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daycourtofficial · 1 month

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Deceptive Domestication

Pairing: Azriel x reader | WC: 7.7k | Warnings: sexism, misogyny

Summary: The two of you have to pretend to be a married couple for a mission. Can you live with this false reality? Or will your feelings for Azriel eat you alive when it’s over?

Author’s note: started making it, had a breakdown, bon apetit

“Angel, where are you?”

Azriel’s deep voice moves on the wind, finding you at the back of your cottage. You twist the new ring adorning your fourth finger, the skin beneath it showing no tan lines, “I’m back here, just one second!”

Azriel laughs, his voice sweet and full of honey, “the wife’s an avid gardener. When we were first considering moving here, she insisted we check the soil to make sure she would be able to have her prized blackberries.”

You appear from the side of the house, wiping your hands on the apron around your dress. Azriel’s arm reaches around you, clasping you on your shoulder as you get next to him.

“He’s right, I love my blackberries greatly,” you say, reaching out to shake hands with your new neighbors. They lived in the house closest to yours, a red thatched roof adorning the black building. Delicious smells came from it, and judging by the smoke from the chimney, they were likely preparing dinner when they saw you two.

“We just wanted to come by and meet the two of you, we saw you come in last night and wanted to introduce ourselves. I’m Arben,” the male points to himself, “and this is my wife, Alija.”

You nod to both of them - they looked to be a good bit older than you and Azriel, wrinkles adorning their tanned faces. “Thank you, this used to be my Uncle Sal’s home. Since he passed away recently, he left the home to us and we wanted to leave our home village.”

“I’m so sorry about Sal, sweetheart,” he says, a sympathetic look in his eye, “he was a nice male, talked about you all of the time. Alija has to finish dinner, but we’ll see the two of you around, yeah?”

You press your lips into a firm smile, nodding before pressing into Azriel’s side and turning back to the house. His arm on your back guides you to the door of your new home, his touch a familiar warmth amidst all of the new. Once you cross the threshold, shutting the door behind yourselves, Azriel’s hand falls from your back and he immediately puts distance between you two, walking towards the bedroom he was staying in. His smile drops, the air in the room frigid. Rhys’s words clang through you, a shock to your senses.

Go to this village as a married couple. I’m unsure how long it will take.

You jolted as Azriel slammed the door behind him. Sighing, you move to your own room, taking in the bags left to unpack. You had taken great care to pack enough to last you as the season changes. The two of you were here indefinitely, marooned in a quaint village of about forty-three people.

Move in, become friends with the neighbors, find out what you can.

There was a circle of villages in the western part of the Night Court where females kept disappearing - six had gone missing in the last month. The villagers were not speaking to outsiders, but Rhysand thought a long term mission might allow the spies to get close enough to get some questions answered.

So he decided on you and Azriel.

Fan-fucking-tastic.

It had been strange seeing Azriel play this version of a spy, even if it had only been a day. You were so used to him lurking in the shadows, it felt so strange to watch him play the part of a doting husband, and to do it well. Introducing you to the neighbors and random villagers, a hand kept on your skin at all times - on your lower back, your waist, your shoulders. It was so easy to get swept up in the illusion you two were selling - even you were convinced you were newlyweds, moving for a fresh start.

Until he slammed his door, reminding you it was all fake, a farse for information.

Things between you and Azriel have always been easy. You two were the best of friends, most of your free time being spent with him since joining the Inner Circle two years ago. The two of you spent countless nights sitting together when sleep wouldn’t find you, you two had even developed a code - open bedroom doors at night were a silent invitation for the other to come in, spending most nights in each other’s rooms, wrapped up in sheets that smelled of the two of you.

All of that ended very suddenly a few months ago. Suddenly his door was always closed to you, your own cracked every night. A call to him, begging him to acknowledge you.

You started keeping your door closed a month ago. It didn’t feel right, shutting him out, but clearly you had done something wrong. Your entrance into a room would cause him to leave immediately, changes in his training schedule to avoid you, abruptly turning around when he saw you.

It was all pissing you off.

The rest of the Inner Circle were just as clueless as you were as to what happened to cause Azriel’s sudden distance. Cassian tried to interfere - making plans with both of you for dinner at a restaurant and ditching, trying to force you two to spend time together.

Azriel just left once he caught sight of you.

That was your tipping point. You stopped going to training, you pulled back from family dinners. They were his family first, and you wanted to give him whatever space he needed. Everyone protested, telling you it was his problem, and in Cassian’s words “if he’s going to be a jackass, I don’t want him around anyway.”

Still, you retreated, hardly seeing much of the family you had forged over the past few years. No matter how much it hurts you to do so.

Once you began accepting this new Azriel-less reality, Rhys had called you into his office. The high lord looked almost conflicted, your entire family aware that something weird was happening between you and Azriel. None of them dared to ask Azriel, his darkened mood making it incredibly easy to anger him, and anytime they asked you they were met with a shrug and a soft, “I don’t know.”

All of them had been scratching their heads, desperate for an explanation for the sudden iciness between you two. It had been weeks of this, and everyone missed seeing the two of you exchanging whispers in the corner or watching Azriel’s shadows wind through your hair.

Which was why Rhysand decided to insert himself into the situation. He called you into his office, and after asking you to take a seat, he began asking after your week. Your eyebrows knitted, confused about the formality of it all, when you realized you haven’t actually seen Rhysand in almost a month.

You had taken up residence in the House of Wind - since you were a scholar it lended easy access to your work, and whenever you wanted to leave, you asked Azriel to ferry you around. You tried to remember the last time you saw anyone in the inner circle that wasn't Cassian or Nesta, and it was when Cassian offered to fly you into town to get lunch with Feyre three weeks ago.

You’re not certain how to tell Rhysand the past few weeks had been filled with silence, whatever happened between you and the shadowsinger led you to avoid Cassian and Nesta, avoid training, avoid anything that wasn’t being buried in your work in the library.

You look into violet eyes, and you check your mental shields because he’s looking at you as if he already knows how sad this whole situation has made you.

You take a deep breath, shrugging. ��Time is passing, I suppose.”

Rhys’s face falls a bit at just how dejected you sounded. It wasn’t supposed to be like this - they all knew there was something between you and Azriel, they all saw how you two gravitated towards each other. Neither of you would open up about whatever it was that shifted things so quickly and easily and it was pissing all of them off.

“I need your help with something.”

It was the best plan they could come up with to try to salvage things.

You woke up early the next morning, determined to tend to the garden before the sun reached its peak in the sky. You had plans later in the afternoon to meet with a few of the women of the village, but you had to get to working on this garden. There was no time table on this mission, and the two of you only had food stores to last you a few months.

If you were to be stuck in this purgatory that long, you needed new food to replenish whatever you use.

Your story to tell the villagers was that the two of you were quite young from the other end of Illyria. The two of you were extraordinarily lucky that one of the older fae males in this village happened to pass away a few weeks ago, allowing the two of you an easy in. You merely reviewed some family records, and were posing as his beloved niece, here to lead a new life with her husband.

You tended to the garden behind the house - the weeds had grown wildly in the previous owner’s absence. Your ‘uncle's absence, that is.

You spent all morning pulling weeds, making quite an improvement to the garden before you decided to go in and make yourself lunch. You came in, rinsing the dirt from your fingers, the water feeling nice against some of the minor cuts you acquired outside. After drying off, you pulled out a loaf of bread, slicing the bread to prepare some sandwiches.

You hummed to yourself, trying to fill the silence of the house. It wasn’t large - a quaint two bedroom house with two bathrooms, a nice little kitchen, and a sitting room. You were a bit surprised at how well the interior of the house had been maintained by your ‘uncle’.

Azriel was headed with the rest of the males to the war camp, spending his day training as a lesser ranked Illyrian. He was glamoured to look enough not like himself to the other Illyrians that they wouldn’t think anything of him. You had also glamoured some of Azriel’s siphons, only allowing one on his chest to remain. He was not happy about it, not wanting to seem so much weaker than he truly was. He wouldn’t listen to any of your points about it, but Rhys eventually convinced him to allow your glamour to cover six of his siphons because “it’s quite obvious who you are”.

Azriel’s refusal to listen to even your opinions on the mission was grating. You wanted to get to know the local females, and Rhys agreed with you, but Azriel kept arguing that ‘it wasn’t safe’.

Stupid Illyrians and their stupid pigheadedness, you suppose. If you’re not supposed to speak with the other females, why were you even here?

You knew this mission would be difficult for Azriel - his hatred for his own people fueling centuries of anger and resentment. You thought being trapped here was an appropriate punishment for how he had iced you out of his life.

You had just finished making your sandwich when there was a knock at the door. You brushed your hands down your dress, glamouring wings back to life behind you, breathing deeply before you answered the door.

An Illyrian woman stood in your doorway, her dark curls slightly hiding her tanned face that was turned down. She was taller and broader than you, but still small for an Illyrian. Her demeanor told you they treated her that way as well. Her wings were tucked in tight behind her and her shoulders shook lightly before you.

Her voice was weak as she told you, “we go every day, bringing lunch to the males, if you wish to accompany us.”

Wish.

You knew the reality of coming here - you knew they would give a few days of grace to settle in, set up your garden, bereave your uncle before they assigned you to a chore rotation. In communities like this one, everyone had to pull their weight.

It was just astonishing how ‘pulling your own weight’ made the females seem two to three times heavier than the males.

You nod your head to the female, closing the door behind you as you meet her outside. You had no idea where the war camp was, knowing it mustn’t be too far from the village. You vaguely remember Azriel and Rhys discussing the three villages that filtered into the camp, how all three were short walks from the villages.

Dirt crunches beneath your boots as you walk alongside the female, her deep brown eyes downcast towards the ground, shoulders hunched to make herself as small as possible as you walk. “What’s your name?” You ask, your voice causing her to flinch. Her eyes were wide as they looked at you, shock at being addressed you presumed. It was astonishing how awfully they must treat her, because her face resembled a wounded dog’s.

“Kaltrina.” Her words are mumbled, and you have to strain your ears a little to hear her.

“Kaltrina - it’s nice to meet you. Um, are you married?”

Not your usual first question, but around these parts marriage was as good as social standing. Also any unwed women over the age of 24 were considered ‘unwanted’ or ‘untameable’. This village was harsh on women - even by Illyrian standards. The males of this village made Devlon look forward and free-thinking.

“No, not married. I live with my brother, Dardan.”

Her tone didn’t suggest anything about him, but you weren’t sure exactly what it meant. She offers you a smile and a soft nod, “is your husband nice?”

You offer the same soft nod before you hear her say, “he’s quite good looking, too.”

You pause, trying to remember everything Cassian and Rhysand had told you about Illyrians to prepare for this - they told you males were incredibly territorial, treating their wives more like trophies and laborers rather than spouses. A male would take this as a compliment - one mention of a good-looking wife would be something to boast about, mentioning it more than once would be an offense.

But how did the females treat their husbands, how did they speak to each other about them? It was the biggest gap in your knowledge, but you suppose you can explain away any discrepancies on how far away the two of you came from.

“Yes, he’s quite pretty.”

She giggles at your words, and you feel a swell of pride at getting it right. She walks next to you, standing a little straighter for the rest of the walk.

The two of you made it to the war camp, joining the other females to distribute food to the males. The males look at you like you’re not much more than a piece of meat or some dirt on their boots, but your eyes scanned the crowd for Azriel, not finding him the entire time you’re there.

You do get a chance to speak with a few of the females as you all head back to the village, carrying leftover food with you. Most of them seem to welcome you - suggesting what crops grow best in the area, telling you to reach out if you need any help with anything.

The other females head off at the fork in the road, telling you and Kaltrina they would see you the next day. You breathe deeply, looking to Kaltrina once more. She hardly spoke once the two of you had met up with the other females at the war camp, keeping her distance from them the entire time.

“How’s your brother?” You ask, the innocent question causing Kaltrina to flinch.

“He’s a fine male.”

Her answer feels so dry, so rehearsed. You don’t press the issue, changing topics instead. “How will you spend the rest of the afternoon?”

“Chores.”

You listen to the birds singing around the both of you, their song a beautiful melody across the skies. You eventually pass a house similar to your own, but a bit smaller, the roof not well cared for. Kaltrina gives you a small wave before turning down the path to her house, disappearing behind the door.

You kept walking towards your own house, but you did see her appear in the window briefly, watching you walk down the road. It made the hairs on your neck stand up, but you quickly looked forward again, making your way back to the house, determined to finish unpacking this afternoon.

You had finished unpacking by the time you heard the door open, Azriel traipsing through the house.

“Hello my loving husb-“

Your sarcastic words die as you turn to see his face, a cut on his lip and a black eye. He shakes his head, trying to tell you it’s nothing, and he starts moving to just head to his room, but you’re not having it.

“We have some bandages in the bathroom.” Your words don’t have a command in them, but he heads towards the bathroom. You pick up a bottle of alcohol, dabbing some on a rag. You motion for him to sit on the edge of the tub, and he goes.

You’re a few inches from his face, the closest you’ve been in months. His scent was so comforting, you just wanted to wrap yourself in it and stay for a while. He stays silent, his face a blank slate you could slap any emotion to.

His shadows have been having fun whizzing around the house. He had told them they had to stay completely hidden if they were to come to the war camp with him, otherwise they had to stay in the house or go off wherever they wanted. They didn’t like the options, but most of them stayed with him, tucked into his boots, his pants, the hilt of his sword. Now that he was back, they scattered across the house, energetic wisps of darkness moving through the house, through your hair, against your skin.

“What happened?”

He huffed, his fingers dancing on his thighs in irritation. “I’m a new male, they’re just seeing if I can take it.”

You nod, and from the irritation in his voice, you know he’s shutting you back out. You hold the alcohol covered rag up to his lip, cleaning the blood from his face. He had healed a good bit since he received the beating, and you notice his knuckles are bloody.

Hopefully he put up a good enough fight.

“I went with some of the women to the war camp to distribute food.”

His eyes snap to yours, his wings rustling behind him. His eyes were dark, a look to them you’ve never seen directed at you. He reaches his hand up to your wrist, his grip tight but not uncomfortable.

“Why the fuck would you do that?”

You’re taken aback by his tone - even if your relationship was tenuous, he never took such an aggressive tone with you. In all your years of friendship, the most strain in his voice you had heard directed at you was when you were free climbing up the cabinets of the kitchen to get to the top shelf for some cookies.

“Because Rhys thinks-”

“I don’t give a damn what Rhys thinks when it comes to you, I said it was a bad idea and to stay away from them.”

“They’re battered females, Azriel! The males treat them like dirt! And their friends and sisters and mothers have gone missing. I can help them, I know I can - that’s why we’re here!”

His hand tensed around you before he pulled his hand away from you. He looks away from you, his harsh breathing echoing through the small bathroom.

“You’ll only get yourself hurt by talking to them.”

He snatched the rag from your hand, pushing past you out the bathroom and into his room, slamming the door on your once again. You want to scream or stomp your feet at how ridiculous he was being.

“I’m not a kid you can boss around, Azriel.”

His silence didn’t make you so certain about that.

The next week goes by much like your first full day in the village - you wake up after Azriel’s gone, tend to the house (your ‘uncle’ left it in semi-decent shape, but it did need a few repairs), head with Kaltrina to the war camp to feed the males (where you were even able to meet Kaltrina’s brother and several of the female’s husbands), and spend your afternoon preparing dinner for the two of you.

You’re not on speaking terms with Azriel after his outburst while you cleaned him up - every day he’s returned with some minor cut and scrape, and all you do is point to the alcohol and provide him with fresh rags. You won’t clean him up yourself, you’re too pissed at him for that, but you still urge him to do it himself

You still care, despite it all.

Despite the ice between you and Azriel, the females of the village began opening up to you, accepting you as one of their own. You join them every day to serve lunches to the males, and several of them even invited you to their homes to help teach you how to cook with the regional vegetables.

“Your husband’s too skinny,” one said, “I’ll teach you how to cook.”

You weren’t sure if it was a compliment or an insult, but you took it for what it was - an offering. You spent the afternoon with her, learning how to smoke pig ‘the correct way’. She had told you her name was Bora, she and her husband have lived in this village for several centuries, and she has had many, many smoked pigs.

“None compare to my family recipe.”

She was quite intimidating, and you could tell she took shit from no one, not even her husband. You were touched that she would share her family recipe with you so readily, thinking perhaps she took a special interest in you until another female stopped by and, after telling her Bora was teaching you her family recipe, she told you, “it’s how she inaugurates new females to the village’.

You were less touched and your ego deflated a bit, but you were still grateful she would spend so much time with you. The afternoon flew by, time not registering as you helped Bora peel her vegetables while the pork cooked.

You looked up, noting the dark sky through the window, dropping the zucchini. “Oh no,” you mutter, running out of the house to the road, eyes wide to find Azriel running up the road, blades drawn. His siphon was glowing in the dark, it’s cobalt blue blazing with intensity.

He was frantic, and you could have sworn you saw his shadows frantically zipping around him, moving in and out of houses. His body visibly relaxes as he spots you, rushing towards you. His arms wrap around you, crushing you into an embrace. His breathing is ragged, “I thought- I thought- you-”

His words come out choppy, but he pulls back, his hands on your face. He’s breathing hard, trying to string words together. He swallows, his Adam's apple bobbing with the movement.

“Is everything alright?”

Bora’s voice startles Az, and one of his shadows whips into a defensive position before you shoo it away. He quickly collects himself, moving one of his hands to the back of your head, pulling you to his chest.

“Sorry, I got worried when I got home and my wife wasn’t there.”

He pats your hair, his hands combing through them softly. “Just need her to be safe, s’all.”

Bora nods, perhaps more understanding than she should be of Azriel’s concern. “Ah, to be newly married again. She was safe,” she turns away before adding, “she’s always safe here with Bora.”

The older female waddles back inside for a moment before coming back out to the two of you, the tray of pork and vegetables on it. “Here’s dinner tonight - Bora’s family recipe.” She winks at you, and the two of you politely thank her before heading back to your house. You carried the tray, but Azriel kept both of his hands on you the entire walk back.

The walk back is mostly quiet, Azriel’s heartbeat slowing as the adrenaline leaves his body. You swivel your head around, noticing no one out in the village at this hour.

“Why were you being so nice and touchy to me out there and anytime we see the neighbors?” Your words come out barely more than a whisper, but you knew he heard them. “The men in this village hardly view their wives as more than livestock, it might be more suspicious for you to be so nice to me.”

He turned, just enough for you to see the side of his face, to watch his mouth as he said, “I could never do that to you.”

You spent the rest of the walk in silence, spending the entire time dissecting the way he said “you”.

Your house with Azriel is still quiet, the two of you living separate lives behind the oak door. Sleeping apart, eating dinner in different rooms. You two only spoke when you were outside of the house.

A few days after cooking with Bora, you and Kaltrina were headed back to the village from the camps for lunch when she offered to help you make dinner.

“I want to say thanks, for being my friend.”

Her words make you feel terrible over how strange you had found her. Maybe she was just awkward. You weren’t sure, but you knew you’d be safe inside your own home, so you agreed to let her stay.

The two of you prepare dinner, Kaltrina seeming a bit nervous as she skitters about your kitchen. You make idle small talk, but the air in the room seems so off you can’t put your finger on it.

“What will your brother be doing for dinner tonight?”

She looks a bit downcast as she tells you, “he has plans tonight, he’s eating at his friend’s house.”

Her tone tells you not to ask anymore, and you don’t press the issue any further.

The two of you eat in silence, Kaltrina’s eyes moving around your house, taking in every detail. She excuses herself to the bathroom, and you show her where it is.

In Kaltrina’s absence, Azriel makes his way through the front door, his shadows beginning to spread throughout the house in contentment. You quickly shake your head at the tiny wisps that come to you, sending them back to Azriel. You point towards the bathroom, jerking your head at the noises from behind the door trying to tell him someone was here.

The water runs, and Azriel quickly moves across the room, his arms circling your waist. Your eyebrows pinch, but you quickly relax them as Kaltrina leaves the bathroom. Her steps halt at seeing Azriel, her eyes wide at his sudden appearance.

“Kaltrina, this is my husband. Valon, this is my friend, Kaltrina.”

He nods to her before squeezing your waist and giving a swift kiss to your temple. Kaltrina’s eyes linger on the display of affection, not breaking contact even moments later. Azriel rubs your back, eyes fond as he looks to you, “I’m going to head to bed, take your time with your friend, but don’t leave me waiting too long.”

Was that a signal? You two slept in separate rooms - what did his words mean? You lean up, kissing his cheek before rubbing at his jaw and nodding. He turns his attention towards Kaltrina, “it was nice meeting you Kaltrina, my wife is quite fond of you. Have a good night.”

Her mouth is slightly ajar, her cheeks a harsh shade of red as she squeaks, “good night.”

Azriel nods at her and he slips into your bedroom, a sight that doesn’t go unnoticed by you. You turn back to Kaltrina, her eyes lingering on the door to your bedroom, and you could almost feel the yearning radiating from her.

“Come on, we should clean up a bit.” The two of you head into the kitchen, cleaning and scraping the dirty dishes from earlier. You two work in silence, the only sounds in the room are the scrubbing of pots.

“Your husband seems quite nice.”

Her voice is full of want and yearning. You stop cleaning pots before you, Kaltrina’s eyes fixed on you until you look. She turns her eyes away, looking back to the pots.

“Yes, he is very kind.”

“He’s unlike any of the males around here.”

This conversation felt a bit dangerous. Azriel said it was fine, that he couldn’t treat you the way any of these males treat their wives - like servants, like cattle, like nothing. But you knew the females of the village would notice how he treated you, if they haven’t already. You start to wonder if they had noticed, discussing the odd outsiders, figuring the two of you out, getting you-

“He’s very good-looking.”

Kaltrina’s voice startles you, and you look to find her not even looking at you, gazing off to some point on the wall. Had she meant to say that out loud? The two of you finish up cleaning, although it is mostly you doing the work, Kaltrina’s gaze is lost somewhere on your kitchen wall. You quickly escort her out, wishing her a good night. You offer to walk her home, but she declines, saying she’ll be fine on her own.

You close the door behind her, taking a deep breath. Azriel was in your room - your room - the one with the unmade bed, clothes haphazard around the space. You two used to frequent each other’s private chambers, but now you can’t recall the last time he laid in your bed, perused the books on your shelves, or sat in the chair in the corner of your room at the House of Wind.

You push open the door to find him pacing in front of your bed, his shadows lounging lazily on your bed. You nod to him, picking at your fingernails.

“I think it’s Kaltrina. I think she’s the one doing this.”

“Kaltrina?” His voice is full of surprise and misunderstanding. “You think Kaltrina, that little thing is behind all of this?”

“Yes! I just.. Don’t know why.. The way she talks about you…”

“We can’t go off of silly little feelings when convicting someone of a crime, you know.” He stands in front of you, his wings blocking the light from the candles, casting shadows across his face.

“I’m well aware-”

“You have to think - where would she keep them? How could she overpower so many Illyrian women? And besides, why does it matter what she thinks of me?”

Your anger was bubbling to the surface, his condescending tone leading you to yell out, “what the fuck is your problem, Azriel?”

He looks at you, turning away quickly while muttering, “we are not doing this here.” His shadows are ever so slightly trying to push him back towards you, but he ignores their attempts, plowing through them to your kitchen.

“No, I think we are doing this right here, right now. I’ve let too much shit go by and I can’t keep acting like everything’s okay anymore.” You take in a shaky breath. “I’m tired of pretending. Just tell me whatever it was that I did that made you hate me and we can move on!”

“No.”

His curt reply annoys you even more, and you’re directly in front of him poking his chest.

“Just tell me what I did!”

“You didn’t do anything.”

“That’s clearly not the case.”

He groans in frustration, running a hand down his face, but you are unrelenting in your pursuit for the truth.

“We were friends, you used to like spending time with me. I don’t know what happened that made you hate me-”

“I don’t hate you.”

You laugh, “well you could have fooled me. For months everyone’s been asking me what happened between us, and I have no clue! It’s like you woke up one day and decided we couldn’t be friends anymore!”

“That’s not what happened-”

“Oh, it’s not? So you were pretending to be my friend while you secretly hated me before cutting me off one day?”

“I HAD TO.”

His eyes were wide with an almost feral-like look to them. He looked almost more beast than fae.

“I had to. Those fae that were trafficking females and males, they… “ His hand shakes as he curls and uncurls it, his scarred fingers twitching with the motion. “One of my spies found your name in one of their notebooks, reported it to me immediately.”

His ferocity is turned on you, hazel eyes looking into your own, as if he was searching through your soul. “Don’t you get it? They know you, they know who you are.” His voice raised an octave, squeaking, “because of me.”

“So, what? Because someone knew that I was important to you, you cut me off?”

“No it wasn’t-“

“Oh, no, was it that someone pointed out to you that I was important to you and you didn’t like that?” Your voice was raising, getting louder, but you couldn’t care.

“That’s not-“

“I’m a big girl, Az, I deserve to know everything before making decisions. I don’t deserve my decisions to be taken from me.”

“Will you let me speak?”

His shadows were covering the windows, the doors, the walls. His chest was heaving as he tried to get the words out, tried to make you see.

“I couldn’t let anything happen to you.”

“So instead of explaining this to me, you cut me off like I meant nothing to you? Why couldn’t you just tell me that? Why couldn’t you tell me-”

“You would talk me out of it! Convince me it was in my head. I needed you to be safe, for cauldron’s sake!”

You sniffle, eyes catching on the door. “I have a lot to think about,” is all you say before storming out, closing the door behind you. You walk from the house, your boots sinking into the grass at your feet as you walk aimlessly around the village. Your thoughts whirled and swirled of Azriel’s words, your hands pulling at your hair in frustration.

“Hey, there.”

You whip around, fist raised, to find Dardan looking back at you. You quickly drop your fist - he could still tell the others you showed defiance towards him and you’d be in a lot of trouble.

“Oh, hey, Dardan, right? I must not have heard you. How are you tonight?”

You try to make your voice sound as pleasant as possible, as feminine as possible.

“Just taking an afternoon stroll,” he muses, “care to join me?”

You look around, noticing you’re much further from the village than you intended. Even though you were a married female to the rest of the village, it was still disrespectful towards your husband to be seen on the outskirts of town with an unmarried male.

“Um,” you start turning around, your gut trying to tell you this was wrong, wrong, wrong. “Actually, I should get back to my husband. I need to start working on dinner soon.”

You turned your head just in time for something hard and metal to make contact with it, the last thing in your vision was the ground before complete darkness.

Your head was killing you, your neck at an unnatural angle as you opened your eyes. The room was dark, but still too bright for the pounding of your head. You take a deep breath, trying to note your surroundings.

Your hands were bound behind you, some fabric you should be able to easily pull apart. You were on the ground, some dirt beneath your body as you laid on the cold ground. You began tugging on the fabric, trying to maneuver your hands to slip through the knot.

“Tug all you want, we got a talented witch in these parts.”

Your body goes cold at the voice.

Dardan.

Fuck.

You want to slam your head on something, but there’s nothing. Your breathing speeds up, your mind moving through all your interactions with Dardan.

You thought he was nice. He had been amicable to you at the war camp, you barely even thought of him during this mission. You thought it was Kaltrina. How could you have gotten things so wrong?

He smiles as he watches your brain try to figure things out. His smugness was a new look for Lee - one that made him look very unattractive. “We knew one of Rhysand’s dogs was bound to show up at some point, just didn’t think they’d bring a pretty bitch like you with ‘em. Color me surprised when my little sister brought you around.”

You snap at his words, “bitches bite.”

He goes by to sharpen whatever knife he was wielding before replying. “We got big plans.”

Dardan wouldn’t say more than that, continuing to sharpen his blade before inspecting it. Once it was to his satisfaction, he grabbed you by the hair, yanking you from the ground. You scramble, trying to get your feet on the ground, kicking at the dirt he was dragging you across to gain some footing. His pull on your hair was unrelenting, even as your arms flailed back trying to hit him.

Eventually you’re able to get your feet beneath you, trying to keep up with his steps. He opens the doors to the structure you were kept in, the light of dusk surprising you. There was no way to tell time in that barn.

“It’s almost sunset, girl.”

You have no idea what he’s talking about, trying to take a big inhale so you can scream. The sound was piercing - a loud screech coming from you. Dardan just laughed. “Screech all you want, no one’s around for miles.”

Rhys’s words echo in your mind.

Stay close to Azriel.

A warning you had forgotten when you stormed off. Dardan’s tight grip brings you towards a clearing full of other Illyrians from the village you had been staying in and several of the nearby villages. You’re about to call, to beg them for help, when you notice six of the males are each dragging a female in some way towards the center of the clearing. You can’t see over the wings and heads in front of you, but the crowd parts for your eyes to land on a stone altar with ancient languages carved into it.

The crowd gave enough space for the six Illyrians to stand in a circle around the altar, each one cradling a woman by their neck with a blade pressed to it. You start fighting back against Dardan, trying to scratch him, hit him, but he throws you towards the altar where two winged males stand, catching you in their arms easily. You throw out your hand, making contact with one of their jaws, a soft “bitch” hissed at you.

You throw your bound hands into the other one’s gut, but the first one grabs your elbow, twisting harshly. You struggle in the hold, winding your head back to headbutt him, but the other one grabs your head, holding it in place. You start kicking your legs out, hoping for any kind of contact, but a male from the crowd comes up and catches your ankles.

The three males hold onto you, moving you on top of the altar. Your movements do nothing to stop them as they clamp down your feet, moving towards your hands, shackling them to the altar as well. Your pleas to be let go fell on deaf ears.

You turn your head to the left, two of the females coming into your view. Their wings twitched as their captors held them, not much fight in them. You yell to them, begging for them to fight back against the males at their backs. Tears stream down the side of your face, leaking into your ears as you watch their complacency, what they’ve been conditioned for.

Nausea rolled in your stomach at the idea of how long they’ve been aware of this fate. These girls have been missing for weeks and months of their lives, kept Mother knows where to beat them into compliance.

They stood at attention, knives to their throats, unmoving.

Your eyes water seeing Kaltrina amongst them, her eyes downcast.

It was sickening.

Dardan comes from the crowd, looking down at you over the crook of his nose. He raises a knife to your throat, your skin nicking on the blade as your breathing quickened.

“Any last words?”

You look up at Dardan, mustering every ounce of defiance onto your face as you pull back, spitting into his smug face. His face falls for a moment before wiping the saliva off. Dardan looks towards the sky, “just a moment until sundown. If only your pretty little shadowsinger could be here now, to watch you become the ultimate sacrifice.”

Breathing gets harder as the seconds tick by, knowing the sun will set at any second. You felt a cool breeze blow over you.

Not a breeze.

A shadow.

“Get your fucking hands off of my mate.”

Your heart stops in your chest, something sparking deep within you at Azriel’s growl of warning in a tone you’ve never heard from him before. Dardan’s knife is still pressed to your neck, but you’re able to move your eyes enough to see wisps of shadow pulling the knives away from the necks of the other females in the circle.

You tilt your head back, barely able to make out Azriel standing behind Dardan, his shadows angrily darting all around him. Several more of them make their way to you, almost cloaking you in the scent of their master.

Dardan’s arrogance doesn’t balk at the sight of Azriel, his grip on the knife tightening.

“You can drop the ‘mate’ act, freak,” Dardan spat out, his words causing the shadows to whirl in agitation. “We need her-”

In a flash the shadows coating you slithered up your torso, slithering around the wrist that held the blade. They pulled the wrist away, the knife narrowly avoiding slicing your throat. At the same time, Azriel moved for Dardan, his fist connecting with Dardan’s jaw causing a crack across the clearing. Dardan hit the ground, but Azriel dove after him, landing punch after punch.

In the chaos of the fight breaking out, the crowd was in hysterics, all of the males attempting to fly or flee, pools of shadows surfaced at their feet, tripping them up, their bodies slowly disappearing into the darkness. Some of them tried to crawl from the darkness, but to no avail. The crowd quickly went from about 30 males to just the six females left, all unharmed, huddling together for some form of protection.

Azriel was choking Dardan out, scarred fingers forcing the breath from Dardan’s lungs. “I will enjoy taking my time with you.” Azriel’s words hung in the air as Dardan slowly slipped into the shadows underneath him, but Azriel remained on the grass. He quickly got to this feet, most of his shadows gone, likely to keep the Illyrian prisoners in check.

He stumbles over to you, quickly undoing your binds before wrapping you in his arms, pulling you from the altar.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” are all he says, his words repeating as you feel tears fall onto your shirt. You gripped him just as tightly, finding it easier to breathe in his presence for the first time in ages.

“I can’t live in fear anymore.”

He lunged for you, capturing your lips in a kiss. It’s rushed, full of fear and trepidation.

But by the cauldron was it warm and full of life.

He pulled back, wiping spit from his mouth, his fingers covered in blood pushing the hair out of your face. “When I heard that your name was on one of those books, the bond snapped for me. I flew in a rage, killing all those traffickers. But I knew there were more like them out there.”

His eyes were full of regret, “I should have told you, but I thought you’d be safer not knowing. Then I figured this mission was my last time to actually have you, to play pretend.”

You laugh at the ridiculousness of it, pulling him in closer to you. You bury your face in his neck, inhaling that deep smell of cedar that you adored more than anything. It felt like coming home.

“I’m still pissed at you for not telling me.”

He chuckles, a deep, warm sound you haven’t truly heard in ages, “can I make it up to you? I won’t keep secrets from you ever again.”

He holds your face in his hands, his own eyes wet with tears. One of his hands pulls away, his tan skin radiant in the moonlight. You bring up your hand, interlocking your fingers with his. You keep your eyes on his, “no more secrets. From either of us.”

He nods, a bargain tattoo beginning to snake its way on your skin.

“No more running.”

The tattoo wove its way on your skin, dark tendrils solidifying where your forearms meet. When you pull your hand away, the tattoo is incomplete, missing the gaps where Azriel’s arm belongs.

Much like a one-sided duet, your tattoos look empty without the other there to complete the song that echoed in your chest, the song that hummed at the sight of him. The bond didn’t feel so much like a snap as a slow sinking, as if you had finally opened your eyes after so long.

Wrapped in his arms, the two of you had a lot to figure out - the females, what to do with the strange occult Illyrians, but the two of you could do it.

He promised - no more running.

Permanent taglist: @vanilla-seabass @cyrygher @lees-chaotic-brain @topaz125 @chessebookgirl @fides25 @lady-of-tearshed @ashbatz @fxckmiup @lilah-asteria @justvibbinghere @daughterofthemoons-stuff @mybestfriendmademe @heartless-tate @tsunami-of-tears @idrkwhatthisisimsorry @olive-main @azrielsmate3 @pit-and-the-pen @durgenyx

Azriel taglist: @brieflyclassymortal @thisiskaylin

Thanks for reading 💕

#acotar fanfiction #azriel x reader #azriel x you #azriel #azriel fanfic #acotar writing #azriel x y/n #azriel angst

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danidandandadididan · 5 months

Note

Give us Srpska hcs NOW

Before we start this cesspool of autism, keep two things in mind:

1. He has a total of 4 appearances so i’m only really using the design as a base cause he has no personality trait other than being like what? 7?

2. I’ve seen a few people mention before they shared head cannons about him that they’re in fact not from R. Srpska so their head cannons might not be accurate. However I’m from Srpska, so as far as you’re concerned I am Milorad Dodik

Also these might not be organized so please don’t mind it if I drop his trauma only to then say what his favourite Smiths song is

Anyway

1. He’s a Serbian Ultranationalist (shockingly)

2. Remember how in Serbia’s description it’s said that he’s tan though not as quite as his other neighbours? Srpska is the tanner neighbour

3. His eyes are ever so slightly slanted

4. Thick eyebrows for an easy threatening glare

5. Very raspy voice?? Can’t compare it to anything, just imagine a teenage Goran Bregović or something

6. He used to work in the Fabrics where he inhaled enough smoke to kill 7 grown adults (and that could be a factor in damage of his vocal chords)

-> other factors might be smoking or just yelling God bless

7. Obnoxiously masculine probably a misogynist

8. His hair is actually kind of curly, it became wavy later on in his life though. If he puts in enough effort he could bring the curls back (he won’t)

9. He carries a tarp around his waist most of the time, it’s something that stuck with him since the Ottoman period, and it’s easy weapon storage so

10. Massive fan of Serbian literature

-> specifically Andrić he brings him up any chance he can

If not Andrić then Dučić or Šantić

11. Calls Enis by his pre-conversion name, probably Stefan or something

12. Enis calls him Alija

13. I don’t see him getting along with Vojvodina ever, they probably don’t even understand each other when they speak

Voj: te vagy a legundorítóbb ember, akivel valaha találkoztam

Srp: الله أكبر

14. However he rubs off on her sometimes, like she probably accidentally uses Ijekavica when speaking in Serbian cause of him

(This is based off the fact that there’s way too many Bosnian serbs in Vojvodina)

15. He calls her Mađarica and she calls him turčin

16. Probably aromantic

17. Heterosexual or Bisexual, Idk depends on the day

18. He was born during the Ottoman period when Bosnia first converted to Islam and led to the massive split between Serbs and future Bosniaks. Immediately that was kind of odd for everyone, some were worried cause they didn’t know what it could mean, others kind of saw it as a torch in a dim room

19. Srpska was always “Ilija” before the 90’s, he rarely got any specific country name but he always represented the serbs of Bosnia one way or the other. Though during the ottoman period there’s a massive chance he represented the Raja in Bosnia, especially cause that will later lead into the creation of the Hajduks

20. Speaking of which: Srpska was a Hajduk

21. The ottoman period were his most crucial years of developing relationships with other yugoslovenes also under the rule, his opinions never changed even after it was over

22. He feels a Familial bond with Serbia and Hercegovina. Serbia for obvious reasons though Hercegovina is based off the fact that it was the initial “birth place” of what will become of the Bosnian Serbs, so you can technically say Srpska’s roots are in Hercegovina.

23. Though thats only for the familial bonds that were there since birth, there’s a single one he developed during his childhood and that’s his father-son bond with Montenegro. Based off the fact that Serbs of Bosnia always had a guaranteed second home there during the time period.

24. He was almost kidnapped multiple times in the “gift in blood” process (or Devshirm if you’re turkish enough) thankfully he managed to escape most of the time which is why he wasn’t turned into a janissary

25. I said this before but he received an injury to his frontal lobe which fucked him up pretty bad

26. Him and Montenegro had very different ways to deal with the Ottomans, Montenegro tried to make affairs with them while Ilija was already spilling his blood everywhere

27. he got his ass beat multiple times

28. His favourite Smiths song is Bigmouth strikes again

29. Hercegovina rubbed off on him to the point he developed a very obnoxious eastern Herzegovinian accent which means he unironically says stuff like Kastig and Bogalj but sometimes still uses Sarajevo slang and he sounds actually stupid

30. Idk exactly how he ages, he’s probably 15-17 nowadays physically

31. Hated the idea of Yugoslavia

32. Has been yelling about Unified Serbia since the 18th century

33. Him and Kosovo are more so rivals than enemies, Srpska points out his lack of hydroelectricity and Kosovo points out the lack of women who feel safe around him

34. Collects icons like Pokemon cards

35. Also has an icon wall

36. Shaved his hair off at one point in his life at least

37. Has a framed picture of Gavrilo Princip above his bed

That’s already too much already i’ll stop now

#yugotalia #aph srpska #balkantalia #turklet #yugotalia srpska #aph bosnia #aph herzegovina #aph montenegro #aph serbia #i hate him

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sevenoctober7 · 4 months

Text

In the nineties, Abdel-Wahab El-Messiri hosted the Mujahid President Alija Izetbegovic, and held a symposium for him at the Journalists Syndicate in Cairo, in which Begovic spoke and said this genius word: The West was waiting for the annihilation of Bosnia, and was ready to erect a pavilion in which there would be a lot of lamentation and lamentation! This phrase is truly a treasure trove of knowledge and a summary of deep and long experience with the West, its method, and its political and media philosophy, and it truly sums up in a wonderful way the West’s approach to dealing with events. The Westerner achieves his goal with all possible brutality, with terrible immorality, and without any feeling of guilt. If the goal is achieved, historians can later talk about the hideous massacres carried out by their ancestors. The Western press can come up with wonderful, professional, and honest reports about the numbers of victims it destroyed. Their policy is that the channels can bombard you with a stream of sobering documentaries and host survivors of the massacre, cry with them, and overshadow them with the finest soundtracks. This is Israel, for example... a combined Western and British crime... Look now at the memoir books and historians and at the archives of the BBC and the Guardian... etc!... from them you will gather information about the Nakba and about the British role in the displacement of Palestine that you may not find in Arab sources! The Nakba has been carried out successfully.. Let us set up the pavilion to mourn and lament together. While this same BBC and this same Guardian, now... now... now, at the moment of the annihilation of Gaza, will show you another face... Yesterday, a BBC correspondent was fired for liking two tweets that smelled of sympathy for Gaza!! And so... endless news about the rape of Israeli women on October 7, about the beheading of children, about the burning of mothers and their children... Yes, all of this was published in the media, which taught the world the meaning of professionalism, objectivity, sobriety, and standards of verification and scrutiny... all of this. evaporation! International channels ignored broadcasting the prosecution session at the International Court of Justice, where South African representatives speak about Israeli crimes. The next day, they all suddenly paid attention to broadcast the defense session in which the Israeli delegation takes charge of defending Israel!! If I were to swear on the unseen, I would swear to God that if this Gaza war passed and ended as they wanted, I would see these same newspapers and channels coming out to us with written and photographed reports and wonderful documentaries about Israel’s crimes in Gaza. And this policy, the policy of mourning and wailing in the mourning tents, after slaughtering and killing the dead... is what tempts the naive, ignorant fools who admire the West and consider it the center of civilized values and freedom of opinion, and they think that it holds itself accountable, reviews its history, and corrects its course!!

‏في التسعينات، استضاف عبد الوهاب المسيري الرئيس المجاهد علي عزت بيجوفيتش، وأقام له ندوة بنقابة الصحافيين في القاهرة، وفيها تكلم بيجوفيتش، وقال هذه الكلمة العبقرية:

كان الغرب ينتظر إبادة البوسنة، وكان مستعدا لإقامة سرادق يكثر فيه من الندب والنواح!

هذه العبارة هي حقا كنز معرفي وخلاصة خبرة عميقة وطويلة بالغرب وطريقته وفلسفته السياسية والإعلامية، وهي بالفعل تختصر اختصارا بديعا منهج الغرب في التعامل مع الأحداث.

الغربي يحقق هدفه بكل توحش ممكن، وبخسة أخلاق فظيعة، ودون أي شعور بالذنب.. فإذا تحقق الهدف، يمكن فيما بعد للمؤرخين أن يتحدثوا عن المذابح البشعة التي قام بها أسلافهم، يمكن للصحافة الغربية أن تخرج لك بتقارير رائعة ومهنية وصادقة عن أعداد الضحايا التي أهلكتها سياستهم، يمكن للقنوات أن تنهمر عليك بسيل من الأفلام الوثائقية الرصينة وأن تستضيف الناجين من المذبحة، وتبكي معهم، وتظللهم بأرقى مقطوعات الموسيقى التصويرية.

هذه إسرائيل مثلا.. جريمة غربية وبريطانية متكاملة.. انظر الآن إلى كتب المذكرات والمؤرخين وإلى أرشيف البي بي سي والجارديان... إلخ!.. ستجمع منها معلومات عن النكبة وعن الدور البريطاني في تشريد فلسطين قد لا تجدها في مصادر عربية!

لقد نفذت النكبة بنجاح.. تعالوا نقيم السرادق لننوح ونندب معًا.

بينما نفس هذه البي بي سي ونفس هذه الجارديان الآن.. الآن.. الآن في لحظة إبادة غزة ستظهر لك وجها آخر.. بالأمس فصلت مراسلة للبي بي سي وضعت إعجابا على تغريدتين فيهما رائحة التعاطف مع غزة!!

وهكذا..

أخبار لا نهاية لها عن اغتصاب لإسرائيليات في يوم 7 أكتوبر، عن قطع رؤوس الأطفال، عن إحراق أمهات مع أطفالهن.. نعم، كل هذا قد نشر في وسائل الإعلام التي علمت الدنيا معنى المهنية والموضوعية والرصانة ومعايير التحقق والتدقيق.. كل هذا تبخر!

القنوات العالمية تجاهلت نقل جلسة الادعاء في محكمة العدل الدولية حيث يتكلم ممثلو جنوب إفريقيا عن الجرائم الإسرائيلية.. في اليوم التالي كلهم انتبهوا فجأة ليذيعوا جلسة الدفاع التي يتولى فيها الوفد الإسرائيلي الدفاع عن إسرائيل!!

ولو أني أقسم على الغيب لأقسمت بالله، أن لو مرت حرب غزة هذه وانتهت كما يريدون لرأيت نفس هذه الصحف والقنوات قد خرجت علينا بتقارير مكتوبة ومصورة وأفلام وثائقية رائعة عن جرائم إسرائيل في غزة.

وهذه السياسة، سياسة النوح والندب في سرادق العزاء، بعد ذبح الميت وقتله.. هي التي تغر المغفلين السذج الجهلة الذين يعجبون بالغرب ويحسبونه محطّ قيم حضارية وحرية رأي، ويظنون أنه يحاسب نفسه ويراجع تاريخه ويصحح مساره!!

#palestine #gazaunderattack #gaza #gaza hospital #free palestine #israel is a terrorist state #غزة تحت القصف #فلسطين #طوفان الاقصي #غزة

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wvrlock · 9 months

Text

// speaking of tatu one day I'll transcribe some of the lore on alijae elves that my dm sent me because it's soooo good. "the other elves are stuck-ups who aren't willing to do what needs to be done, but WE are ready to throw our traditions off the window, reveal our ancient secrets and pact with demons if that's what it takes to preserve our homeland. also we built our entire new culture around writing down information and sharing stories in case we went extinct for choosing to fight instead of being cowards 😘"

#not so sassy because they dont really give a shit tbh #it's the other elves who give them weird looks #the alijae are too busy writing and studying and making ✨art✨#i hope the campaign will take us to their main city eventually i would LOVE that #because tatu has like a vague idea of alijae culture like she has a vague idea of many things #but she hasn't been raised. or so she thinks #;about ( tatu )#other elves: noooooo you can't go sharing your sacred secrets and history with everyone that's why we pass it on orally 😭😭😭#the alijae: BIG MURALS IN OUR BIG CITY FOR EVERY VISITOR TO SEE GO BRRRRRRR

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bd-wireroses · 3 years

Photo

Mizudoria F. Doom - Tally Hall

Ability: Speak with Objects - can bind to 10 targets or load all onto one target

Pronouns: He/him

Age: 16

Birthday: 5/06/1983 (Taurus)

Height: 5’2

Likes: Libraries, Bananas, A smooth pen

Dislikes: Having their hair pulled, people stealing their puppets, his parents

The Doom Family

Father: Dr. Zabi Doom - World Renown Brain Surgeon Mother: Veronica Doom - Former American Singer Songwriter Other Children: Madora, Haru, Ryukia, Marada, Konasia, Nagito, Ryusuke, Kukia, Ikki,Rook, Yumi, Alija, Ishuzu and Ryuki

#Doll not a Dame (Mizudoria)#art #Character Page #Worth Their Weight in Platinum (The Doom Family)

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tiadash · 5 years

Note

Any Srpska headcanons? :-)

(Thanks a lot for the question,sorry that it took so long to do!) ….- has hazel-ish eyes ,they appear more brown from afar -was literally a smoll gremlin of 128.2 cm(50.5") until puberty hit hard,as an adult he’s around 190.5 cm(6.3 feet)-he has a few names,believe it or not, his dad Vuk(Serbia) calls him “Ilija/Илија”,Enis(Bosnia) was hoping the boy would be a Muslim when they met called him “Alija/Алија”.Antun(male.Herzegovina) calls him “Ljiljan/Љиљан” while his mother Vesna (fem.Serbia) calls him “Ljila/Љиља” as a nickname.After getting baptized he mostly goes with Ilija Metikoš,though.-as a child he had a lisp.-people had held him back whenever anyone dared to suggest that a burek could be made with anyone rather than just meat(he got it from Bosnia)-has a photo of Radovan Karadzic(his first president) and Milorad Dodik(former president) in his wallet.-hangs out with Šćepan(Montenegro) from time to time,they send each other memes at 3 A.M.-Visits his dad frequently,likes to visit Vojvodina from time to time.-Dragan Torbica is his spirit animal -plans on joining the military as soon as he’s legally allowed to,much to Bosnia’s dismay.-can’t understand vegans.-doesn’t get along with Herzegovina because of Croatia but they do manage to get along when gossiping about Bosnia,again,to his dismay.-Ilija has a difficult time a fasting because if his love for meat, he is faithful,don’t get him wrong…but a burek is a burek.-his slava is St. Archdeacon Stephan (Свети архиђакон Стефан ),coincidentally,his birthday falls on that day as well.-likes flirting and going to the pub.-has a great singing voice but only sings at special occasions ,also was dancing the kolo by the age of 4.-his top three favorite drinks are:1.šljivovica(rakia made from plums)2.cheap beer3.red vine-besides Bosnia,Herzegovina and Serbia he doesn’t interact much with the rest of the Balkans.He argues with Kosovo a lot ,and sometimes gets along with Turkey when he comes to visit Bosnia,mostly to know when the latest episode from his favorite Turkish dramas is coming out.-has Serbia and Russia on speed-dial .-speaks the Eastern Herzgovinian accent.when he visits other places it helps in picking up girls .

(here he is in the traditional costume from the Bosnian Krajina region in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina,specifically form Bosanski Petrovac)

#yugotalia #my artwork #my wriitng #digital art #aph republika srpska #aph bosnia #my headcanons #answered #thanks for the question-y'all feel free to ask #I don't bite!

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orbemnews · 3 years

Link

College students anticipated to lose practically a yr of studying whereas attending college throughout the pandemic MILWAUKEE — College students throughout Wisconsin are struggling to remain on monitor with college throughout this pandemic. College attendance is already down in southeast Wisconsin, and one research expects by the top of the college yr kids shall be a yr behind in studying. Alija Harris, 7, is a second-grader from Milwaukee. The little boy excelled in school earlier than the pandemic began in keeping with his mother, Alida Harris. Andrew Triplett Alida Harris and her son, Alija, 7, work on college work. “He loves college. You already know, he beloved going, getting up within the morning and going and being along with his associates,” mentioned Harris. Alija goes to a constitution college within the metropolis. He’s dwelling studying nearly throughout the coronavirus disaster. His mother says he’s doing okay on this new surroundings. “He is a is an excellent pupil, particularly when he was within the classroom. He was actually good at getting his work accomplished and issues like that. Now, it is slightly extra lax, I consider, you realize so he’ll do his work, however I believe identical to any child considering we’re at dwelling,” mentioned Harris. Getting college students to have interaction in studying is a matter mother and father are coping with, not simply in Milwaukee however in colleges throughout the state. Curtis Jones, a College of Wisconsin Milwaukee senior scientist and the top of Socially Accountable Analysis in Training, studied the problem of studying throughout the pandemic. “The conclusions of a number of the challenges of what distance studying is and what it does and how much affect it has, these appear to generalize throughout college districts, you realize, anyone doing distance studying actually struggles with making college students motivated to take part and that college students attend recurrently, the gap studying and instruction,” mentioned Jones. Attendance is already changing into a problem in space colleges. In an open information request, TMJ4 discovered that in September, October and November of the autumn semester Milwaukee, Waukesha and Kenosha all noticed a drop in attendance in comparison with the identical time final yr. In simply Milwaukee, the town noticed a three-percent drop – greater than 2,000 children. Cedarburg was the one college that confirmed a small enhance in attendance. Milwaukee Public Colleges:Fall 2019 common attendance = 89.5%Fall 2020 common attendance = 86% Waukesha:Fall 2019 common attendance = 95.85%Fall 2020 common attendance = 91.86% Kenosha Unified College District:Fall 2019 common attendance = 94.34%Fall 2020 common attendance 94.07 % Cedarburg:Fall 2019 common attendance = 91.95%Fall 2020 common attendance = 93.17% This difficulty, in keeping with Jones, when college students will not be attending college, it makes it more durable to remain on monitor. “You’ve gotten a disproportionate educational loss for various kinds of college students from totally different backgrounds and there will not be sufficient sources to then ramp up interventions to catch these college students again up,” mentioned Jones. It isn’t simply in southeast Wisconsin. The whole state is seeing this difficulty, in keeping with Mike Thompson, deputy state superintendent for Wisconsin Division of Public Instruction. “This pandemic, this disruption on the children’ training, has an affect on their studying,” mentioned Thompson. “One of many challenges that districts face proper now’s the right way to monitor and preserve monitor of scholars who will not be within the constructing, each day, which is a neater proposition. And the right way to preserve children engaged in these totally different studying environments.” Andrew Triplett Alija Harris, 7, does his college work for digital college throughout the pandemic. The state in addition to Jones admits college students of coloration and college students in underserved college districts are dealing with a fair larger studying hole. “With anything that we have seen with the pandemic, sure teams are disproportionately impacted for every little thing that has occurred. We’re speaking job loss, you are speaking well being. So there’s actually no cause to assume that it might be any totally different in training,” mentioned Jones. A research by McKinsey and Firm discovered “college students of coloration might have misplaced three to 5 months of studying in arithmetic, whereas white college students misplaced only one to a few months.” And when McKinsey regarded forward at what that loss might imply by June of 2021, the top of the college yr, it discovered “college students of coloration may very well be six to 12 months behind in contrast with 4 to eight months for white college students.” graphics Studying loss college students are projected to be dealing with by the top of the 2020-2021 college yr in June. For Harris, her son retains up and reads above grade stage. However she worries about his progress in math whereas studying remotely. “I can hear him in, you realize, within the classroom. So I do know he is getting annoyed or I will should cease and say, ‘take your deep breath,’ you realize, as a result of every of the children most likely works at their very own tempo,” mentioned Harris. This fall, Harris acquired her son a tutor to assist. It’s one thing the state expects to be considered one of its methods to catch children up as they return to the common classroom. “For some, that shall be extra tutoring and extra particular companies for our youngsters which are most impacted by what this pandemic has accomplished it. It’s prolonged studying alternatives for an after-school programming and prolonged summer time college programming,” mentioned Thompson. Harris isn’t certain how college will change for her son when he lastly returns to in-person studying. However she says her focus now’s on protecting her son’s studying on monitor as a lot as attainable. “It is usually a dedication from mother and father, from me, you realize, ensuring that he will get on-line, ensuring that he does his work,” mentioned Harris. The state says it gained’t simply be studying assist college students will want as they return to a traditional classroom. Additionally they anticipate college students will want social and emotional assist. Thompson says proper now all districts are getting ready to assist college students return to common studying. Report a typo or error // Submit a information tip window.fbAsyncInit = function() FB.init( appId : '1500660210257997', xfbml : true, version : 'v2.9' ); ; (function(d, s, id) var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "http://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js"; js.async = true; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); (document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); Supply hyperlink #attendence #attending #coronavirus #covid-19 #Education #expected #inperson #learning #Lose #Milwaukee #Pandemic #privateschools #publicschools #school #Students #Year

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peregrineggsandham · 7 years

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Part 2 of the response to the ask from @actuallyaltaria.

Full Name: Dekjhen Weir, Alijas, Declan River, Jay Pond... Thackery Lake... Gender and Sexuality: male, bi Pronouns: he/him Ethnicity/Species: human (for real this time) Birthplace and Birthdate: Somewhere in Blaire, thirty years ago. Guilty Pleasures: Putting bitter almonds in everything that he cooks for people, just to give the more astute ones the brief fear that they’re being poisoned with cyanide. Good to keep one’s friends on their toes. Also putting spiders in unexpected places for Amusement. Phobias: None in particular. What They Would Be Famous For: Brewing excellent poisons, raising several million spiders on a farm somewhere and being forever known as “That Guy with the Spiders”, hopefully having some part in ending a war. He’s a bit famous in his childhood hometown for having been abducted, replaced, and possibly eaten by a changeling - but that’s not actually how things went down. What They Would Get Arrested For: Being a triple agent (he never was - he was framed). Being a double agent (that one’s true). Multiple counts of murder. Freeing slaves. OC You Ship Them With: His childhood friend, Bentley, whom he hasn’t seen in almost two decades but still remembers affectionately. OC Most Likely To Murder Them: Possibly the people responsible for getting him out of that whole framed-as-a-triple-agent debacle. He owes them quite a bit. Favorite Movie/Book Genre: Foreign language textbooks. Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche: When there isn’t a happy ending. Talents and/or Powers: Brews poisonous things, including good alcohol and better arsenic cocktails. Speaks a fuckton of languages. Why Someone Might Love Them: He isn’t quick to warm up to people, but as long as he and they have mutual interests, he is a useful acquaintance to have. He has a personal vendetta against slave owners in particular, and will go out of his way to protect the wellbeing of anyone being forced to work against their will. Why Someone Might Hate Them: He has no sense of loyalty to individual people, only to causes, and those are liable to change (recall the double agent debacle). He’s not above backstabbing his closest friends to achieve his goals. He’s frankly terrible with kids. How They Change: He doesn’t call any particular place or people his home, and is no longer entirely certain of who he is thanks to a certain conflict of loyalties and also some issues with names and magically binding deals. He’s in the middle of an identity crisis at the moment. Over time, I hope he’ll figure that out, and finally achieve freedom, and maybe - maybe - learn to trust people. Why You Love Them: I didn’t, at first, and I couldn’t figure out why. But now that issue has been fixed, and I love him for his paranoid nature and his poor life choices and his fuckton of spiders.

#OCs #tseuq

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mypakistan · 11 years

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Jemima Khan

Jemima Marcelle Khan (pron.: /dʒɨˈmaɪmə/; née Goldsmith; born 30 January 1974) is a writer and campaigner.[3][4][5] She is the Associate Editor of the New Statesman and European editor-at-large for Vanity Fair. She continues to work as a charity fundraiser, human rights campaigner, and contributing writer for British newspapers and magazines. Khan first gained notice in the United Kingdom as a young heiress, the daughter of Lady Annabel and Sir James Goldsmith. She converted to Islam and married Pakistani cricketer and politician Imran Khan in 1995. Khan also gained worldwide media attention for her relationship with British film star Hugh Grant.

Early life and education

Born in London's Westminster Hospital as Jemima Marcelle Goldsmith, Khan is the eldest child of Lady Annabel Vane-Tempest-Stewart and Anglo-French financier Sir James Goldsmith. Her parents had a polyamorous relationship in which they were married to different partners but, in 1978, they married to legitimize their children.[6] Khan has two younger brothers, Zac Goldsmith and Ben Goldsmith, and five paternal and three maternal half-siblings, including Robin Birley and India Jane Birley.[7]

Khan grew up at Ormeley Lodge and attended the Old Vicarage preparatory school and Francis Holland School. From age 10 to 17, she was an accomplished equestrian in London.[6] Khan enrolled at the University of Bristol in 1993 and studied English, but dropped out when she was married in 1995. She eventually completed her bachelor's degree in March 2002 with 2:1 honours.[8][9]

Marriage to Imran Khan

Jemima married Imran Khan, a Pakistani cricketer, celebrity and philanthropist who later turned to politics, on 16 May 1995 in a traditional Islamic ceremony in Paris.[10] They also had a civil ceremony on 21 June 1995 at the Richmond Register Office,[11] followed by a midsummer ball at Ormeley Lodge.[12] A few months before her wedding, she converted to Islam,[7][8] citing the writings of Muhammad Asad, Charles le Gai Eaton and Alija Izetbegović as her influences.[2] In Lahore, Pakistan, she learned to speak Urdu and also wore Traditional Pakistani clothes. she wrote in her 2008 article for The Times that she "over-conformed in [her] eagerness to be accepted" into the "new and radically different culture" of Pakistan.[13] Diana, Princess of Wales, was a close friend of Jemima, visiting her twice in Lahore, Pakistan, the year that Diana died[citation needed]. In 2003, she received her MA in Middle Eastern Studies at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London,[14] focusing on Modern Trends in Islam.[15][16]

In 1998, Khan launched an eponymous fashion label that employed poor Pakistani women to embroider western clothes with eastern handiwork[17] to be sold in London and New York.[18][19] Profits were donated to her husband's Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital. She ran the organization until December 2001, when she shut down the business due to the economic situation following the September 11 attacks, and so she could focus on fundraising and on supporting her husband in Pakistani politics.[1][19]

She established the Jemima Khan Afghan Refugee Appeal to provide tents, clothing, food, and healthcare for Afghan refugees at Jalozai camp in Peshawar.[1][20][21]

In 1999, Khan was charged in Pakistan with illegally exporting Islamic era antique tiles. She claimed that the charge was a fabrication to harass and damage her husband,[22] but nevertheless, left Pakistan to stay with her mother for fear of incarceration.[23] After General Pervez Musharraf overthrew elected Prime Minister Navaz Sharif in a coup d'état, in 2000, the Ministry of Culture and Archaeology verified the tiles were not antiques, and the Pakistani court dropped the charges, allowing her to return to Lahore.[22]

Khan became an Ambassador for UNICEF UK in 2001, and went on field trips to Kenya, Romania, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, the last of which she later helped victims of the 2005 Kashmir earthquake by raising emergency funds. She has promoted UNICEF's Breastfeeding Manifesto,[24] Growing Up Alone[25] and End Child Exploitation campaigns in the UK.[26][27]

Khan supported her husband as he became more involved in his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (a.k.a. "Justice Movement") party.[28] Imran became a member of Pakistan's parliament in 2002 and has been a "vociferous critic of President Pervez Musharraf".[28]

Rumours circulated that the couples marriage was in crisis, Jemima placed an advertisement in Pakistan newspapers to deny them. It read: "Whilst it is true that I am currently studying for a masters degree at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, it is certainly not true to say that Imran and I are having difficulties in our marriage. This is a temporary arrangement." [29] On 22 June 2004, it was announced that the Khans had divorced ending the nine-year marriage because it was "difficult for Jemima to adapt to life in Pakistan".[28] The marriage ended amicably. Imran has said the six months leading to the divorce and the six months after was the hardest years of his life. After the divorce Jemima returned to Britain with the boys, according to the divorce settlement Khan's sons visit him in Pakistan during their school holidays while he stays with his former mother-in-law, Lady Annabel Goldsmith, when he comes to London to see them. According to Jemima, Imran and she have remained on very good terms even after the divorce.[30] "[28]

Relationship with Hugh Grant

Following her divorce in 2004, Khan returned to London and later became involved in a romantic relationship with Hugh Grant. A 2005 article in the Evening Standard newspaper noted that "Jemima's profile" changed from "high during her first marriage" to "soaring since she became involved with Hugh Grant".[31] Khan's relationship was scrutinized extensively by the tabloids,[32] but a 2005 survey of London visitors favoured them as "the celebrity couple people would most like to show them round London".[33] The relationship continued until February 2007, when Grant announced that they had "decided to split amicably".[34] Grant's spokesman added that he "has nothing but positive things to say about Jemima."[34]

Career

Although she had written articles when she lived in Pakistan,[1] Khan started contributing to op-eds to England's newspapers and magazines including The Independent, The Sunday Times, The Evening Standard and the Observer.[35][36][37][38] In 2008, she was granted an exclusive interview with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf on the eve of the elections, for The Independent.[39] She was a Sunday Telegraph columnist from 21 October 2007 to 27 January 2008.[40]

Khan was a feature writer and a contributing editor for British Vogue from 2008 to 2011. In 2011, Khan was appointed Vanity Fair’s new European editor-at-large.[41] She was also Associate Editor at The Independent.[citation needed]

In April 2011, Khan guest-edited the New Statesman and themed the issue around freedom of speech. She interviewed the deputy prime minister Nick Clegg and included contributions from Russell Brand, Tim Robbins, Simon Pegg, Oliver Stone, Tony Benn, and Julian Assange, with cover art by Anish Kapoor and Damien Hirst.[42] According to Nick Cohen in the Observer "Jemima Khan was by a country mile the best editor of the New Statesman that that journal has had since the mid-1970s".[43] The magazine issue included "an unexpected scoop" from Hugh Grant who went undercover to hack Paul McMullan, a former News of the World journalist, who had been involved in hacking as a reporter.[44] In November 2011, Khan joined as an Associate Editor of the New Statesman.[45]

#Zac Goldsmith #Khan #Jemima Khan #James Goldsmith #India Jane Birley #Imran Khan #Francis Holland School #Ben Goldsmith

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risingpakistan · 11 years

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Jemima Khan

Early life and education

Marriage to Imran Khan

She established the Jemima Khan Afghan Refugee Appeal to provide tents, clothing, food, and healthcare for Afghan refugees at Jalozai camp in Peshawar.[1][20][21]

Relationship with Hugh Grant

Career

#Zac Goldsmith #Khan #Jemima Khan #James Goldsmith #India Jane Birley #Imran Khan #Francis Holland School #Ben Goldsmith

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itsfinancethings · 5 years

Link

The morning of Oct. 2, 2018, was the last day I would wake up to a normal life like everyone else, full of hopes and desires. Who would have known that it would be the last day I saw my fiancé, Jamal Khashoggi? Who would have known that when I left the house, I would become a real-life answer to the question: “Can someone’s life change in a day?”

I wasn’t supposed to be with Jamal that day when he went to the Saudi consulate to get the necessary documents for our marriage. He knew I was busy with my Ph.D. work and had told me to carry on with my studying. But in the end, I offered to go with him. Apart from being a person I loved, Jamal was a person I profoundly respected, whose life, status, experience and values I admired. I was always happy to know where he was going and to help him out, especially when he was in Istanbul, where we spent a lot of time together. It made him happy, too.

Who would have known that as we were finalizing preparations for our marriage, others were moving in for his murder? As the hours passed by in deep silence, I waited for him and stared at the gates of the consulate in fear and hope. By the time I realized something was wrong, the damage was already done. Jamal’s blood had already been spilled; his body cut up into pieces.

I still had no idea of the dark nights to come. In the days that followed, my phone rang constantly for hours. Were the calls from journalists? I could not answer most of them. Although it took a long time for the news to emerge, Jamal’s death in the consulate that day was eventually confirmed to the public on Oct. 19. Turkey was saved from being the host to an anonymous murder. That is hardly enough to ease the enormous loss of Jamal.

After the news of the atrocity, I felt detached from life for a long time. I did not read the news; I did not follow what was written during the period. Articles or phone calls would not be able to bring Jamal back. But journalists and rights groups managed to keep the issue on the international agenda for a long time, with sheer loyalty to Jamal and what he stood for. For this I am grateful, and I hope they will uphold their moral responsibility and continue to pursue justice for this brave man.

But Jamal was murdered. I will never see or have the chance to meet with him again in the earthly realm. All my dreams have been profoundly shaken. Before this, I had my own struggles in life like everyone else. Now, Jamal’s fight for justice has been added to them. Because world leaders claim to represent justice but lack morality, I have been left with the burden of carrying this feeling. I am not just the woman going after her partner’s cause in his absence, but also the one left to hold to account those who took his life.

A year later, the first thing that comes to my mind is shame, an immense disappointment that the systems of the world are built on economic interests rather than ethical values. As a researcher of the Middle East and a future academic, I can see that the day Jamal was killed was not simply the murder of a journalist. It was also the murder of fundamental values: human rights, the international rule of law, the norms of diplomacy. The situation reminded me of the words of the wise Alija Izetbegovic during the Bosnian War: “What is being defended in Bosnia today is not just Bosnia itself; what is being defended is Europe. For in Bosnia today, the values vowed to be upheld by Europe are being defended.”

Jamal supported the fight for democracy in the Middle East after the Arab Spring. “It is time for concepts like freedom of thought and democracy to arrive in Arab states as well,” he would say. It was statements like these that so provoked the current leaders of Saudi Arabia, afraid of their own shadows, their rage growing into such animosity that they carved up a human being because of his words.

Jamal only wanted to practice journalism. He acted as a journalist should. But in the minds of those who only saw journalists as spies giving intelligence to the pubic, he was extremely dangerous.

From this perspective, Jamal’s murder shows how our part of the world—the Middle East—is being left in the dark ages. Most of Jamal’s friends were either in prison or did not have such a strong voice that could speak to the whole world. But Jamal found comfort in knowing that so many like-minded people were with him and supported him. This is what he meant every time he said he was not alone with these beliefs.

What happened to Jamal showed how far human rights have been abandoned in the Arab world. Jamal’s name now represents all the nameless people in this region who would like to speak but can’t articulate what they want to say, and have to remain anonymous on social media.

The murder of Jamal, a rare man of his generation, was a blow to everyone fighting for democracy in the region. It wasn’t just people who knew him who cried at his death; it was everyone crying for the fate of the people from this region. Muslims around the world performed a funeral prayer without a body. In getting rid of his body, his killers had dealt yet another blow to those who loved Jamal.

But at the same time, they sowed the seeds of a new enlightenment and a movement to fight for freedom around the world and, above all, in the Middle East. While I was traveling recently, a man came to help me with my suitcase, walking with me until passport control without looking at me. When we paused, I thanked him for his kind gesture. “May Jamal rest in peace,” he replied. “I wish I could do more for you. I am Iranian; I recognized you as we were boarding the plane. I am so sorry for what happened. I was very much affected by it all.” Then he said goodbye and left, and I stood there watching him walk away.

The savagery of Jamal’s killing pained anyone with a conscience. By helping me that day, that Iranian man tried to relieve his own suffering. Days later, I saw a middle-aged lady approaching me. Her eyes brimming with tears, she asked me if I was Jamal’s partner; I said yes. “Please, let me hug you,” she said, wanting to prove how sincere she was. I learned this mother was from Iraq and was suffering too, sharing in the pain of Jamal’s brutal killing. They tried to silence Jamal forever. But instead he has become the symbol of our collective moral conscience, the voice for the voiceless in the Middle East.

#IFTTT #Blogger

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minute20 · 6 years

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A Serbian Nationalist Will Become One Of Bosnia’s Three Presidents

Bosnian voters elected long time Serbian nationalist Milorad Dodik to a national presidential post Sunday, a result likely to increase tensions between the Serb Republic of Bosnia and the international community over Dodik’s close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his repeated calls for the Serbian statelet to secede from the Bosnian state.

Under the terms of the 1995 General Framework Agreement for Bosnia that ended Bosnia’s vicious civil war, the country’s three major religious communities —Orthodox Christian Serbs, Catholic Croats and Bosnian Muslims — each have a reserved spot in the country’s presidency. On Sunday, the nation of just over 4 million people also voted on presidents for its two statelets, the Serb Republic and the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as 14 prime ministers. In all, nearly 7500 candidates ran for 518 seats in local assemblies in Bosnia’s 10 cantons.

But it was Dodik whose election drew the most attention.

Once welcomed as a unifying force by Western officials, Dodik reinvented himself in 2006 as a Serbian nationalist with close ties to Putin. He has publicly raised the possibility of the Serb Republic seceding, inflaming ethnic politics in the region and earning him a place on the US sanctions list in 2017.

His election to the presidency is likely to inflame rhetoric from hardliners of all three religious groups.

The Bosnian Muslims elected Šefik Džaferović, a longtime ally of former Bosnian President Bakir Izetbegović and his father Alija, who was elected the first president of the newly formed Bosnian nation in 1992. Despite a campaign by the Republic of Croatia’s government to push a hardline sectarian candidate, the Bosnian Croats elected Zeljko Komsic, a centrist who campaigned on supporting the Bosnian government’s status quo.

“Dodik is now one of the figurehead leaders of a country that Dodik’s own party has argued probably shouldn’t exist,” said a former European Union diplomat who now works as a lobbyist and asked not to be identified as to speak freely about a delicate political situation. “Mixed with the rhetoric on a Kosovo land swap, which most of us think would lead to violence as ethnic populations are forced to move, this is a dire time for the post Yugoslavia project envisioned by Dayton.”

Jasmin Mujanovic, a Bosnian analyst based in the US , said that Dodik’s election to the rotating Bosnian presidency would exacerbate the already high sectarian tensions in the Balkans because of opposition to the current framework.

“Dodik is arguably the most outspoken proponent of wholesale territorial rearrangement in the region, so he will likely use his post to continue to undermine the existing regional status quo, to invite greater Russian influence, and likewise to trump up Serb nationalist grievances both in Bosnia and across the Balkans,” Mujanovic told BuzzFeed News. “He’s certainly going to champion dysfunction and brinkmanship in Bosnia as he believes that this is key to portraying Bosnia as an ‘impossible’ state.”

Dodik’s power will extend to responsibilities outside his presidential role because his party remains in power in the Serb Republic. “His ability to do long term damage to (Bosnia) is significant,” Mujanovic said, who predicted Dodik will slow any movement toward Bosnian intrgration with the European Union.

Dodik’s election came despite a growing protest movement in the Serb Republic over the death earlier this year of 21-year-old David Dragičević. After an initial investigation by Serb Republic security forces was inconclusive, Dragičević’s family has led daily demonstrations in Banja Luka against Dodik, including one that attracted an estimated 30,000 people on the eve of the election.

The post A Serbian Nationalist Will Become One Of Bosnia’s Three Presidents appeared first on Breakig News.

source https://www.20minute.info/a-serbian-nationalist-will-become-one-of-bosnias-three-presidents/

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thechasefiles · 6 years

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The Chase Files Daily Newscap 9/29/2018

Good MORNING #realdreamchasers! Here is The Chase Files Daily News Cap for Saturday September 29th 2018. Remember you can read full articles by purchasing Saturday Sun Nation Newspaper (SS), via Barbados Today (BT) or Barbados Government Information Services (BGIS).

TAIL HITS HARD – Frantic cries for help as scared residents of Wotton, Christ Church, watched rising flood waters encroach their homes. A pregnant woman rescued from her home on the shoulders of a Barbados Defence Force (BDF) soldier. A young asthmatic whisked from harm’s way. Cars stalled in roads, abandoned in waist-high waters by their drivers. A downed electricity pole in Josey Hill, St Lucy, and scores from St Philip to St Joseph left without power. These were the scenes as the island took a rainy beating from the tail end of Tropical Storm Kirk Thursday night. (SS)

BAJANS FORTUNATE – Barbadians are being assured that the flood and storm threats have passed and the work of the National Emergency Operations Centre at the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) is over for now. Acting Prime Minister Dale Marshall informed a press briefing this morning that all roads were clear and flood waters in most areas had receded. Marshall said he was happy with how Barbadians had survived the passage of Tropical Storm Kirk without death or serious injury. “We have been very fortunate that there is no level of devastation . . . anywhere near a level of devastation. And therefore while we still have to be mindful of the possibility of flooding up to midday today, I think that it is fair to say that Barbados is in decent shape,” he said, adding it would take a little while to return to normal. “I am able to say to you that most of the flooding that Barbados experienced has actually receded. A number of areas surrounding Bridgetown, Halls Road, River Road, London Bourne Towers, parts of the south coast, those areas are absolutely clear and those districts where there was significant flooding . . . has been reduced,” Marshall said. He stated that perennial problems areas such as Holetown and Speightstown were clear. “The roads of Barbados are clear. There have been no reports of downed power lines. No reports of fallen trees and therefore the situation on the roads of Barbados is simply not so hazardous as would require any national shutdown.” The Acting Prime Minister tied his comments to the decision to keep the public service open for business, considering that many Barbadians depended on access to the services today in order to survive the weekend financially. He also said the decision to suspend the storm warning was a wise one so Barbadians could return to normal. At the same time, Marshall stoutly defended the Government’s decision not to institute a national shutdown yesterday and today despite calls by some to do so. “I am aware that a small number of Barbadians have been clamouring for what would effectively be a national shutdown. The fact of the matter is that at no time would it have warranted a national shutdown. A national shutdown would have resulted in the closure of the airport. It would mean that flights could not land . . . flights could not take off, our closure of the seaport, and only essential services would be available to Barbadians, and clearly the situation did not warrant that,” he contended. Marshall said a guard wall at Government House fell during the flooding and immediately Barbados Defence Force soldiers were on the scene to add security to the official residence of the Governor General. He said the debris that spilled onto the road has since been cleared and at no time was the Governor General Dame Sandra Mason at any risk. Marshall was also quick to admit that his Government learned from how the country responded to the passage of the weather system. “This has certainly been a test of our readiness and a test of our structures. We will certainly be conducting a review. I can say to you that there have been some weaknesses that were very evident. That being said though, there was a level of gallantry that was exhibited certainly by the BDF, the Fire Service and the Police Force in terms of rescue efforts. If there is one thing that this has shown us…we do have first-class capacity in those areas,” he added. Marshall said those lessons learned would point authorities in the right direction in the future. He thanked all the emergency service personnel and public officers who worked through the passage of Kirk to ensure that the country was prepared to deal with any impact and respond accordingly. Acting Attorney General Edmund Hinkson, who shared the press briefing with Marshall, expressed gratitude that the country had been spared the worst of the storm. (BT)

MARSHALL ON TOUR AFTER KIRK – Acting Prime Minister Dale Marshall is currently on tour with Department of Emergency Management officials in the wake of the passage of Tropical Storm Kirk. He is visiting the Princess Alice Pumping Station in the City; the Bayland, St Michael and Wotton, Christ Church. Earlier this morning, he had revealed 11 people had to be rescued from rising flood waters – three in Lowlands, Christ Church, one in Wotton, two in Kirtons, St Philip, two in Chapman Lane and three senior citizens at Rockley, Christ Church. The Acting Prime Minister further defended government’s decision not to shut down the island. He said it cost millions of dollars whenever the island was shut down for days like bank holidays, and a shutdown would have meant closing the Grantley Adams International Airport, preventing flights from arriving and leaving. He also praised the members of the emergency services and teams from the Royal Barbados Defence Force, the Barbados Defence Force and the Fire Service for their “gallantry” in their rescue efforts. (SS)

THREE SAVED BY BDF TEAM – Thursday night will remain in the minds of residents of Cherry Wood Circle, Wotton Terrace, for years to come. That Christ Church community was left at the mercy of nearly five feet of flood water after Tropical Storm Kirk dumped over seven inches of rain on Barbados between Thursday night and early Friday morning. And in the darkness and thundering rain, the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) was rushed into action to rescue three residents from the late-night flash flood. When a NATION team visited the area on Friday, flood waters were still high enough to make some roads impassable by car. (SS)

RECOVERY PLANS – Flood mitigation plans are coming for those communities most seriously impacted by heavy rainfall. Speaking this morning to reporters at the end of tours of the Princess Alice Pumping Station at Pelican Village, Clarke’s Road, Bayville and Chapman Lane, St Michael, as well as Wotton, Christ Church, Acting Prime Minister Dale Marshall assured residents whose lives were disrupted by flooding caused by the passage of Tropical Storm Kirk, that short and long-term measures would be implemented as a matter of priority. While at Wotton, where flooding has been the norm since the early 1980s due to inadequate drainage, Marshall said a plan was in the works to bring an end to that persistent problem. “The Ministry of Public Works has indicated to us that they expect with new technologies they are going to be able to effectively do drainage wells in this area. So as long as Minister [Ryan] Straughan can find the funding, and I think he is very incentivised to find funding to allow MTW to do this, we hope that we can put the residents of Wotton in a situation where they wouldn’t expect to have this again,” Marshall said. As an immediate response, he revealed that a damage assessment team was seeking to determine which of the more than ten households dislocated by rushing waters of chest-high levels, were in need of assistance. “We are doing a damage assessment. I believe that damage assessment has already started. We will get a better idea who those individuals are. I can say to you we opened six shelters last night and not a single shelter has been used. So what that tells us is that individuals have actually made arrangements for their own accommodation,” Marshall said. He also disclosed that the Ministry of Health would be working on an initiative to take care of residents whose health was threatened by contaminated flood waters. “Some of our big fears here [at Wotton] really are also health concerns because, as we can see, a lot of the wells for the toilets were flooded and individuals had to go through water during the course of last night and this morning. And obviously when toilets are flooded you now have a health risk to be concerned with. I have sent a message to the Acting Minister of Health and we are going to be having a discussion there with them,” Marshall told reporters, while adding that a similar situation happened in Bayville where the five or six houses impacted had pit toilets that were flooded. He expressed delight that the level of flooding which last night necessitated soldiers from the Barbados Defence Force rescuing several Wotton residents from their homes, had subsided to mere pockets of accumulated water. He revealed that islandwide, 11 people were rescued from five locations and apart from one householder being injured, there were no other incidents of note. While he spoke, a tanker from the Ministry of Transport, Works and Maintenance pumped off water at Cherry Wood Circle in Wotton where flooding was most severe. It was there that 32- year-old mother of one, Alija Hall, related a harrowing experience last night. Stating that the flooding was the worst ever for her and her 15-year-old son Thierry Gittens, Hall recalled that the water appeared to have suddenly rushed through her home reaching above waist level and causing her fears of drowning. She said the soldiers in the area who responded to her cry for help needed to use a lifeboat in order to rescue her as the water continued to rise. “Other lifeboats were out…they were waiting on lifeboats…then after the water started to fill the areas where the electricity plugs were, they had to take off their life jackets, put it on my son, put it on me, put me on their shoulder and swam out with us because the water came to the level of our necks,” she told reporters as she sought to fight back the tears. Hall expressed gratitude to the soldiers and Wotton resident Joseph Holder. When the Acting Prime Minister and his team arrived later in Chapman Lane, he was greeted by a lake at Murphy Pasture and streams of murky water running between the narrow alleys that separated the congested lines of mostly low-income wooden houses. Residents told Marshall they had been complaining to both Governments for decades about the serious flooding in the community. Marshall was accompanied there by Cabinet colleagues, Minister of Transport, Works and Maintenance, Dr William Duguid and Acting Attorney General, Edmund Hinkson. Marshall also addressed the issue of the shortage of functioning pumps at the nearby Princess Alice Pumping Station. “The situation at the pumping station that we visited earlier continues to be a challenge. The Ministry of Public Works is busy getting the two pumps that are not working fixed and money is being put into next year’s Estimates that we can acquire a new pump. It is not good enough that people in this district have grown so accustomed to flooding that every house has a couple of pairs of boots. This is not how Barbadians are supposed to be living. So this is going to be one of the priorities of the Ministry of Public Works going forward,” Marshall promised, noting the new pump would cost taxpayers $350,000. He explained, however, that in the meantime the two non-functioning pumps were being repaired as a short-term measure while in the future Government would construct a larger canal at Chapman Lane to facilitate the increased water volume. Marshall also told reporters that Prime Minister Mia Mottley who is overseas on official business would be cutting short her stay to return tomorrow to deal with related issues considering that the hurricane season still had two months to go. (BT)

LANDSLIDE WORRY – Despite the incessant rain and winds from Tropical Storm Kirk overnight, homes in the hills of St Andrew and St Joseph appeared unscathed, but residents are fearful that land slippage could result. White Hill, St Andrew resident, Carlitha Andrews continuously thanked God for sparing her parish the worst, as the district has been plagued by ongoing road issues. She said while residents were thorough in their hurricane preparations, it was impossible to prepare for a landslide. “I have to thank God for sparing us because the country and the world know that we can’t take no more, so he has blessed us by not letting nothing at all happen to us,” said Edwards, who suggested that St Andrew should be designated a special disaster zone. Her comment was met with agreement from Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training Senator, Dr Romel Springer who was touring the district to see which communities had been affected by Kirk. He indicated that the parish was in danger of being completely isolated due to land slippage and poor bridge infrastructure. “We have to be vigilant in this area. For the persons living in this community it is still a very active and vibrant community; we don’t want any further displacement. When we get weather systems like the one that passed through yesterday with the amount of rain that was dumped on Barbados, then we have to be even more concerned because that type of water can do even more severe damage to a normal, stable road [furthermore] here in the Scotland District where the land is compromised,” Springer said. Although it was relatively quiet in Lakes, St Andrew, resident Jalisa Skeete informed Barbados TODAY that members of the community were susceptible to being trapped in their homes during a hurricane. “We have Dacosta Edwards Primary School as a hurricane shelter but in Lakes there is East Coast Bridge and there is Lakes Bridge, so if the bridge brims over we can’t get to the hurricane shelter because we are trapped up here. We have to cross the bridges and they were flooded last night,” she said. However, the 28-year-old resident revealed that her household of eight was well stocked and prepared for any major hit. She was alerted to Kirk’s presence just after 7 p.m. when there was a heavy downpour, but it was when the gusty winds howled through her peaceful neighbourhood that she was stricken with fear. “About 11 p.m. the wind blow, and boy the wind blow! I thought the roof was going to come off and I was scared. I woke everybody in my house,” Skeete recalled. Vendor Esther Headley, from Spring Hall, St Lucy, was delivering fruits and vegetables to residents today, having resumed business after waiting for the all-clear to be given. “Some people are still looking for their stuff and it is still a normal day. Thank God for the fair break that he gave us,” she said as she made her way through sprinkling rain to deliver a batch of tomatoes to a resident. Over in Sugar Hill, St Joseph, store manager of Mumus Supermarket, Dawn McIntosh, disclosed that having experienced the devastation and turmoil of Category 1 Hurricane George in Tortola in 1998, she was on high alert whenever any system passed. She had taken the necessary precaution to ensure the store was shuttered and bolted. Thankfully, St Joseph was safe and sound. “I don’t take these things lightly anymore after seeing the devastation down there,” McIntosh shared. Concerned about the flash flooding occurring across the island and the safety of her employees, McIntosh opened the supermarket around 10 a.m. after the Met Office gave the all-clear. “I wasn’t going to let them come out if it was any worse. I would have done it myself. I’m not going put anybody’s life at risk like that,” McIntosh stressed. (BT)

SOUTH COAST SEWAGE SYSTEM UNAFFECTED BY STORM – The 13-hour downpour experienced by Barbados as the tail end of Tropical Storm Kirk lashed the island most of last night into this morning, has not further compromised the already beleaguered south coast sewage system. That assurance came from Minister of Energy and Water Resources Wilfred Abrahams, who told Barbados TODAY that measures implemented by the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) had handled the massive amounts of storm water. “I am pleased to report that the precautionary measures for the sewage system appear to be successful. Both the Bridgetown Sewage Treatment Plant and the South Coast Plant stood up well and there are no overflows or any issues related to sewage spills,” said Abrahams. The Minister acknowledged that there would have been concerns about the ability of the South Coast Sewage Plant to handle the significant rainfall, in light of the fact that the Government was still in the process of finding a permanent fix after more than two years of consistent sewage spills onto the streets. Last month, he revealed that excavation work which began in June on sewer lines in the vicinity of the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary, had brought the BWA closer to finding the source of the problem. This morning, Abrahams explained that his Ministry has been busy creating contingencies to ensure that the hard work was not undone, and he said he was happy that proper planning had paid off in the end. “We took the precaution of clearing a number of canals around the Graeme Hall swamp and the sluice gate was opened. That proved to be a very wise decision because the levels of the swamp rose as expected with the heavy rainfall and the water progressed nicely out to the sea, so we had no issues. We are quite pleased with how everything went and it shows that a stitch in time saves nine,” Abrahams stressed. However, he pointed out that some manhole covers were dislodged. Concerned that this occurrence would be mistaken for sewage overflows, the Minister sought to explain that it strictly related to rising ground water and, therefore, presented no reason for panic. “For a long time our ground water has found its way into the sewer network, so every time we get that amount of rain you would see some of the manhole covers coming off. We are just waiting for the floodwater to subside and then we would replace those covers,” Abrahams assured. (BT)

BWA BOSS GIVES KUDOS TO STAFF – The Barbados Water Authority is reporting tonight that it was well prepared to respond to the passage of Tropical Storm Kirk. And General Manager Keithroy Halliday is attributing much of its readiness to the commitment of BWA staff who “manned the stations they should have throughout the night.” While admitting that being 100 per cent ready is always a challenge, Halliday told Barbados TODAY this afternoon that the company’s staff, some of whom were on call, responded without hesitation. “And we believe that this really contributed to minimizing what would have possibly happened in terms of us scrambling and getting to do what we had to do. Granted, we did have some stations that were down . . . with the exception of one because of some electrical outages,” the BWA boss said. Halliday explained that workers moved quickly to put generators into operation, adding that the BWA had the foresight to acquire a number of generators ahead of time. He said the BWA and the Barbados Light & Power Company even competed against each other in a race to get each other’s generators up and running first. “I am happy to report that in some instances they beat us to it and other instances maybe we beat them to it. But we have had an excellent relationship with the Barbados Light & Power Company over the years and that sort of jovial jostling over the last couple of hours also demonstrated that type of unique relationship that we have enjoyed over the years,” Halliday noted. In the meantime, he said his technical staff continue to work on repairing those stations which were down to get them operating as soon as possible. The waterworks company boss reported that the Bowmanston Pumping Station was deliberately offline as normal practice during weather events, but was now back in operation. “So our decision to take it off early at 3.30 this morning was a wise one because we were able to minimize the disturbance in that particular area. So we were able to put that back online to restore water in that particular area,” he stated. Halliday said that Hampden Station which supplies Rising Sun which in turn supplies Providence and a number of areas was also down for a short period affecting several areas. “But we were able to get Hampden up and running. Therefore we have seen some advancement in that system . . . and therefore those areas are beginning to receive water supply,” he said. He also reported deploying a number of water tankers to several parishes such as St Lucy, St John, St James, St Thomas and St Andrew, not withstanding the fact that “we felt relatively comfortable that we could get the supplies back up and running. We just wanted to make sure that residents experienced minimum disruption.” A He said the largest tank also went to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) because that institution had a problem with its pump. “And I think that is going rather well,” he added. Halliday was also pleased that the sewage treatment plant withstood the impact of Tropical Storm Kirk without any real incident. However, he noted that there were three manholes which were dislodged due to the water pressure from the flooding, but were quickly resealed. (BT)

GIVE US A SEAT – One of the groups representing public service vehicle (PSV) operators is calling for representation on either the Transport Board or the Transport Authority, saying that lack of communication with the latter resulted in some minibus and ZR vans putting the brakes on their operations early, ahead of Tropical Storm Kirk. The explanation came as Maynards, St Peter resident Cynthia Husbands expressed concern that PSVs had stopped plying their trade too early last night. She told Barbados TODAY she was surprised that while PSV operators had an interest in operating on more routes across the country, they were quick to park their vehicles as soon as bad weather was approaching. The elderly woman said she was satisfied that officials at the Met Office and Government officials “did the right thing by communicating”, but “the only thing that was disgusting was the minibuses and ZRs: “How could you want to ply a whole island and yet still you gone home at 6 o’clock or 5 o’clock off the road and left the bare Transport Board buses? How could you? It is not acceptable,” said Husbands. Following the passage of the storm, there were also noticeably fewer public transport vehicles operating. In fact, our news team spotted only two Transport Board buses and a handful of minibuses and ZRs while traversing the usually busy west coast for several hours. Acknowledging that PSVs pulled their service a little early yesterday in anticipation of the storm, Chairman of the Alliance Owners of Public Transport (AOPT) Roy Raphael blamed the situation on the lack of adequate communication from the Transport Authority. He told Barbados TODAY the operators recently met with the Authority about formulating a policy for emergencies and national shutdown. “They did not involve us in the discussions as it relates to the public transport and we move about 75 per cent of the public. I think it is unfortunate what happened yesterday that everybody engaged the Transport Board,” he said. Raphael argued that if PSV operators had a seat on the board of the Transport Authority or the Transport Board, then what happened yesterday could have been easily avoided. “We need to collaborate and that is why again we will renew our call for us to sit with the Transport Board. We were calling for a seat on the Transport Board because we find that there is no seating for the PSV on the Transport Authority. For us going forward, especially in the case of emergencies, I believe we need to collaborate more. What happened yesterday is very unfortunate,” said Raphael. “I believe going forward we must either set up a committee working collaboratively with the Transport Board or we have to ask the Minister [of Transport] to allow us to have a seat on the Transport Board where we can work together,” he said, adding that this was important as they implemented the route rationalization and integration project. (BT)

BUSINESS AS USUAL IN THE NORTH – It was business as usual in the north of the island this morning, following heavy rains and strong winds associated with the passage of Tropical Storm Kirk overnight. When a Barbados TODAY team visited some communities in St Peter and St Lucy, several residents were going about their usual shopping and other errands while most businesses were up and running. Those who shared their experiences said they were spared the worst, with most of them saying they were mostly concerned about the strong winds. Northumberland, St Lucy resident Linda Jordan, who was shopping in Speightstown, St Peter on Friday afternoon, told Barbados TODAY that when the rains started last night she was at work in Porters, St James. She said she was very concerned because her 87-year-old grandmother was at home and the electricity was off. When she returned home, the elderly woman was “fine”, but power was not restored until about midday. Jordan said she believed schools should not have been closed yesterday. “The people said it would happen about nine the morning but it was nine the night, for example. So I don’t know why these people are getting mixed up with the time difference,” she said. “But then this morning, we saw the Defence Force, Barbados Light & Power and everybody was out on the road doing their work, which is a good job.” Jordan said she was very concerned that during storms, people were taking to social media to spread inaccurate news. “We cannot afford that. In these times we cannot,” she said. Meanwhile, Loftus Roach, who hails from Aston Hall, St Peter, said he wasn’t too bothered about the strong winds. However, he said he had to do periodic checks to see if water was entering his house. Explaining that he understood forecasters sometimes got it wrong or weather systems sometimes changed quickly, Roach said he was satisfied the authorities were being proactive. “I always give the authorities a chance. They are only working on what they see and what they are told. It is not a definite something. They might tell you 2 o’clock but it could be at 10 o’clock. You have to give them a chance,” he said. Friendship, St Lucy resident Melford Edghill said his electricity went off when the rains started last night and was not back on until about 2 p.m. today. The farmer said he was thankful the system was not bigger or stronger, and pointed out that his crops and animals were spared the worst. One man from Mango Lane in Speightstown, St Peter told Barbados TODAY he was also glad Tropical Storm Kirk was not stronger. (BT)

MOTTLEY CALLS FOR AID ON CLIMATE CHANGE – Abandoning a prepared speech which she could not read because of extensive floods back home, Barbados’ Prime Minister, Mia Amor Mottley has made an impassioned appeal to the United Nations to aid the world’s small states deal with the worst effects climate change. “Events have happened in the last 24 hours in the world in which we live that cannot be ignored,” said Mottley at the General Assembly on Friday. “Whether in my own country, the passage of a tropical storm that we thought had passed us, only to have floods in too many of our communities overnight or for it to hit our sister country St Lucia; whether an earthquake off the shore of Martinique and Guadeloupe and Dominica this morning , not affecting land but destabilising; whether an earthquake off Indonesia earlier today or a tsunami or whether a typhoon that is about to deal with the people of Japan, these events are of concern because the world in which we live is a very different world.” Mottley reminded the UN during its open debate that just last year Dominica's head of government had taken to the UN podium “within days of the passage of a category five hurricane” that left billions of dollars in damage across the Caribbean in its wake. The “reality” confronting the world now, she said, was that the issues of climate change were very serious for people everywhere, placing the inhabitants of several regions, including the coral islands of the Caribbean “at risk” largely because of an inability by the international community to act decisively. “For us it is about saving lives. For others it is about saving profits,” Mottley said. “We have reached the stage where we ask the global community to recognise what is at stake is simply not an academic debate; it is simply not the profits of multi-national corporations. But the evidence is clear and decisive that it is the lives and it is the living of our people.” Mottley, who was scheduled to go to Europe for discussions on key financial issues confronting the country, has cut short her travels to return home to survey the flood damage and to see how people’s lives could be returned to a state of normalcy. She said “time was running out” for the international community to take decisive action to protect the lives and the environment of countries and regions around the world. What was needed, Mottley said in her first speech as Prime Minister was funding to stop the “worst aspects of climate change”. (SS)

DELAY IN TAX ON ONLINE TRANSACTIONS – Government will delay the introduction of value added tax on online transactions by two months. This disclosure came today from acting Minister of Finance, Ryan Straughn, who explained that Government was in the process of bringing legislation that would allow the Barbados Revenue Authority (BRA) to delegate authority to a third party for the collection of taxes online. “That legislation is currently being prepared and once it is laid in Parliament, we will have the legal authority to collect taxes for online goods and services consumed in Barbados. Secondly, the procurement process to select the vendor is also still ongoing, given than the BRA does not possess the technical capacity to collect such taxes. “We are working towards a December 1 implementation date, by which time we should have the legislation, the appropriate vendor and technology in place to allow Barbados to collect taxes in the online space for those goods and services that are consumed in Barbados, but sold through the various digital platforms,” he stated. The Minister, however, gave the assurance that Barbadians would not be taxed twice for any of the online purchases because the technology allowed for validation between Customs and the BRA. He noted that the Health Service Contribution, in which employees and the self-employed would pay one per cent and employers 1.5 per cent, and the Airline Travel and Tourism Development tax would still be coming on stream on October 1. Regarding the Health Service Contribution, Straughn said legislation was being drafted so that once the money was collected by National Insurance, it would go to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and not to the Consolidated Fund. “So we had to make that amendment in the legislation to bring that initiative into effect. We certainly anticipate that by mid-October the legislation could be passed in Parliament that would give the legal authority for the collection of the money,” he stated. With regard to the Airline Travel and Tourism Development tax or departure tax, Minister Straughn explained that it was currently collected through ticketing, and stressed that this would continue. In the Budgetary Proposal and Financial Statement 2018, which was delivered in June, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley announced several revenue collection initiatives, which have been implemented at different stages. (BGIS)

SQUATTING THE PRESSURE – Some of the residents of Welch Village/Bath Land, St John, say they are confused about the process of squatters acquiring land in that area and want to have another town hall meeting with their parliamentary representative Charles Griffith. But while they are making that request, Griffith, who is the Minister in the Ministry of Housing, Lands and Rural, is warning people who are clearing land and erecting structures on property owned and managed by the Crown, that they should cease immediately. On Thursday when THE NATION visited the rural district, head of the Welch Village/Bath Land community group, Myrico Morris, said that villagers were still optimistic about owning the land they resided on, but they did not understand the technicalities of doing so. “Based on what we were told at the last meeting in July, we were supposed to fill out a Tenanatries Freehold Purchase Act form,” he said. (SS)

COMMUNITY SERVICE FOR SMALL – A labourer has to mix 80 hours of community service with his work schedule if he wants to keep his record clean. Magistrate Douglas Frederick imposed the sentence on Calvin Rommell Small recently in the District ‘A’ Magistrate’s Court where he pleaded guilty to possession of a small quantity of cannabis. Police were on patrol at Greenfield, The City, on September 26, when they spotted Small walking with a backpack. His actions at the time prompted them to request a search which revealed a jar containing the vegetable substance. “I grow a little thing that’s all I got,” Small told lawmen when asked to account for the contraband. In mitigating for a lenient sentence, attorney-at-law Shadia Simpson pointed out that her client was a first-time offender who had not wasted the court’s time but pleaded guilty at the first opportunity. “He has no previous convictions, no pending matters in any other jurisdictions and is an ideal candidate for community service in order to keep his record clean,” Simpson said. Magistrate Frederick agreed and imposed the sentence that must be completed by November 23. Small’s record will be kept clean if he performs the service to the court’s satisfaction. In the meantime, he is on $750 bail. (BT)

ALLEGED ROBBERS REMANDED – Two men are now on remand at HMP Dodds after they appeared in the District ‘A’ Magistrate’s Court on a robbery charge. They are 31-year-old Andre Omar Mullin, of no fixed place of abode and 26-year-old Ramon Akeem Quarless, of Dr Kerr Land, Hindsbury Road, St Michael. The accused are charged with robbing Ricardo Agard of a cellular phone worth $100 and $30 cash on September 20. Both men denied the allegation when they appeared before Magistrate Douglas Frederick recently. The accused also put forward several arguments for bail after prosecutor Sergeant Rudy Pilgrim objected to their release. Their applications were unsuccessful. The duo will return to the No. 1 District ‘A’ Magistrate’s Court on October 19. (BT)

MAYNARD BAILED ON DRUG, WOUNDING CHARGES – An auto body technician was granted $3,000 bail when he appeared in the District ‘A’ Magistrate Court recently on several charges. Dave Devere Maynard, of Lot 71 Clapham Park, St Michael, said he was not guilty of possession of cannabis on September 21. No plea was taken to charges that he had no insurance and driver’s licence on the same day while allegedly riding a motorcycle on Dalkeith Hill. These matters were transferred to the Traffic Court. The accused also entered a not guilty plea to the charge that he unlawfully and maliciously wounded David Greenidge on May 6. Sergeant Rudy Pilgrim objected to bail for the accused on the grounds that he was already on bail for an offence involving violence and that one of the charges now before the court had an aggravating feature attached as well as the fact that investigations had not yet been completed. “A security guard was on duty in uniform when the accused and others wounded him . . . on duty at the Rubis service station in Wildey at 5 a.m. a vulnerable time,” the prosecutor said adding that it was the prosecution’s fear that Maynard would reoffend if released. However, the accused submitted that he was not a threat to society and should be granted bail. “The last time I got charged was six years ago . . . I am no threat to the security guard in any way. This charge [involving Greenidge] happened three months ago and I sleep at home every night . . . at least give me the benefit of the doubt,” Maynard submitted. After weighing the arguments Magistrate Douglas Frederick ruled in the accused’s favour and granted him bail, which he secured with one surety. He will make his next appearance before Magistrate Frederick on December 4. But before that he will appear in the District ‘A’ Traffic Court on October 9 to answer the traffic offences. (BT)

CONTROLLING JOSEPH – A surety laid down several conditions yesterday in the District ‘A’ Magistrate’s Court before she signed off on the $10,000 bail offer a 25-year-old accused fraudster. “He must stay out of Nelson Street . . . he must stay out of the Bayland and report to the District ‘A’ Police Station on Wednesdays and Fridays by 10 a.m.,” the surety said, after Magistrate Douglas Frederick asked her whether she could handle the responsibilities of surety to Aaron Franciso Joseph, of Baycroft Road, St Michael. Joseph who is accused of committing two fraud offences on January 8 was not required to plead to the indictable charges and had been on remand at HMP Dodds awaiting a surety. Asked by the magistrate the reason for those conditions, the surety replied: “I want him out of these two places . . . [because] when he goes up there he gets the wrong influence.” Joseph who was asked whether he could adhere to those conditions said: “She can control me from now until whenever . . . I am not going back to jail.” The cases against the accused, who is represented by attorney-at-law Shadia Simpson, has been committed to the assizes. (BT)

OUT WITH A WIN – Caribbean figure queen Ramona Morgan will be seeking to bow out of the amateur ranks with a victory at Saturday’s Darcy Beckles Invitational Classic slated for the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre. Morgan is on a high after capturing the overall title at the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Championships in Mexico in July, where she earned a pro card. Nothing less than a victory will please the tall, elegant Morgan, who has had a lengthy career. On the men’s physique stage, Nicholas Smith and former athlete Tyrell Forde, both of whom are fresh from tasting success at the CAC Championships, will lead the charge. (SS)

MARTIAL ARTS ACTION – Hollywood actor Wesley “Demolition Man” Snipes and former martial arts star Hwang Jang-Lee (Silver Fox) are coming to Barbados next month. They will be among several martial arts celebrities who will be here as part of the Pan Caribbean International Martial Arts Games. This came from coordinator Altab Aziz during an interview with THE NATION to announce the competition set for October 14 at the Garfield Sobers Sports Complex. “This will bring in celebrities such as Snipes, Hwang Jang-Lee and Cynthia Rothrock. It has been happening in Trinidad for the last 12 years. This year makes the 13th year and we are actually stepping out from Trinidad to come to Barbados,” he said. (SS)

COVER DRIVE TAKING A BREAK – Local band Cover Drive is taking a break but definitely not breaking up. The four-member group – made up of lead vocalist Amanda Reifer; guitarist/keytarist Barry “Bar Man” Hill; bassist Jamar Harding and percussionist/back up vocalist Thomas “T-Ray” Armstrong – have performed far from these shores. They have made waves in the United Kingdom and opened for Barbadian megastar Rihanna as well as being the featuring artistes in the hip hop and electronic music group Far East Movement’s hit single Turn Up the Love which can be viewed on YouTube. THE NATION caught up with Hill after the Alexandra School’s recent Founder’s Day service, where he was the guest speaker as a former student. He said the band was taking time to recharge. “We’ve been touring now for six to seven years and everyone is tired. We’re taking the opportunity to get a breather and then come back fresh,” he said. Even though the band is not performing together, they are still working together, helping each other on their projects. Hill said he had just finished working on Reifer’s solo effort for Trinidad Carnival. As for himself, he said he was also working with other artistes. “T-Ray is also doing a solo project while I am focussing on music production. I’ve been working with Mikey and doing some international work,” he said. Hill said their whirlwind success had been “an eye opener” and “a great experience”, with travels all over the world. He said it was a far cry from school days’ expectations. “I remember the days just chilling in the music room. I didn’t expect I would be in a position where people would look up to me,” Hill said. As for his words of advice for the current students of Alexandra, Hill told them not to take their time at school for granted; to persevere through rejection; to get a strong support team and enjoy their journey. He also thanked teachers Evelyn McClean, Julian Bowen and Leslie Lett. (SS)

For daily or breaking news reports follow us on Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter & Facebook. That’s all for today folks. There are 94 days left in the year. Shalom! #thechasefilesdailynewscap #thechasefiles# dailynewscapsbythechasefiles

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Man arrested after trying to sell original of Bosnia's peace treaty

Man arrested after trying to sell original of Bosnia’s peace treaty

Man arrested after making an attempt to promote authentic of Bosnia’s peace treaty

Media identified the person as Zeljko Kuntos, a former driver for a Bosnian Serb ex-parliament speaker

Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, Croatian President Franjo Tudjman and Bosnian President Alija Izetbegovic the signal Dayton peace accords in 1995. PHOTO: AFP

SARAJEVO: A Bosnian Serb man was…

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Top chefs on tour: 10 culinary pop-ups around the world

(CNN)Pop-u.S.have taken the culinary world by means of the hurricane in recent years, permitting chefs of repute to bring their specific experience and expertise to shine in a person else’s world kitchen.

Whether it is an iciness jaunt to warmer climes and fresh local produce, a one-night-handiest appearance or per week-long residency aboard a culinary cruise, there may be no scarcity of methods to catch the likes of Malcolm Lee, Chele Gonzalez and Hugh Acheson on the cross. Right here are 10 tasty approaches to take your palate on the street and be part of them. 1. Malcolm Lee at Asia Society’s Garden Court docket Cafe, New york Chef Malcolm Lee is stoning up at the Garden Court Cafe within the Asia Society, The big apple.

Chef Malcolm Lee is doping up on the Garden Court Cafe in the Asia Society, Big apple. Chef Malcolm Lee commonly plies his trade at Singapore’s Candlenut, a fashionable conversion of a history constructing and domestic to the world’s simplest Michelin-starred Peranakan eating place. Peranakan cuisine and lifestyle — from the descendants of (specifically) Chinese immigrants to the Malay Archipelago — are being celebrated at the Asia Society in The big apple from March 7 to June four. Diners can count on dishes along with “YeYe” coconut fowl curry with kaffir lime leaf, octopus with a pineapple achar pickle or creamy coconut pannacotta with pandan jelly. Asia Society and Museum, Garden Courtroom Café, 725 Park Ave, New york, Big apple 10021; +1 212 570-5202 2. Iberostar chefs on Excursion, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Cuba Top international chefs together with Emma Bengtsson from Aquavit in The big apple and Suzette Gresham from Acquarello in San Francisco are heading to hotter climes, substantially Mexico, for a chain of father-up dinners with the Iberostar organization of inns. The 9 chefs worried boast no fewer than 14 Michelin stars throughout an expansion of cuisines among them, which means lucky diners in Iberostar residences get to sample a number of their most renowned signature dishes. For example of what can be expected, the young Danish chef Ronny Emborg, who usually wows diners at Atera in The big apple, is serving fantastically plated razor clam and beets with horseradish or red meat with broccoli, wasabi, and smoked bone marrow sauce. Iberostar cooks on Excursion is taking vicinity at Iberostar inns in Mexico, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Cuba until July 2017. three. “4 fingers dinners” at Neruda Guggenheim Bilbao, Spain To mark the 20th anniversary of the Guggenheim Museum in the Basque town of Bilbao, Four of the sector’s maximum celebrated international cooks are joining forces for a chain of “4 hands'”dinners. Which means that each chef — Bruno Oteiza (Biko), Joan Roca (El Celler de Can Roca), Mauro Colagreco (Mirazur) and Virgilio Martinez (Crucial) — works in tandem with Josean Alija, the chef of the Michelin-starred Nerua restaurant inside the Guggenheim. The ongoing series, which kicked off in February and closes in September, promises critical 12-path connoisseur experiences along with conferences about gastronomic culture offering the culinary masters as a part of the Top are software within the Guggenheim auditorium. Neruda Guggenheim Bilbao, Abandoibarra Street, 2, Bilbao, Spain; +34 ninety-four four hundred 04 30 Read Mauritius: The island wherein food is anywhere four. Check Kitchen, Hong Kong Check Kitchen in Hong Kong hosts normal pop-ups, with famed cooks cooking for 3 or Four nights at a time. Check Kitchen in Hong Kong hosts everyday pop-ups, with renowned cooks cooking for three or 4 nights at a time. Hong Kong’s already colorful dining scene receives ordinary boosts in the shape of pop-up dinners held at Check Kitchen, a fab area in the city’s burgeoning Sai Ying Pun district. Cooking for three or Four nights each, international chefs of great repute display their abilities, impacts, strategies and flavors while getting to know about the metropolis’s produce and traditions. That could suggest Gal Ben-Moshe from Berlin’s Glass restaurant, Iceland’s Victoria Eliasdóttir or the San Pellegrino young international chef of the yr for 2016, Eire’s Mark Moriarty, overseeing the action at the pass. Check Kitchen, Shop three Kwan Yick building, 158A Connaught Rd West, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong; +852 2540 0616 Greater: global’s fine task? Michelin is hiring restaurant inspectors five. “Archipelago Amigos” at Ubud food Festival, Bali “Archipelago Amigos” brings collectively three of South East Asia’s most famed chefs as Chele Gonzalez from Manila’s Gallery Vick joins Ray Adriansyah and Eelke Plasmeijer from restaurant Locavore in Bali. Spanish chef Gonzalez often hosts pop-u.S.himself through Move Cultures dinners in Manila, however, he will be heading to the Indonesian island as a part of the Ubud meals Competition on May 14. The joint degustation menu from the three cooks celebrates the locavore motion and the produce of the two island countries, both of that are seeing their global culinary popularity growing. Ubud food Pageant, eating place Locavore. Jl. Dewi Sita, Ubud, Indonesia; +sixty two 361 977733 6. The “Glowing 10” Chef collection, Altira, Macau “Sparkling 10” brings together heavyweight global culinary expertise which includes Gaetan Evrard from L’Evidence in France, Norbert Niederkofler from Italy’s restaurant St Hubertus, Kirika Oi from Manila’s NOBU and Ryan Clift from Singapore’s Tippling Membership to mark the 10th anniversary of Altira Macau. The pop-up eating series, which runs for the duration of Might also, covers a global of cuisines from Japanese-Peruvian to classic Cantonese, current Eu to flawlessly-plated conventional French high-quality dining. Available at each lunch and dinner for 4 or 5-day residencies, the guest chefs are observed by way of a number of the arena’s maximum renowned mixologists to make sure that the satisfactory of liquids match the plates. Altamira, Avenida de Kwong Tung, Macau; +853 2886 8866 7. NY’s Root & Bone at Wyndham Grand, Puerto Rico The team at the back of Big apple’s Root & Bone serve up their Southern American favorites on the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Seashore Lodge. The crew at the back of The big apple’s Root & Bone serve up their Southern American favorites at the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Seashore Inn. Jeff McInnis and Janine Sales space, the creative culinary forces at the back of The big apple’s Root & Bone, recently took their improved Southern American favorites to the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Seashore Resort, Puerto Rico. “Drunken deviled eggs” and “momma’s biscuit with bird jus” have been all on the menu, alongside Puerto Rican-inspired numbers consisting of a mango queso Blanco. Sales space became born in Australia even as McInnis is from Florida and both are alumni of “Pinnacle Chef” and James Beard Award finalists. Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Beach Hotel, Rio Mar Street, Rio Grande, Puerto Rico; +1 787 888 6000 eight. Epicurean Exploration aboard Windstar Speak of James Beard, chef Hugh Acheson, a winner of multiple honors from the ‘Oscars of the meals world’, might be cooking for visitors aboard unique meals cruise from Dublin to Lisbon. The 10-night ride takes in Irish oyster farms, the Cognac areas and the threat to pattern port in Porto. The 106 suite Windstar Legend can even navigate the Garonne River to take visitors to go to the vineyards of France’s renowned Médoc vicinity, earlier than dinner in a chateau. Chef, writer and restaurateur Acheson is preparing signature dishes day by day and hosting cooking demonstrations, at the same time as oenophiles get in at the action with tastings hosted by using sommelier Steven Grubbs.

The James Beard Basis Epicurean Explorations of France, Spain and Portugal sets sail on August 15, 2017. Study: 10 bucket list cruises of a lifetime nine. Collaboration eating at Amber, Hong Kong Amber at Hong Kong’s Landmark Mandarin Oriental hosts ordinary ‘Four fingers dinners’. Amber at Hong Kong’s Landmark Mandarin Oriental hosts normal ‘Four hands dinners’. At Hong Kong’s Landmark Mandarin Oriental, Michelin-starred Culinary Director Richard Ekkebus is a regular host to some of the arena’s most thrilling and famed cooks in a series of ‘Four arms dinners’. That has intended names like Spain’s legendary Ferran Adrià and the Korean-American three-starred chef Corey Lee, but the subsequent generation appears south to Australia and the chef-purchaser of Brae restaurant, Dan Hunter. Hunter is cooking in Hong Kong for the first time in June, taking diners on a gastronomic journey of his “clean, green, delicious, concise” delicacies. His restaurant outside Melbourne sits in 30 acres of organic gardens and orchards, but there will be no scarcity of sustainable produce in his menu inside the Asian city. Amber, 7/F, The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, The Landmark, 15 Queen’s Street Critical, Hong Kong; + 10. Tali Wiru, Uluru, Australia Tali Wiru manner “stunning dune'” in the neighborhood Pitjantjatjara language at Australia’s iconic Uluru. An open-air pop-up “restaurant” guarantees a unique menu proposing historical neighborhood flavors and bring, served on the dunes overlooking the rock. After sunset Champagne and canapes, a 4-path dinner comes with top class Australian wines before a nearby storyteller shares memories of the nearby indigenous culture around a campfire under the Southern Wasteland sky. The remarkable bounty of nearby ingredients outcomes in dishes consisting of Smoked Kangaroo and Kutjera Crostini or Textures of Chocolate with Davidson Plum, Lemon Myrtle, and Quandong.

A Tour of the Grandest Museums Around the World

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If someone were to ask me what the most important places in the world are, my answer would be simple. The world’s most important places are the museums because this is where we preserve our history. This is where we learn from the past, acknowledge the glory of our ancestors and their lifestyle and make plans for the future at the same time. Museums can teach us so much, even about the present only if we look hard enough. This article is for anyone who believes that museums can give you the inspiration to live and for anyone who doesn’t as well. Here is a list of the world’s largest museums which have the largest collection of historical artifacts under one roof. And if you’re someone who does not have much travel experience, have a look at some easy ways to buy airline tickets

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