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Tim Walz accepts turkey presentation as he eases back into his duties as Minnesota's governor
KyKy Tandy, FAU close out Oklahoma State in CharlestonBy BASSEM MROUE and ZEINA KARAM BEIRUT (AP) — The Syrian government appeared to have fallen early Sunday in a stunning end to the 50-year rule of the Assad family after a lightning rebel offensive. The head of a Syrian opposition war monitor said President Bashar Assad had left the country for an undisclosed location, fleeing ahead of insurgents who said they had entered Damascus after a remarkably swift advance across the country. Syrian Prime Minister Mohammed Ghazi Jalali said the government was ready to “extend its hand” to the opposition and hand over its functions to a transitional government. “I am in my house and I have not left, and this is because of my belonging to this country,” Jalili said in a video statement. He said he would go to his office to continue work in the morning and called on Syrian citizens not to deface public property. He did not address reports that Assad had left the country. Rami Abdurrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights told The Associated Press that Assad took a flight Sunday from Damascus. State television in Iran, Assad’s main backer in the years of war in Syria, reported that Assad had left the capital. It cited Qatar’s Al Jazeera news network for the information and did not elaborate. There was no immediate statement from the Syrian government. An Associated Press journalist in Damascus reported seeing groups of armed residents along the road in the outskirts of the capital and hearing sounds of gunshots. The city’s main police headquarters appeared to be abandoned, its door left ajar with no officers outside. Another AP journalist shot footage of an abandoned army checkpoint where uniforms were discarded on the ground under a poster of Assad’s face. Residents of the capital reported hearing gunfire and explosions. Footage broadcast on opposition-linked media showed a tank in one of the capital’s central squares while a small group of people gathered in celebration. Calls of “God is great” rang out from mosques. It was the first time opposition forces had reached Damascus since 2018, when Syrian troops recaptured areas on the outskirts of the capital following a yearslong siege. The pro-government Sham FM radio reported that the Damascus airport had been evacuated and all flights halted. The insurgents also announced they had entered the notorious Saydnaya military prison north of the capital and “liberated” their prisoners there. The night before, opposition forces took the central city of Homs, Syria’s third largest, as government forces abandoned it. The city stands at an important intersection between Damascus, the capital, and Syria’s coastal provinces of Latakia and Tartus — the Syrian leader’s base of support and home to a Russian strategic naval base. The rebels had already seized the cities of Aleppo and Hama , as well as large parts of the south, in a lightning offensive that began Nov. 27. Analysts said rebel control of Homs would be a game-changer. The rebels’ moves into Damascus came after the Syrian army withdrew from much of southern part of the country, leaving more areas, including several provincial capitals, under the control of opposition fighters. The fall of Damascus would leave government forces in control of only two of 14 provincial capitals: Latakia and Tartus. The advances in the past week were by far the largest in recent years by opposition factions, led by a group that has its origins in al-Qaida and is considered a terrorist organization by the U.S. and the United Nations. In their push to overthrow Assad’s government, the insurgents, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, or HTS, have met little resistance from the Syrian army. The rapid rebel gains, coupled with the lack of support from Assad’s erstwhile allies, posed the most serious threat to his rule since the start of the war. The U.N.’s special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, called Saturday for urgent talks in Geneva to ensure an “orderly political transition.” Speaking to reporters at the annual Doha Forum in Qatar, he said the situation in Syria was changing by the minute. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, whose country is Assad’s chief international backer, said he feels “sorry for the Syrian people.” In Damascus, people rushed to stock up on supplies. Thousands went to Syria’s border with Lebanon, trying to leave the country. Lebanese border officials closed the main Masnaa border crossing late Saturday, leaving many stuck waiting. Many shops in the capital were shuttered, a resident told The Associated Press, and those still open ran out of staples such as sugar. Some were selling items at three times the normal price. The U.N. said it was moving noncritical staff outside the country as a precaution. Assad’s status Syria’s state media denied social media rumors that Assad left the country, saying he was performing his duties in Damascus. He has had little, if any, help from his allies. Russia is busy with its war in Ukraine . Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which at one point sent thousands of fighters to shore up Assad’s forces, has been weakened by a yearlong conflict with Israel. Iran has seen its proxies across the region degraded by regular Israeli airstrikes. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Saturday posted on social media that the United States should avoid engaging militarily in Syria . Separately, President Joe Biden’s national security adviser said the Biden administration had no intention of intervening there. Pedersen said a date for talks in Geneva on the implementation of a U.N. resolution, adopted in 2015 and calling for a Syrian-led political process, would be announced later. The resolution calls for the establishment of a transitional governing body, followed by the drafting of a new constitution and ending with U.N.-supervised elections. Later Saturday, foreign ministers and senior diplomats from eight key countries, including Saudi Arabia, Russia, Egypt, Turkey and Iran, along with Pederson, gathered on the sidelines of the Doha Summit to discuss the situation in Syria. In a statement, the participants affirmed their support for a political solution to the Syrian crisis “that would lead to the end of military activity and protect civilians.” The insurgents’ march A commander with the insurgents, Hassan Abdul-Ghani, posted on the Telegram messaging app that opposition forces had begun the “final stage” of their offensive by encircling Damascus. HTS controls much of northwest Syria and in 2017 set up a “salvation government” to run day-to-day affairs in the region. In recent years, HTS leader Abu Mohammed al-Golani has sought to remake the group’s image, cutting ties with al-Qaida, ditching hard-line officials and vowing to embrace pluralism and religious tolerance. The shock offensive began Nov. 27, during which gunmen captured the northern city of Aleppo, Syria’s largest, and the central city of Hama , the country’s fourth-largest city. The Syrian government has referred to opposition gunmen as terrorists since conflict broke out in March 2011. Qatar’s top diplomat, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, criticized Assad for failing to take advantage of the lull in fighting in recent years to address the country’s underlying problems. “Assad didn’t seize this opportunity to start engaging and restoring his relationship with his people,” he said. ____ Karam reported from London. Associated Press writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria; Abby Sewell in Beirut; Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Baghdad; Josef Federman and Victoria Eastwood in Doha, Qatar; and Ellen Knickmeyer in Washington contributed to this report.
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Municipal officials are considering an end to water fluoridation on the island of Montreal in a move spurred by a petition from a resident who claims he has the support of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. A council representing Montreal and the suburban municipalities on the island will vote Thursday evening on whether to stop the practice in the six West Island suburbs that treat their water with fluoride. The Montreal agglomeration council says it began to study the issue after receiving a petition in 2020 from resident Ray Coelho, who says he has spoken to Kennedy on a few occasions. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who has been tapped by U.S. president-elect Donald Trump to be his health secretary, claims that fluoride is an “industrial waste” linked to a range of health problems, and has said the Trump administration will remove fluoride from the U.S. public water supply. Heidi Ektvedt, mayor of one of the affected communities, says the city only told her about its plan in September, four years after receiving the petition, and she says residents haven’t been consulted. The Montreal water department says its recommendation to stop putting fluoride in the water is based on technical and economic factors, though it notes that public health officials are in favour of fluoridation as an effective way to reduce tooth decay.
By Michelle Marchante, Miami Herald (TNS) MIAMI — As her students finished their online exam, Arlet Lara got up to make a cafe con leche . Her 16-year-old son found her on the kitchen floor. First, he called Dad in a panic. Then 911. “I had a stroke and my life made a 180-degree turn,” Lara told the Miami Herald, recalling the medical scare she experienced in May 2020 in the early months of the COVID pandemic. “The stroke affected my left side of the body,” the North Miami woman and former high school math teacher said. Lara, an avid runner and gym goer, couldn’t even walk. “It was hard,” the 50-year-old mom said. After years of rehabilitation therapy and a foot surgery, Lara can walk again. But she still struggles with moving. This summer, she became the first patient in South Florida to get an implant of a new and only FDA-approved nerve stimulation device designed to help ischemic stroke survivors regain movement in their arms and hands. This first procedure was at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami. Lara’s rehab was at at the Christine E. Lynn Rehabilitation Center for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, part of a partnership between Jackson Health System and UHealth. Every year, thousands in the United States have a stroke , with one occurring every 40 seconds, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The majority of strokes are ischemic, often caused by blood clots that obstruct blood flow to the brain. For survivors, most of whom are left with some level of disability, the Vivistim Paired VNS System, the device implanted in Lara’s chest, could be a game changer in recovery, said Dr. Robert Starke, a UHealth neurosurgeon and interventional neuroradiologist. He also serves as co-director of endovascular neurosurgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital, part of Miami-Dade’s public hospital system. Arlet Lara, the first patient in South Florida to get an FDA-approved nerve stimulation implant, right, runs into her rehabilitation neurology physician Dr. Gemayaret Alvarez, before her physical therapy appointment on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, at Lynn Rehabilitation Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The implant is designed to help stroke survivors regain function in their arms. (Alie Skowronski/Miami Herald/TNS) Arlet Lara, the first patient in South Florida to get an FDA-approved nerve stimulation implant designed to help stroke survivors regain function in their arms, goes through exercises while her therapist activates the device during her physical therapy appointment on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, at Lynn Rehabilitation Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The activation works as positive reinforcement to her muscles when she completes the exercise correctly. (Alie Skowronski/Miami Herald/TNS) Arlet Lara, the first patient in South Florida to get an FDA-approved nerve stimulation implant, does an exercise while Neil Batungbakal, rehabilitation therapist, activates the implant with the black trigger during her physical therapy appointment on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, at Lynn Rehabilitation Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The implant is designed to help stroke survivors regain function in their arms. The activation works as positive reinforcement to her muscles when she completes the exercise correctly. (Alie Skowronski/Miami Herald/TNS) Arlet Lara, the first patient in South Florida to get an FDA- approved nerve stimulation implant, does an exercise while Neil Batungbakal, rehabilitation therapist, activates the implant with the black trigger during her physical therapy appointment on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, at Lynn Rehabilitation Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Arlet Lara, the first patient in South Florida to get an FDA-approved nerve stimulation implant, right, runs into her rehabilitation neurology physician Dr. Gemayaret Alvarez, before her physical therapy appointment on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024, at Lynn Rehabilitation Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. The implant is designed to help stroke survivors regain function in their arms. (Alie Skowronski/Miami Herald/TNS) What to know about the stroke device The Vivistim Paired VNS System is a small pacemaker-like device implanted in the upper chest and neck area. Patients can go home the same day. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the stroke rehabilitation system in 2021 to be used alongside post-ischemic stroke rehabilitation therapy to treat moderate to severe mobility issues in hands and arms. Lara’s occupational therapist can activate the device during rehabilitation sessions to electrically stimulate the vagus nerve, which runs from the brain down to the abdomen and regulates various parts of the body’s nervous system. The electrical stimulation rewires the brain to improve a stroke survivor’s ability to move their arms and hands. How it worked on the first Jackson patient Lara also has a magnet she can use to activate the device when she wants to practice at home. Her therapy consists of repetitive tasks, including coloring, pinching cubes and grabbing and releasing cylindrical shapes. After several weeks of rehabilitation therapy with the device, Lara has seen improvement. “Little by little, I’m noticing that my hand is getting stronger. I am already able to brush my teeth with the left hand,” she told the Miami Herald in September. Since then, Lara has finished the initial six-week Vivitism therapy program, and is continuing to use the device in her rehabilitation therapy. She continues to improve and can now eat better with her left hand and can brush her hair with less difficulty, according to her occupational therapist, Neil Batungbakal. Lara learned about the device through an online group for stroke survivors and contacted the company to inquire. She then connected them with her Jackson medical team. Now a year later, the device is available to Jackson patients. So far, four patients have received the implant at Jackson. Starke sees the device as an opportunity to help bring survivors one step closer to regaining full mobility. Strokes are a leading cause of disability worldwide. While most stroke survivors can usually recover some function through treatment and rehabilitation, they tend to hit a “major plateau” after the first six months of recovery, he said. Vivistim, when paired with rehabilitation therapy, could change that. Jackson Health said results of a clinical trial published in the peer-reviewed medical journal The Lancet in 2021 showed that the device, “when paired with high-repetition, task-specific occupational or physical therapy, helps generate two to three times more hand and arm function for stroke survivors than rehabilitation therapy alone.” The device has even shown to benefit patients 20 years from their original stroke, according to Starke. “So now a lot of these patients that had strokes 10-15 years ago that thought that they would never be able to use their arm in any sort of real functional way are now able to have a real meaningful function, which is pretty tremendous,” Starke said. More about the device Vivistim’s vagus-nerve stimulation technology was developed by researchers at the University of Texas at Dallas’ Texas Biomedical Device Center and is being sold commercially by Austin-based MicroTransponder, a company started by university graduates. Similar devices are used to treat epilepsy and depression . For Lara, the device is a new tool to help her recovery journey. “Everything becomes a challenge so we are working with small things every day because I want to get back as many functions as possible,” Lara said. Patients interested in Vivistim should speak with their doctor to check their eligibility. The FDA said patients should make sure to discuss any prior medical history, including concurrent forms of brain stimulation, current diathermy treatment, previous brain surgery, depression, respiratory diseases and disorders such as asthma, and cardiac abnormalities. “Adverse events included but were not limited to dysphonia (difficulty speaking), bruising, falling, general hoarseness, general pain, hoarseness after surgery, low mood, muscle pain, fracture, headache, rash, dizziness, throat irritation, urinary tract infection and fatigue,” the FDA said. MicroTransponder says the device is “covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance with prior authorization on a case-by-case basis.” To learn more about the device, visit vivistim.com. ©2024 Miami Herald. Visit at miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.LOS ANGELES , Nov. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Appotronics, the inventor of the ALPD® laser display technology, recently participated in the Laser Illuminated Projector Association (LIPA) Annual General Meeting held in Los Angeles , United States . During the event, the company showcased its optics solutions designed for both the interior and exterior of vehicles, emphasizing their versatility in functions such as illumination, entertainment, and V2X (Vehicle to Everything) communication. Meng Han , senior director of Appotronics, addressed the attendees, which included laser illumination and display technology experts, market analysts, and trend observers. He emphasized that the automotive industry is undergoing a transformation from internal combustion engines to autonomous electric vehicles, creating ample opportunities for laser projectors. This shift typically results in more internal space for entertainment features, such as in-car theaters and laser display-enabled human-vehicle communication both inside and outside the vehicle. "We have done the study, finding many people like it, " said Han, citing the example of Appotronics' rollable giant laser display screen, which is equipped on the Seres AITO M9, a top-selling SUV priced above RMB 500,000 in China . The SUV has received over 170,000 orders since its debut late last year, indicating a strong market demand for such innovative features. Han further pointed out that more laser display technology will be applied within the cabin as a supplement to the current LCD panels, transforming the cabin into an immersive and comfortable third living space. "As for the long future, the future isn't more screens—or even screens at all." Han cited Alfonso Albaisa , Design Chief of Nissan, emphasizing that laser display offers numerous advantages, such as easy modeling, free-form surfaces, design flexibility, safety, and sustainability and can be utilized for projections inside the cabin, on the sunroof, side windows, or even on the windshield. Afterwards, Xin Yu , vice president of Appotronics, introduced the company's intelligent digital colorful laser headlight as an example of immersive exterior display . This innovative light is equipped on the newly-released Smart #5 vehicle, enabling car users to enjoy movies while camping. Yu announced that the product is currently available in China and will soon be launched in Europe and Australia . Yu also demonstrated the company's All-in-One laser headlamp, which fulfills multiple functions, including intelligent signaling displays (ISD), adaptive driving beam (ADB) systems, V2X communications, and entertainment. He revealed that the multi-functional headlamp will soon enter mass production and will be showcased at CES 2025, which is scheduled to be held in Las Vegas between January 7 and January 10 . Other automotive optics solutions from Appotronics will also be displayed at the event. "So hopefully in the future, we have more friends together in this industry to make more interesting applications and build up more markets for laser innovation." Yu concluded, adding that he expects more "concepts" of laser technology to turn into "reality" in the automotive sector, just as laser technology has revolutionized the cinema industry. In addition to Appotronics' updates, representatives from Texas Instruments, Epson, Panasonic, Seibersdorf Labs, OMDIA, PMA Research, Nordisk Cinema, Nichia America Corporation, Barco, Oxford University , LUMAfestival.com , and RSL Fiber Systems also shared insights on current laser-related regulations, technological advancements, and future trends at the annual meeting. View original content: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/appotronics-highlights-role-of-laser-technology-in-automotive-industry-at-prestigious-us-trade-conference-302315609.html SOURCE Appotronics Corporation Ltd.It was always rough to be a woman on Twitter. It’s even worse on X.