By JENNIFER SHUTT <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/11/25/thousands-of-veterans-deluge-va-with-claims-for-toxic-exposure-benefits-health-care/">States Newsroom</a>

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of 
Veterans Affairs is processing claims at the fastest rate in its 
history, hoping to avoid a significant backlog as hundreds of thousands 
of veterans apply for health care and benefits under the landmark toxic 
exposure law Congress passed earlier this year.&nbsp;

The day after President Joe Biden 
signed the bill into law in August, veterans set an all-time record for 
benefits claims filed online, and more than 136,000 have applied for 
benefits under the toxic exposure law as of mid-November. The VA expects
 the number of veterans and surviving family members applying could 
reach more than 700,000 in the coming months.

To address the surge in claims, VA is
 hiring more employees to provide health care and process applications, 
but officials do expect an increase in the backlog in the short term.&nbsp;

Joshua Jacobs, who is performing the 
delegable duties of the VA under secretary for benefits, said in 
mid-November that the VA is “in a better position to tackle this 
increased workload” than it was in 2013, when the agency was widely 
rebuked for letting the backlog swell to more than 600,000.

“For members who followed the claims 
backlog for that long, you may be asking, ‘Are we about to watch the 
same story unfold here today?’” he told members of the U.S. Senate at a 
hearing. “I’m happy to say that today, we are in a better position to 
tackle this increased workload.”&nbsp;

Jacobs said moving to a paperless 
system and hiring of thousands more people will help the VA avoid a 
significant backlog in the months to come as hundreds of thousands of 
veterans likely will apply for the health care and benefits <a target="_blank" href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/biden-signs-landmark-bill-aiding-veterans-exposed-burn-pits-overseas">that are part of the toxic exposure law, known as the PACT Act</a>.&nbsp;

“As we continue to encourage more 
veterans and survivors to apply for their PACT Act benefits, we do 
expect an increase to the inventory and the backlog in the short term,” 
he said at an oversight hearing of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs 
Committee.&nbsp;

Jacobs noted the VA has gotten the 
total backlog down to its lowest in years, below 150,000 claims as of 
this month. He also said the agency is encouraging veterans and eligible
 surviving family members of deceased veterans now covered under the 
toxic exposure law to apply before Aug. 10, 2023, on the VA’s website or
 with an accredited representative at a veterans service organization in
 order to get the earliest possible effective date.&nbsp;

The VA has set up a website at 
va.gov/pact as well as a phone number, 800-698-2411, for veterans to 
call for more information or to file a claim.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, 
chairman of the committee, said everyone expects “there are going to be 
hiccups” implementing the sweeping law that’s the largest expansion of 
health care and benefits in the VA’s history.&nbsp;

“Veterans who previously filed claims
 will now hear of many more of their brothers and sisters joining them 
in line,” Tester said. “But the VA must ensure that each of them gets 
the right decision as quickly as possible.”&nbsp;

As more new faces show up in hospital
 waiting rooms, Tester said, “VA must ensure they get the quality care 
they deserve.” He also noted that while the panel will work on some new 
legislation during the next Congress, the committee’s primary focus will
 be on oversight of the VA.&nbsp;

Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran, the top 
Republican on the committee, said his main priority for the panel is the
 “appropriate, sufficient implementation of the legislation” Congress 
has passed, including the PACT Act.&nbsp;

Shereef Elnahal, under secretary for 
health, said the VA is working to “reach every veteran who may qualify 
for new benefits and care to make sure they are aware” of what the toxic
 exposure law does and how to apply for benefits.&nbsp;

Department leaders are looking to 
increase staffing to handle the influx of veterans and to start on 
“groundbreaking new research on toxic exposure,” Elnahal said.&nbsp;

The department is reaching out to 
more than 300,000 veterans who have put information into the burn pits 
registry. It plans to hold more than 80 events the week of Dec. 10 to 
let veterans know about the new law.&nbsp;

A standard toxic exposure screening 
has been started for veterans going to primary care clinics, and in 
“just over one week, this clinical screening has already reached 166,000
 veterans with over 37% reporting exposures,” Elnahal told the panel.&nbsp;

The VA, Elnahal said, is working on a
 plan to boost hiring in rural areas, though he told the committee that 
might be easier if Congress implements a section of the president’s 
budget request that lifts the $400,000 cap on salaries.&nbsp;

“In order to recruit the right folks —
 on the physician, dentist and podiatrist side — it’s becoming much more
 difficult, especially in rural areas, as salaries go up and the health 
care labor market becomes more difficult,” he said. “And we would be 
able to pay more innovatively as well, to incentivize the right behavior
 among these clinicians.”&nbsp;

The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of 
America organization believes that the very beginning of the 
implementation has gone well so far.&nbsp;

But the organization, which 
represents more than 425,000 members, says both the VA and the U.S. 
Department of Defense need to do a lot more to reach all the veterans 
who are eligible.&nbsp;

“IAVA played a lead role along with 
our VSO partners in getting this landmark legislation passed into law, 
so we are greatly vested in its success,” Tom Porter, IAVA executive 
vVice president for gGovernment relations, said in a written statement.&nbsp;

“We are encouraged by the energy in 
the initial roll-out of the new law by VA Secretary McDonough and his 
team, as well as the commitment to oversight by the House and Senate 
Veterans Committees,” he said. “All parties, including VSOs, must make 
every effort to inform veterans of their new benefits.”

By JENNIFER SHUTT <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2022/11/25/thousands-of-veterans-deluge-va-with-claims-for-toxic-exposure-benefits-health-care/">States Newsroom</a>WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of 
Veterans Affairs is processing claims at the fastest rate in its 
history, hoping to avoid a significant backlog as hundreds of thousands 
of veterans apply for health care and benefits under the landmark toxic 
exposure law Congress passed earlier this year.&nbsp;The day after President Joe Biden 
signed the bill into law in August, veterans set an all-time record for 
benefits claims filed online, and more than 136,000 have applied for 
benefits under the toxic exposure law as of mid-November. The VA expects
 the number of veterans and surviving family members applying could 
reach more than 700,000 in the coming months.<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1669388430004.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>To address the surge in claims, VA is
 hiring more employees to provide health care and process applications, 
but officials do expect an increase in the backlog in the short term.&nbsp;Joshua Jacobs, who is performing the 
delegable duties of the VA under secretary for benefits, said in 
mid-November that the VA is “in a better position to tackle this 
increased workload” than it was in 2013, when the agency was widely 
rebuked for letting the backlog swell to more than 600,000.“For members who followed the claims 
backlog for that long, you may be asking, ‘Are we about to watch the 
same story unfold here today?’” he told members of the U.S. Senate at a 
hearing. “I’m happy to say that today, we are in a better position to 
tackle this increased workload.”&nbsp;Jacobs said moving to a paperless 
system and hiring of thousands more people will help the VA avoid a 
significant backlog in the months to come as hundreds of thousands of 
veterans likely will apply for the health care and benefits <a target="_blank" href="https://www.newsfromthestates.com/article/biden-signs-landmark-bill-aiding-veterans-exposed-burn-pits-overseas">that are part of the toxic exposure law, known as the PACT Act</a>.&nbsp;“As we continue to encourage more 
veterans and survivors to apply for their PACT Act benefits, we do 
expect an increase to the inventory and the backlog in the short term,” 
he said at an oversight hearing of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs 
Committee.&nbsp;Jacobs noted the VA has gotten the 
total backlog down to its lowest in years, below 150,000 claims as of 
this month. He also said the agency is encouraging veterans and eligible
 surviving family members of deceased veterans now covered under the 
toxic exposure law to apply before Aug. 10, 2023, on the VA’s website or
 with an accredited representative at a veterans service organization in
 order to get the earliest possible effective date.&nbsp;The VA has set up a website at 
va.gov/pact as well as a phone number, 800-698-2411, for veterans to 
call for more information or to file a claim.&nbsp;&nbsp;<h2>‘There are going to be hiccups’</h2>Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, 
chairman of the committee, said everyone expects “there are going to be 
hiccups” implementing the sweeping law that’s the largest expansion of 
health care and benefits in the VA’s history.&nbsp;“Veterans who previously filed claims
 will now hear of many more of their brothers and sisters joining them 
in line,” Tester said. “But the VA must ensure that each of them gets 
the right decision as quickly as possible.”&nbsp;As more new faces show up in hospital
 waiting rooms, Tester said, “VA must ensure they get the quality care 
they deserve.” He also noted that while the panel will work on some new 
legislation during the next Congress, the committee’s primary focus will
 be on oversight of the VA.&nbsp;Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran, the top 
Republican on the committee, said his main priority for the panel is the
 “appropriate, sufficient implementation of the legislation” Congress 
has passed, including the PACT Act.&nbsp;Shereef Elnahal, under secretary for 
health, said the VA is working to “reach every veteran who may qualify 
for new benefits and care to make sure they are aware” of what the toxic
 exposure law does and how to apply for benefits.&nbsp;Department leaders are looking to 
increase staffing to handle the influx of veterans and to start on 
“groundbreaking new research on toxic exposure,” Elnahal said.&nbsp;The department is reaching out to 
more than 300,000 veterans who have put information into the burn pits 
registry. It plans to hold more than 80 events the week of Dec. 10 to 
let veterans know about the new law.&nbsp;A standard toxic exposure screening 
has been started for veterans going to primary care clinics, and in 
“just over one week, this clinical screening has already reached 166,000
 veterans with over 37% reporting exposures,” Elnahal told the panel.&nbsp;The VA, Elnahal said, is working on a
 plan to boost hiring in rural areas, though he told the committee that 
might be easier if Congress implements a section of the president’s 
budget request that lifts the $400,000 cap on salaries.&nbsp;“In order to recruit the right folks —
 on the physician, dentist and podiatrist side — it’s becoming much more
 difficult, especially in rural areas, as salaries go up and the health 
care labor market becomes more difficult,” he said. “And we would be 
able to pay more innovatively as well, to incentivize the right behavior
 among these clinicians.”&nbsp;<h2>More outreach needed</h2>The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of 
America organization believes that the very beginning of the 
implementation has gone well so far.&nbsp;But the organization, which 
represents more than 425,000 members, says both the VA and the U.S. 
Department of Defense need to do a lot more to reach all the veterans 
who are eligible.&nbsp;“IAVA played a lead role along with 
our VSO partners in getting this landmark legislation passed into law, 
so we are greatly vested in its success,” Tom Porter, IAVA executive 
vVice president for gGovernment relations, said in a written statement.&nbsp;“We are encouraged by the energy in 
the initial roll-out of the new law by VA Secretary McDonough and his 
team, as well as the commitment to oversight by the House and Senate 
Veterans Committees,” he said. “All parties, including VSOs, must make 
every effort to inform veterans of their new benefits.”

Veterans deluge VA with claims for toxic exposure benefits, care

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service announced today that the 
IRS Office of Chief Counsel partnered with the American Bar Association 
Tax Section to hold its first centralized National Virtual Settlement 
Event. This four-day event was inspired by the monthlong virtual event 
held in March 2021 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the course of four days, an exceptional number of cases were 
settled: a total of 44. There were at least 59 meetings from October 24 
through October 27 that included taxpayers, pro bono attorneys and 
representatives of the IRS Office of Chief Counsel.

In contrast to past Settlement Day events that are generally 
organized locally for taxpayers with a nearby place of trial, this one 
was organized at the national level to support unrepresented taxpayers 
who may not be able to attend a local event.

"This groundbreaking event provided an easier process for taxpayers 
to get their cases settled," said Acting Commissioner Doug O'Donnell. 
"We are proud of the IRS Office of Chief Counsel for being innovative 
and making it more convenient to those who may not be able to attend a 
local event."

The event took place in close coordination between the Tax Section of
 the ABA which was celebrating its annual Pro Bono Week, and local Low 
Income Taxpayer Clinics. More than 75 volunteers from the ABA Tax 
Section, including numerous Low Income Taxpayer Clinics and private pro 
bono attorneys, provided free legal support. IRS Revenue Officers and 
Tax Computations Specialists further supported this event by explaining 
collection options and generating settlement computations.

The National Virtual Settlement event does not replace local or 
in-person Settlement Day events but instead offers taxpayers greater 
access to free legal advice and support for their Tax Court cases.

Settlement Day events are coordinated efforts to resolve cases in the
 United States Tax Court by providing taxpayers not represented by 
counsel the opportunity to receive free tax advice from Low Income 
Taxpayer Clinics, ABA volunteer attorneys and other pro bono 
organizations. Taxpayers can also discuss their Tax Court cases and 
resolve related tax issues with members of the IRS Office of Chief 
Counsel and IRS Collection. By doing so, unrepresented taxpayers are 
often able to amicably settle their tax disputes without a trial.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599869632873.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>IRSWASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service announced today that the 
IRS Office of Chief Counsel partnered with the American Bar Association 
Tax Section to hold its first centralized National Virtual Settlement 
Event. This four-day event was inspired by the monthlong virtual event 
held in March 2021 during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.Over the course of four days, an exceptional number of cases were 
settled: a total of 44. There were at least 59 meetings from October 24 
through October 27 that included taxpayers, pro bono attorneys and 
representatives of the IRS Office of Chief Counsel.In contrast to past Settlement Day events that are generally 
organized locally for taxpayers with a nearby place of trial, this one 
was organized at the national level to support unrepresented taxpayers 
who may not be able to attend a local event."This groundbreaking event provided an easier process for taxpayers 
to get their cases settled," said Acting Commissioner Doug O'Donnell. 
"We are proud of the IRS Office of Chief Counsel for being innovative 
and making it more convenient to those who may not be able to attend a 
local event."The event took place in close coordination between the Tax Section of
 the ABA which was celebrating its annual Pro Bono Week, and local Low 
Income Taxpayer Clinics. More than 75 volunteers from the ABA Tax 
Section, including numerous Low Income Taxpayer Clinics and private pro 
bono attorneys, provided free legal support. IRS Revenue Officers and 
Tax Computations Specialists further supported this event by explaining 
collection options and generating settlement computations.The National Virtual Settlement event does not replace local or 
in-person Settlement Day events but instead offers taxpayers greater 
access to free legal advice and support for their Tax Court cases.Settlement Day events are coordinated efforts to resolve cases in the
 United States Tax Court by providing taxpayers not represented by 
counsel the opportunity to receive free tax advice from Low Income 
Taxpayer Clinics, ABA volunteer attorneys and other pro bono 
organizations. Taxpayers can also discuss their Tax Court cases and 
resolve related tax issues with members of the IRS Office of Chief 
Counsel and IRS Collection. By doing so, unrepresented taxpayers are 
often able to amicably settle their tax disputes without a trial.

IRS: Virtual Settlement Event will help more in US settle tax claims

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

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

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

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 

<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.

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.”

<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.”

Midterms free of feared chaos as voting experts look to 2024

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

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/11/1669209736660.jpeg" alt="A law enforcement investigator wears a protective covering as they work the scene of a mass shooting at a Walmart, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022, in Chesapeake, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)" />
 <figcaption>A law enforcement investigator wears a protective covering as they work the scene of a mass shooting at a Walmart, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022, in Chesapeake, Va. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)</figcaption>
 </figure><a href="https://newsroom.ap.org/home/search/?query=byline:%22BEN%20FINLEY%22&amp;mediaType=text&amp;st=keyword&amp;sortOrder=newest">By BEN FINLEY Associated Press</a>CHESAPEAKE, Va. (AP) — The Walmart supervisor&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/walmart-shooting-chesapeake-virginia-b52927596381aa65efed367ce0c81c83">who shot and killed six co-workers</a>&nbsp;in Virginia seemed to target people and fired at some victims after they were already hit and appeared to be dead, said a witness who was present when the shooting started.Jessica Wilczewski said workers were gathered in&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/388036e68e8b596dd6bd05eb31d00ad6">a store break room</a>&nbsp;to begin their overnight shift late Tuesday when team leader Andre Bing entered and opened fire with a handgun. While another witness has described Bing as shooting wildly, Wilczewski said she observed him target certain people.“The way he was acting — he was going hunting," Wilczewski told The Associated Press on Thursday. "The way he was looking at people’s faces and the way he did what he did, he was picking people out.”She said she observed him shoot at people who were already on the ground.“What I do know is that he made sure who he wanted dead, was dead,” she said. “He went back and shot dead bodies that were already dead. To make sure.”Wilczewski said she had only worked at the store for five days and didn't know with whom Bing got along or had problems. She said being a new employee may have been the reason she was spared.She said that after the shooting started, a co-worker sitting next to her pulled her under the table to hide. She said that at one point, Bing told her to get out from under the table. But when he saw who she was, he told her, “Jessie, go home.” She said she slowly got up and then ran out of the store.Police are trying to determine a motive, while former coworkers are struggling to make sense of the rampage in Chesapeake, a city of about 250,000 people near Virginia's coast.Some who worked with Bing, 31, said he had a reputation for being an aggressive, if not hostile, supervisor, who once admitted to having “anger issues.” But he also could make people laugh and seemed to be dealing with the typical stresses at work that many people endure.“I don’t think he had many people to fall back on in his personal life,” said Nathan Sinclair, who worked at the Walmart for nearly a year before leaving earlier this month.During chats among coworkers, “We would be like ‘work is consuming my life.’ And (Bing) would be like, ‘Yeah, I don’t have a social life anyway,’” Sinclair recalled Thursday.Sinclair said he and Bing did not get along. Bing was known for being “verbally hostile” to employees and wasn’t particularly well-liked, Sinclair said. But there were times when Bing was made fun of and not necessarily treated fairly.“There’s no telling what he could have been thinking. … You never know if somebody really doesn’t have any kind of support group,” Sinclair said.On balance, Bing seemed pretty normal to Janice Strausburg, who knew him from working at Walmart for 13 years before leaving in June.Bing could be “grumpy” but could also be “placid,” she said. He made people laugh and told Strausburg he liked dance. When she invited him to church, he declined but mentioned that his mother had been a preacher.Strausburg thought Bing’s grumpiness was due to the stresses that come with any job. He also once told her that he had “had anger issues” and complained he was going to “get the managers in trouble.”She never expected this.“I think he had mental issues,” Strausburg said Thursday. “What else could it be?”Tuesday night's violence in Chesapeake was the nation’s second high-profile mass shooting in four days. Bing was dead when officers reached the store in the state's second-largest city. Authorities said he apparently shot himself.Police have&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shootings-virginia-f2dde6ed8eeda54ea64a0dfb3a5b0188">identified the victims</a>&nbsp;as Brian Pendleton, 38; Kellie Pyle, 52; Lorenzo Gamble, 43; and Randy Blevins, 70, who were all from Chesapeake; and Tyneka Johnson, 22, of nearby Portsmouth. The dead also included a 16-year-old boy whose name was withheld because of his age, police said.A Walmart spokesperson confirmed in an email that all of the victims worked for the company.Krystal Kawabata, a spokesperson for the FBI’s field office in Norfolk, Virginia, confirmed the agency is assisting police with the investigation but directed all inquiries to the Chesapeake Police Department, the lead investigative agency.Another Walmart employee, Briana Tyler, has said Bing appeared to fire at random.“He was just shooting all throughout the room. It didn’t matter who he hit,” Tyler told the AP Wednesday.Six people also were wounded in the shooting, which happened just after 10 p.m. as shoppers were stocking up ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Police said they believe about 50 people were in the store at the time.Bing was identified as an overnight team leader who had been a Walmart employee since 2010. Police said he had one handgun and several magazines of ammunition.Tyler said the overnight stocking team of 15 to 20 people had just gathered in the break room to go over the morning plan. Another team leader had begun speaking when Bing entered the room and opened fire, Tyler and Wiczewski said.Tyler, who started working at Walmart two months ago and had worked with Bing just a night earlier, said she never had a negative encounter with him, but others told her he was “the manager to look out for.” She said Bing had a history of writing up people for no reason.The attack was the second major shooting in Virginia this month. Three University of Virginia football players were&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sports-football-shootings-virginia-charlottesville-247f5b0fb4c7d1da8d418dc135aecdf8">fatally shot</a>&nbsp;on a bus Nov. 13 as they returned from a field trip. Two other students were wounded.The Walmart shooting also comes days after a person&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/shootings-colorado-springs-e098d88261db6bcfc0774434abbb7a8f">opened fire at a gay nightclub</a>&nbsp;in Colorado Springs, Colorado — killing five and wounding 17. Tuesday night’s shooting brought back memories of another attack at a Walmart in 2019, when a gunman killed 23 at a store in El Paso, Texas.Wilczewski, who survived Tuesday's shooting in Virginia, said she tried but could not bring herself to visit a memorial in the store's parking lot Wednesday.“I wrote a letter and I wanted to put it out there,” she said. “I wrote to the ones I watched die. And I said that I'm sorry I wasn't louder. I'm sorry you couldn't feel my touch. But you weren't alone.”