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At least 11 killed in fighting between tribes in northwest Pakistan

At least 11 killed in fighting between tribes in northwest Pakistan

A shooting incident between rival tribes appear to have led to clashes, with woman and children among the casualties. At least 11 people have been killed and eight injured, including women and children, in tribal clashes in northwestern Pakistan, according to a local official. Tensions rose in Kurram district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, on Saturday after two people were critically injured in a shooting incident between rival tribes. It was not immediately clear what caused the shooting. Vehicles were targeted in different areas of the district, leading to more casualties, said senior official Javedullah Khan. Khan said efforts were being made to secure travel routes and restore normalcy. The injured were taken to a hospital. Pir Haider Ali Shah, a former parliamentarian and member of a tribal council, said elders had arrived in Kurram to mediate a peace agreement between the tribes. “The recent firing incidents are regrettable and have hampered efforts for lasting peace,” he said. Last month, at least 25 people were killed in days of clashes between armed Shia and Sunni Muslims over a land dispute. Although both live together largely peacefully in the country, tensions have existed for decades between them in some areas, especially in Kurram, where Shia Muslims dominate in parts of the district. Balochistan Liberation Army Meanwhile, on Saturday a separatist group in the southwest of Pakistan claimed responsibility for an attack that killed 21 people. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) said its fighters attacked a coal mine in Dukki district with heavy weapons, rocket launchers and grenades late Thursday night. It gave higher casualty figures of 30 dead and 18 injured. It also said that Pakistani security personnel were disguised as workers, without giving evidence. It threatened more assaults unless the military withdrew from the province. Balochistan is a hotbed of armed movements, with the BLA most prominent among them. They accuse the central government in Islamabad of exploiting the province’s rich oil and mineral resources to the detriment of the local population in the country’s largest and least-populated province, which borders Iran and Afghanistan. On Monday, the BLA – designated a “terrorist group” by Pakistan, the United Kingdom and the United States – claimed responsibility for an attack targeting Chinese nationals near Pakistan’s largest airport. The Chinese embassy in Pakistan said at least two of its citizens were killed and a third injured after their convoy was targeted with an improvised explosive device believed to have been detonated by a suicide bomber. Local media reports suggest at least 10 people were injured in total, with four cars destroyed in the explosion and 10 more vehicles damaged in the resulting fire. Adblock test (Why?)

Chicago spent $80K to renovate office for first lady Johnson as city faces billion dollar budget shortfall

Chicago spent K to renovate office for first lady Johnson as city faces billion dollar budget shortfall

Invoices and receipts from Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration have raised new questions about extravagant spending as the city faces a nearly billion dollar budget shortfall. Documents uncovered by local news station NBC 5 revealed that in the grip of fiscal crisis, the city spent more than $80,000 to redecorate and renovate an office in the Chicago Cultural Center for first lady Stacie Johnson.  “The invoices and receipts, obtained by NBC 5 Investigates through a series of Freedom of Information Act requests, show that work order requests began in February and continued through August of this year to renovate and redecorate Room 306 in the Chicago Cultural Center,” the report said.  Electricians, carpenters and painters on the city’s payroll were contracted for the work, according to an invoice from the city’s Fleet and Facility Management department, also called 2FM, NBC 5 reported. The workers accrued more than 350 hours of labor at a cost of over $25,000. CHICAGO PROSECUTOR DECLINES TO CHARGE ‘DANGEROUS’ COLUMBIAN MIGRANT IN SHOOTING DEATH OF 17-YEAR-OLD Another invoice reportedly shows the city paid more than $43,000 for furniture, including a $2,200 office chair and a $4,400 desk labeled the “First Lady’s Desk” on the document. The city spent another $4,600 on a desk for a staffer and more than $8,300 on two club chairs, according to the outlet. The invoice was dated Aug. 13, with a Sept. 12 due date, NBC 5 reported. Mayor Johnson’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.  CHICAGO MAYOR COMPARES VIEWPOINT OF THOSE WHO DISAGREE WITH HIM ABOUT SCHOOL SPENDING TO SLAVERY Confronted with the invoices and asked to defend the city’s spending, Johnson told NBC 5, “So, the Cultural Center has always been a location for dignitaries; every first lady has had office space there. Renovations for my office or any other office is standard procedure. Our commitment to invest in people is still to invest in people.” The mayor pushed back against follow-up questions about the optics of excessive spending at a time when his administration is considering layoffs of city workers to cut costs. ENTIRE CHICAGO SCHOOL BOARD TO RESIGN OVER TEACHERS UNION DISPUTE WITH DEM MAYOR: ‘DEEPLY ALARMING’ “The purchase of a desk is not going to change the financial structural damage that has been in place for a very long time. So this is why we ask – and I mean this respectfully – we ask far more profound questions than that. We ask, how do we make sure that the structural damage that’s been created over the course of decades – we reroute the rivers, if you will, to make sure that we get to the places where there is dry land. And that’s what we are doing,” he said.  When NBC 5 pressed the issue, Johnson criticized the outlet’s questions. “So I’ve been mayor for 17 months, and you have a question of how I feel about optics? Just go back on review the tape. If I were to allow my leadership to be based on someone’s opinion of me, it would be a derelict of duty. I never question my position to invest in people. I don’t do this for optics; I do this to transform lives.”  The mayor said he is more focused on the optics of hiring young people for summer jobs, building affordable housing and ensuring that schools have counselors and social workers, as well as investing in Chicago’s South and West sides.  But Johnson still has not put forward a plan to close the city’s projected $982 million budget gap. 

Mask mandates return for health care facilities in deep blue state

Mask mandates return for health care facilities in deep blue state

Mask mandates are returning for a limited time during cold and flu season in the heart of deep-blue California’s San Francisco Bay Area. With winter fast approaching, several Bay Area counties have recently issued health orders requiring that face makes be worn in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and other health care settings beginning on Nov. 1 and extending through either March 31 or April 30, 2025, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The new mandates were put into effect to prevent the spread of the flu, COVID and other seasonal illnesses. The requirements only apply to health care workers except in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, which also require visitors to put on masks. Santa Clara is also requiring that patients mask up, according to the outlet. TOP REPUBLICAN DEMANDS ANSWERS AS BILLIONS IN FEMA RELIEF ARE STILL GOING TO COVID: ‘LEGITIMATE CONCERN’ Localities that have issued health orders include Alameda, Contra Costa, Santa Clara, San Mateo and Napa counties.  Health care facilities that must abide by the orders include hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, dialysis centers and infusion centers. HEART ATTACK AND STROKE MAY RISE AFTER COVID INFECTION, STUDY FINDS Santa Clara County will exempt children under age 2 and people with medical conditions for whom wearing a mask could obstruct breathing or who are unconscious, incapacitated or otherwise unable to remove a mask without assistance.  Though far less restrictive than pandemic-era COVID mandates, the masking requirements still invited opposition from critics. FORMER NIH OFFICIAL ACCUSED OF MAKING EMAILS ‘DISAPPEAR’ PLEADS FIFTH TO COVID SUBCOMMITTEE  “Mask mandates are making a comeback in California,” said Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., who faces a challenge from Democrat Jessica Morse. “My opponent, a Newsom staffer, supports toddler masking. America’s leading masker of 2-year-olds, Xavier Becerra, is plotting a run for governor. We must elect the right people to assure history doesn’t repeat itself.”  The masking orders are similar to health orders issued during last year’s cold and flu season.  In January, several New York City public hospitals joined health care facilities in states across the country in reinstating mask mandates in response to a spike in COVID-19 cases and influenza infections.  The mandates were lifted once flu season ended.