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Robber shot and killed by customer at DeKalb Mod pizza

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01/31/2022

Robber shot and killed by customer at DeKalb Mod pizza

A would-be robber was fatally shot by a customer in a pizza restaurant on Friday night, authorities said, according to AJC.

A restaurant manager declined to comment to the AJC about the attempted robbery and ensuing gunfire due to the ongoing police investigation.

About 10 p.m., DeKalb County police officers responded to an armed robbery call at MOD Pizza off Blackmon Drive, which is just north of the city limits of Avondale Estates and Decatur. When police arrived, they found a man across the street who had been shot.

Investigators said the man, identified as 24-year-old Ontario Davis, was trying to rob the restaurant at gunpoint before a customer shot him inside the business. The customer will not be charged, police said.

The alleged robber was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

North Korea confirms test of missile capable of striking Guam

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01/31/2022

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North Korea confirms test of missile capable of striking Guam

North Korea confirmed Monday it test-launched an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam, the North’s most significant weapon launch in years, as Washington plans steps to show its commitment to its Asian allies, according to AP.

North Korea said the missile was launched toward waters off its east coast on a high angle to prevent flying over other countries. It gave no further details.

Sunday’s launch could be a prelude to bigger provocations by North Korea such as nuclear and long-range missile tests that pose a direct threat to the U.S. mainland, as the North tries to further pressure the Biden administration to win sanction relief or international recognition as a legitimate nuclear state.

The official Korean Central News Agency said the purpose of the test was verifying the overall accuracy of the Hwasong-12 missile that is being deployed in its military.

BTS member V sets another record with ‘Christmas Tree’

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01/31/2022

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BTS member V sets another record with ‘Christmas Tree’

BTS singer V, real name Kim Tae-hyung, continues making waves with his captivating vocals as his song Christmas Treehas set another record, according to Geo.tv

The warmly-received track, which is an OST, recorded for Korean drama Our Beloved Summer, has managed to rank on weekly chart of Spotify’s Global Top 200 for the second time.

As the song bagged a promising spot on the charts, it has become the longest-charting Korean OST.

The music streaming platform on January 30 announced that the much-loved song landed on the platform’s Korean Top 200 list from January 26 to 27.

The recent rankings have crowned the Winter Bear song-maker with the title of the first Korean male soloist to secure the top most spot on the chart.

The 26-year-old K-pop idol also became that fastest Korean male artist to have his song streamed over 30 million times on Spotify within 29 days of its launch.

Meanwhile, fans have been awe-struck by the melodious song even in Japan as record-breaking downloads were observed on its first day of release. It has also ranked No.1 on Billboard’s Digital Song Sales chart.

USCIS to accept H-1B visa registrations from March 1, 2022

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01/31/2022

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USCIS to accept H-1B visa registrations from March 1, 2022

Every year, the US issues 65,000 new H-1B visas, with another 20,000 reserved for US Masters’ degree holders. Indians have been among the biggest beneficiaries of this visa program, receiving about 70% of the new visas issued each year. In the last few years, the USCIS has had to conduct multiple lotteries to allocate all the visas as it did not receive enough final applications following the initial selection. This was attributed to a mix of factors, including reduced travel and mobility on account of the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to Economictimes, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Friday said that the initial registrations for the H-1B visas would start on March 1 and remain open till March 18, 2022, for the fiscal year starting October 2022. During this period, prospective petitioners and representatives will be able to complete and submit their registrations using our online H-1B registration system, it said in a press release.

USCIS will assign a confirmation number to each registration submitted for the FY 2023 H-1B cap, which can be used to track registrations. Under the new system the agency now follows, applicants will register electronically and pay a $10 registration fee. “If we receive enough registrations by March 18, we will randomly select registrations and send selection notifications via users’ myUSCIS online accounts. We intend to notify account holders by March 31,” it said in a statement.

Amazon had the most approved H-1B petitions for initial employment in FY 2021 with 6,182 approvals, followed by Infosys (5,256), TCS (3,063), Wipro (2,121) Cognizant (1,481), Google (1,453), IBM (1,402), HCL America (1,299) and Microsoft (1,240). The overall rate of visa denials dropped to 4% in FY2021, following a change in how USCIS adjudicates applications for workers employed at third-party sites.

Beijing says the cost of 2022 Winter Games is $3.9 billion. But the real cost more than $38.5 billion

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01/31/2022

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Beijing says the cost of 2022 Winter Games is $3.9 billion. But the real cost more than $38.5 billion

When Chinese leader Xi Jinping toured Beijing’s Winter Games venues in November, he expressed modest ambitions for the Olympics — that they be “Green, safe, and simple.” It was a pared-down vision, in stark contrast to the pomp and circumstance of the country’s 2008 Summer Games and its $42 billion price tag.

According to official tallies, at least, Beijing appeared to keep with Xi’s mission. With a price tag of $3.9 billion, the 2022 Beijing Olympics are, on paper, the least expensive Games in the last two decades. But questions have arisen as to whether China accurately reported how much it has spent to make the global athletic competition happen. Insider’s investigation into the numbers revealed that the actual sum is in excess of $38.5 billion, 10 times the official budget, according to Insider.

China’s lack of transparency might have given it bragging rights, with the state-linked mediatouting claims of the country’s immense “strength” and ability to host a mega-sporting event at a fraction of the price of the Tokyo Summer Games and the Sochi Olympics. But this claim is inaccurate at best and a gross underestimation of just how much it takes for countries to host the Games.

China, he continued, isn’t “talking about the transportation infrastructure. They’re not talking about the sporting infrastructure. They’re not talking about the cost of building the Olympic village. And so any so-called official numbers or budgetary figures that come out of any of these games is highly suspect,” Zimbalist added.

There are dozens of line items left off Beijing’s official tally, Insider found.

For one, conspicuously absent from Beijing’s current list of costs is the National Speed Skating Oval. Also known as the Ice Ribbon, it was completed in 2020 and estimated in 2017 to cost the government around $186.6 million to build. It also repurposed several venues constructed for the 2008 Games, including the Bird’s Nest, Beijing’s national stadium, and the Water Cube, the city’s aquatics center. However, it’s unclear how much China spent to refurbish the venues.

Many of China’s biggest ticket items fall under the category of “capital improvements,” which the International Olympics Committee classifies as separate from other types of Games expenses.

Many of China’s capital improvements have centered on Yanqing and Zhangjiakou, two satellite locations for the Games.

China converted Yanqing, a district in northwest Beijing, into a glistening series of arenas with an alpine ski center and a separate Olympic Village to accommodate over 1,400 athletes and officials. A second Olympic Village in Beijing’s city center designed to house around 2,300 athletes cost an estimated $3.16 billion, according to 2019 figures.

The country spent an estimated $442.9 million to construct bobsled, skeleton, luge, and alpine skiing venues in Yanqing. Separately, Xinhua reported, two dozen unnamed corporations donated an additional $514.1 million to Yanqing’s development, though this amount was billed as cash investments to develop the district.

Building out Olympics satellite locations also requires a robust transportation infrastructure. So China spruced up Zhangjiakou’s Ningyuan airport at the cost of $205.6 million andpumped $15.02 billion into building new highways to ensure connectivity between the satellite areas just in time for the Olympics.

China poured another $5.18 billion into building 50 projects related to its Olympic venues in Zhangjiakou, a city of around 1.5 million that’s known as “the Gateway to Beijing.” One of those projects is the country’s third Olympic village, which will house an additional 2,640 people. It also contains competition venues like the Genting Snow Park, the National Biathlon Center, the National Ski Jumping Center, and the National Cross-Country Center.

Another $773.5 million is estimated to have gone into the Beijing Winter Olympics Subway Line, built specifically to cater to the Winter Games.

And the country spent another $9.2 billion on a driverless bullet train designed to ferry passengers between Zhangjiakou and Beijing within 50 minutes, down from an initial travel time of three hours.

Proverbs 3:12

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01/29/2022

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because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. – Proverbs 3:12, NIV

[MV] EXO, ‘Don’t fight the feeling’

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01/29/2022

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EXO’s Special Album “DON’T FIGHT THE FEELING” is out! Listen and download on your favorite platform: https://smarturl.it/EXO_DFTF

[Tracklist]

#EXO #엑소 #DONT_FIGHT_THE_FEELING EXO 엑소 ‘Don’t fight the feeling’ MV ℗ SM Entertainment

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Thousands of police officers joined to pay their respects to the fallen officer

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01/28/2022

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Thousands of police officers joined to pay their respects to the fallen officer

Thousands of police officers joined top New York officials at the historic Manhattan church to pay their respects to the 22-year-old fallen officer.

Thousands of mourners paid their respects during a public wake on Thursday when Rivera’s casket, wrapped in an NYPD flag, was escorted into the cathedral.

Rivera’s widow Dominique Rivera penned a moving message after his wake, writing on Instagram: “This is probably the heaviest my heart has ever felt.

“Mi media naranja (my half-orange), like my mother in law used to call him, left me feeling so empty. I love you so much mi pollito in heaven. See you later.”

Rivera, who married his wife in October, was killed when deranged career criminal Lashawn McNeil ambushed him and his partner, officer Wilbert Mora during a domestic violence call in Harlem on Friday, according to NYPOST

Mora, who died Tuesday from injuries, is due to be mourned next at a funeral at St. Patrick’s next week.

The suspect was shot by a third officer, rookie Sumit Sulan, during the attack on Rivera and Mora and died from his wounds earlier this week.

Mayor Eric Adams, Gov. Kathy Hochul, Attorney General Letitia James and NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell were all in attendance for the 9 a.m. service. Three former police commissioners — Dermot Shea, Ray Kelly and William Bratton – joined the dignitaries inside.

Also among the mourners was the widow and parents of Wenjian Liu – the NYPD cop executed alongside his partner in Brooklyn in 2014. Liu’s family were hugged by several officers before making their way into the church.

Jason Rivera — Rivera, a rookie cop, was killed in the line of duty last week.Courtesy of NYPD via AP

Rivera’s service was only open to invited guests, but New Yorkers still gathered as snow fell outside the church to honor the slain officer.

“I just have to be here for him and his family,” Isaac Krinsky, 61, of the Lower East Side, told The Post. “He gave his life not just for me but for all New Yorkers. They put their lives on the line for all residents of the city and pay the ultimate price.”

Miguel Melendez, 60, and his son Mason, 10, traveled from their home Baldwin Harbor in Nassau County to claim a spot outside the cathedral.

“It’s a tragedy what happened,” Melendez said. “If it didn’t touch your heart, you’re not human.

“I woke my son up at 5:30 a.m., pulled him out of school and said ‘you’re coming with me to see how someone paid the ultimate sacrifice for trying to unite our community’. This hatred towards cops has to end. It is unspeakable what has happened.”

Jim O’Neill, an NYPD detective, said: “I think he’s definitely a New York hero. He gave it his all. I admire the man that he was and I’m feeling great sorry for his family.

Georgians oppose permit-less gun carry according to AJC Poll

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01/28/2022

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Georgians oppose permit-less gun carry according to AJC Poll

According to AJC, nearly seven in 10 Georgia voters responding to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll say they are opposed to legislation to allow people to carry concealed weapons without a license, and more than two-thirds oppose overturning the decades-old U.S. Supreme Court decision that guaranteed the right to an abortion.

The results suggest that Georgians do not want a return of the “culture wars,” the pursuit of hot-button topics that play to each party’s political base that are common during statewide election years.

The AJC poll involved 872 registered Georgia voters and was conducted Jan. 13-24 by the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs. The margin of error is 3.3 percentage points.

Nearly 70% of poll respondents said they do not believe adults in Georgia should be allowed to carry concealed handguns in public without first getting a license. Almost 28% of respondents said they support the idea.

When contacted by the AJC, many voters said there should be some legal step taken before people are allowed to carry a concealed handgun in public.

Chelsea Leitch, a 31-year-old Decatur resident who works for a medical software company, said getting rid of the concealed carry licensing process is “setting ourselves up for failure.”

“How can we make getting guns so easy when we have so many shootings in schools?” Leitch said. “If there’s more barriers, it’s better. I don’t think getting rid of the barriers will make us safer.”

State Sen. Jason Anavitarte, a Dallas Republican, has filed legislation that would rid Georgia of the concealed carry licensing process. Gov. Brian Kemp — who faces a stiff GOP primary fight for reelection — said he supports passing permit-less carry legislation this year.

Evon Kelly, an 80-year-old retired small-business owner from Gainesville, said he opposes the idea of carrying guns without licenses because he thinks the Second Amendment is rooted in racism.

“Those who advocate being able to carry guns see themselves being enabled to protect themselves against others — largely people of color and largely Black people,” said Kelly, who is Black. “It astounds me, frankly.”

About 68% of Georgia voters polled said they did not want the court to overturn Roe v. Wade, which would allow states to put stricter restrictions on abortions. Under the 1973 court decision, women can get an abortion before a fetus would be viable on its own outside the womb, usually around 24 weeks after pregnancy. About 24% of voters think the law should be overturned.

Those numbers dipped slightly from a 2019 poll taken shortly after Georgia passed a law that would ban most abortions when a doctor can detect fetal cardiac activity, typically at about six weeks into a pregnancy. The federal court blocked that law from taking effect, and the case is being appealed.

In 2019, just more than 70% of voters said Roe v. Wade should stand, and a little more than 24% of voters wanted the law to be overturned.

Chris Tipper, an engineer from Sylvester, said abortion shouldn’t be legal.

“In the case where it was actually going to kill the mother or something, (abortion is OK), but I just can’t say I’m on board in general,” said Tipper, 50. “I get that for women, it’s their bodies and all that, but it’s a distinct human life apart from a mother or the father.”

Most people polled this year said Georgia’s abortion law shouldn’t take effect if Roe v. Wade is overturned — about 54%. About 38% of respondents said the 2019 law should stand. About 8% said they did not know whether they support or oppose the law.

Those with opinions had strong ones — about 44% of those polled said they “strongly opposed” the legislation, and almost 26% “strongly support” it.

Opposition to the 2019 law has grown slightly since it first passed the General Assembly, when poll respondents were essentially split. According to the 2019 AJC poll, about 49% opposed the bill, with about 44% saying they supported it.

In the latest poll, Sharrow Hooks, a 48-year-old medical records coder from Albany, said there are several reasons a woman might seek an abortion, and she should have the option available.

“I’m of the mindset that a woman has the right to choose,” she said. “Just because a woman has a baby, it doesn’t make her a mother. Some women are not mother material and they know that. So why bring a life into the world if you’re not going to be responsible and do what you need to do as a parent?”

Leitch, the Decatur poll respondent, said she strongly opposes overturning Roe v. Wade.

“Absolutely not,” she said. “Keep your religion out of my government.”

AJC poll

The poll was conducted Jan. 13-24 for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution by the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs. It questioned 872 registered voters and has a margin of error of 3.3 percentage points.

Do you agree or disagree that adults in Georgia should be allowed to carry concealed handguns in public without a license?

Strongly agree – 21%

Somewhat agree – 7%

Somewhat disagree – 10%

Strongly disagree – 60%

Don’t know; refused to answer – 3%

In 1973 the Roe v. Wade decision established a woman’s constitutional right to an abortion. Would you like to see the Supreme Court completely overturn its Roe v. Wade decision or not?

Yes, should be overturned – 24%

No, should not be overturned – 68%

Don’t know; refused to answer – 8%

A 2019 Georgia law bans virtually all abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy, except in cases of rape and incest that are reported to authorities. The law is currently blocked from taking effect by a federal court. If the U.S. Supreme Court allows states to impose abortion restrictions, do you support or oppose the Georgia law from going into effect?

Strongly support – 26%

Somewhat support – 12%

Somewhat oppose – 10%

Strongly oppose – 44%

Don’t know; refused to answer – 8%

Poll information: The survey was administered by the School of Public and International Affairs Survey Research Center at the University of Georgia. The AJC-SPIA Poll was conducted Jan. 13-24 and included a total of 872 registered voters in Georgia. The calculated margin of error for the total sample is +/-3.3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

Malaysia floods caused nearly $1.5 billion in losses

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01/28/2022

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Malaysia floods caused nearly $1.5 billion in losses

Floods that had devastated much of Malaysia in recent weeks have caused an estimated 6.1 billion ringgit ($1.46 billion) in overall losses, a government report said on Friday.

Malaysia’s government has previously said it would provide about 1.4 billion ringgit ($334.37 million) in cash aid and other forms of relief to those affected by the floods, as stated in Reuters.

In a special report on the floods’ impact, the Department of Statistics said damage to public assets and infrastructure caused losses of 2 billion ringgit, followed by 1.6 billion ringgit in damage to homes.

Manufacturing losses accounted for 900 million ringgit, most of which were recorded in the central state of Selangor, one of the country’s wealthiest and populous regions surrounding the capital Kuala Lumpur.

Selangor was also the worst hit overall, with about half of Malaysia’s losses recorded in the state, the report said.

The department also reported heavy damage to vehicles, business premises and the agricultural sector.

Dozens of people died while more than 120,000 were displaced after unusually heavy rain caused severe flooding in multiple states in mid-December and early January.