". "I cannot think of another investigation that has generated this level of media and public interest, not only here in Victoria, but also nationally and internationally," Homicide squad Inspector Dean Thomas said on Thursday. Link

Music title: The Beatles - Now And Then (Official Audio) Signer: The Beatles Release date: Nov 2, 2023 Official YouTube link: Informations about the signer:- Your opinion about the track (music video):-

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An animal welfare charity has been looking into the challenges of rescuing a ewe dubbed Britain's loneliest sheep. The sheep may have been stuck at the bottom of cliffs on Scotland's Cromarty Firth for at least two years, according to a kayaker who first saw it in 2021. A petition calling for a rescue of the sheep has gathered more than 52,000 signatures, while a hovercraft company has said it might be able to help. But the Scottish SPCA said, so far, there is not a safe way of reaching it. A group of kayakers encountered the sheep two years ago and again recently this year on a shoreline below steep ground and cliffs south of Brora. They believe it is the same animal, but with its fleece badly overgrown. The SSPCA said it has been aware of the stranded ewe for some time. A spokeswoman said: "The sheep is not in any immediate danger and has ample grazing and water, however, we are aware they badly require shearing. "We appreciate that there is growing concern for the sheep and we want to reassure the public that we are doing everything we can." It is not known who owns the sheep because it does not have an identification tag fitted to an ear. 'Incredibly complex' The SSPCA said it had considered a potential rescue with support from a local farmer. But the spokeswoman said: "The area where the sheep is stranded is very inaccessible by both land and sea, making this rescue incredibly complex, especially due to the logistics of rescuing a large animal. "We have been liaising with other agencies as to the best way to access the area but so far we have not found a suitable solution that doesn't compromise the safety of the rescue teams and the welfare of the sheep." The SSPCA said due to the time the ewe had been stranded it was now deemed to be feral, and likely to be stressed by human contact. "As this is not a domestic animal, both the coastguard and mountain rescue teams are unable to assist in this matter," the spokeswoman said. "We have also spoken with a local skipper who has advised it would be extremely difficult to land a boat in the area. "We have been given some contact information for other businesses who may be able to help and we are currently exploring these options." The spokeswoman said that even if there was a safe method of rescue, there were some additional challenges to consider. "The sheep will be very difficult to catch without gates and hurdles and is likely to be fearful and run away," she said. "If the sheep becomes too distressed, there is the possibility they may run into the sea, which will present further challenges. "As the animal's fleece is overgrown, it will also prove difficult to temporarily sedate the animal which would have assisted with the rescue." She said the SSPCA had received many kind offers of donations to support a rescue, and some people had expressed interest in rehoming the sheep. The spokeswoman added that the ewe was likely to need a specialist home, if it was ever rescued. Domestic sheep have been rescued from difficult terrain in the past. In 2016, a climbing instructor went to the aid of a sheep on crags on the north west Highlands coast. Paul Calton managed to lasso the animal before helping it to safety. He had been instructing school pupils at Sheigra near Sandwood Bay. In 2009, a ewe survived a jump of almost 25m (80ft) into a quarry in Lewis in the Western Isles. Link

Homegrown auto major Mahindra & Mahindra continued its bullish run, clocking its highest-ever SUV volume in the domestic market for the fourth consecutive month in October. Mahindra offers SUVs like the Scorpio-N, Scorpio Classic, XUV700, XUV300, Thar, Bolero and Bolero Neo. In October, Mahindra sold 43,708 units of SUVs, logging a growth of 36% over 32,226 units despatched in the same month last year. "While the strong festive demand should see us continue our growth momentum in November, we will keep a close watch of select supply related challenges," said Veejay Nakra, President, Automotive Division, Mahindra & Mahindra. The SUV volume of Mahindra stood at 36,205 units in July, which was a record for the company then. The company broke its own record in August with 37,270 units and then broke it again in September with 41,267 units. Nakra recently told India Today that the SUV capacity of the company will increase to 49,000 units in the fourth quarter of the current fiscal (FY24). He said that the company is increasing the capacity on the brands where the waiting period is high, basically the Scorpio-N, XUV700 and Thar. Mahindra's SUV volume Month FY24 (units) FY23 (units) Growth October 43,708 32,226 36% September 41,267 34,262 20% August 37,270 29,516 26% July 36,205 27,854 30% Link

Anthony Joshua could fight MMA star Francis Ngannou in a boxing match, according to promoter Eddie Hearn. Ngannou almost stunned WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury on his professional boxing debut, losing on a controversial split decision in Saudi Arabia. Hearn revealed he has exchanged messages with the Cameroon-born fighter's camp following that bout. "As we start to plan AJ's next six to 12 months we just want to know if that is an option," Hearn told the BBC. "We could have that event in Saudi Arabia or other countries in the Middle East. Africa sounds incredible - can they come up with the money to do it? I don't know. "All of a sudden that fight between two giants, they're carved out of stone, it becomes a massive fight. We're definitely willing to consider it." Despite being the underdog, former UFC fighter Ngannou, 37, knocked down Fury in the third round and convinced one of the judges he was the winner. "The MMA world believe Ngannou beats everyone," Hearn told BBC Radio 5 Live. "When I met Ngannou he was trying to pitch me AJ against Ngannou in Africa. I spoke to AJ about it at the time and he said 'I want to try to win the world heavyweight championship now'. "I said 'this guy was close to beating Tyson Fury so he surely has to be a credible fight'. The MMA world are telling me Ngannou beats AJ easily. I'm like 'please make the fight because that's not the case'." Joshua, Wilder, Jones, Fury rematch - what next for Ngannou? Hearn says Fury v Ngannou has made him even more certain two-time heavyweight champion Joshua, 34, would beat his fellow Briton if they ever fought. "I've always been convinced AJ beats Tyson Fury but after watching that fight now I'm so sure," said Hearn. "I don't believe his punch resistance is quite the same, I don't believe he is necessarily the same fighter. Maybe the fights with Deontay Wilder took something out of him." An undisputed fight between Fury and Oleksandr Usyk was scheduled for 23 December, but BBC Sport understands that is now doubtful, with the Briton's team keen for the bout to take place in February after his hard-fought win over Ngannou. However, Joshua is still hoping to fight just before Christmas. "It's seven weeks on Saturday. AJ wants to fight on 23 December," said Hearn. "We appreciate it won't be a mega-fight. He wanted to box three times this year." Benn could fight Eubank in January Hearn said last month there was "a huge desire from both camps" to make a Conor Benn-Chris Eubank Jr fight happen. The pair were set to meet 12 months ago - 30 years after their fathers Nigel Benn and Chris Eubank Sr fought - but the bout was cancelled after Benn failed two voluntary doping tests. Benn does not currently have a licence to fight in the UK. In his latest interview, Hearn said: "Eubank [v Benn] looks like 27 January so there's a chance AJ could go early January." Link

Does your hand start to cramp up when you use a hand mixer? A viral Instagram Reel may offer a solution. Rachel Lo, the user who posted the video, has dedicated her page to a variety of fun lifestyle tricks and recipes. Based on a video that her friend sent her, Lo made a Reel showing a hand mixer hack which garnered over 27.1 million views and 1.4 million likes. VIRAL KITCHEN HACK SHOWS HARD BUTTER CAN BE MADE SPREADABLE WITH THIS UNEXPECTED TOOL The method apparently allows you to step away from the bowl by transforming the hand mixer into a hands-free tool. In the video, Lo shows a wire cooling rack that's placed on top of a mixing bowl. The whisk attachments go through the wire rack before clicking into the hand mixer. VIRAL HACK SHOWS PEOPLE USING A KITCHEN FORK TO HANG THEIR PICTURES ON WALLS: HERE'S HOW IT'S DONE The hand mixer is then placed on top of the rack with the weight of the mixer holding everything in place. "Honestly, a stroke of genius," Lo captioned the viral video. The hand mixer hack has caused a stir among viewers with many debating in the comments. "i was stressing over needing to buy a stand mixer cus i’m moving soon. not anymore. thank u," one Instagram user wrote. VIRAL JAR LID TRICK MAY HAVE YOU DITCHING JAR OPENER GADGETS: HOW TO DO IT "i hate hate holding the hand mixer this is pure genius!," another social media user commented. "Why didn’t I see this before I bought my kitchen aid," another user stated. hile some people appear to find it to be a game changer, others say the hand mixer hack isn't that useful in the end. "Until it suddenly slips and you've got cake mix on the ceiling and a mixer with a thirst for blood," one user noted. "[That's] the wisk I'm willing to take," someone jokingly replied. 'LIFE CHANGING' LEMON-SQUEEZING TRICK REVEALS LITTLE-KNOWN USE FOR COMMON KITCHEN TOOL "Until you realize it won’t get the sides like that lol," another social media user wrote. The cost of a hand mixer can range from anywhere between $12.99 and $225, but the kitchen tool is a cheaper option in comparison to a stand mixer. A stand mixer is larger, but can start at $44 and can even go up to $999, depending on the wholesaler and the brand. Link

Israeli forces have encircled the Hamas stronghold of Gaza City, Israel's military says, as it continues its assault on the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said soldiers were engaged in close quarters combat with Hamas fighters staging hit-and-run attacks from tunnels. The UN said four of its schools being used as shelters had been damaged and warned water shortages were worsening. The Hamas-run health ministry says over 9,000 Palestinians have been killed. On Thursday the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said four of its schools being used as shelters hade been damaged in less than 24 hours. At least 20 people were reportedly killed at a school in the Jabalia refugee camp, UNRWA said, while a child was reportedly killed at a school-turned-shelter in the Beach refugee camp. The BBC has verified two videos from the schools. One extremely graphic video, filmed at an elementary school in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, shows the aftermath, first outside the main gate of the school and then in the main courtyard. At least 20 people, either dead or injured, can be seen on the ground, including men, women and children. The second video, filmed at the main courtyard of a primary school in Beach refugee camp, also in northern Gaza but near the Mediterranean coast, shows a plume of smoke rising from behind the main building of the school. Several people, including children, run for safety in the courtyard, while some residents of the camp watch from the windows above. A series of explosions can be heard in the background of the video. The last one, the loudest, causes the crowd in the courtyard to flee in panic. Hamas authorities in Gaza blamed Israeli air strikes. The IDF has not yet commented. UN-appointed experts have called for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, saying time was running out for Palestinian people there who find themselves at "grave risk of genocide". "The situation in Gaza has reached a catastrophic tipping point," they said, warning that a ban on fuel entering Gaza and disruption to water supplies meant people had little access to safe drinking water. "Water is essential to human life and today, two million Gazans are struggling to find drinking water," they said. The Israeli mission to the UN in Geneva called the comments "deplorable and deeply concerning" and blamed Hamas for civilian deaths. Earlier on Thursday the IDF said it had killed about 130 Hamas fighters. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said troops were at "the height of battle". "We've had impressive successes and have passed the outskirts of Gaza City. We are advancing," he said in a statement. A number of foreign nationals were able to leave Gaza after the Rafah crossing with Egypt opened for a second day. President Biden says more than 70 Americans were among them. But medical aid organisation Doctors Without Borders says more than 20,000 wounded people remained trapped in the territory. Meanwhile, the Lebanese movement Hezbollah said it had attacked 19 targets in Israel simultaneously, in what would be its most intense assault on Israel so far. The Israeli military said it was striking a series of Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in response. It comes a day before a much-anticipated speech by the leader of Hezbollah Hassan Nasrallah, his first public address since the conflict broke out last month. Link

At a glance Electronic warning signs have appeared on a stretch of the A9 warning drivers of the risk of collisions with deer NatureScot said red deer crossed the road at Navidale as they moved from moorland to pastures on lower ground It said the animals included stags recovering the rutting season Navidale is among Scotland's top 10 places for high numbers of recorded deer collisions Published 1 November 2023 Stags seeking out rich pastures to help them recover from the rutting season have heightened the potential risk of crashes on a stretch of the A9. NatureScot said a 500m (1,640ft) section of the trunk road at Navidale, Sutherland, was one of Scotland's top 10 sites, external for the highest numbers of recorded collisions between traffic and deer. The rutting season lasts from September to early November and sees adult male deer fight for the attention of female mates. NatureScot said red deer, including stags, crossed the A9 at Navidale as they moved from high moorland to lower ground to seek food and shelter from autumn and winter weather. Scotland's nature body is working with Transport Scotland and road maintenance company Bear Scotland to raise awareness of the crash risk. Electronic warning signs will be in place in the area until 22 November advising drivers to slow down and to look out for deer. NatureScot said there had been 10 collisions in recent years. The agency said: "Red deer stags in particular may be tempted to richer feeding grounds to recover following their autumn rutting activity." Navidale is the only Highland location on the organisation's list of 10 worst locations in Scotland for deer collisions. It said the rest were in central Scotland with accidents involving young roe deer as they moved to new territories in spring. Roe deer are smaller than red deer. Link

Hyundai Motor India followed its best-ever monthly performance in terms of volume in September with another great show in October. Although the wholesale despatches are lower than in the previous month, they are certainly quite handsome. The total volume (domestic + exports) of Hyundai increased 18.48% at 68,728 units in October 2023 from 58,006 units in the same month last year. In September 2023, the carmaker recorded wholesales of 71,641 units. Hyundai's domestic volume grew 14.84% at 55,128 units in October 2023 from 48,001 units in October 2022. The exports rose 35.93% at 13,600 units in October 2023 from 10,005 units in the year-ago month. "As we enter the peak of the festive season in India, Hyundai Motor India registered robust sales numbers of 55,128 units in the domestic market in the month of October. The recent announcement of standardising of six airbags across all Hyundai models and variants has been extremely well received by our valued customers," said Tarun Garg, COO, Hyundai Motor India. "Also, the supply situation is back to full normalcy and our network is geared up to delight customers with the delivery of their favourite Hyundai cars," he added. In India, Hyundai offers 13 models -- Grand i10 Nios, i20, i20 N-Line, Aura, Exter, Venue, Venue N-Line, Verna, Creta, Alcazar, Tucson, Kona Electric and Ioniq 5. The carmaker has a network of 1,357 sales points and 1,535 service points across India. Its manufacturing facility near Chennai now has an annual installed production capacity of 820,000 units. Hyundai exports cars to as many as 88 countries across Africa, the Middle-East, Latin America, Australia and Asia-Pacific, from India. Link

South Africa have continued their march towards the semifinals of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2023 with a 190-run win over fellow contenders New Zealand at Pune’s MCA Stadium. Helped by centuries from Quinton de Kock and Rassie van der Dussen, the Proteas posted 357-4 after being asked to bat first by New Zealand stand-in captain Tom Latham on Wednesday. Keshav Maharaj took four wickets, Marco Jansen took three and Gerald Coetzee took two as South Africa recorded their sixth win of the tournament to dislodge India from the top of the points table on their net run rate. In a highly anticipated contest days after the two nations clashed in the Rugby World Cup final, de Kock struck 114 and van der Dussen exploded late to score 133. “Clinical display I would say,” South Africa captain Temba Bavuma said. “With the bat, we handled the challenge up front and with the ball nipping around. The big partnership really set it up for the boys. “With the ball, we sustained the pressure throughout their innings. … Quite clinical with the execution of our skills.” The Proteas built on the de Kock and van der Dussen 200-run stand with 119 in the last 10 overs as David Miller put the New Zealand bowlers to the sword with a 30-ball 53. “We were speaking about 300 to 320 at one stage in the middle, but we’ve seen so often in the last 12 to 18 months what the guys coming in can do,” player of the match van der Dussen said. “We knew if we could set a platform again for them, I mean the sky’s the limit. We [almost] got to 360, so we were pretty chuffed about that.” Kiwi Tim Southee dismissed van der Dussen on a day of little joy for New Zealand, who had lost the bowling services of seamer Matt Henry due to a right hamstring problem midway through South Africa’s innings. Neesham was struck on the hand while stopping a ball off his own bowling and was able to bat only at number nine although he did not suffer broken bones. “Not our best performance,” Latham said. “We were put under pressure with that massive partnership Rassie and Quinton had up top. “At the halfway mark it was a big score but a decent surface. From a batting point of view, you need partnerships. To be three, four, five down early and with our backs against the wall, we weren’t able to build those partnerships.” Link

Taichung, Taiwan – Around a tiled square on the outskirts of the Chinese city of Nanjing, a cluster of apartment buildings rise like concrete columns towards a grey sky. At first glance, the structures look like a testament to China’s awe-inspiring construction boom, which saw the country use more cement between 2011 and 2013 than the United States did throughout the entire 20th century. But upon closer examination, the development is more like a scene out of a post-apocalyptic story than a symbol of grandeur. There is no light in any of the buildings and most of them lack doors or windows. An eerie silence lies over the compound, which is strewn with disassembled equipment and construction materials, broken occasionally only by the sound of a tarp flapping lazily about on top of a stack of iron rods. There are no residents in sight. “The workers stopped building in 2019,” Ji Zhang, a 61-year-old resident who asked to be referred to by a pseudonym, told Al Jazeera. “They say it was because the developer ran out of money.” Over a grainy video call, Ji gestures towards one of the unfinished high-rises, where she and her husband purchased a sixth-floor apartment in 2017. Ji felt like they were buying into a dream when they poured most of their life savings into a 60 percent down payment for the property. “It was all just an old village back then, but when the sales agents showed us the plans for the area, I saw how it could give my husband and me the retirement we were looking for,” Ji said. The compound promised a range of modern amenities, proximity to an array of shopping options and access to far better medical facilities than the urban village outside Nanjing where Ji and her husband had been living. Most importantly, the apartment offered the chance for Ji and her husband to live much closer to their daughter and two grandchildren in Nanjing. “But we haven’t had a chance to enjoy any of that,” Ji said with tears in her eyes. But with their apartment still unfinished five years after their purchase, Ji’s retirement dream lies in tatters. “And this is not just happening to us,” Ji said, wiping away her tears. “It is unfortunately happening all over China.” ‘Rotten-tail buildings’ Across China, from Guilin in southern China to Dalian in the north, countless home buyers have emptied their life savings into homes that never materialised. So-called “rotten-tail buildings”, as they are known in Chinese, dot the outskirts of cities and central locations alike. In Nanjing, a hotel, an office building, an art museum and even a castle have remained unfinished for years. In a suburb of the northeastern city of Shenyang, a planned neighbourhood of about 260 European-styled villas, was abandoned by the developer only two years after construction began. Today, the land is occupied by local farmers who grow crops on the paths through the neighbourhood and rear cattle in enclosures between the villas. Thousands of completed homes also lie empty across the country within so-called ghost cities. In 2017, an estimated 65 million units – a fifth of all homes in China – lay vacant. In September, He Keng, a former deputy head of the country’s statistics bureau, said that there were probably more vacant homes than could be filled by the country’s 1.4 billion people. Local officials have made various efforts to deal with the glut, from removing restrictions on home purchases to offering buyers incentives such as new cars, smartphones and gold bars. But such measures only scratch the surface of a much larger problem, according to analysts. “This is a massive property crisis centring around a housing bubble that has been building up for many years,” Thomas Rao, a risk analyst at a major Chinese bank in Shanghai, told Al Jazeera. During the late 2000s, entire “ghost” cities and neighbourhoods began to emerge across China as a credit-fuelled building boom bumped up against lacklustre demand. “This has been a problem, particularly in medium-sized cities and smaller cities where supply and demand has been especially skewed,” Yang Jiang, a senior researcher at the Danish Institute for International Studies, told Al Jazeera. The mismatch between supply and demand has been attributed to local governments becoming dependent on land sales to balance their budgets and developers becoming dependent on buying the land, developing properties on it and selling those properties to turn a profit. “It all ran on the expectation that demand and property prices would continue to increase,” Jiang said. For years, the bet paid off. Between 2004 and 2014, housing prices doubled across the country. Returns from some properties were so high that even companies with no experience in real estate invested in the sector. With so much capital thrown at the market, both local governments and major developers were able to borrow heavily from banks in order to further fuel land sales and property construction. On the back of the boom, the real estate sector and related industries surged to an estimated 30 percent of China’s gross domestic product (GDP). As Beijing moved to rein in excessive borrowing with its “three red lines” regulations, developers struggled to meet their debt obligations. In late 2020, China’s second-largest developer Evergrande Group defaulted, and in August this year, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in the US. That same month, China’s largest developer, Country Garden, came to the brink of default. “The government began to realise that there were problems in the sector and started to work towards deflating the housing bubble and rebalance the economy away from the strong dependency on the property sector,” Jiang said. Evergrande sits on more than $300bn of debt – about the size of Finland’s GDP – while Country Garden sits on slightly less than $200bn, leading to fears that their collapse could threaten the Chinese economy as a whole. “That is why we are seeing the officials working hard to prevent a spillover,” Jiang said. The question of what is to become of developers’ many unfinished construction projects is unclear. Many smaller developers that do not pose a systemic risk to the Chinese economy are teetering on the brink of collapse, leaving the fate of many projects in limbo. Rao, the risk analyst, said he is not optimistic on behalf of the many people across China’s cities waiting for their homes to be finished. “Some will have to wait years, others maybe indefinitely,” he said. On the outskirts of Nanjing, Ji Zhang and other home buyers at her compound decided earlier this year that they were not willing to wait around indefinitely for their homes to be finished. After several visits and calls to the local authorities got them nowhere, Ji and a group of fellow residents rented a truck and began moving furniture and living essentials into their unfinished apartments. None of the homes had yet been installed with air conditioning, heating, running water or electricity. Some did not even have doors or windows. “We moved into empty shells, but we figured that if we help each other as a community, we can do it,” Ji said. The residents set up toilet facilities and rubbish collection outside the compound, gathered in one of the buildings to cook together every evening, and took turns running errands and buying necessities for each other. Across China, aggrieved buyers of unfinished homes have taken similar action. In an unfinished compound outside the city of Xi’an in central China last year, homebuyers clashed with local police as they tried to break down barricades to get into their homes. Ji and her neighbours’ decision to move into their unfinished apartments likewise caught the attention of the local authorities. “Someone came from the local housing authority and told us to leave, and then someone working for the developer came and told us they would finish our homes if we agreed to pay the remaining apartment costs,” Ji said. At that point, Ji and her husband had paid around 80 percent of the price of their apartment. A developer presented homebuyers on the outskirts of Xi’an with a similar offer. They agreed, but the promised resumption of construction only lasted a week. “We told the local official and the developer that we weren’t leaving or paying any more money until they restart building again,” Ji said. Ji and the other homebuyers in Nanjing have not heard from the developer or the local authorities since May. Like most of the other buyers, Ji and her husband are no longer living at their unfinished property and today divide their time between their family home in the countryside and their daughter’s place in Nanjing. “The bare building and the open spaces left our home very dusty, and my husband started to develop a bad cough,” Ji said. Although dark clouds loom over China’s housing market and its debt-laden developers, Ji has not abandoned her dream. “We are not giving up,” she said. “We want the apartments we were promised. We want the homes we paid for.” LINK

Paola Cruz and her nephew, Nicolas Sanches Gallardo, made a deal when they were kids playing in the hills of Oaxaca, Mexico. They agreed that, when one of them died, the other would seek out a mariachi band to play their favourite Mexican songs at the funeral. But Nicolas warned Paola that if he died first and she didn’t honour the pact, he would travel back to the world of the living on Dia de los Muertos — Mexico’s Day of the Dead holiday — just to give her the scare of her life. Paola is now 70, her short silver hair trimmed tightly above her dark, soulful eyes. She remembers the last Day of the Dead she spent with Nicolas, her junior by only six years. Nicolas, his wife and his children had gathered at Paola’s house in the Santa Rosa district of Oaxaca for a holiday feast: handmade tortillas, slow-cooked beans, Oaxacan stews and pan de muerto, a sugar-encrusted bread that Nicolas made specially for the occasion. But when Nicolas declined his usual glass of mezcal, an agave-based alcohol, Paola was surprised. “He told me his chest started to hurt that morning but said I shouldn’t worry,” she recalled. “His heart, according to him, was simply heavy with the love he felt for his wife.” Two weeks later, Nicolas died of a heart attack at age 52. Paola made sure an eight-member mariachi band performed at his funeral in the Santa Rosa cemetery. It was 2011, 45 years after they struck their pact. “Nico could make us cry with laughter even during the sad moments of Dia de los Muertos,” Paola remembered. “We think of him a lot during this time.” For many in Mexico and its diaspora communities, the Day of the Dead — generally held on November 1 and 2 — is an occasion to remember and celebrate loved ones like Nicolas who have passed away. During the holiday, families welcome the dead back from the underworld with offerings at their graves: a favourite snack, perhaps, or a much-loved drink. And cemeteries are festooned with candles and flowers in vivid shades of orange and violet. “Occasionally, strange things happen around me during these times,” Paola said. “I feel things brush past me or hear strange noises in the house. It’s a little unnerving at first but also a comfort.” Paola’s grandson Jonathan Velasco remarked that even the chillier autumn weather seems to evoke the underworld. “It’s ‘frio de muerto’ or the cold of the dead,” he said from Paola’s garden, where a cool breeze shook acai berries from a drooping palm leaf. “Here in Oaxaca, the change in climate signifies it’s time to prepare for the dead to arrive.” In anticipation of this year’s Day of the Dead, Paola and her family assembled their ofrenda, a candlelit altar she keeps in her home, right beside her dining table. It contains mementos from the past and photographs of her deceased family members, including Nicolas, who smiles up from a snapshot where he has one arm wrapped around Paola. “It’s a mixture of emotions every year,” Paola explained as she weaves through her garden, clipping flowers for the ofrenda with her seven-year-old great-granddaughter, Sophia. “But I think this year, people close to me who have died would be happy for me to talk about them.” Paola’s hometown of Oaxaca is considered an epicentre for Day of the Dead festivities, with parades and live music taking place across the city. The southern state in which it is situated — also named Oaxaca — has the largest Indigenous po[CENSORED]tion in all of Mexico, and the holiday is often seen as a fusion of European and pre-Hispanic traditions. But while residents like Paola keep local customs alive, the Day of the Dead has become an increasingly international phenomenon. In 2022, Secretary of Tourism Miguel Torruco Marques estimated that 2.16 million tourists would arrive in Mexico for the holiday, up 95 percent over the same time in 2019. That influx was set to generate profits of 37.7 billion pesos, roughly the equivalent of $2bn. The holiday’s po[CENSORED]rity has surged in part due to appearances in films like the Disney-Pixar animated feature Coco and the James Bond movie Spectre. But that spotlight has translated into fears the holiday could become too commercialised. Since 2019, the toy company Mattel has released an annual Day of the Dead-themed Barbie doll. And in 2013, Disney was forced to drop a bid to trademark the phrase “Dia de los Muertos” amid public outcry. Still, in Oaxaca, 71-year-old farmer Genaro Lopez is optimistic about the increase in attention. Flashing an open smile beneath his well-groomed, grey handlebar moustache, Lopez said he feels pride in sharing his traditions with visitors. Born and raised in Zimatlan de Alvarez, a town 30km (18 miles) south of Oaxaca’s city centre, Lopez has been growing “floras de muerte” or “flowers of the dead” for almost 40 years. His farm is home to rows of fragrant cempasuchil — orange marigolds — and maroon cockscombs. One is said to attract souls from the dead with its scent, while the other represents the blood of Christ. “These flowers are my life’s work. I sow the seeds in July so they’re ready for the end of October,” Lopez explained. But his business took a hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2020, Lopez lost almost 30 percent of his usual sales. But since then, he said he has planted more and more seeds each year to keep up with the rapidly increasing demand for flowers. “Now I can relax and enjoy watching the happiness they give families as they take bunches back to decorate their altars, local cemeteries and their homes,” Lopez said. Another local business owner, Anthony Garcia, has likewise seen demand grow far beyond expectations. He creates “monos de calenda”, giant puppets dressed in traditional clothing that are paraded during street parties and other cultural events. It was a craft Garcia took up as a child, learning from his grandmother, and he launched the hobby into a business six years ago. “I’ve had to turn down more clients than ever this year due to demand,” Garcia said. He explained he recently created 28 “monos” for a Mexican restaurant chain in London. “It’s my favourite time, both professionally and personally.” As for Paola, this year will be calmer than usual. She will visit cemeteries during the day to avoid the huge crowds at night and spend more time at home rather than participate in street parades in her area. She wants to “enjoy the peaceful moments more”, she said, unless she senses the presence of her late husband, who passed away in 2017. “Then I’ll be ready to tell him off for leaving without me!” Link

It is still dark when an early train pulls into the station in central Ukraine and aid workers crowd expectantly around one of the carriages. The doors then open and a small child steps into the platform light. Hands stretch out to help her down as her mother follows, carefully passing her baby in a tiny pink carrycot to the helpers below. These are Ukraine's newest war refugees. Last week, the authorities ordered the forced evacuation of children from 31 towns and villages close to the frontline. This train has brought several families from the Donetsk region to relative safety further west. We cannot name the exact location for security reasons. The orders - which are made whenever conditions are considered too dangerous - came after Russia renewed offensives in parts of the Donetsk region and fighting intensified in Kherson region. As volunteers unload bags, boxes and suitcases, others usher the new arrivals, bewildered and exhausted, into the warmth of the station. Here, three teenage girls sit on the benches, faces blank with shock. A loud meow comes from a basket at their feet. "The last time a shell hit our house it was the tenth time," their mother tells us. Liliya Mykhailik says the family then moved to an apartment in the same village but, as strikes knocked out communication and energy links, her daughter's online schooling became impossible. Her husband has stayed behind with his father and her mother, who refused to leave. Liliya says she is uncertain about her family's future: "We travelled here blindly." As the family wait for a bus which will take them to their accommodation, aid workers hand out coffee and state officials hand out cash. In addition to free transport to safety, Ukraine initially gives all forced evacuees money - around £45 per adult, £70 per child or vulnerable adult - and a place to live. The adults will be expected - eventually - to work. No-one says so, but everyone here knows there is a chance they will not see their homes again. And that is why, despite enduring daily danger and discomfort, some did not want to leave. It is up to people like Pavlo Dyachenko to persuade them. He is one of the so-called 'White Angels' special police unit responsible for getting humanitarian aid in - and people out - of Ukraine's most dangerous places. "Everything has to be done really fast," he says. "The danger is always there because Russians do not stop shelling." crew carries toys in the car. "Someone has to talk with the children all the time, distract them from the dangers on the road or any other stressful moments," he says. While millions of Ukrainians have fled the war abroad, the Ukrainian government estimates there are nearly five million internally displaced people in the country. Forced evacuees are taken in by communities all over Ukraine. We meet several families who have been placed in an old school. The sound of someone playing the recorder floats down the corridor as Varvara, who is 10 years old, sits in front of a laptop in what was once a classroom. Appropriately enough, she is doing an online lesson with the school she can no longer physically attend. Varvara came here with her mother Iryna and grandmother Svitlana from Kostyantynivka in the Donetsk region where shelling had forced them to live in a basement. They share a bathroom and kitchen with the other residents. "I really like it here," says Iryna and Svitlana agrees. But tears begin to stream down both women's faces. "We want to go home. We want all this to end." Varvara watches as they weep, unsurprised by their pain. Ukraine's refugee children may now be far away from the front line. But their lives continue to be shaped by the conflict. Link

Sequels are never as good as the original. And when the original was terrible, there is even more reason to dread the next episode. So it is with “Tariff Man Part Two”. In the White House, Donald Trump put more new tariffs on American imports than any president in nearly a century. His philosophy was simple: “I am a Tariff Man. When people or countries come in to raid the great wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so.” Mr Trump’s protectionism made America poorer, did little to help exporters and fed the inflation still raging. If he wins the Republican presidential nomination (a likely outcome) and goes on to win the election (too close to call), he has vowed to ramp up things. He is mulling an across-the-board levy of perhaps 10% on all products entering America. In one fell swoop, his plans would more than triple the average American tariff. The direct costs would be bad enough, with the tariffs functioning as a tax on consumers and hurting most producers. Yet they would also tear at America’s ties with its allies and threaten to wreck the global trade system. To get a sense of the impact, look back. On January 23rd 2018, a year after Mr Trump was sworn in, he got started with tariffs, hitting washing machines and solar panels. A couple of months later he went after aluminium and steel. A few months after that, it was Chinese goods. By 2021 American duties were worth 3% of the country’s total import value, double the level when Mr Trump took office. Tariffs on Chinese imports rose from 3% to 19%, calculates Chad Bown of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think-tank. Mr Trump’s first aim was to slim the trade deficit. He thought tariffs would bludgeon other countries into submission, leading them to rejig policies to America’s advantage. Memorably, he declared that “trade wars are good, and easy to win.” But instead of shrinking, the deficit widened. Instead of buckling, China tripled its tariffs on America. Many allies retaliated, too. The consequences were dismal. Industries that were protected by tariffs reaped benefits, enjoying greater market share and fatter profits. Most others suffered. America’s International Trade Commission (usitc), a bipartisan agency, found that industries downstream from tariff-coddled producers faced higher input prices and lower profitability. The Peterson Institute estimated that steel users in effect paid an extra $650,000 per job created in the steel industry. Studies have calculated that almost all the costs have been borne by Americans, rather than foreign producers. The usitc found a near one-to-one increase in the price of American imports in the wake of tariffs on China. Mr Trump did unquestionably succeed in one respect. He helped remake politics. According to a recent survey from the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, a think-tank, 66% of Americans think the government should place restrictions on imported foreign goods to protect jobs at home, up from 60% in 2018. On the campaign trail in 2019 Joe Biden criticised tariffs as a costly policy. In power he has rolled them back only a little. The array of levies on China remains intact. Whatever the merits of lifting tariffs, the White House appears fearful of blowback from looking soft on China. At the same time, Mr Biden has concocted an enormous industrial policy, fuelled by more than $1trn in subsidies for electric vehicles, offshore wind, semiconductors and the like. It is a more thoughtful and deliberate approach than Mr Trump’s, but it still looks likely to fail to bring about a manufacturing renaissance, is very expensive and, in lavishing subsidies on American factories, discriminates against other countries. It is, in short, rather Trumpist. How much worse could things get? If Mr Trump wins the presidential election in 2024, the world may discover that the answer is: “Rather a lot.” In August Mr Trump was interviewed on Fox Business, a television channel, by Larry Kudlow, his former economic adviser and a long-time media personality. Mr Trump put forward two ideas. First, all foreign firms selling to America would face a 10% levy. Second, if any country placed a high tariff on anything American, he would hit back with exactly the same tariff. “Call it retribution,” said Mr Trump. “Reciprocity,” interjected Mr Kudlow, using the politer label. The lineage of these ideas can be traced back to thinkers who crafted policy during Mr Trump’s presidency, and who are working on new, more detailed plans. Robert Lighthizer, United States Trade Representative under Mr Trump, recently laid out his vision in a book, “No Trade is Free”. One of his ideas is the universal tariff on all imports, to be used as a lever to bring America’s trade flows into balance, so that the country no longer runs a big deficit. Mr Lighthizer would not limit the tariff to 10%. Rather, he writes, America should impose the levy “at a progressively higher rate year after year until we achieve balance”. Project 2025, a coalition of conservative groups, published a book earlier this year with blueprints for almost every facet of government during a second Trump administration. In the trade chapter, Peter Navarro, another economic adviser to Mr Trump, bemoaned the fact that countries like China and India have higher levies on America’s goods than America does on theirs, arguing that this has led to “systematic exploitation of American farmers, ranchers, manufacturers, and workers”. In principle, reciprocity could be achieved in two ways—either by persuading other countries to lower tariffs or by America raising its own. Mr Navarro leaves no doubt as to his preference. Action, reaction If Mr Trump has his way, other countries will probably respond by slapping their own tariffs on America. The spread of universal tariffs would be akin to a giant tax on cross-border transactions, making international commerce less attractive. Meanwhile, Mr Trump’s hopes of shrinking the trade deficit would run headlong into the economic forces that actually determine the balance of exchanges between countries. In America’s case the crucial factor is the country’s low saving rate, which is almost certain to continue as a result of persistently high consumer spending and widening government deficits. Mr Trump has pointed to one ostensible virtue of his tariffs: they generate income. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, an advocacy group, estimates that a 10% tariff may bring in up to $2.5trn in extra revenue during its first decade of implementation, which could be used to reduce America’s budget deficit. But this money could also be brought in by other methods. Raising tariffs simply means picking them as a tax over others such as, say, a higher income or inheritance tax. Every tax has pros (eg, generating public revenue or discouraging bad behaviour) and cons (eg, hurting growth or imposing costs on individuals). The cons of tariffs are big. Ahmad Lashkaripour of Indiana University estimates that a global tariff war would shrink American gdp by about 1%. Most countries would suffer falls closer to 3%. The drag on smaller, trade-reliant economies would be greater still. Tariffs are also regressive since they hurt those on lower incomes twice. They tax more of their spending, by raising the price of consumer goods, and more of their earnings, since many work in industries, such as construction, that face higher material costs. If the bulk of the tariff bill is passed on to American consumers, as occurred with the first round of Mr Trump’s tariffs, a 10% duty would cost each American household about $2,000 per year. The toll from universal tariffs would go beyond their economic impact. International commerce, and the system that enables it, built after the second world war, allows countries to challenge each other’s policies at the World Trade Organisation (wto). But the wto’s role in dispute settlement has been disabled since 2019, when the Trump administration blocked appointments to its appellate body, preventing the institution from making binding rulings. The result is that countries which object to Mr Trump’s tariffs would lack a suitable way to confront them. “The system would fall apart in a much greater way than it did even during his first term,” says Douglas Irwin of Dartmouth College. Mr Biden has not been a model free-trader. His industrial policy is built on lavish subsidies that, by incentivising investment in America, are unfair to other countries. Yet even if somewhat hamfisted, he has worked to cobble together supply chains and trade networks that bring America and its allies closer together. This is part of an attempt, still in its infancy, to lessen dependence on China. Mr Trump’s tariffs would reverse Mr Biden’s progress. It would no longer be America and (occasionally reluctant) friends versus China—it would be America versus the world. “Trump would view it as a badge of honour if other countries were upset. He’d say, ‘See, I’m fighting for you and we’re sticking it to them’,” predicts Mr Irwin. Mr Trump would lack outright authority to implement a universal tariff. The constitution gives Congress the power to regulate commerce; the president can intervene only by using special justifications. Mr Trump previously drew on two statutes: section 232 of trade law allows the president to restrict imports in order to protect national security (the dubious basis for tariffs on steel and aluminium); section 301 allows a president to impose tariffs against a country with discriminatory trade behaviour (the more reasonable basis for actions against China). But both require time-consuming investigations, which would cut against the desire of Mr Trump and his advisers for rapid executive actions. Another option would be to invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, which Mr Trump used in 2020 to order the removal of TikTok and WeChat, Chinese social-media goliaths, from American app stores. In this scenario Mr Trump would declare a national emergency and then announce a universal tariff as the response. “It is less clear exactly what national emergency would be declared,” says Jennifer Hillman, a former general counsel with the us Trade Representative. “Perhaps that the trade deficit is threatening American competitiveness? Or that the size of the trade deficit is unsustainable?” Few economists would endorse such thinking. Far from being a weakness, appetite for imports comes from America’s strength. The country has run deficits for the past half-century, a period of economic dominance. More crucially, legal experts would also take a dim view of a declaration. “Trump would be bending the law in a direction that it was never intended to apply,” says Alan Wolff, a veteran of trade law. “There would be court challenges, and they might well be successful.” Reciprocal tariffs might seem tidier, but even an attempt to impose tit-for-tat duties would get messy. Mr Navarro loves to point out that American tariffs on cars are just 2.5%, whereas the European Union charges 10%. What he omits is that America has long placed a 25% tariff on imports of pick-up trucks, not to mention hefty duties on some imports of lumber and some foods. Any line-by-line examination of tariffs would turn up scores of examples where American levies are higher than those of other countries. Indeed, a guiding principle of the wto is that countries can negotiate across different product categories to set tariffs that protect politically sensitive sectors, so long as they keep tariffs down overall. Letting countries hammer out unique tariff regimes is a core part of diplomacy. Pure reciprocity would descend into absurdity. Politically, Mr Trump would also face opposition. Despite his embrace of protectionism, many in the Republican Party are less committed. Consider Project 2025, the coalition drawing up policy plans for Mr Trump’s second term. It is quite clear in all of its positions—except for that on trade. Its chapter on trade is split in two: Mr Navarro’s plea for tariffs is set against a free-trade argument by Kent Lassman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a think-tank. Mr Lassman lays out what he dubs a “conservative vision for trade”, calling for tariff cuts to reduce consumer prices, as well as more ambitious trade deals. Mr Trump’s domestic opponents would receive support from abroad. A trade official with an American ally says that his government is braced for tariffs at the start of a new Trump administration, and that he and his colleagues have a damage-limitation playbook, honed during Mr Trump’s four years in office. They would work with firms and politicians in Republican districts that enjoy the benefits of trade—from Iowa’s corn-growers to Tennessee’s car industry—and try to persuade Mr Trump to carve out exceptions. Yet both legal challenges and lobbying would take months, if not longer, to play out. In the meantime, the global trade system would be plunged into uncertainty. Other governments would slap retaliatory tariffs on America. Mr Biden’s work to repair ties with America’s allies would be torn apart. As firms try to assess the risks, they could well turn more cautious in their investment, which would weigh on economic growth. Companies with border-straddling operations would face pressure to retrench. Smaller countries that are dependent on trade would be vulnerable. One of the lessons of Mr Trump’s first stint in the White House is that he can cause great damage with the stroke of a pen, and that the damage is not easily reversed. Most of his tariffs are still on the books. The wto remains neutered. The America-first ethos that he preached, once a fringe preference, is now a force in the political mainstream. The consequences of a second Trump presidency for global trade would be grave and enduring. Link

A New Zealand company has been found guilty of not "minimising risk" to 22 people who died in the 2019 White Island volcano disaster. Judge Evangelos Thomas criticised what he said were "astonishing failures" by Whakaari Management Limited (WML) - which licenses tours to the island. The case is the largest action of its kind brought by New Zealand's regulator, Worksafe NZ. The company faces up to NZ$1.5m ($928,000; £724,000) in fines. The December 2019 eruption killed 22 - almost half of the people who were on the island at the time. Most were tourists, including 17 from Australia and three from the US. Another 25 people were injured, with many suffering extensive burns. The volcano, known by its Māori name of Whakaari, had been showing signs of heightened unrest for weeks before the fatal eruption. It is New Zealand's most active volcano and had been erupting in some form since 2011. Thirteen parties were charged over the disaster. WML was the last to receive a verdict after six had pleaded guilty, while six more had their charges dismissed. Sentences will be passed in February. Trial for tour operators in NZ volcano tragedy begins The privately owned volcano that is always active James, Andrew and Peter Buttle, three brothers who own the company, inherited the volcano and licensed other businesses to run tours. They had also been on trial over alleged breaches of New Zealand's workplace health and safety legislation as individuals, but had those charges dismissed last month. A lawyer for WML argued that it was merely a landowner without active control of tours to the island and how they were conducted. But the judge said it "managed and controlled" the active volcano and failed in its duty to minimise the risk there. This included a failure to conduct proper risk assessments and to adequately engage with the necessary experts. "It should have been no surprise that Whakaari could erupt at any time, and without warning, at the risk of death and serious injury," said Judge Thomas. He dismissed a second charge against the company relating to the safety of its workers. The disaster prompted the most extensive and complex investigation ever undertaken by WorkSafe NZ, which was also criticised for failing to monitor activities on the island between 2014 and 2019. Tourism activities on White Island have not resumed since the eruption. Some of the tourists who bought their tour ticket to Whakaari through Royal Caribbean Cruises have already reached settlements after suing the Florida-based company in the US. Avey Woods, whose son Hayden Marshall-Inman died on the island, said the verdict was "very emotional". "We feel like we're not sitting around waiting for something - we've had an answer today which means we can move forward," she told New Zealand's 1News. Meredith Dallow, whose brother Simon was also killed alongside his teenage stepdaughter Zoe Hosking, said she was "relieved and thankful" there had been a verdict. "Justice at long last," Ms Dallow added. Link

Kristy Hawk, a po[CENSORED]r low-carb foodie and influencer took to her Facebook page recently to share exactly how she orders McDonald’s. But her ‘irritating’ order has left the internet scratching its collective head, mainly due to one glaringly obvious omission… there’s no bun. The low-carb McDonald’s Quarter Pounder order As someone who practices the keto diet, Kristy’s burger looks drastically different to your regular carb-laden Quarter Pounder. Thanks to a few cheeky changes and substitutions, she creates a filling meal that satisfies her fast-food cravings, without compromising her strict diet. She explains, “I don’t get McDonald’s often but when I do, I order this to keep it low carb.” Kristy adds that she likes to order it on the kiosk inside as “it’s just easier that way and they seem to get it right every time when I do.” The order in question is as follows: Double quarter pounder with cheese No bun No mustard No onions No ketchup Regular mayo Light lettuce Pickles She then shared a photo of her ‘naked’ burger, where all the fillings are seen piled high on a bed of shredded lettuce. “I love your choice of a fast food low-carb meal!” While some of the 5.4k comments applauded Kristy’s creation, saying it’s a great low-carb option in a pinch, others couldn’t wrap their minds around the concept of a bunless Quarter Pounder, or even the fact someone so health conscious would go to Maccas in the first place. “This is exactly what my McDonald’s orders look like when I go! I’m glad I’m not the ONLY one!!” one person wrote. “Great when you’re craving a burger but you don’t want the carbs,” they added. Another said: “I love your choice of a fast food low-carb meal. When you’re on the go it can be hard to get something on the ‘healthier’ side but this is a win in my book!” Link

Saudi Arabia is set to host the men's 2034 World Cup after Fifa confirmed it was the only bidder for the tournament. Australia decided against bidding to stage the tournament hours before Fifa's deadline for declarations of interest on Tuesday. Morocco, Portugal and Spain are the only bidders for the 2030 edition, with games also played in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. A Fifa congress will confirm the hosts in late 2024. The 2026 World Cup will take place in the US, Mexico and Canada. Australia's governing body Football Australia says it intends to focus its efforts on hosting the Women's Asian Cup in 2026 and the Club World Cup in 2029. Football's world governing body Fifa had said the 2034 World Cup would be held in Asia or Oceania, and an Australian bid was regarded as the only potential challenger to Saudi Arabia, which announced its intention to bid shortly after Fifa's decision. After Tuesday's deadline passed, football's world governing body confirmed the bids for the 2030 and 2034 World Cups and said there will now be "thorough bidding and evaluation processes" for the tournaments. Fifa said it will "conduct a targeted dialogue with bidders, to ensure complete, comprehensive bids are received and evaluated against the minimum hosting requirements as also previously approved by the Fifa Council. "This dialogue will focus on the defined priority areas of the event vision and key metrics, infrastructure, services, commercial, and sustainability and human rights." Despite receiving support from the Asian Football Confederation, Saudi Arabia would likely be viewed as a controversial host. It has been criticised for its human rights violations - 81 men were executed on one day last year - women's rights abuses, the criminalisation of homosexuality, the restriction of free speech and the war in Yemen. Saudi Arabia's international standing was severely damaged by the 2018 killing of Jamal Khashoggi, a US-based Saudi journalist who was a prominent critic of the government. Human rights campaigners say sport is being used by the Saudi government to detract from long-standing reputation issues, a process known as 'sportswashing'. Last week Human Rights Watch said: "The possibility that Fifa could award Saudi Arabia the 2034 World Cup despite its appalling human rights record and closed door to any monitoring exposes Fifa's commitments to human rights as a sham." On Tuesday Amnesty International called on Fifa to secure "clear and binding commitments" from Saudi Arabia. It said: "Human rights commitments must be agreed with potential hosts before final decisions on holding the tournaments are made. "The best chance for Fifa to obtain binding guarantees to protect workers' rights, ensure freedom of expression and prevent discrimination linked to the World Cup is during the host selection process - not after the hosts have been confirmed and tournament preparation has begun." Qatar's hosting of the 2022 World Cup drew criticism because of its stance on same-sex relationships, its human rights record and its treatment of migrant workers. Fifa dropped plans for Saudi Arabia to sponsor the 2023 Women's World Cup following a backlash from co-hosts Australia and New Zealand, players and sponsors, but Saudi Arabia is keen to host the 2035 tournament after forming a women's team last year. Like the 2022 men's tournament, the 2034 edition would almost certainly be held in winter because of extreme heat in the summer, although modernising existing infrastructure rather than building new stadiums would likely make it more environmentally friendly than Qatar. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) completed a takeover of Newcastle United in 2021, and manager Eddie Howe said: "Our trips out there to Riyadh and Jeddah were two very different experiences. "Everywhere we went was well organised; we were well looked after. If that's a sign of what a World Cup might look like, structurally it will be really good." Football Australia chief executive James Johnson said bidding for the World Cup was "not going to be favourable to Australia". He said: "Saudi is a strong bid. They have a lot of resources, and not just [for] the 2034 World Cup. "They are disrupting European football paying higher dollars. This is a disruption in the market and that is what positions Saudi in a strong way. From the government, top down they are prioritising investment in football. That is difficult to compete with." Another sporting milestone for Saudi Arabia? Saudi Arabia has hosted several major sporting events since 2018, including football, Formula 1, golf and boxing, and will stage the Club World Cup in December. Hosting the World Cup would represent another significant sporting milestone. Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Faisal, Saudi Arabia's sports minister, said the bid "constitutes an important and natural step in our journey as a country passionate about football". PIF has taken control of four of the nation's top clubs - Al-Ahli, Al-Hilal, Al-Ittihad and Al-Nassr - in the Saudi Pro League, and Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar are among the high-profile players to have joined the league, which was formed in 1976. The launch of the lucrative LIV Golf series in 2022 led to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour agreeing to merge with PIF in June after a year of disruption, with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan appointed chair of the unified men's game. Formula 1 held its inaugural race in Saudi Arabia in 2021 as part of a long-term deal. Britain's seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said he did not feel comfortable racing there and called on Saudi Arabia to improve its human rights record before the 2022 grand prix. Boxing world title fights have also been held in Saudi Arabia. Britain's Anthony Joshua, who beat Andy Ruiz in Riyadh in 2019, said he was "here for boxing" before losing to Oleksandr Usyk in Jeddah last year. WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury attracted criticism for praising Saudi officials and Bin Salman before his victory over former UFC fighter Francis Ngannou in Riyadh last weekend. Tennis will hold a professional event in Saudi Arabia for the first time in November after a five-year deal was agreed for Jeddah to host the Next Gen ATP Finals. Saudi Arabia has also held talks with the women's tour about hosting its end-of-season WTA Finals. Last month Bin Salman said: "If sportswashing is going to increase my GDP by 1%, then we'll continue doing sportswashing." Link

The House has released text of its planned Israel funding bill, appropriating $14.3 billion dollars to aid the country, setting up one of the first leadership tests for newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson. As the Louisiana Republican noted last week, the GOP-led bill includes the same amount in spending cuts, rescinding $14.3 billion that had been allocated to the IRS as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Democrats are warning that the bill’s offsets could cost it passage in the House. And so far, two House Republicans – Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia – have said they will oppose the bill. In the Senate, both leaders have pressed to have any funding for Israel combined with Ukraine and border security funding. Johnson has pushed to detach the aid to Israel from the Ukraine aid. Johnson told Fox News on Monday that he will call Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to discuss his push to include spending cuts to offset the costs of the Israel package expected to hot the House floor later this week as Senate Democrats signal they would reject that plan. Johnson, in a taped interview on Fox News, noted his strategy “may” cost Senate and House Democratic support but said his intention is to call Schumer and “have a very direct and thoughtful conversation about this. I understand their priority is to bulk up the IRS.” Ad Feedback Schumer insisted that funding for Ukraine, as well as humanitarian aid for Gaza, should be included in any supplemental package. “We need to work with our colleagues in the House to ensure all these forms of aid make it to the President’s desk,” Schumer said. “We must not succumb to the false allures of isolationism that the hard right now professes, because the only thing that will achieve is to make America less safe.” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell continued advocating for including aid for Ukraine in the national security supplemental at an event Monday with the Ukrainian Ambassador to the US Oksana Markarova in Louisville, Kentucky. “This is a moment for swift and decisive action to prevent further loss of life, and to impose real consequences on the tyrants who have terrorized the people of Ukraine and of Israel. And right now, the Senate has a chance to produce supplemental assistance that will help us do exactly that,” McConnell said. “Enemies abroad will be watching closely and waiting for America to falter. Only our concrete and credible support can deter our adversaries in the future and restore security.” Senate Republicans are divided over McConnell’s push to link Ukraine aid to an Israel package – with a number of his conservative colleagues saying they should follow the House’s lead and move the Israel package first. “Israel first – I think that’s the right thing to do,” said Sen. Rick Scott, the Florida Republican. “We have a majority in the House, we should follow what they’re doing.” Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley, a vocal skeptic of aid for Ukraine, called McConnell’s strategy a “mistake” and argued that it would slow down aid to Israel. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, a strong proponent of aid to Ukraine, signaled that he was open to passing Israel funding in a standalone package, but said that he wants to ensure that other priorities also clear through Congress – including aid for Ukraine. “At the end of the day, all of those things have to be done for me. Not some of them, but all of them … you can send Israel over by itself, that’d be fine,” he said. Link