By NICK GOSNELL Hutch Post

HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kansas 
First District Congressman Tracey Mann sees the designation of the 
Northern Distinct Population Segment of the lesser prairie-chicken as a 
threatened species under the Endangered Species Act as about more than 
just that bird.

"The&nbsp;lesser prairie-chicken lives in areas from 
really western Kansas, eastern Colorado, down through the Oklahoma and 
Texas panhandle into New Mexico," Mann said. "At the end of the day 
though, this is a proxy war against our oil and gas producers and 
against agriculture as we know it. We've been fighting this thing tooth 
and nail and we will continue to. It was very disappointing to hear that
 news from the Biden administration."

The point is that drilling 
projects like the one currently ongoing in Pratt County would be much 
more difficult to execute with the additional regulation that comes with
 the lesser&nbsp;prairie-chicken designation.

"It's a little farther 
west from there, but let's just say that same company was doing that in 
Scott County, or you know, in Finney County, or one of our Kansas 
Independent Oil and Gas producers, if they want to drill a well, once 
this goes into effect, it's more paperwork," Mann said. "More fees to 
pay, more hoops to jump through, more people that can say no. We ought 
to be making it easier for our domestic oil and gas producers to do what
 they do best. With record high gas prices and with this war on fossil 
fuels that we're in, which makes absolutely no sense to me, let's make 
it easier for our ag producers and let's make it easier for our oil and 
gas producers."&nbsp; &nbsp;

Mann is also a co-sponsor of&nbsp;<a href="https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001VWEg0Kw2bG5hQYHKAJspPMH2uHtU-kKxtHOALRNc-oTuRacEYLudgFhQqewuaa24tdnXHaDJlldasQrMo2dvo7KWUxQdc9FwbMZdV7ImmiDYbN2sIhXs8HDmdJzLAFVBJ-qpnPos7-S1KftmL1kNlaBJXNuY6KZzG9APeKZBoAZ-YSTHCmgGEIY6ecxTzI3nTUQQmaVkIghXRvIMFlPDCyJww_jbR49krO4B-Ye4FmrBg0MUxl_G6EXnhSXqzQs0wrNZrZvPmoYLKR_Ms1JMUqJfIo1XoMNMGdQyCjwKOan3Jr8DWm5chFeEGmHHCcNqlpOQ60c8lzAL1DdnjiTBUEaFpjtFQMRiyCozlYy2D8_aR4VV1ScyxVecvEw0fgGhBozsryNCcC1XICU5KILl_fHWJIWR0OJEdeS8xOgRyrQMEuocZsViqzrAl80MgQ_tx-7cWx18UAiY2QPoMOhZidVojUE69Z2V&amp;c=CJXWYRFfN9TIlUfwvA0GxRRFCr-F3-ARWdE_M34-FgfgTaR7DAOl_g==&amp;ch=qS20CUInLDrNviAxg5hqD82vDqvNW06wmFOc1C0FKu-RVuh5d84IsA==" target="_blank">H.R. 4370, the Listing Reform Act</a>&nbsp;which
 would prohibit the Department of Interior from using any federal 
funding to list the Lesser Prairie-Chicken on the endangered species 
list.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1668724822944.png" alt="U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo" />
 <figcaption>U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service photo</figcaption>
 </figure>By NICK GOSNELL Hutch PostHUTCHINSON, Kan. — Kansas 
First District Congressman Tracey Mann sees the designation of the 
Northern Distinct Population Segment of the lesser prairie-chicken as a 
threatened species under the Endangered Species Act as about more than 
just that bird."The&nbsp;lesser prairie-chicken lives in areas from 
really western Kansas, eastern Colorado, down through the Oklahoma and 
Texas panhandle into New Mexico," Mann said. "At the end of the day 
though, this is a proxy war against our oil and gas producers and 
against agriculture as we know it. We've been fighting this thing tooth 
and nail and we will continue to. It was very disappointing to hear that
 news from the Biden administration."<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2021/11/1637681449641.png" alt="Mann" />
 <figcaption>Mann</figcaption>
 </figure>The point is that drilling 
projects like the one currently ongoing in Pratt County would be much 
more difficult to execute with the additional regulation that comes with
 the lesser&nbsp;prairie-chicken designation."It's a little farther 
west from there, but let's just say that same company was doing that in 
Scott County, or you know, in Finney County, or one of our Kansas 
Independent Oil and Gas producers, if they want to drill a well, once 
this goes into effect, it's more paperwork," Mann said. "More fees to 
pay, more hoops to jump through, more people that can say no. We ought 
to be making it easier for our domestic oil and gas producers to do what
 they do best. With record high gas prices and with this war on fossil 
fuels that we're in, which makes absolutely no sense to me, let's make 
it easier for our ag producers and let's make it easier for our oil and 
gas producers."&nbsp; &nbsp;Mann is also a co-sponsor of&nbsp;<a href="https://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001VWEg0Kw2bG5hQYHKAJspPMH2uHtU-kKxtHOALRNc-oTuRacEYLudgFhQqewuaa24tdnXHaDJlldasQrMo2dvo7KWUxQdc9FwbMZdV7ImmiDYbN2sIhXs8HDmdJzLAFVBJ-qpnPos7-S1KftmL1kNlaBJXNuY6KZzG9APeKZBoAZ-YSTHCmgGEIY6ecxTzI3nTUQQmaVkIghXRvIMFlPDCyJww_jbR49krO4B-Ye4FmrBg0MUxl_G6EXnhSXqzQs0wrNZrZvPmoYLKR_Ms1JMUqJfIo1XoMNMGdQyCjwKOan3Jr8DWm5chFeEGmHHCcNqlpOQ60c8lzAL1DdnjiTBUEaFpjtFQMRiyCozlYy2D8_aR4VV1ScyxVecvEw0fgGhBozsryNCcC1XICU5KILl_fHWJIWR0OJEdeS8xOgRyrQMEuocZsViqzrAl80MgQ_tx-7cWx18UAiY2QPoMOhZidVojUE69Z2V&amp;c=CJXWYRFfN9TIlUfwvA0GxRRFCr-F3-ARWdE_M34-FgfgTaR7DAOl_g==&amp;ch=qS20CUInLDrNviAxg5hqD82vDqvNW06wmFOc1C0FKu-RVuh5d84IsA==" target="_blank">H.R. 4370, the Listing Reform Act</a>&nbsp;which
 would prohibit the Department of Interior from using any federal 
funding to list the Lesser Prairie-Chicken on the endangered species 
list.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Mann sees lesser prairie-chicken designation as 'proxy war'

By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY Salina Post

CLOUD COUNTY — A Cawker City man was injured in a single-vehicle wreck on U.S. 81 Friday afternoon.

Cole C. Zobel, 76, of Cawker City, was northbound on U.S. 81 in a 2004 Ford Crown Victoria when the car entered the median, striking a drainage ditch, the Kansas Highway Patrol reported. The car then went up onto the southbound inside shoulder and back into the median, coming to rest facing north.

The wreck occurred at approximately 4:42 p.m. Friday 14 miles south of Concordia on U.S. 81.

Zobel, who suffered suspected minor injuries, was transported to the North Central Kansas Medical Center in Concordia.

The car was removed from the scene by wrecker.

By LESLIE EIKLEBERRY Salina PostCLOUD COUNTY — A Cawker City man was injured in a single-vehicle wreck on U.S. 81 Friday afternoon.Cole C. Zobel, 76, of Cawker City, was northbound on U.S. 81 in a 2004 Ford Crown Victoria when the car entered the median, striking a drainage ditch, the Kansas Highway Patrol reported. The car then went up onto the southbound inside shoulder and back into the median, coming to rest facing north.The wreck occurred at approximately 4:42 p.m. Friday 14 miles south of Concordia on U.S. 81.Zobel, who suffered suspected minor injuries, was transported to the North Central Kansas Medical Center in Concordia.The car was removed from the scene by wrecker.

Single-vehicle wreck injures Kan. man south of Concordia

GREENE COUNTY — Four people from Missouri are dead after a three-vehicle accident just before 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.

The Missouri State High Patrol reported a 2015 Dodge Ram driven by Joshua R. Wamsley, 33, Springfield, was eastbound on Interstate 44 just west of Springfield when the pickup struck the rear of a 2011 Chevy Traverse driven by Ryan Schultz, 40, Fair Grove.&nbsp;

The Traverse traveled into the westbound lanes and struck a westbound 2018 Ford Escape driven by Patrick J. Holloway, 44, Republic, head-on.

Holloway and a passenger — Shandrea L. Holloway, 44, Republic — were killed in the accident. A 1-year old in the Escape sustained moderate injuries. All were properly restrained.

Wamsley and a passenger — Danielle E. Dillman, 36, Springfield, were also killed in the accident.&nbsp; The patrol reported neither were wearing seat belts.

Schultz was not injured, the patrol reported.

GREENE COUNTY — Four people from Missouri are dead after a three-vehicle accident just before 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day.The Missouri State High Patrol reported a 2015 Dodge Ram driven by Joshua R. Wamsley, 33, Springfield, was eastbound on Interstate 44 just west of Springfield when the pickup struck the rear of a 2011 Chevy Traverse driven by Ryan Schultz, 40, Fair Grove.&nbsp;The Traverse traveled into the westbound lanes and struck a westbound 2018 Ford Escape driven by Patrick J. Holloway, 44, Republic, head-on.Holloway and a passenger — Shandrea L. Holloway, 44, Republic — were killed in the accident. A 1-year old in the Escape sustained moderate injuries. All were properly restrained.Wamsley and a passenger — Danielle E. Dillman, 36, Springfield, were also killed in the accident.&nbsp; The patrol reported neither were wearing seat belts.Schultz was not injured, the patrol reported.

Four adults killed, 1-year-old survives, head-on crash on I-44

By MEG CUNNINGHAM <a href="https://thebeacon.media/stories/2022/11/17/how-to-buy-weed-faq/">Kansas City Beacon</a>

On Nov. 8, Missourians voted “yes” on Amendment 3, which&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://thebeacon.media/stories/2022/11/09/missouri-legal-weed-whats-next/">legalized recreational use of marijuana</a>, meaning you’ll now be able to buy weed, like marijuana flower or edibles, in the coming months.

Starting Dec. 8, the state will begin transitioning its medical marijuana licenses to recreational licenses, but that doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to walk into a dispensary and buy cannabis flower right away. The transition process will take until February, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the agency that manages the state’s marijuana industry.

The transition process can get complicated, so The Beacon compiled a list of frequently asked questions about the process. This page will continue to be updated as the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://health.mo.gov/safety/medical-marijuana/draft-rules.php">state rolls out program changes,</a>&nbsp;so be sure to check back for the latest updates.

The state is accepting&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://health.mo.gov/safety/medical-marijuana/suggestions.php">public feedback</a>&nbsp;on the rules for the recreational program until Nov. 25.

Q: When can I buy legal weed in Missouri?

A: Recreational marijuana should be available by early February 2023. The DHSS will start accepting requests to transition medical facility licenses to full recreational facilities on Dec. 8, and it will have 60 days to approve those changed license requests.

You’ll be able to walk into a dispensary with your ID (to prove you are over 21) and leave with cannabis flower, edibles, prerolls or vapes.

A: Amendment 3’s language allows for consumers to have 3 ounces of dried marijuana flower or its equivalent.

Q: Will I be able to grow my own at home?

A: Yes. Under Missouri’s medical marijuana law that passed in 2018, Missourians were granted the ability to grow their own cannabis at home if they registered as a patient cultivator.

DHSS will start accepting applications for personal cultivation for recreation as soon as Feb. 6. Once applications are accepted, Missourians 21 and older can cultivate marijuana for personal, noncommercial use at an enclosed and locked facility at their homes. Those licenses cost $150 and are valid for three years.

Missourians will be allowed to have six flowering plants and up to 18 non-mature plants.

Q: Am I allowed to smoke marijuana in public?

A:&nbsp; Unless there is a dedicated smoking area for public consumption of marijuana, smoking in public could still make you subject to a civil penalty and a fine of up to $100.

Q: Do I still need my medical marijuana card if I don’t use cannabis recreationally?

A: No, you don’t need to keep your medical marijuana card, but you can. As of Dec. 8 of this year, all approved medical marijuana cards will be valid for three years. Current medical cardholders will stick to their existing expiration dates. Cards are valid for three years upon the card’s next renewal.

Q: Do I still need to renew my medical card to keep patient status?

A: Yes, you’ll have to get approval from your physician to submit a patient renewal application. But under the new law, you’ll only have to get your card renewed every three years, instead of every year as the law currently stands.

Q: Do I need a patient card if I am going to grow for myself at home for medicinal purposes?

A: Yes, you’ll need a medical marijuana card if you’d like to become a patient cultivator for yourself at home.

A: Yes, if you’re still a medical marijuana cardholder or caregiver, renewal and application fees are $27.76 each, but will only need to be renewed every three years. If you’re a patient cultivator, new application and renewal fees are $110.99.

The Kansas City Beacon is an online news outlet focused on local, in-depth journalism in the public interest.

By MEG CUNNINGHAM <a href="https://thebeacon.media/stories/2022/11/17/how-to-buy-weed-faq/">Kansas City Beacon</a>On Nov. 8, Missourians voted “yes” on Amendment 3, which&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://thebeacon.media/stories/2022/11/09/missouri-legal-weed-whats-next/">legalized recreational use of marijuana</a>, meaning you’ll now be able to buy weed, like marijuana flower or edibles, in the coming months.Starting Dec. 8, the state will begin transitioning its medical marijuana licenses to recreational licenses, but that doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to walk into a dispensary and buy cannabis flower right away. The transition process will take until February, according to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, the agency that manages the state’s marijuana industry.The transition process can get complicated, so The Beacon compiled a list of frequently asked questions about the process. This page will continue to be updated as the&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://health.mo.gov/safety/medical-marijuana/draft-rules.php">state rolls out program changes,</a>&nbsp;so be sure to check back for the latest updates.The state is accepting&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://health.mo.gov/safety/medical-marijuana/suggestions.php">public feedback</a>&nbsp;on the rules for the recreational program until Nov. 25.<h2>Q: When can I buy legal weed in Missouri?</h2>A: Recreational marijuana should be available by early February 2023. The DHSS will start accepting requests to transition medical facility licenses to full recreational facilities on Dec. 8, and it will have 60 days to approve those changed license requests.You’ll be able to walk into a dispensary with your ID (to prove you are over 21) and leave with cannabis flower, edibles, prerolls or vapes.<h2>Q: How much marijuana can I have?</h2>A: Amendment 3’s language allows for consumers to have 3 ounces of dried marijuana flower or its equivalent.<h2>Q: Will I be able to grow my own at home?</h2>A: Yes. Under Missouri’s medical marijuana law that passed in 2018, Missourians were granted the ability to grow their own cannabis at home if they registered as a patient cultivator.DHSS will start accepting applications for personal cultivation for recreation as soon as Feb. 6. Once applications are accepted, Missourians 21 and older can cultivate marijuana for personal, noncommercial use at an enclosed and locked facility at their homes. Those licenses cost $150 and are valid for three years.Missourians will be allowed to have six flowering plants and up to 18 non-mature plants.<h2>Q: Am I allowed to smoke marijuana in public?</h2>A:&nbsp; Unless there is a dedicated smoking area for public consumption of marijuana, smoking in public could still make you subject to a civil penalty and a fine of up to $100.<h2>Q: Do I still need my medical marijuana card if I don’t use cannabis recreationally?</h2>A: No, you don’t need to keep your medical marijuana card, but you can. As of Dec. 8 of this year, all approved medical marijuana cards will be valid for three years. Current medical cardholders will stick to their existing expiration dates. Cards are valid for three years upon the card’s next renewal.<h2>Q: Do I still need to renew my medical card to keep patient status?</h2>A: Yes, you’ll have to get approval from your physician to submit a patient renewal application. But under the new law, you’ll only have to get your card renewed every three years, instead of every year as the law currently stands.<h2>Q: Do I need a patient card if I am going to grow for myself at home for medicinal purposes?</h2>A: Yes, you’ll need a medical marijuana card if you’d like to become a patient cultivator for yourself at home.<h2>Q: Are there fees I should know about?</h2>A: Yes, if you’re still a medical marijuana cardholder or caregiver, renewal and application fees are $27.76 each, but will only need to be renewed every three years. If you’re a patient cultivator, new application and renewal fees are $110.99.The Kansas City Beacon is an online news outlet focused on local, in-depth journalism in the public interest.

What to know about buying recreational marijuana in Missouri

BARTON COUNTY — At about 5 a.m. Wednesday, the Barton County Sheriff’s Office 
was dispatched to a report of an injury accident in the 10 block of NE 
20th Road. 

Upon arrival, deputies discovered a single-vehicle 
accident in which a 1991 Chevrolet pickup struck a parked 2003 Peterbilt
 tractor-trailer unit. 

The driver of the Chevrolet pickup was 
identified as Jeremy Combs, 37, Great Bend. Combs stated he 
thought he saw something in the roadway and veered to the right, striking
 the tractor-trailer unit. There was heavy fog and limited visibility at
 the time of the accident.

Combs was transported to The University
 of Kansas Health System in Great Bend by the Great Bend EMS service 
with non-life-threatening injuries.

Great Bend PostBARTON COUNTY — At about 5 a.m. Wednesday, the Barton County Sheriff’s Office 
was dispatched to a report of an injury accident in the 10 block of NE 
20th Road. Upon arrival, deputies discovered a single-vehicle 
accident in which a 1991 Chevrolet pickup struck a parked 2003 Peterbilt
 tractor-trailer unit. The driver of the Chevrolet pickup was 
identified as Jeremy Combs, 37, Great Bend. Combs stated he 
thought he saw something in the roadway and veered to the right, striking
 the tractor-trailer unit. There was heavy fog and limited visibility at
 the time of the accident.Combs was transported to The University
 of Kansas Health System in Great Bend by the Great Bend EMS service 
with non-life-threatening injuries.

Fog a factor in Kan. accident: Pickup strikes parked semi

By MARIAM FAM Associated Press

DOHA, Qatar — Aside from the competition for the World Cup 
title, one of the most hotly contested issues in the tournament in Qatar
 is over rainbow colors.

In the first week of the tournament, 
seven European teams lost the battle to wear multi-colored “One Love” 
armbands during World Cup matches and some fans complained they weren't 
allowed to bring items with rainbow colors, a symbol of LGBTQ rights, 
into the stadiums of the conservative Islamic emirate.

Qatar, 
where gay sex is illegal, faced intense international scrutiny and 
criticism in the run-up to the tournament over rights issues, including 
questions on whether LGBTQ visitors would feel safe and welcome. The 
Gulf nation has said all are welcome, including LGBTQ fans, and that it 
would ensure safety for everyone, regardless of background, but that 
visitors should respect the nation’s culture.

Piara Powar, 
executive director of Fare, the anti-discrimination group that is 
reporting incidents in and around stadiums to world soccer body FIFA, 
said he believes the Qatari hosts felt that the debate about LGBTQ 
rights has been given too much space and that they need to clamp down 
internally.

“We have talked to them about rainbow flags and the 
symbolism that it has across the world, not just in western Europe. 
There are Latin Americans who recognize that, there are Asians who 
recognize the Pride flag," Powar said.

Just before the tournament 
started, FIFA stopped plans by seven European teams including England 
and Germany to have their captains play with “One Love” 
anti-discrimination armbands, saying they would receive yellow cards if 
they did. The decision sparked outrage by some in the countries 
involved.

One of the teams, Belgium, tweeted a team photo Friday 
showing captain Eden Hazard wearing the “One Love” armband. The 
country's foreign minister, Hadja Lahbib, wore it as she watched 
Belgium's World Cup opener against Canada on Wednesday.

Former 
Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt turned up at Denmark's 
match against Tunisia wearing an outfit with rainbow-colored sleeves. In
 an Instagram post a day later, she appeared conflicted about the choice
 of clothing.

“I’ve been reflecting on whether showing up in 
rainbow colors is actually helping gay and queer folks in Qatar,” 
Thorning-Schmidt wrote in the post. She wondered whether it could “make 
things worse by hardening the Qatar government against them? I don’t 
know the answer but doesn’t it show us that nothing is binary, only good
 or only bad?”

Some fans have said that they were asked to remove 
and discard their rainbow hats at a World Cup stadium earlier this week 
despite assurances by FIFA before the tournament that such items would 
be allowed in stadiums.

Justin Martin, a U.S. citizen living in 
Qatar, said he was holding a small rainbow flag on the metro on his way 
to the U.S. opener against Wales when two people wearing shirts that 
identified them as volunteers asked him to put the flag away. He didn’t 
want to.

“One of them became agitated and ... referred to me as 
‘disgusting,’” said Martin, an associate professor of journalism at the 
Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.

At the stadium, however, a 
woman in Qatari police uniform who was searching his bag found the 
rainbow flag, looked at it and put it back, he said. “I actually wasn’t 
prohibited from bringing that into the stadium.”

Martin said he had previously worn a pride T-shirt in Qatar to the grocery store or to exercise without any issues.

Some
 Wales fans said they were prevented from taking rainbow bucket hats to 
the game against the U.S., prompting the Wales soccer federation to 
raise the issue with FIFA, which assured them that rainbow symbols would
 be allowed for Friday's game against Iran.

Laura McAllister, a 
former Wales captain who acts as ambassador to the World Cup, said she 
and other fans wore rainbow hats to Friday's game without problems. She 
said she was among those asked to remove their hats before the earlier 
game with the U.S.

The Qatari World Cup organizing committee did 
not provide answers to questions by The Associated Press on the 
instructions to stadium security and volunteers about rainbow symbols.

In April, a Qatari official <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-soccer-sports-lifestyle-middle-east-f03cd08c36dee73b419b2b0e2978fd3f">suggested</a> that fans carrying rainbow flags could have them removed to protect them from possible attacks.

The
 issue has been debated frequently in Qatar and the wider Middle East, 
where many believe it’s only fair for visitors to respect the country’s 
laws, customs and religious beliefs, just like people from the region 
are expected to honor other nations' rules when they travel. Others 
counter that rights’ issues are universal and that sports must be 
inclusive.

Ahead of the tournament, some LGBTQ rights activists sought to raise <a href="https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-soccer-sports-religion-679b18a9480573b7fb72633ace63cc7b">concerns</a>
 about how LGBTQ people in Qatar may be treated after the World Cup 
ends. Some of them have also argued that international attention was 
disproportionately focused on the visitors and not enough on LGBTQ 
people in the country.

Associated Press writers Karl Ritter and Graham Dunbar contributed to this report.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1669404941964.jpeg" alt="Germany supporter wearing a rainbow jersey waits for the World Cup group F soccer match between Belgium and Canada, at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)" />
 <figcaption>Germany supporter wearing a rainbow jersey waits for the World Cup group F soccer match between Belgium and Canada, at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium in Doha, Qatar, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)</figcaption>
 </figure>By MARIAM FAM Associated PressDOHA, Qatar — Aside from the competition for the World Cup 
title, one of the most hotly contested issues in the tournament in Qatar
 is over rainbow colors.In the first week of the tournament, 
seven European teams lost the battle to wear multi-colored “One Love” 
armbands during World Cup matches and some fans complained they weren't 
allowed to bring items with rainbow colors, a symbol of LGBTQ rights, 
into the stadiums of the conservative Islamic emirate.Qatar, 
where gay sex is illegal, faced intense international scrutiny and 
criticism in the run-up to the tournament over rights issues, including 
questions on whether LGBTQ visitors would feel safe and welcome. The 
Gulf nation has said all are welcome, including LGBTQ fans, and that it 
would ensure safety for everyone, regardless of background, but that 
visitors should respect the nation’s culture.Piara Powar, 
executive director of Fare, the anti-discrimination group that is 
reporting incidents in and around stadiums to world soccer body FIFA, 
said he believes the Qatari hosts felt that the debate about LGBTQ 
rights has been given too much space and that they need to clamp down 
internally.“We have talked to them about rainbow flags and the 
symbolism that it has across the world, not just in western Europe. 
There are Latin Americans who recognize that, there are Asians who 
recognize the Pride flag," Powar said.Just before the tournament 
started, FIFA stopped plans by seven European teams including England 
and Germany to have their captains play with “One Love” 
anti-discrimination armbands, saying they would receive yellow cards if 
they did. The decision sparked outrage by some in the countries 
involved.One of the teams, Belgium, tweeted a team photo Friday 
showing captain Eden Hazard wearing the “One Love” armband. The 
country's foreign minister, Hadja Lahbib, wore it as she watched 
Belgium's World Cup opener against Canada on Wednesday.Former 
Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt turned up at Denmark's 
match against Tunisia wearing an outfit with rainbow-colored sleeves. In
 an Instagram post a day later, she appeared conflicted about the choice
 of clothing.“I’ve been reflecting on whether showing up in 
rainbow colors is actually helping gay and queer folks in Qatar,” 
Thorning-Schmidt wrote in the post. She wondered whether it could “make 
things worse by hardening the Qatar government against them? I don’t 
know the answer but doesn’t it show us that nothing is binary, only good
 or only bad?”Some fans have said that they were asked to remove 
and discard their rainbow hats at a World Cup stadium earlier this week 
despite assurances by FIFA before the tournament that such items would 
be allowed in stadiums.Justin Martin, a U.S. citizen living in 
Qatar, said he was holding a small rainbow flag on the metro on his way 
to the U.S. opener against Wales when two people wearing shirts that 
identified them as volunteers asked him to put the flag away. He didn’t 
want to.“One of them became agitated and ... referred to me as 
‘disgusting,’” said Martin, an associate professor of journalism at the 
Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.At the stadium, however, a 
woman in Qatari police uniform who was searching his bag found the 
rainbow flag, looked at it and put it back, he said. “I actually wasn’t 
prohibited from bringing that into the stadium.”Martin said he had previously worn a pride T-shirt in Qatar to the grocery store or to exercise without any issues.Some
 Wales fans said they were prevented from taking rainbow bucket hats to 
the game against the U.S., prompting the Wales soccer federation to 
raise the issue with FIFA, which assured them that rainbow symbols would
 be allowed for Friday's game against Iran.Laura McAllister, a 
former Wales captain who acts as ambassador to the World Cup, said she 
and other fans wore rainbow hats to Friday's game without problems. She 
said she was among those asked to remove their hats before the earlier 
game with the U.S.The Qatari World Cup organizing committee did 
not provide answers to questions by The Associated Press on the 
instructions to stadium security and volunteers about rainbow symbols.In April, a Qatari official <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-soccer-sports-lifestyle-middle-east-f03cd08c36dee73b419b2b0e2978fd3f">suggested</a> that fans carrying rainbow flags could have them removed to protect them from possible attacks.The
 issue has been debated frequently in Qatar and the wider Middle East, 
where many believe it’s only fair for visitors to respect the country’s 
laws, customs and religious beliefs, just like people from the region 
are expected to honor other nations' rules when they travel. Others 
counter that rights’ issues are universal and that sports must be 
inclusive.Ahead of the tournament, some LGBTQ rights activists sought to raise <a href="https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-soccer-sports-religion-679b18a9480573b7fb72633ace63cc7b">concerns</a>
 about how LGBTQ people in Qatar may be treated after the World Cup 
ends. Some of them have also argued that international attention was 
disproportionately focused on the visitors and not enough on LGBTQ 
people in the country.Associated Press writers Karl Ritter and Graham Dunbar contributed to this report.

Rainbow struggle plays out on sidelines of World Cup

NEWTON, Kan. — At Tuesday’s meeting, the Newton City Commission approved final plans for the new Newton Public Library and moved ahead toward construction.

According to city manager Kelly McElroy, the new library will be 25,000 square feet on the east end of Military Park, with a new parking lot on the northwest side of the new building. After construction of the new building, the library contents will be moved into the new building and the old building will be demolished. A large green space will be created west of the building in the park. The 1880 train engine will remain in its current location.

The new library will have a drive-up book drop-off, glass-walled study rooms, large meeting rooms, young adult space with gaming area, separate space for children’s book collections and programs, technology areas, family restrooms, outdoor seating space and more.

The project cost estimate including design and construction is $10.7 million. The City has committed to fund $4.5 million toward the project, and the Library Board has pledged provide $1.2 million in cash if needed to cover budget shortfalls once final bids are received. This is in addition to the board’s original commitment of $1.3 million spread out over the life of the 20-year bonds.

A volunteer fundraising committee so far has raised $3,267,454.40 in private funds for the project. Over $1.4 million came from foundations, businesses or organizations, and $100,000 was donated by the City of North Newton. About $1.8 million was from individual donors. There are still additional donation requests on the table, and the committee continues to raise more funds. The committee is led by co-chairs Angela Becker and Ann Adrian and Library Director Cari Cusick in partnership with fundraising consultant Swanson House.

The Commission set a bid date of 11 a.m. Dec. 21. Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of next year.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1669379732525.jpeg" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>Hutch PostNEWTON, Kan. — At Tuesday’s meeting, the Newton City Commission approved final plans for the new Newton Public Library and moved ahead toward construction.According to city manager Kelly McElroy, the new library will be 25,000 square feet on the east end of Military Park, with a new parking lot on the northwest side of the new building. After construction of the new building, the library contents will be moved into the new building and the old building will be demolished. A large green space will be created west of the building in the park. The 1880 train engine will remain in its current location.The new library will have a drive-up book drop-off, glass-walled study rooms, large meeting rooms, young adult space with gaming area, separate space for children’s book collections and programs, technology areas, family restrooms, outdoor seating space and more.The project cost estimate including design and construction is $10.7 million. The City has committed to fund $4.5 million toward the project, and the Library Board has pledged provide $1.2 million in cash if needed to cover budget shortfalls once final bids are received. This is in addition to the board’s original commitment of $1.3 million spread out over the life of the 20-year bonds.A volunteer fundraising committee so far has raised $3,267,454.40 in private funds for the project. Over $1.4 million came from foundations, businesses or organizations, and $100,000 was donated by the City of North Newton. About $1.8 million was from individual donors. There are still additional donation requests on the table, and the committee continues to raise more funds. The committee is led by co-chairs Angela Becker and Ann Adrian and Library Director Cari Cusick in partnership with fundraising consultant Swanson House.The Commission set a bid date of 11 a.m. Dec. 21. Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of next year.

Plans approved for new Newton Public Library

By BECKY GOFF Little Apple Post

MANHATTAN, Kan. — Around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, officers from the Riley 
County Police Department responded to the report of an injury crash near
 the intersection of Seth Child Road and Anderson Avenue.

Upon 
arrival officers found a 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse, driven by Jose Orona, 25, Manhattan, was involved in a crash with a 2006 Toyota 
Highlander driven by Sabrina Reyes, 21, also of Manhattan.

Both Orona and Reyes were transported to Ascension Via Christi in Manhattan for treatment of injuries.

Orona was later life-flighted to Stormont Vail in Topeka for treatment of bleeding on the brain.&nbsp;

The severity of Reyes injuries have not been released.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.&nbsp;

By BECKY GOFF Little Apple PostMANHATTAN, Kan. — Around 11:30 p.m. Thursday, officers from the Riley 
County Police Department responded to the report of an injury crash near
 the intersection of Seth Child Road and Anderson Avenue.Upon 
arrival officers found a 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse, driven by Jose Orona, 25, Manhattan, was involved in a crash with a 2006 Toyota 
Highlander driven by Sabrina Reyes, 21, also of Manhattan.Both Orona and Reyes were transported to Ascension Via Christi in Manhattan for treatment of injuries.Orona was later life-flighted to Stormont Vail in Topeka for treatment of bleeding on the brain.&nbsp;The severity of Reyes injuries have not been released.The cause of the crash remains under investigation.&nbsp;Corrected 3 p.m. Friday

Kan. man life-flighted to hospital after two-vehicle accident

GREAT BEND — On Oct. 3, deputies with the Barton County Sheriff’s Office responded
 to a reported theft in the 2300 block of Railroad Avenue just south the
 city of Great Bend. 

The person reporting the theft advised law 
enforcement that a 2018 Jayco Jayflight bumper-pull camper had been 
stolen sometime the night before. The estimated value of the camper was 
$20,500.

On Nov. 22, detectives obtained a search warrant to 
retrieve the camper. Detectives went to a location in Hutchinson where 
they located the camper and it was seized. Deputies transported it back 
to Barton County. 

This investigation is continuing, and 
additional search warrants and arrest warrants are expected in the near 
future. The Barton County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Reno 
County Sheriff’s Office.

Great Bend PostGREAT BEND — On Oct. 3, deputies with the Barton County Sheriff’s Office responded
 to a reported theft in the 2300 block of Railroad Avenue just south the
 city of Great Bend. The person reporting the theft advised law 
enforcement that a 2018 Jayco Jayflight bumper-pull camper had been 
stolen sometime the night before. The estimated value of the camper was 
$20,500.On Nov. 22, detectives obtained a search warrant to 
retrieve the camper. Detectives went to a location in Hutchinson where 
they located the camper and it was seized. Deputies transported it back 
to Barton County. This investigation is continuing, and 
additional search warrants and arrest warrants are expected in the near 
future. The Barton County Sheriff’s Office was assisted by the Reno 
County Sheriff’s Office.

Kansas police recover camper missing since early October

OMAHA, Neb. — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett donated more than $750 million in Berkshire Hathaway stock to the four foundations run by his family Wednesday, but unlike his annual gifts to charity each summer, the recipients didn't include the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation.

Buffett has been making annual donations to the same five charities every year since 2006 when he unveiled a plan to give away his fortune over time, with the Gates Foundation receiving the biggest donations. Wednesday's donations mark the first time the 92-year-old has made a second major gift within the same year.

A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed Buffett gave 1.5 million Class B shares in the Omaha, Neb.-based conglomerate he leads to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for his first wife. He also gave 300,000 Class B shares apiece to the three foundations run by his children: the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the NoVo Foundation.

In June, he gave 11 million Class B shares to the Gates Foundation, 1.1 million B shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and 770,218 shares apiece to his children's three foundations.

It wasn't immediately clear what prompted the new donations this week, and Buffett didn't immediately respond Wednesday to questions about them. The Gates Foundation and the Buffett family foundations that received the gifts also didn't immediately respond to questions.

The only other major change Buffett has made to his giving plans over the years came a decade ago when he significantly increased the amount pledged to the foundations his children run because he was pleased with what they had done with his money.

The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation keeps a low profile, but over the years it has been a major supporter of abortion rights, making large gifts to Planned Parenthood and other groups. Buffett hasn't announced any changes in his giving plans since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year.

Susie Buffett, 69, uses her Sherwood Foundation to strengthen early childhood education and support a number of projects around Buffett's hometown of Omaha where she also lives. Howard Buffett, 67, is helping farmers in impoverished nations produce more and working to end world hunger with his namesake foundation. Peter Buffett, 64, has dedicated his NoVo Foundation to empowering women and girls worldwide through education, collaboration and economic development to end violence against women.

Even after these latest gifts, Buffett still controls more than 31% of Berkshire’s voting power.

Berkshire Hathaway is an eclectic conglomerate that owns more than 90 companies including BNSF railroad, Geico insurance, several major utilities and an assortment of manufacturing and retail firms including Precision Castparts, Dairy Queen and Helzberg Diamonds. In addition to the companies it owns outright, Berkshire owns major investments in Apple, Bank of America, Coca-Cola and other companies.

Associated PressOMAHA, Neb. — Billionaire investor Warren Buffett donated more than $750 million in Berkshire Hathaway stock to the four foundations run by his family Wednesday, but unlike his annual gifts to charity each summer, the recipients didn't include the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation.Buffett has been making annual donations to the same five charities every year since 2006 when he unveiled a plan to give away his fortune over time, with the Gates Foundation receiving the biggest donations. Wednesday's donations mark the first time the 92-year-old has made a second major gift within the same year.A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed Buffett gave 1.5 million Class B shares in the Omaha, Neb.-based conglomerate he leads to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, named for his first wife. He also gave 300,000 Class B shares apiece to the three foundations run by his children: the Sherwood Foundation, the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the NoVo Foundation.In June, he gave 11 million Class B shares to the Gates Foundation, 1.1 million B shares to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and 770,218 shares apiece to his children's three foundations.It wasn't immediately clear what prompted the new donations this week, and Buffett didn't immediately respond Wednesday to questions about them. The Gates Foundation and the Buffett family foundations that received the gifts also didn't immediately respond to questions.The only other major change Buffett has made to his giving plans over the years came a decade ago when he significantly increased the amount pledged to the foundations his children run because he was pleased with what they had done with his money.The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation keeps a low profile, but over the years it has been a major supporter of abortion rights, making large gifts to Planned Parenthood and other groups. Buffett hasn't announced any changes in his giving plans since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade earlier this year.Susie Buffett, 69, uses her Sherwood Foundation to strengthen early childhood education and support a number of projects around Buffett's hometown of Omaha where she also lives. Howard Buffett, 67, is helping farmers in impoverished nations produce more and working to end world hunger with his namesake foundation. Peter Buffett, 64, has dedicated his NoVo Foundation to empowering women and girls worldwide through education, collaboration and economic development to end violence against women.Even after these latest gifts, Buffett still controls more than 31% of Berkshire’s voting power.Berkshire Hathaway is an eclectic conglomerate that owns more than 90 companies including BNSF railroad, Geico insurance, several major utilities and an assortment of manufacturing and retail firms including Precision Castparts, Dairy Queen and Helzberg Diamonds. In addition to the companies it owns outright, Berkshire owns major investments in Apple, Bank of America, Coca-Cola and other companies.

Buffett donates over $750 million to his family charities

By DAVID MEDNICOFF <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-world-cup-puts-the-spotlight-on-qatar-but-also-brings-attention-to-its-human-rights-record-and-politics-4-things-to-know-194970">The Conversation</a>

With the start of the World Cup on Nov. 20, 2022, soccer teams <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Qatar">from 32 countries</a> and <a href="https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sport/football/world-cup-2022-fans/">tens of thousands of fans</a>
 have converged on Qatar, a tiny Arab country on a peninsula in the 
Persian Gulf. But search “Qatar 2022” online, and the first nonsport 
results are about <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/11/14/qatar-rights-abuses-stain-fifa-world-cup">the country’s human rights issues</a>.

Like its fellow oil-rich Arab countries, Qatar has enjoyed immense 
wealth that nurtured grand ambitions of economic growth among rulers and
 citizens alike. Qatar and its neighbors, including Bahrain and the 
United Arab Emirates, have brought <a href="https://www.ilo.org/beirut/areasofwork/labour-migration/lang--en/index.htm">in millions</a> of workers from other countries to support their fast-growing cities and businesses over the <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/QAT/qatar/immigration-statistics">past few decades</a>.

In particular, about <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60867042">30,000 workers</a>
 came from Bangladesh, India and Nepal to construct the World Cup 
stadiums. At least 37 died, according to official Qatari counts, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/16/sports/soccer/world-cup-migrant-workers.html">while building</a> the US$220 billion infrastructure for the games.

I am <a href="https://www.umass.edu/jne/member/david-mednicoff">a political scientist and legal scholar of the Middle East</a> who has lived and <a href="https://www.newswise.com/articles/middle-east-expert-mednicoff-named-lead-investigator-for-1-million-research-study?channel=">worked</a>
 in Qatar. Given the sudden media focus on the country, I think it 
helpful for both World Cup fans and people who don’t know a soccer ball 
from a hockey puck to understand four aspects of Qatar’s politics that 
relate to its human rights challenges.

A sparsely populated country in a desert, Qatar gained independence from Great Britain in 1971. With its large <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/gas/qatar-natural-gas/">oil and natural gas</a> reserves, Qatar has the <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=QA">highest income per citizen</a> in the world.

Qatar’s ruler is <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2019/01/tamim-the-glorious-portrait-goes-viral.html">popular</a> among <a href="https://bti-project.org/en/reports/country-report/QAT">citizens</a>. <a href="https://www.diwan.gov.qa/hh-the-amir?sc_lang=en#data---">Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani</a>
 is part a family dynasty that has run the area’s politics since the 
1800s, even under Ottoman and British control. This makes Qatar one of 
eight Arab countries governed by hereditary kings.

Hereditary ruling monarchies <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315203195-10/contemporary-kingship-muslim-arab-societies-comparative-context-david-mednicoff">may seem archaic</a> to people living in societies with elected leaders. Yet these systems <a href="https://theconversation.com/middle-eastern-monarchies-how-do-arab-ruling-families-hold-on-to-power-159952">have held onto power, outlasting the Arab uprisings of 2011</a>. The lack of democracy in Arab countries is also part of a broader trend, as <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2022/global-expansion-authoritarian-rule">autocratic governments are generally on the rise globally</a>.

2. Yes – workers’ rights have been a problem 

Doha, the capital of Qatar, has become a major <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/">media</a>, <a href="https://www.qf.org.qa/education/education-city">educational</a>, <a href="https://raiagroup.org/qatars-tamim-is-leading-diplomacy-in-the-middle-east">diplomatic</a>
 and recreational hub over the past few decades. Its breakneck 
development also required workers from all over the world. As a result, 
foreign workers make up <a href="https://www.onlineqatar.com/visiting/tourist-information/qatar-population-and-expat-nationalities">about 85% of the country’s total population</a>, but they <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/qatar">do not have the same rights</a> as Qatari citizens. Qatari natives have been reluctant to share their <a href="https://qatarofw.com/qatar-social-security/">extraordinary social welfare benefits</a>,
 like free medical care, with millions of workers from abroad. This 
makes for a system that gives many more rights to Qatari nationals than 
the millions of others who live there.

Unusual, rapid growth like Qatar’s is a magnet for foreign contract 
workers worldwide. I enjoyed my opportunity to work there myself as a 
visiting professor and Fulbright scholar 15 years ago. Yet less 
privileged foreign workers can fare badly.

In Qatar and its oil-rich peers, control by a minority of citizens over millions of workers with fewer rights leads to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/15/migrant-workers-in-qatar-face-structural-racism-says-un-report">discrimination and abuse</a>. Human rights groups, journalists and <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/migrant-workers-recount-abuse-while-building-stadiums-for-world-cup-in-qatar">migrant workers</a> themselves have <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2019/02/reality-check-migrant-workers-rights-with-two-years-to-qatar-2022-world-cup/">sought to change harmful workplace practices</a>, such as withholding wages and forbidding unions.

Qatar’s summer heat, <a href="https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/qatar/doha-climate">averaging 106 degrees Fahrenheit</a>
 (41 degrees Celsius), can make working conditions especially dangerous 
for outside construction workers. Since it is hard to know whether the 
alleged worker deaths are due specifically to bad working conditions, 
work-related issues, or something else, exact mortality numbers have <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-how-many-people-have-died-for-the-qatar-world-cup/a-63763713">been disputed and may be prone to exaggeration</a>. Yet no one doubts that <a href="https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/thousands-migrant-workers-died-qatars-extreme-heat-world-cup-forced-reckoning">conditions have been terrible</a> for many of Qatar’s most vulnerable workers.

Other rights issues in Qatar have also <a href="https://news.northeastern.edu/2022/11/19/world-cup-lgbtq-fans-athletes-safety/">attracted global attention</a>. The conservative form of Islam that is part of Qatar’s identity allows little tolerance for LGBTQ rights. <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/10/24/qatar-security-forces-arrest-abuse-lgbt-people">Human rights groups have documented</a> detentions and other routine discrimination against LGBTQ people.

While workers’ rights have received appropriate Western media attention, Qatar’s direct efforts to <a href="https://theathletic.com/3836101/2022/11/17/how-ngos-responded-to-world-cup/">respond to local and international activism</a> are less known. Qatar <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/24/qatar-significant-labor-and-kafala-reforms">enacted the most significant labor rights reforms in the Arab world</a> in 2021.

<a href="https://www.ilo.org/beirut/countries/qatar/WCMS_859880/lang--en/index.htm">Working with the International Labor Organization</a>,
 a United Nations agency that promotes fair and decent work worldwide, 
Qatar instituted a minimum wage of $275 per month, along with allowances
 for food and lodging. It also prohibited outdoor work during the peak 
of summer heat and eliminated many of the laws that gave employers 
control over their workers’ basic freedoms to leave their job or the 
country.

Because the reforms are recent, it is hard to know whether they represent <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/qatar">important steps forward</a> or <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/10/qatar-labour-reform-unfinished-and-compensation-still-owed-as-world-cup-looms/">incremental steps that will change little</a>.

In any case, legislation in and of itself cannot remedy a complicated
 challenge involving a wide range of companies and other organizations 
that Qatar’s government does not control. Whether Qatar can and will 
enforce the new regulations consistently is one concern. 

Most foreign migrants arrive in Qatar through foreign-based recruitment companies, which charge them to secure jobs. So even if <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/1/qatar-made-progress-in-labour-reforms-ilo">Qatar tries to curb labor abuses</a>, <a href="https://www.ilo.org/infostories/en-GB/Stories/Country-Focus/world-cup-qatar#domestic">recruitment companies</a>
 based in migrants’ countries of origin would still profit by charging 
workers expensive placement fees, for example. Such recruiters often 
work with <a href="https://www.business-humanrights.org/de/von-uns/briefings/wake-up-call-exploitative-recruitment-risk-to-migrant-workers-in-qatars-world-cup-hotels/">multinational companies within Qatar</a> to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelposner/2022/10/28/world-cup-abuses-led-qatar-to-change-labor-laws-but-more-protection-is-needed/?sh=6cb0b28c2062">blunt the force</a> of the kingdom’s recent reforms.

4. And Western critiques may conceal other agendas 

<a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/15/qatari-minister-slams-western-media-coverage-of-world-cup-record">Qatari officials have suggested</a>
 that international attention to foreign workers’ conditions is part of a
 broader pattern of Westerners belittling Arabs and Muslims. <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/qatar-world-cup-team-depicted-terrorists-cartoon-sparks-outrage-1758928">One blatant example</a>
 is an October issue of the French right-wing satirical magazine “Le 
Canard enchaîné,” which depicted Qatari soccer players as terrorists.

Calls in some parts of Europe for <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/17/qatar-world-cup-broadcasting-boycotts-france">a widespread World Cup boycott</a> add fuel to this and <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/11/17/in-defence-of-qatars-hosting-of-the-world-cup">other arguments</a> that the European and American impression of Qatar is <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20221119-fifa-president-blasts-hypocrisy-of-western-critics-of-world-cup-host-qatar">hypocritical</a> and possibly <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221010-qatar-says-french-objections-to-fifa-world-cup-stem-from-islamophobia/">Islamophobic</a>.
 Though hardly a neutral observer, Gianni Infantino, the president of 
FIFA, which carries out the World Cup, reflected many Gulf Arabs’ views 
when he argued that <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/19/fifa-chief-accuses-critics-of-qatar-of-hypocrisy-ahead-of-world-cup.html">Europe’s history of exploiting Middle Easterners and others</a> gives it little moral high ground on issues of non-Western rights.

Because no Middle Eastern or Muslim-majority country had hosted the World Cup before 2022, Qatar’s achievement is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/opinion/qatar-world-cup-arab-football.html">significant</a>. The Economist <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/11/17/in-defence-of-qatars-hosting-of-the-world-cup">argues that</a>
 Qatar’s responsiveness to pressures to improve its human rights climate
 may make it a more appropriate host for a global sporting event than 
other countries with poor human rights records, such as China or Russia.

Yet genuine global concern about rights in countries like Qatar and 
mistrust between the Middle East and the West will persist. Can new 
global awareness of Qatar lead to more nuanced understanding of both 
cross-cultural similarities and differences between Arab Islamic 
countries and the rest of the world? For the moment, this is as hard to 
know as which country will win the World Cup.

David Mednicoff, Chair, Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, and 
Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Public Policy, UMass 
Amherst

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1669227517151.jpeg" alt="Young girls and a woman watch a fireworks display as part of the World Cup soccer tournament FIFA fan festival in Doha, Qatar, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)" />
 <figcaption>Young girls and a woman watch a fireworks display as part of the World Cup soccer tournament FIFA fan festival in Doha, Qatar, Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2022. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)</figcaption>
 </figure>By DAVID MEDNICOFF <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-world-cup-puts-the-spotlight-on-qatar-but-also-brings-attention-to-its-human-rights-record-and-politics-4-things-to-know-194970">The Conversation</a>With the start of the World Cup on Nov. 20, 2022, soccer teams <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Qatar">from 32 countries</a> and <a href="https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/sport/football/world-cup-2022-fans/">tens of thousands of fans</a>
 have converged on Qatar, a tiny Arab country on a peninsula in the 
Persian Gulf. But search “Qatar 2022” online, and the first nonsport 
results are about <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/11/14/qatar-rights-abuses-stain-fifa-world-cup">the country’s human rights issues</a>.Like its fellow oil-rich Arab countries, Qatar has enjoyed immense 
wealth that nurtured grand ambitions of economic growth among rulers and
 citizens alike. Qatar and its neighbors, including Bahrain and the 
United Arab Emirates, have brought <a href="https://www.ilo.org/beirut/areasofwork/labour-migration/lang--en/index.htm">in millions</a> of workers from other countries to support their fast-growing cities and businesses over the <a href="https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/QAT/qatar/immigration-statistics">past few decades</a>.In particular, about <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60867042">30,000 workers</a>
 came from Bangladesh, India and Nepal to construct the World Cup 
stadiums. At least 37 died, according to official Qatari counts, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/16/sports/soccer/world-cup-migrant-workers.html">while building</a> the US$220 billion infrastructure for the games. I am <a href="https://www.umass.edu/jne/member/david-mednicoff">a political scientist and legal scholar of the Middle East</a> who has lived and <a href="https://www.newswise.com/articles/middle-east-expert-mednicoff-named-lead-investigator-for-1-million-research-study?channel=">worked</a>
 in Qatar. Given the sudden media focus on the country, I think it 
helpful for both World Cup fans and people who don’t know a soccer ball 
from a hockey puck to understand four aspects of Qatar’s politics that 
relate to its human rights challenges.<h2>1. Qatar is ruled by a popular king</h2>A sparsely populated country in a desert, Qatar gained independence from Great Britain in 1971. With its large <a href="https://www.worldometers.info/gas/qatar-natural-gas/">oil and natural gas</a> reserves, Qatar has the <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=QA">highest income per citizen</a> in the world. Qatar’s ruler is <a href="https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2019/01/tamim-the-glorious-portrait-goes-viral.html">popular</a> among <a href="https://bti-project.org/en/reports/country-report/QAT">citizens</a>. <a href="https://www.diwan.gov.qa/hh-the-amir?sc_lang=en#data---">Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani</a>
 is part a family dynasty that has run the area’s politics since the 
1800s, even under Ottoman and British control. This makes Qatar one of 
eight Arab countries governed by hereditary kings.Hereditary ruling monarchies <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315203195-10/contemporary-kingship-muslim-arab-societies-comparative-context-david-mednicoff">may seem archaic</a> to people living in societies with elected leaders. Yet these systems <a href="https://theconversation.com/middle-eastern-monarchies-how-do-arab-ruling-families-hold-on-to-power-159952">have held onto power, outlasting the Arab uprisings of 2011</a>. The lack of democracy in Arab countries is also part of a broader trend, as <a href="https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-world/2022/global-expansion-authoritarian-rule">autocratic governments are generally on the rise globally</a>. <h2>2. Yes – workers’ rights have been a problem </h2>Doha, the capital of Qatar, has become a major <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/">media</a>, <a href="https://www.qf.org.qa/education/education-city">educational</a>, <a href="https://raiagroup.org/qatars-tamim-is-leading-diplomacy-in-the-middle-east">diplomatic</a>
 and recreational hub over the past few decades. Its breakneck 
development also required workers from all over the world. As a result, 
foreign workers make up <a href="https://www.onlineqatar.com/visiting/tourist-information/qatar-population-and-expat-nationalities">about 85% of the country’s total population</a>, but they <a href="https://www.state.gov/reports/2021-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/qatar">do not have the same rights</a> as Qatari citizens. Qatari natives have been reluctant to share their <a href="https://qatarofw.com/qatar-social-security/">extraordinary social welfare benefits</a>,
 like free medical care, with millions of workers from abroad. This 
makes for a system that gives many more rights to Qatari nationals than 
the millions of others who live there.Unusual, rapid growth like Qatar’s is a magnet for foreign contract 
workers worldwide. I enjoyed my opportunity to work there myself as a 
visiting professor and Fulbright scholar 15 years ago. Yet less 
privileged foreign workers can fare badly.In Qatar and its oil-rich peers, control by a minority of citizens over millions of workers with fewer rights leads to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jul/15/migrant-workers-in-qatar-face-structural-racism-says-un-report">discrimination and abuse</a>. Human rights groups, journalists and <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/migrant-workers-recount-abuse-while-building-stadiums-for-world-cup-in-qatar">migrant workers</a> themselves have <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2019/02/reality-check-migrant-workers-rights-with-two-years-to-qatar-2022-world-cup/">sought to change harmful workplace practices</a>, such as withholding wages and forbidding unions. Qatar’s summer heat, <a href="https://www.weather-atlas.com/en/qatar/doha-climate">averaging 106 degrees Fahrenheit</a>
 (41 degrees Celsius), can make working conditions especially dangerous 
for outside construction workers. Since it is hard to know whether the 
alleged worker deaths are due specifically to bad working conditions, 
work-related issues, or something else, exact mortality numbers have <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/fact-check-how-many-people-have-died-for-the-qatar-world-cup/a-63763713">been disputed and may be prone to exaggeration</a>. Yet no one doubts that <a href="https://pulitzercenter.org/stories/thousands-migrant-workers-died-qatars-extreme-heat-world-cup-forced-reckoning">conditions have been terrible</a> for many of Qatar’s most vulnerable workers.Other rights issues in Qatar have also <a href="https://news.northeastern.edu/2022/11/19/world-cup-lgbtq-fans-athletes-safety/">attracted global attention</a>. The conservative form of Islam that is part of Qatar’s identity allows little tolerance for LGBTQ rights. <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/10/24/qatar-security-forces-arrest-abuse-lgbt-people">Human rights groups have documented</a> detentions and other routine discrimination against LGBTQ people.<h2>3. Yet Qatar has made major reforms</h2>While workers’ rights have received appropriate Western media attention, Qatar’s direct efforts to <a href="https://theathletic.com/3836101/2022/11/17/how-ngos-responded-to-world-cup/">respond to local and international activism</a> are less known. Qatar <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/24/qatar-significant-labor-and-kafala-reforms">enacted the most significant labor rights reforms in the Arab world</a> in 2021. <a href="https://www.ilo.org/beirut/countries/qatar/WCMS_859880/lang--en/index.htm">Working with the International Labor Organization</a>,
 a United Nations agency that promotes fair and decent work worldwide, 
Qatar instituted a minimum wage of $275 per month, along with allowances
 for food and lodging. It also prohibited outdoor work during the peak 
of summer heat and eliminated many of the laws that gave employers 
control over their workers’ basic freedoms to leave their job or the 
country.Because the reforms are recent, it is hard to know whether they represent <a href="https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/qatar">important steps forward</a> or <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/10/qatar-labour-reform-unfinished-and-compensation-still-owed-as-world-cup-looms/">incremental steps that will change little</a>. In any case, legislation in and of itself cannot remedy a complicated
 challenge involving a wide range of companies and other organizations 
that Qatar’s government does not control. Whether Qatar can and will 
enforce the new regulations consistently is one concern. Most foreign migrants arrive in Qatar through foreign-based recruitment companies, which charge them to secure jobs. So even if <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/1/qatar-made-progress-in-labour-reforms-ilo">Qatar tries to curb labor abuses</a>, <a href="https://www.ilo.org/infostories/en-GB/Stories/Country-Focus/world-cup-qatar#domestic">recruitment companies</a>
 based in migrants’ countries of origin would still profit by charging 
workers expensive placement fees, for example. Such recruiters often 
work with <a href="https://www.business-humanrights.org/de/von-uns/briefings/wake-up-call-exploitative-recruitment-risk-to-migrant-workers-in-qatars-world-cup-hotels/">multinational companies within Qatar</a> to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelposner/2022/10/28/world-cup-abuses-led-qatar-to-change-labor-laws-but-more-protection-is-needed/?sh=6cb0b28c2062">blunt the force</a> of the kingdom’s recent reforms. <h2>4. And Western critiques may conceal other agendas </h2><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/15/qatari-minister-slams-western-media-coverage-of-world-cup-record">Qatari officials have suggested</a>
 that international attention to foreign workers’ conditions is part of a
 broader pattern of Westerners belittling Arabs and Muslims. <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/qatar-world-cup-team-depicted-terrorists-cartoon-sparks-outrage-1758928">One blatant example</a>
 is an October issue of the French right-wing satirical magazine “Le 
Canard enchaîné,” which depicted Qatari soccer players as terrorists.Calls in some parts of Europe for <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/11/17/qatar-world-cup-broadcasting-boycotts-france">a widespread World Cup boycott</a> add fuel to this and <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/11/17/in-defence-of-qatars-hosting-of-the-world-cup">other arguments</a> that the European and American impression of Qatar is <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20221119-fifa-president-blasts-hypocrisy-of-western-critics-of-world-cup-host-qatar">hypocritical</a> and possibly <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20221010-qatar-says-french-objections-to-fifa-world-cup-stem-from-islamophobia/">Islamophobic</a>.
 Though hardly a neutral observer, Gianni Infantino, the president of 
FIFA, which carries out the World Cup, reflected many Gulf Arabs’ views 
when he argued that <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2022/11/19/fifa-chief-accuses-critics-of-qatar-of-hypocrisy-ahead-of-world-cup.html">Europe’s history of exploiting Middle Easterners and others</a> gives it little moral high ground on issues of non-Western rights. Because no Middle Eastern or Muslim-majority country had hosted the World Cup before 2022, Qatar’s achievement is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/18/opinion/qatar-world-cup-arab-football.html">significant</a>. The Economist <a href="https://www.economist.com/leaders/2022/11/17/in-defence-of-qatars-hosting-of-the-world-cup">argues that</a>
 Qatar’s responsiveness to pressures to improve its human rights climate
 may make it a more appropriate host for a global sporting event than 
other countries with poor human rights records, such as China or Russia.
 Yet genuine global concern about rights in countries like Qatar and 
mistrust between the Middle East and the West will persist. Can new 
global awareness of Qatar lead to more nuanced understanding of both 
cross-cultural similarities and differences between Arab Islamic 
countries and the rest of the world? For the moment, this is as hard to 
know as which country will win the World Cup.David Mednicoff, Chair, Department of Judaic and Near Eastern Studies, and 
Associate Professor of Middle Eastern Studies and Public Policy, UMass 
Amherst<div><iframe src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194970/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe></div>

World Cup puts spotlight on Qatar — and its human rights record 

MARSHALL COUNTY - A Marysville man was arrested in connection to the death of his wife early Thursday morning.

According to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Marshall County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call at approximately 2:30 a.m. Thursday from a man in the 1000 block of Granite Road who requested medical assistance for his wife. When deputies arrived, they found Jennifer Brown, 57, inside the residence. She was pronounced dead at the scene from apparent gunshot wounds, the KBI reported.

The Marshall County Sheriff’s Office requested KBI assistance at approximately 3:20 a.m. on Thursday.

After further investigation, Brown's husband, Gerald L. Brown, 66, was arrested on a requested charge of first-degree murder, the KBI noted. He was booked into the Marshall County Jail.

MARSHALL COUNTY - A Marysville man was arrested in connection to the death of his wife early Thursday morning.According to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Marshall County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call at approximately 2:30 a.m. Thursday from a man in the 1000 block of Granite Road who requested medical assistance for his wife. When deputies arrived, they found Jennifer Brown, 57, inside the residence. She was pronounced dead at the scene from apparent gunshot wounds, the KBI reported.The Marshall County Sheriff’s Office requested KBI assistance at approximately 3:20 a.m. on Thursday.After further investigation, Brown's husband, Gerald L. Brown, 66, was arrested on a requested charge of first-degree murder, the KBI noted. He was booked into the Marshall County Jail.The investigation is ongoing.

KBI: Marysville man arrested in connection to death of his wife

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22JOHN%20LEICESTER%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press</a>

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — European officials are scrambling to help Ukraine stay warm and keep functioning through the bitter winter months, pledging Friday to send more support that will mitigate the Russian military’s efforts to turn off the heat and lights.

Nine months after Russia invaded its neighbor, the Kremlin’s forces have zeroed in on Ukraine’s power grid and other critical civilian infrastructure in a bid to tighten the screw on Kyiv. Officials estimate that around 50% of Ukraine's energy facilities have been damaged in the recent strikes.

France is sending 100 high-powered generators to Ukraine to help people get through the coming months, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said Friday.

She said Russia is “weaponizing” winter and plunging Ukraine’s civilian population into hardship.

British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, arriving Friday in Kyiv for an unannounced visit, said a promised air-defense package, which Britain valued at 50 million pounds ($60 million), would help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s bombardments.

“Words are not enough. Words won’t keep the lights on this winter. Words won’t defend against Russian missiles,” Cleverly said in a tweet about the military aid.

The package includes radar and other technology to counter the Iran-supplied exploding drones that Russia has used against Ukrainian targets, especially the power grid. It comes on top of a delivery of more than 1,000 anti-air missiles that Britain announced earlier this month.

“As winter sets in, Russia is continuing to try and break Ukrainian resolve through its brutal attacks on civilians, hospitals and energy infrastructure,” Cleverly said.

Russian officials have claimed they are hitting legitimate targets. But the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday expressed his shock at the depth of civilian suffering caused by the bombing, amid broader allegations of abuses.

“Millions are being plunged into extreme hardship and appalling conditions of life by these strikes,” Volker Türk said in a statement Friday. “Taken as a whole, this raises serious problems under international humanitarian law, which requires a concrete and direct military advantage for each object attacked.”

The U.N. humanitarian office also chimed in with its concerns. “Ukraine is turning increasingly cold without power, without steady water supply and without heating,” Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the office, said Friday.

He said the global body and its partners were sending hundreds of generators to Ukraine to help the government there in its efforts to keep people warm and maintain essential services, such as health care. The World Health Organization said it is sending generators to hospitals.

Cleverly's visit came a day after European officials launched a scheme called “Generators of Hope,” which calls on more than 200 cities across the continent to donate power generators and electricity transformers.

The generators are intended to help keep essential Ukrainian facilities running, providing power to hospitals, schools and water pumping stations, among other infrastructure.

Generators may provide only a tiny amount of the energy that Ukraine will need during the cold and dark winter months.

But the comfort and relief they provide is already evident, as winter begins in earnest and power outages occur regularly. The whine and rumble of generators is becoming commonplace, allowing stores that have them to stay open and Ukraine’s ubiquitous coffee shops to keep serving hot drinks that maintain a semblance of normality.

Despite strong wind, rain, sub-zero temperatures at night, icing and broken power lines, more than 70% of Ukraine’s electricity requirements were being met on Friday morning, the country’s state power grid operator Ukrenergo said in a statement.

The electricity supply has been at least partially restored in all regions of Ukraine, and the country’s energy grid was once again connected to that of the European Union, the head of the state power grid said on Friday.

Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, CEO of Ukrenergo, added that despite that progress, about half of Ukrainian residents continue to experience disruption. He added that all three of Ukraine’s nuclear plants located in areas controlled by Kyiv have resumed operation.

“In one to two days, nuclear power plants will reach their normal scheduled capacity, and we expect that it will be possible to transfer our consumers to a planned shutdown (regime) instead of emergency (blackouts),” Kudrytskyi said on Ukrainian TV.

Ukrainian authorities are opening thousands of so-called “points of invincibility” — heated and powered spaces offering hot meals, electricity and internet connections. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said late Thursday that almost 4,400 such spaces have opened across most of the country.

He scoffed at Moscow’s attempts to intimidate Ukrainian civilians, saying that was the Russian military’s only option after a string of battlefield setbacks. “Either energy terror, or artillery terror, or missile terror — that’s all that Russia has dwindled to under its current leaders,” Zelenskyy said.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian officials and energy workers continued their push to restore supplies after a nationwide barrage Wednesday left tens of millions without power and water.

Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said Friday morning that heating was back on in a third of the capital’s households, but that half of its population still lacked electricity.

Writing on Telegram, Klitschko added that authorities hoped to provide all consumers in Kyiv with electricity for a period of three hours on Friday, following a pre-set schedule.

As of Friday morning in Kharkiv, all residents of Ukraine’s second-largest city had had their electricity supplies restored, but more than 100,000 in the outlying region continued to see interruptions, the regional governor said.

In the south, authorities in the city of Mykolayiv said that running water was set to start flowing again after supplies were cut off by Russian strikes on Thursday.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22JOHN%20LEICESTER%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press</a>KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — European officials are scrambling to help Ukraine stay warm and keep functioning through the bitter winter months, pledging Friday to send more support that will mitigate the Russian military’s efforts to turn off the heat and lights.Nine months after Russia invaded its neighbor, the Kremlin’s forces have zeroed in on Ukraine’s power grid and other critical civilian infrastructure in a bid to tighten the screw on Kyiv. Officials estimate that around 50% of Ukraine's energy facilities have been damaged in the recent strikes.France is sending 100 high-powered generators to Ukraine to help people get through the coming months, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said Friday.She said Russia is “weaponizing” winter and plunging Ukraine’s civilian population into hardship.British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, arriving Friday in Kyiv for an unannounced visit, said a promised air-defense package, which Britain valued at 50 million pounds ($60 million), would help Ukraine defend itself against Russia’s bombardments.“Words are not enough. Words won’t keep the lights on this winter. Words won’t defend against Russian missiles,” Cleverly said in a tweet about the military aid.The package includes radar and other technology to counter the Iran-supplied exploding drones that Russia has used against Ukrainian targets, especially the power grid. It comes on top of a delivery of more than 1,000 anti-air missiles that Britain announced earlier this month.“As winter sets in, Russia is continuing to try and break Ukrainian resolve through its brutal attacks on civilians, hospitals and energy infrastructure,” Cleverly said.Russian officials have claimed they are hitting legitimate targets. But the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights on Friday expressed his shock at the depth of civilian suffering caused by the bombing, amid broader allegations of abuses.“Millions are being plunged into extreme hardship and appalling conditions of life by these strikes,” Volker Türk said in a statement Friday. “Taken as a whole, this raises serious problems under international humanitarian law, which requires a concrete and direct military advantage for each object attacked.”The U.N. humanitarian office also chimed in with its concerns. “Ukraine is turning increasingly cold without power, without steady water supply and without heating,” Jens Laerke, a spokesman for the office, said Friday.He said the global body and its partners were sending hundreds of generators to Ukraine to help the government there in its efforts to keep people warm and maintain essential services, such as health care. The World Health Organization said it is sending generators to hospitals.Cleverly's visit came a day after European officials launched a scheme called “Generators of Hope,” which calls on more than 200 cities across the continent to donate power generators and electricity transformers.The generators are intended to help keep essential Ukrainian facilities running, providing power to hospitals, schools and water pumping stations, among other infrastructure.Generators may provide only a tiny amount of the energy that Ukraine will need during the cold and dark winter months.But the comfort and relief they provide is already evident, as winter begins in earnest and power outages occur regularly. The whine and rumble of generators is becoming commonplace, allowing stores that have them to stay open and Ukraine’s ubiquitous coffee shops to keep serving hot drinks that maintain a semblance of normality.Despite strong wind, rain, sub-zero temperatures at night, icing and broken power lines, more than 70% of Ukraine’s electricity requirements were being met on Friday morning, the country’s state power grid operator Ukrenergo said in a statement.The electricity supply has been at least partially restored in all regions of Ukraine, and the country’s energy grid was once again connected to that of the European Union, the head of the state power grid said on Friday.Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, CEO of Ukrenergo, added that despite that progress, about half of Ukrainian residents continue to experience disruption. He added that all three of Ukraine’s nuclear plants located in areas controlled by Kyiv have resumed operation.“In one to two days, nuclear power plants will reach their normal scheduled capacity, and we expect that it will be possible to transfer our consumers to a planned shutdown (regime) instead of emergency (blackouts),” Kudrytskyi said on Ukrainian TV.Ukrainian authorities are opening thousands of so-called “points of invincibility” — heated and powered spaces offering hot meals, electricity and internet connections. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy said late Thursday that almost 4,400 such spaces have opened across most of the country.He scoffed at Moscow’s attempts to intimidate Ukrainian civilians, saying that was the Russian military’s only option after a string of battlefield setbacks. “Either energy terror, or artillery terror, or missile terror — that’s all that Russia has dwindled to under its current leaders,” Zelenskyy said.Elsewhere, Ukrainian officials and energy workers continued their push to restore supplies after a nationwide barrage Wednesday left tens of millions without power and water.Kyiv’s mayor Vitali Klitschko said Friday morning that heating was back on in a third of the capital’s households, but that half of its population still lacked electricity.Writing on Telegram, Klitschko added that authorities hoped to provide all consumers in Kyiv with electricity for a period of three hours on Friday, following a pre-set schedule.As of Friday morning in Kharkiv, all residents of Ukraine’s second-largest city had had their electricity supplies restored, but more than 100,000 in the outlying region continued to see interruptions, the regional governor said.In the south, authorities in the city of Mykolayiv said that running water was set to start flowing again after supplies were cut off by Russian strikes on Thursday.

Europe scrambles to help Ukraine keep the heat and lights on

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22NICHOLAS%20RICCARDI%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press</a>

Before&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections">Election Day</a>, anxiety mounted over potential chaos at the polls.

Election officials warned about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-politics-voting-presidential-biden-cabinet-c3d31b3b3c8957a51a2cc32e009d59be">poll watchers</a>&nbsp;who had been steeped in conspiracy theories&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-michael-pence-electoral-college-elections-health-2d9bd47a8bd3561682ac46c6b3873a10">falsely claiming</a>&nbsp;that then-President Donald Trump did not actually lose the 2020 election. Democrats and voting rights groups worried about the effects of new election laws,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-georgia-race-and-ethnicity-d4c2eaec9cbf69791c0ca8daf8b71188"></a>in some Republican-controlled states, that President Joe Biden decried as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-joe-biden-georgia-voting-martin-luther-king-jr-dc4544c23622f35fc95d63afe512554d">“Jim Crow 2.0.”</a>&nbsp;Law enforcement agencies were monitoring possible threats at the polls.

Yet Election Day, and the weeks of early voting before it, went fairly smoothly. There were some reports of unruly poll watchers disrupting voting, but they were scattered.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-merrick-garland-arizona-mesa-33de85c29856dea5b3ab091c5c17061a">Groups of armed vigilantes</a>&nbsp;began watching over a handful of ballot drop boxes in Arizona until&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-arizona-phoenix-5353cfd0774727e6dd03bdbf48c12211">a judge ordered them</a>&nbsp;to stay far away to ensure they would not intimidate voters. And while it might take months to figure out their full impact,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-georgia-race-and-ethnicity-d4c2eaec9cbf69791c0ca8daf8b71188">GOP-backed voting laws</a>&nbsp;enacted after the 2020 election did not appear to cause major disruptions the way they did during the March primary in Texas.

“The entire ecosystem in a lot of ways has become more resilient in the aftermath of 2020,” said Amber McReynolds, a former Denver elections director who advises a number of voting rights organizations. “There's been a lot of effort on ensuring things went well.”

Even though some voting experts'&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-health-ohio-8dac762bb021ae511004f04b1b42db52">worst fears</a>&nbsp;didn't materialize, some voters still experienced the types of routine foul-ups that happen on a small scale in every election. Many of those fell disproportionately on Black and Hispanic voters.

"Things went better than expected,” said Amir Badat of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. “But we have to say that with a caveat: Our expectations are low.”

Badat said his organization recorded long lines at various polling places from South Carolina to Texas.

There were particular problems in Harris County, Texas, which includes Houston. Shortages of paper ballots and at least one polling location opening late led to long lines and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-state-elections-houston-4db88098bbf9eff4a1437e64d686cc46">triggered an investigation</a>&nbsp;of the predominantly Democratic county by the state's Republican authorities.

The investigation is partly a reflection of how certain voting snafus on Election Day are increasingly falling on Republican voters, who have been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-health-government-and-politics-election-2020-55f4744b484919cd20d4d5e8d72e444e?utm_source=homepage&amp;utm_medium=TopNews&amp;utm_campaign=position_03">discouraged from using mailed ballots</a>&nbsp;or using early in-person voting by Trump and his allies. But it's a very different problem from what Texas had during its March primary.

Then, a controversial new voting law that increased the requirements on mail ballots led to about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-elections-texas-voting-only-on-ap-45ba51fe9dd951a0f82015bd6bd9ff41">13% of all such ballots being rejected</a>, much higher compared with other elections. It was an ominous sign for a wave of new laws, passed after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-claims-biden-won-explained-bd53b14ce871412b462cb3fe2c563f18">Trump's loss to Biden and false claims</a>&nbsp;about mail voting, but there have been no problems of that scale reported for the general election.

Texas changed the design of its mail ballots, which solved many of the problems voters had putting identifying information in the proper place. Other states that added regulations on voting didn't appear to have widespread problems, though voting rights groups and analysts say it will take weeks of combing through data to find out the laws' impacts.

The Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law is compiling data to determine whether new voting laws in states such as Georgia contributed to a drop in turnout among Black and Hispanic voters.

Preliminary figures show&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-georgia-race-and-ethnicity-d4c2eaec9cbf69791c0ca8daf8b71188">turnout was lower this year</a>&nbsp;than in the last midterm election four years ago in Florida, Georgia, Iowa and Texas — four states that passed significant voting restrictions since the 2020 election — although there could be a number of reasons why.

“It's difficult to judge, empirically, the kind of effect these laws have on turnout because so many factors go into turnout,” said Rick Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Los Angeles law school. “You also have plenty of exaggeration on the Democratic side that any kind of change in voting laws are going to cause some major effect on the election, which has been proven not to be the case.”

In Georgia, for example, Republicans made it more complicated to apply for mailed ballots after the 2020 election — among other things, requiring voters to include their driver’s license number or some other form of identification rather than a signature. That may be one reason why&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-covid-health-georgia-united-states-2037755d325dd5d6a650fea3ff2e073e">early in-person voting soared</a>&nbsp;in popularity in the state this year, and turnout there dipped only slightly from 2018.

Jason Snead, executive director of the conservative Honest Elections Project, which advocates for tighter voting laws, said the fairly robust turnout in the midterm elections shows that fears of the new voting regulations were overblown.

“We are on the back end of an election that was supposed to be the end of democracy, and it very much was not,” Snead said.

Poll watchers were a significant concern of voting rights groups and election officials heading into Election Day. The representatives of the two major political parties are a key part of any secure election process, credentialed observers who can object to perceived violations of rules.

But this year, groups aligned with conspiracy theorists who challenged Biden's 2020 victory recruited poll watchers heavily, and some states reported that aggressive volunteers caused disruptions during the primary. But there were fewer issues in November.

In North Carolina, where several counties had reported problems with poll watchers in the May primary, the state elections board reported&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-carolina-2ef291dcb391ec46b86216c1c57f0afe">21 incidents of misbehavior at the polls</a>&nbsp;in the general election, most during the early, in-person voting period and by members of campaigns rather than poll watchers. The observers were responsible for eight of the incidents.

Voting experts were pleasantly surprised there weren't more problems with poll watchers, marking the second general election in a row when a feared threat of aggressive Republican observers did not materialize.

“This seems to be an increase over 2020. Is it a small increase? Yes,” said Michael McDonald, a political scientist at the University of Florida. “It's still a dry run for 2024, and we can't quite let down our guard.”

One of the main organizers of the poll watcher effort was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-georgia-elections-campaigns-8ea24e5b4c240aceec71fbfa703d0394">Cleta Mitchell</a>, a veteran Republican election lawyer who joined Trump on a Jan. 2, 2020, call to Georgia's top election official when the president asked that the state “find” enough votes to declare him the winner. Mitchell then launched an organization to train volunteers who wanted to keep an eye on election officials, which was seen as the driver of the poll watcher surge.

<a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22NICHOLAS%20RICCARDI%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By NICHOLAS RICCARDI Associated Press</a>Before&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/2022-midterm-elections">Election Day</a>, anxiety mounted over potential chaos at the polls.Election officials warned about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-politics-voting-presidential-biden-cabinet-c3d31b3b3c8957a51a2cc32e009d59be">poll watchers</a>&nbsp;who had been steeped in conspiracy theories&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-michael-pence-electoral-college-elections-health-2d9bd47a8bd3561682ac46c6b3873a10">falsely claiming</a>&nbsp;that then-President Donald Trump did not actually lose the 2020 election. Democrats and voting rights groups worried about the effects of new election laws,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-georgia-race-and-ethnicity-d4c2eaec9cbf69791c0ca8daf8b71188"></a>in some Republican-controlled states, that President Joe Biden decried as&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/voting-rights-joe-biden-georgia-voting-martin-luther-king-jr-dc4544c23622f35fc95d63afe512554d">“Jim Crow 2.0.”</a>&nbsp;Law enforcement agencies were monitoring possible threats at the polls.Yet Election Day, and the weeks of early voting before it, went fairly smoothly. There were some reports of unruly poll watchers disrupting voting, but they were scattered.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-merrick-garland-arizona-mesa-33de85c29856dea5b3ab091c5c17061a">Groups of armed vigilantes</a>&nbsp;began watching over a handful of ballot drop boxes in Arizona until&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-arizona-phoenix-5353cfd0774727e6dd03bdbf48c12211">a judge ordered them</a>&nbsp;to stay far away to ensure they would not intimidate voters. And while it might take months to figure out their full impact,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-georgia-race-and-ethnicity-d4c2eaec9cbf69791c0ca8daf8b71188">GOP-backed voting laws</a>&nbsp;enacted after the 2020 election did not appear to cause major disruptions the way they did during the March primary in Texas.“The entire ecosystem in a lot of ways has become more resilient in the aftermath of 2020,” said Amber McReynolds, a former Denver elections director who advises a number of voting rights organizations. “There's been a lot of effort on ensuring things went well.”Even though some voting experts'&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-health-ohio-8dac762bb021ae511004f04b1b42db52">worst fears</a>&nbsp;didn't materialize, some voters still experienced the types of routine foul-ups that happen on a small scale in every election. Many of those fell disproportionately on Black and Hispanic voters."Things went better than expected,” said Amir Badat of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. “But we have to say that with a caveat: Our expectations are low.”Badat said his organization recorded long lines at various polling places from South Carolina to Texas.There were particular problems in Harris County, Texas, which includes Houston. Shortages of paper ballots and at least one polling location opening late led to long lines and&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/texas-state-elections-houston-4db88098bbf9eff4a1437e64d686cc46">triggered an investigation</a>&nbsp;of the predominantly Democratic county by the state's Republican authorities.The investigation is partly a reflection of how certain voting snafus on Election Day are increasingly falling on Republican voters, who have been&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-health-government-and-politics-election-2020-55f4744b484919cd20d4d5e8d72e444e?utm_source=homepage&amp;utm_medium=TopNews&amp;utm_campaign=position_03">discouraged from using mailed ballots</a>&nbsp;or using early in-person voting by Trump and his allies. But it's a very different problem from what Texas had during its March primary.Then, a controversial new voting law that increased the requirements on mail ballots led to about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-elections-texas-voting-only-on-ap-45ba51fe9dd951a0f82015bd6bd9ff41">13% of all such ballots being rejected</a>, much higher compared with other elections. It was an ominous sign for a wave of new laws, passed after&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/election-claims-biden-won-explained-bd53b14ce871412b462cb3fe2c563f18">Trump's loss to Biden and false claims</a>&nbsp;about mail voting, but there have been no problems of that scale reported for the general election.Texas changed the design of its mail ballots, which solved many of the problems voters had putting identifying information in the proper place. Other states that added regulations on voting didn't appear to have widespread problems, though voting rights groups and analysts say it will take weeks of combing through data to find out the laws' impacts.The Brennan Center for Justice at the NYU School of Law is compiling data to determine whether new voting laws in states such as Georgia contributed to a drop in turnout among Black and Hispanic voters.Preliminary figures show&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-voting-rights-georgia-race-and-ethnicity-d4c2eaec9cbf69791c0ca8daf8b71188">turnout was lower this year</a>&nbsp;than in the last midterm election four years ago in Florida, Georgia, Iowa and Texas — four states that passed significant voting restrictions since the 2020 election — although there could be a number of reasons why.“It's difficult to judge, empirically, the kind of effect these laws have on turnout because so many factors go into turnout,” said Rick Hasen, an election law expert at the University of California, Los Angeles law school. “You also have plenty of exaggeration on the Democratic side that any kind of change in voting laws are going to cause some major effect on the election, which has been proven not to be the case.”In Georgia, for example, Republicans made it more complicated to apply for mailed ballots after the 2020 election — among other things, requiring voters to include their driver’s license number or some other form of identification rather than a signature. That may be one reason why&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/2022-midterm-elections-covid-health-georgia-united-states-2037755d325dd5d6a650fea3ff2e073e">early in-person voting soared</a>&nbsp;in popularity in the state this year, and turnout there dipped only slightly from 2018.Jason Snead, executive director of the conservative Honest Elections Project, which advocates for tighter voting laws, said the fairly robust turnout in the midterm elections shows that fears of the new voting regulations were overblown.“We are on the back end of an election that was supposed to be the end of democracy, and it very much was not,” Snead said.Poll watchers were a significant concern of voting rights groups and election officials heading into Election Day. The representatives of the two major political parties are a key part of any secure election process, credentialed observers who can object to perceived violations of rules.But this year, groups aligned with conspiracy theorists who challenged Biden's 2020 victory recruited poll watchers heavily, and some states reported that aggressive volunteers caused disruptions during the primary. But there were fewer issues in November.In North Carolina, where several counties had reported problems with poll watchers in the May primary, the state elections board reported&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/north-carolina-2ef291dcb391ec46b86216c1c57f0afe">21 incidents of misbehavior at the polls</a>&nbsp;in the general election, most during the early, in-person voting period and by members of campaigns rather than poll watchers. The observers were responsible for eight of the incidents.Voting experts were pleasantly surprised there weren't more problems with poll watchers, marking the second general election in a row when a feared threat of aggressive Republican observers did not materialize.“This seems to be an increase over 2020. Is it a small increase? Yes,” said Michael McDonald, a political scientist at the University of Florida. “It's still a dry run for 2024, and we can't quite let down our guard.”One of the main organizers of the poll watcher effort was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/joe-biden-donald-trump-georgia-elections-campaigns-8ea24e5b4c240aceec71fbfa703d0394">Cleta Mitchell</a>, a veteran Republican election lawyer who joined Trump on a Jan. 2, 2020, call to Georgia's top election official when the president asked that the state “find” enough votes to declare him the winner. Mitchell then launched an organization to train volunteers who wanted to keep an eye on election officials, which was seen as the driver of the poll watcher surge.Mitchell said the relatively quiet election is vindication that groups like hers were simply concerned with election integrity rather than causing disruptions.“Every training conducted by those of us doing such training included instruction about behavior, and that they must be ‘Peaceful, Lawful, Honest,’” Mitchell wrote in the conservative online publication The Federalist. “Yet, without evidence, the closer we got to Election Day, the more hysterical the headlines became, warning of violence at the polls resulting from too many observers watching the process. It didn't happen.”Voting rights groups say they're relieved their fears didn't materialize, but they say threats to democracy remain on the horizon for 2024 — especially with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-2024-updates-cd5339d48064a149527e8f9a1aa7614e">Trump announcing that he's running again</a>. Wendy Weiser, a voting and elections expert at the Brennan Center, agreed that things overall went smoother than expected.“By and large, sabotage didn’t happen,” Weiser said. “I don’t think that means we’re in the clear.”