Charles and Camilla treated to 'best of Irish' in advance of St Patrick's Day Participate Sign up for our weekly Chiswick newsletter Comment on this story on the Prince Charles had the chance to learn how to pull a pint of Guinness when he and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, paid a visit to the Irish Cultural Centre this week ( March 15th) to mark the centre's 25th anniversary. Staff and volunteers turned out to welcome the Prince of Wales and his wife, (who was wearing a green dress for the occasion) before they were given a whistle-stop display of Irish music and dancing in advance of the centre's St Patrick's Day festivities. Prince Charles went behind the bar in the foyer of the Centre, where bar staff member Jude demonstrated how to tilt a pint glass and pour in the Guinnesss. He was given a round of applause for his efforts, amid shouts of 'Slainte', but there wasn't time for more than a sip of the drink before he had to move on. The visitors then viewed an energetic performance by young Irish dancers, and were shown around an exhibition of contemporary Irish art by curator Barbara Stanley. The Prince unveiled a plaque commemorating the 25th years of the centre. He and his wife also met a group of Irish nurses who work in the NHS. The visit took place ahead of the royal couple's forthcoming trip to Ireland next week. The royal visitors were officially welcomed by the chairman of the ICC Board, Peter Power-Hynes and greeted by all the members of the board, before being shown around by cultural director Rosalind Scanlon. The party also chatted with members of the local knitting circle, many of whom are long-time emigrants from Ireland and they also joined in singing 'The Mountains of Mourne' with choir members. They also visited the Library and chatted with volunteer John Byrne. The atmosphere throughout the visit was described as relaxed and friendly and there was general agreement that the visitors seemed genuinely interested in everyone and enjoyed their experience. The ICC has been the home of Irish culture for the last 25 years and became a registered charity in 2013 before re-opening a new centre in 2017. As well as a new foyer, bar, and mezzanine area, the centre has a large performance auditorium ,together with several rooms where cultural events and performances relating to irish music, film, literarture and art, as well as classes lectures and conferences, take place. The Centre also plays an active role in the wider community, with open-access programmes for all ages and interests and backgrounds. Valuee Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. 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The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site. 0108263 License for publishing multimedia online Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349 As a kid growing up in church, I remember being warned about meditation. Meditation was a weird and scary habit, something practiced by Hollywood actors who sat in a lotus position while reciting ancient Hindu mantras. Perhaps because of the fear that meditation is too closely connected to Eastern religion, Ive rarely heard of a pastor encouraging his congregation to meditate. The Bible does encourage Gods people to meditate on his word, though. In Psalm 1:2, the Scripture says that the blessed man meditates on Gods law, day and night. Psalm 119, the longest chapter in the Bible, tells us at least six times about the importance of meditating on Gods Word. In Philippians 4:8, Paul tells his readers to think about things that are true, noble, right, pure and so on. The Greek word he uses in that passage is one that has the idea of carefully pondering or reflecting upon certain things. In other words, were called to meditate on what is true, and what greater truth is there than the word of God? Biblical meditation is quite different from Buddhist or Hindu meditation, however. The goal of meditation in Eastern religions is to empty the mind of all thoughts, desires or opinions. The goal of biblical meditation is instead to fill our minds with the truth of Gods word. What were hoping to do when we meditate on Scripture is to replace our sinful and fleshly thoughts with the holy and spiritual thoughts of God. How do we meditate on the Scripture, then? Meditation begins with simply reading a section of the Bible repeatedly, perhaps five or six times in a row. I find that it helps to read it aloud and not merely inside my mind. Saying something out loud engages not only our minds in the act of meditation, but also our bodies. Speaking aloud also helps us with memorization the more we repeat a passage out loud, the more likely it is to stick in our minds so that we can remember it later. While reading the passage, we want to turn the words over in your mind. In other words, meditation calls us to think carefully about the words that were reading. We can formulate questions and answer them to ourselves to better understand Gods word. Heres an example: Imagine youre reading Psalm 1:1: Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. After you read it aloud several times, you might ask yourself, Why is there a progression of movement in this verse, from walking to standing to sitting? Or, What does it mean to be blessed? Or perhaps, What are the benefits of delighting in Gods law? You can simply ponder those questions and consider the answers to them in your mind. Then ask God to give you wisdom to understand his word in deeper ways. Meditation isnt quite the same as studying the Bible in detail. When we meditate, were just pondering Gods word, chewing on it in our minds, and allowing the spirit of God to speak through its words. When were meditating on Scripture, we arent necessarily writing anything down or parsing Greek words. Were simply letting Gods word saturate our hearts and minds so that it becomes a part of us. As it does that, the Holy Spirit will begin to transform the way we think. Our values will slowly align with the values of God. Fleshly thoughts anger, lust, pride, greed, envy, and the like will be replaced with spiritual thoughts and feelings. Meditation isnt a pathway to immediate spiritual transformation, but it is a powerful step in the process of learning to know and apply Gods word. So theres no need to be afraid of biblical meditation. It isnt some weird spiritual exercise invented by celebrities and New Age gurus. Instead, its a biblical practice that, when properly applied, helps us to know and obey God in deeper ways. Matt Morton is the teaching pastor at the Creekside Campus of Grace Bible Church in College Station. Former United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron visited Aggieland on Friday night to discuss the state of the UKs alliance with the United States, the war in Ukraine and much more during the Memorial Student Center Wiley Lecture Series at Texas A&M Universitys Rudder Auditorium. Cameron served as prime minister from 2010 to 2016 and became the youngest prime minister since 1812. He opened the lecture by sharing the details of his recent trip to Ukraine. Two weeks ago I loaded up a truck full of food, clothes, medicines and other donations from my local community and I drove 2,000 miles from my home in Oxfordshire all the way to the East of Poland near the Ukrainian border, he said. Why? Because I wanted to do what I could to help those families who were bombed and rocketed out of their homes. And dont let anyone tell you that whats going on here is complicated, or there is more to it. NATO did not provoke [this], Ukraine is not in any sense legitimately part of Russia. This was a full on invasion of a sovereign independent country. A member of the United Nations, it has been subjected to the most appalling brutality. Cameron said he knew his trip might have been an odd thing for an ex-prime minster to do, but was glad to help where he could. One minute I am talking to [Russia President Vladimir] Putin as a fellow leader, the next I am handing out food parcels to his victims, he said. He went on to discuss what binds the United States and the United Kingdom together. It is not just our shared history, our shared language or our shared culture, it is the fact that our alliance and Americas presence in Europe and in NATO makes our world more peaceful and more prosperous, he said. Most of those pompous leaders think multi-racial democracies dont work, we know they do work. We have had some tensions in recent years and there are more challenges we may face. But building that shining city on a hill is still a worthy vision and we should never let that dream die. In conclusion of his opening speech he stressed that the countries are better together in combating opposition. Look what happens when these success stories join forces, that unique partnership between the United States and the United Kingdom exploring the frontiers of space together, developing transformative technology together, fighting and eradicating devastating diseases together, he said. The values that make our nations and so many other nations great, are the values that we need more than ever: self-determination, the rule of law, open markets, free speech, freedom of choice, so that all the change of uncertainty around us we can be a beacon of light in dark times. Cameron was later joined by Mara Liasson, a Fox News political analyst and National Public Radio correspondent, for a moderated discussion in world affairs among the Aggies. Liasson asked Cameron many questions about the war in Ukraine , including when he thinks the war will end and if the world is looking at 15 to 20 years of conflict. Obviously we hope that is not the case. I have met Putin many times and got to know him very well over the period I was in office. I mean this is someone who lies the entire time he has no morality, he doesnt care how many people he kills or how many cities he reduces to rubble, he responded. Now the difficulty we have is of course we hope that he will be removed in Russia through some process the plan we have to have is to give the Ukrainians everything we can to put him into that position. Liasson pondered that the sanctions in the west are going to come at the price for the west. She went on to ask Cameron: Gas prices are up, food prices will go up, how much stamina do you think ordinary people, citizens in the west, have for the sacrifices they are going to have to make to help Ukraine? Cameron said he believed the people would have quite a lot of stamina and the situation in Ukraine feels like something from another lifetime. This is one large bullying country invading a fully independent sovereign state, and the pictures we see on our television screens of homes and hospitals and schools being shelled, bombed and missiled, I think you will feel more outraged about it on day 20 than you do on day one. I dont think we are getting numbed or dulled into a sense of accepting, he said. So I think people will accept, but they need the governments to lead them in that way and I think particularly on oil and gas it is very hard in Europe, because Europe has become so reliant on it. But ultimately if we dont do something about it we are funding Putins warship. He also discussed democracy versus autocracy, the use of chemical and nuclear weapons in wars, the relationship between past presidents and prime ministers, the relationship between China and the U.S., oligarchs and Brexit, the effects of the pandemic, social media and closed with stories about his weekly visits with Queen Elizabeth II and past presidents. 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Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe MARION On Friday, superintendent for Marion schools confirmed an investigation into sexual assault allegations against a high school teacher found no misconduct. "We can say that specific complaint was fully investigated and that the district found no evidence of sexual assault," Keith Oates, Superintendent for Marion Unit #2 District, told The Southern. However, chants of "What do we want? Safety! When do we want it? Now!" could still be heard across the grounds of Marion High School as students walked out in light of the teacher being allowed to return to the classroom. Approximately two dozen students walked out of class and protested at 10 a.m. Friday because of various allegations against the teacher, including sexual assault, homophobia, transphobia and racism, according to freshman Jaycee Patterson. We are at a walkout today because the school board decided to let a teacher who has many allegations against him come back into school to teach, Patterson said. Patterson said the teacher made high school students "uncomfortable" through his actions and inappropriate comments. The Southern is not naming the teacher as no criminal charges have been filed and the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services has declined to investigate the complaint, according to Oates. For one student, Abbigail Norris, started to feel uncomfortable and have incidents with the teacher in September. In February, several students took specific examples of incidents to the principal, Patterson said. According to both Norris and Patterson, the school board and DCFS looked into the situation. The Southern reached out Friday to DCFS for confirmation that a case was opened. A representative said the agency could neither confirm nor deny that fact. A police report has not been filed, according the Marion Police Department. The teacher was then allegedly allowed to return to school, Norris and Patterson said. Approximately 25 minors participated in the walkout. I feel angry about it, because we've come to the school board about it and they didn't really do anything other than just tell us to move on, Norris said. We're just trying to get the message through everyone's heads. That this isn't right. This shouldn't be what students go through. Multiple family members of students also showed up to the walkout in support of their students, including grandfather David Barnes. Barnes said that this is an issue of students being uncomfortable. He said he believes it is not being properly addressed. Just like they're saying that if (the students are) uncomfortable and they (the school) say that students come first, then that needs to be properly addressed, Barnes said. Obviously, it's not properly addressed. Otherwise we wouldn't have some of the kids out here doing this. I felt like I'd come out here so at least my granddaughter can see that I support her in this. When school officials got word of the walkout, an email was sent to parents and guardians of students, trying to persuade them not to participate, according to an email obtained by The Southern. The email said: We have been made aware of this possible occurrence via anonymous social media posts during the last few days. While free speech is encouraged we ask for parent/guardian cooperation regarding the potential walkout on Friday, April 1st. Unit 2 Administration asks that you discourage your student(s) from participating in the walkout due to concern for the safety and security of your student(s) and a disruption to the learning environment. As always, the expectation is for students to remain in class throughout the entire day. The email also said that, should a student leave the building, that would prompt a call to the parent letting them know that they had left. The school contacted police to come to the school as a precautionary measure, according to the email. Schools officials declined to provide further details on the matter, citing privacy for their employees and the students. The Southern attempted to reach the teacher twice via email for comment. The Southern also requested comment from the school on three separate occasions twice by email and once in person during the walkout. However, the requests for comment were ultimately declined and questions were deferred to Oates. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. Unfortunately, our website is currently unavailable in your country. We are engaged on the issue and committed to looking at options that support our full range of digital offerings to your market. We continue to identify technical compliance solutions that will provide all readers with our award-winning journalism. MONCKS CORNER Business Facilities magazine named Santee Cooper one of its Top Utilities, noting that the power provider did much more for South Carolina than provide energy. Business Facilities cited a range of economic development programs and incentives, the utilitys leaner and greener resource plan, and the development of next-generation commerce park Camp Hall as reasons why Santee Cooper earned the honor. Santee Cooper employees work hard to make South Carolina better in a number of ways, and we are pleased that Business Facilities recognized Santee Cooper as one of its Top Utilities," said Pamela Williams, Santee Cooper Chief Public Affairs Officer and General Counsel. According to Business Facilities, The Top Utilities were selected based on several factors, and the list covers an assortment of local players, multi-state entities, and membership organizations. These power providers are among the most successful in offering innovative programs and expert assistance to attract businesses that need to build a warehouse, break ground on a factory, or add a headquarters campus. Santee Cooper offers a range of economic development programs and incentives. In 2021 alone, Santee Cooper provided site-development loans, grants and other support to state and local governments, electric cooperatives, and other organizations across the state and, along with these organizations, helped to attract more than 2,300 jobs and $1.4 billion in economic development investment last year. Santee Cooper has also developed a broadband program to support providers in achieving a statewide rollout to unserved areas. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A St. George native is celebrating the 129th anniversary of the chief petty officer rank while serving aboard currently deployed Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman. Master Chief Petty Officer Joel C. Brandt joined the Navy to broaden his horizons. "I wanted to do something different and get out of my small town," Brandt said. "The field I entered was aligned with my interests of math and science." Growing up in St. George, Brandt attended Mississinawa Valley High School in 1999 and is a current student at Thomas Edison State University. Today, Brandt serves as the command master chief for Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 72 assigned to USS Harry S. Truman. "As the command master chief of HSM 72, I am the senior enlisted adviser to the commanding officer and an executive level manager with a strong focus on human relations-type programs," said Brandt. "The favorite part of my job is interacting with the 300-plus sailors that serve at the squadron. It is very interesting hearing everyones individual story and background. I love watching our sailors work on the aircraft, and knowing that all of their hard work has an impact on world events." Brandt was selected for chief petty officer in 2007 while was stationed at Naval Nuclear Power Training Command in Charleston. "Being a chief is an awesome responsibility, but scary to know the influence you have with the junior sailors," Brandt said. With a crew of nearly 5,000 sailors, the Chiefs Mess, as its called, makes up approximately 8% of the crew and serves as the connective tissue that bridges the gap between the officers vision and the enlisted crews daily tasking. The chief understands the mission and vision of the command and has the training and experience to teach and guide junior sailors, both officer and enlisted. Truman, who deployed from Norfolk, Virginia, Dec. 1, 2021, is on a regularly scheduled deployment to the Mediterranean Sea, where it has been operating with NATO militaries conducting dual and tri-carrier operations, enhanced air patrols and enhanced vigilance activities, in addition to several bilateral military exercises. Since arriving in the Sixth Fleet area of operations, a key aspect of our mission has been to build integration and interoperability with our NATO allies and partners, said Rear Adm. Curt Renshaw, commander, Carrier Strike Group Eight. These efforts have focused on the Western Mediterranean, Ionian and Adriatic Sea. In early March, the carrier sailed into the North Aegean Sea, an area where a U.S. carrier had never operated before. Brandt and the sailors they serve with have many opportunities to achieve accomplishments during their military service. "My proudest accomplishment on deployment has been watching our sailors succeed and do well," Brandt said. "In the Navy, I am glad Ive stayed in as long as I have and accomplished more than I ever thought was possible." As Brandt and other sailors continue to train and perform missions, they take pride in serving their country in the United States Navy. "Becoming a chief has allowed me to continue to grow in my technical career as well as a leader," Brandt said. "After wearing the anchors for awhile, I began to realize the great responsibility I had and still have. With great power, comes great responsibility." "I could not even begin to do this job without the support of my wife, Kristina," Brandt said. "She is the glue that holds our family together, and she has raised three incredible boys." Brandt's wife, Kristina Brandt, resides in St. George. Brandt's grandfather, aunt and uncle all served in the Navy. His father served in the Air Force and another aunt served in the Army. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 COLUMBIA -- The South Carolina Department of Education has expanded two successful home-grown programs, Call Me MISTER and Teaching Fellows, and is pushing an initiative, TeachSC, in response to the growing teacher shortage in the state. "There is no profession more rewarding or more crucial to the future success of our state and nation than teaching, State Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman said. If we are truly committed to ensuring every South Carolina classroom is led by a high-quality teacher, we must act now to address our growing teacher shortage. Whether you are in high school, college, or someone seeking a more fulfilling career, I encourage you to check out these proven programs and consider becoming a teacher and having a lifelong impact on current and future generations of learners." As a part of this commitment, the SCDE is providing $1,690,000 in federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding over three years to national nonprofit, TEACH. TEACH builds comprehensive, technology-driven solutions to attract and cultivate future teachers. TEACH South Carolina (TeachSC) is a statewide coalition of K-12 schools, colleges, government, community organizations and nonprofits with a mission to recruit the next generation of South Carolina teachers and help them through the process of getting certified. At the center of this initiative is www.TeachSC.org, a centralized hub for prospective teachers to explore the profession and find support, all for free. The TeachSC platform will address barriers to entering the profession, helping prospects understand the critical role teachers play in shaping the future of South Carolina, and then helping them choose and apply to a teaching program that meets their needs. I know first-hand the remarkable impact a teacher has on a child, said Katie Crews, senior program manager for TeachSC. The work we do at TeachSC helps ensure that those who dream of leading the next generation of the world can realize those dreams. By assisting these leaders in realizing their dreams, we ensure every South Carolina child can feel the impact of a quality teacher. In the last five years, teaching programs across the country have seen their enrollments stagnate or decline. In South Carolina, between 5,000 and 7,000 teachers retire, transfer to another school district, or leave the profession early each year, while just over 2,000 new teachers graduate annually from the states teaching programs, according to data from the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement (CERRA). For the 2021-22 school year, more than 1,000 teaching positions were vacant at the beginning of the year. A program of CERRA, the South Carolina Teaching Fellows, aims to recruit talented high school seniors into the teaching profession and to help them develop leadership qualities. Each year, the program provides fellowships for up to 200 high school seniors. The SCDE has provided $1,213,622 in federal ESSER funding to CERRA to expand the Teaching Fellows program. The CERRA partnership will address educator and teacher pipeline shortages worsened by COVID-19, assist with efforts to stabilize and support the educator workforce, provide ongoing support to recruit and retain a diverse pool of educators, and collaborate with educator programs to expand clinical opportunities and experiences for prospective teaching candidates. We are thrilled to partner with the SCDE in their efforts to recruit high-caliber SC graduates into the teaching profession, said Dr. Jenna Hallman, Executive Director/Director of Collegiate Programs for CERRA. The additional funding for the SC Teaching Fellows Program will allow us to expand our marketing efforts, provide professional growth opportunities for the program leaders on each college/university campus, and increase the number of awards. The mission of Clemson Universitys Call Me MISTER (Mentors Instructing Students Toward Effective Role Models) Initiative is to increase the pool of available teachers from a more diverse background particularly among the states lowest performing elementary schools.The SCDE has provided $600,000 in federal ESSER funding to Call Me MISTER. The Call Me MISTER initiative will use the funding to continue supporting existing Call Me MISTER programs and support up to 60 additional MISTERs matriculating among 18 four-year partner colleges and nine, two-year technical colleges in South Carolina, from fiscal year 2021-24. It is expected that a MISTER who completes his program of study and becomes certified to teach will assume a teaching position in a public school and teach a minimum of one year for each year they received financial support from the program. We are thrilled with the ongoing partnership and support of the Call Me MISTER program by the South Carolina Department of Education, said Dr. George J. Petersen, Professor and Founding Dean of the College of Education. The support of our nationally renowned program speaks volumes to our states commitment to the transformative education provided by the Call Me MISTER program. The SCDE has created a webpage for anyone looking to explore the teaching profession. To find out more about all three initiatives, please visit www.aspiretoinspiresc.org. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 (TBTCO) - Bao hien xa hoi (BHXH) tu nguyen la chinh sach bao hiem cua ang va Nha nuoc vi quyen loi cua nguoi lao ong va Nhan dan, uoc Nha nuoc bao ho, do co quan BHXH thuc hien voi nhieu loi ich thiet thuc giup nguoi tham gia co cho dua on inh khi het tuoi lao ong. Wyomings Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) has some problems. For me, all the frustration of trying to work with the people who run it came to a head on Friday, March 25, during a one-hour Zoom conference. There were nearly 180 people in attendance, landlords from all over the state and a few ERAP administrators. Ive been part of several Zoom meetings, and this one was the worst. Karla McClaren was the moderator, and she duly introduced some of the ERAP team, and provided an outline for the meeting. Overlapping and undermining all of this, however, it was nearly impossible to hear anything, because no one could control the audio. Everyone was asked to turn off their mute button, which is customarily something the host can do as an override function. Not so with us, however, as several non-attentive landlords were distracted and didnt turn their buttons off, so for a while everyone had to overhear something like, Put the towels, we washed the towels! The towels! Not there. There! Over there! Half a dozen of these brilliant conversations were going on simultaneously. This went on for most of the meeting, and I still dont know what towels have to do with ERAP. Additionally, the chat box at the bottom of the screen was going absolutely crazy. The questions and comments were flying like bullets from a machine gun. Trying to read them, trying to learn about ERAP, and still not knowing where the towels go turned the meeting into a headache and mostly a waste of time. Some landlords, so far as they could be heard, asked questions and made comments. Some of the things that I came away with are that some landlords, like me, are extremely frustrated with the long periods of time they have to wait for an ERAP check, not knowing if a check is coming at all, having to submit and re-submit documentation, and really having difficulty communicating with the ERAP office. In my own experience I have heard, Im sorry were trying to correct that; We have that as an agenda item for our next meeting; That is a top concern of ours too. And still no check. Some landlords claimed to have spent at least forty hours being on hold and trying to ask basic questions about the status of applications, and just exactly what does ERAP need additionally to get a check. Many complained that they have bills to pay, like mortgages, and several talked about how some of their tenants were unable to produce any of the required documentation, or were missing just one small thing, which could, and sometimes does, make it impossible to get ERAP money. Many were concerned that soon they would have to evict some of their tenants, even little children, and sick people, too. Doubtless, most landlords have many long and heart-wrenching stories, and at times these are awfully confusing, but from the lives and stories of my own tenants, I agree with all the landlords who spoke. The things they said are absolutely true, and many of us, imperfect as we may be, are all that stands between housing and homelessness for many of our tenants. We landlords are human beings with hearts, and we have eyes to see the desperation and confusion that are part of the ongoing legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic. We know the pressure of having to pay mortgages, many utility bills, repairs and basic requirements for acceptable housing. Wyomings ERAP office, meanwhile, spent the first year of its existence hardly paying out any of that federal money, some two-hundred million dollars, perhaps spending their time and our money decorating their offices. Other states, surprisingly Texas among them, paid out most of their federal ERAP money in the first year of the pandemic. That was doing it right. Why the big delay in Wyoming? Some ERAP money has been paid out, totaling thirty million dollars so far. It looks like the money will hold out till 2025. Still, why all the delay and confusion and excuses? The E in ERAP does not stand for Eventually. It stands for something rather different, so lets get moving! The slowness and frustration are unbelievable, and I still dont know about those towels. Tom Gagnon lives in Rock Springs. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 LOOK Shorty! That incredulous shout from a visitor to the Blackman Ranch last Saturday in Piparo drew a chorus of audible gasps from a small touring party. Led by Isaac and Nehilet Blackman, through the green acres theyve called home for more than three decades, the group was halted in their tracks at the sight of a tall, striking figure. Standing between two trees in long, flowing white garb, he smiled welcomingly. Guitar in hand, the man beckoned them forward, saying: This is the exact spot where I wrote so many of my songs. There are no more visa appointments at the United States Embassy in Trinidad for 2022, so be Close Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily! Your notification has been saved. There was a problem saving your notification. {{description}} Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items. Nieto, Santiago Santiago Julio Nieto (12/4/1934 - 3/20/2022) A first-generation Mexican American, he was referred to as "Jim" by friends and family. Though born in Los Angeles, Jim was a true son of Tucson. He grew to find his life's calling as a husband, father, uncle, Nino, compadre, and entrepreneur. He was a proud member of Tucson High's class of 53', Caballeros Del Sol, and recipient of Tucson's Father of the Year award. Meeting his wife Mary Alice Nieto as a teenager in high school, they began a loving marriage that spanned over 50 years of utter and complete devotion. Together they raised four beautiful and successful children: Kathy, James, Nicholas, Alicia. To know Jim was to know he loved food, travel, and was undeniably fun. Jim will always be remembered for his charismatic smile, unwavering happiness, and warm affection for family, friends, and community. He derived genuine pleasure and satisfaction in his selfless caring for others. The joy and laughter he brought to those he loved will never be forgotten. A genuinely self-made man, Jim worked his way from a union plumber to being the president and founder of one of the largest mechanical contracting companies in Southern Arizona. His work was his life's passion. His tireless work ethic is reflected in the countless buildings he constructed under which the City of Tucson's residents have worked, lived, and played over the last 50 years. A true family man, he was able to pass on his entrepreneurial spirit to his children who all run their own businesses in the construction industry, building a legacy that will remain in perpetuity. Jim is preceded in death by his wife, Mary Alice Nieto; parents, Federico Nieto and Rosaura Flores Nieto; grandchild, Clay Timmons and survived by his sibling, Natalia Nieto Slana; children, Kathy Nieto, James and (Sandi) Nieto, Nicholas and (Dr. Rhonda) Nieto, Alicia Nieto; in addition to over 30 surviving nephews, nieces, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. You will be missed, papa. We love you. The memorial service will be held on April 9th at 11 AM at St Frances Cabrini, 3201 E Presidio Rd, Tucson, AZ 85716. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Beacon Foundation, PO Box 50544, Tucson, AZ 8570. Arrangements by Al Moore Grimshaw. As Arizona officials warned this week that theres very extreme wildfire potential this year, the governor sidestepped a question of what role he believes climate change plays. Ill leave it to others to talk about what effect climate change or change in the climate has had on that, Gov. Doug Ducey said Thursday in response to the question at a press briefing. But its certainly the lack of precipitation, and precipitation during the customary months have affected this condition greatly, Ducey said. He was referring to the wet weather last year that produced a lot of vegetation, and the predicted hot, dry spring and summer that will dry out that growth and create fire fuels, according to state fire management officials. The Republican governor has a mixed record on the issue of climate change. In 2015, Ducey said that, after being briefed by experts, he was convinced the climate is changing. Its going to get warmer here, he said at the time. What I am skeptical about is what human activity has to do with it. By 2019 he was willing to put aside that skepticism. Ducey told Capitol Media Services then that it only makes sense that people and what they do are having an impact. Humans are part of the earth, the environment and the ecosystem, he said. But the governor has shown no interest in changing Arizona laws and regulations to reduce greenhouse gases. In that 2019 interview, Ducey rejected the idea that California should adopt California-style limits on vehicle emissions that are tougher than those required by federal law. Manufacturers have since agreed with California to increase fuel efficiency to reduce all emissions, including greenhouse gases. I think you can have a growing economy economy and an improving environment, Ducey said. Thats what were having in Arizona versus what Californias having, which is a mass exodus. On Thursday, his press aide C.J. Karamargin said Duceys view has not changed and that he remains opposed to tightening up vehicle emission standards despite the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency saying transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gases, exceeding electricity generation and industrial sources. But Karamargin said the state is doing its part. Arizona is committed to maintaining a diverse energy portfolio which directly impacts the issue, he said. Karamargin also said the state is now home to many firms that can help address the issue, including Lucid Motors, which produces an all-electric vehicle in Casa Grande, and companies that manufacture the lithium-ion batteries necessary for such vehicles. If you look at the types of industries, the types of manufacturers we are pursuing and we are getting, there can be no doubt that Gov. Ducey has his eye on the future and the technologies that can address these issues, he said. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer. Last August the world watched the horrific evacuation of U.S. forces from Afghanistan. It was a humanitarian disaster that continues today. A month ago, the world watched as Vladimir Putin encircled Ukraine, virtually unopposed. The humanitarian disaster that resulted also continues today. The invasion of Ukraine has rendered Afghanistan yesterdays news. Ukraine and the human pain being inflicted by Putin deserves all of the media coverage it is getting. That we sat and watched the invasion unfold in slow motion and shied away from a confrontation in defense of a free people is appalling. And yet, every day people are being slaughtered by the Taliban in Afghanistan. That is not yesterdays news to any of the families involved. More than 75,000 Afghani refugees were brought to the United States. Most have been sent to local jurisdictions, leaving resettlement agencies and cities to sort out housing, food, transportation, education and other provisions. In Tucson we have received roughly 700 refugees. I have spoken with dozens of them. Each tells the same story; family and loved ones are stuck in Afghanistan. And they are being murdered daily. Under the current Taliban regime, girls are not allowed to attend school beyond grade 6. Females are not allowed outdoors unless they are in full cover burka. And females are not allowed outdoors without a male companion. Widows are therefore relegated to starvation. And all women and girls are relegated back to second-class status under Taliban rule. That is what we left behind. Under the current Taliban regime, anybody who was remotely associated with the United States is subjected to public beatings, family members are shot in front of loved ones, homes are ransacked, people are abducted without trace, and women are taken into forced marriages with Talibs. That is what we left behind. Journalists are Taliban targets. Anybody associated with the former judicial system is a target of the Taliban. Public safety and military are targets. With the shattered economy, people are starving and homes without fuel for heat result in people freezing to death. This is every day in Afghanistan in the wake of our departure. Our refugee resettlement process was dismantled under the previous administration. We reduced the cap on the number of refugees we would receive to 18,000, the lowest in the history of our program. The new cap is six times that number. There is insufficient staff to process the refugees who were fortunate enough to end up on U.S. soil. Refugees who are here are largely stuck in hotels, unemployed and struggling with language, education and cultural issues. They are also struggling with the trauma they experienced during the botched evacuation, and with the trauma they continue to experience when they receive daily updates from loved ones who were left behind. If the process of resettlement is broken domestically, extracting people from the slaughterhouse that Afghanistan has become has proven next to impossible. People cannot safely leave their homes, and yet our process requires them to cross international borders to apply for certain forms of visas to come to the United States. Visa requirements have been waived for many countries not for Afghanistan. Since the last two weeks of August, the U.S. exit from Afghanistan has resulted in the death of thousands of people whose only crime was supporting our efforts prior to our leaving. The people in Ukraine deserved a more robust response to the obvious threat Putin posed prior to the invasion. Now our allies in Eastern Europe wonder if theyre next in line. The people who allied themselves with us in Afghanistan dont have to wonder. They have become next in line for Taliban atrocities. Thats every days news now. It may be out of the news cycle, but it remains a burden our federal structure owns and must address. Steve Kozachik represents Ward 6 on the Tucson City Council. Subscribe to stay connected to Tucson. A subscription helps you access more of the local stories that keep you connected to the community. Under the dome: It didnt get much attention, but on the same day Gov. Kevin Stitt signed Senate Bill 2, barring transgender athletes from womens and girls competitive sports, he also signed SB 6, the Sgt. Craig Johnson Act. Named for the Tulsa Police officer killed while attempting to make an arrest in 2020, the new law will make it easier to pursue accessory to murder charges. Tulsa District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler asked for the change after he was unable to bring that charge against getaway driver Matthew Hall because Johnson had not died at the time he and accused shooter David Ware fled the scene. With the signing of SB 6, accessory murder charges now apply if the person knew or reasonably should have known that the act committed upon the victim could foreseeably result in their death. Oklahomas portal for funding applications for the states $1.9 billion American Rescue Plan Act allocations closed Thursday. Requests totaled almost $18 billion nine times the amount available. The Legislature continues to move slowly and methodically forward with recommendations for ARPA spending. Among proposals approved at the subcommittee level last week is an advance fiber optic technician training course developed by Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology in Okmulgee, in conjunction with the Muscogee and Cherokee nations, to be offered through Career Tech centers. Committee meetings continue in the Senate and resume in the House this week. Each chamber is considering bills and joint resolutions already passed by the other. Poll numbers: Stitts job approval has dipped below 50% and is at a net +3, but he still holds a 14-point lead on his presumed Democratic opponent for re-election, Joy Hofmeister, according to an independent poll released midweek. Amber Integrated, an Oklahoma City-based firm with Republican roots but no horse in this years gubernatorial battle, said polls conducted in late March showed Stitts approval rating has moved from 52% in December to 47% currently, while disapproval rose from 37% to 44%. Also, Stitt was the choice of 59% likely Republican primary voters against largely unknown Broken Arrow physician Mark Sherwood. Sherwood came in at 15%, with 26% undecided. Nevertheless, Stitt led Hofmeister 44% to 30%, largely unchanged from three months ago. In other races, 2nd District Congressman Markwayne Mullin had a sizeable lead on contestants in the GOP primary to succeed U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, but 38% say theyre undecided. James Lankford led Jackson Lahmeyer 64% to 10% in the other GOP primary, and challenger Gentner Drummond was up 37% to 16% against incumbent John OConnor in the Republican attorney general primary, with 47% undecided. Campaigns and elections: Former Oklahoma City Mayors Mick Cornett and Kirk Humphries signed a fundraising letter urging support for Drummond. Cornett, it may be worth noting, lost to OConnor Stitts hand-picked choice for attorney general in the 2018 Republican runoff. Lahmeyer called on Lankford to vote against Supreme Court nominee Katanji Brown Jacksons confirmation, something Lankford had signaled he was going to do anyway. Meetings and events: Vicki Ruzicka, manager of Library Services for Tulsa Public Schools, will be the featured speaker at Heart of the Party, Oklahoma Federation of Democratic Women meeting at 6:30 p.m. Monday at Baxters Interurban, 717 S. Houston Ave. Second District Congressman and U.S. Senate candidate Markwayne Mullin will have a telephone townhall at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday. Those wishing to participate must sign up by 5:35 p.m. at mullin.house.gov/live. Tulsa County District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler will speak on the McGirt ruling at the Republican Womens Club of Tulsa County meeting at 11:30 a.m. April 12 at Tulsa Country Club, 701 N. Union Ave. Make reservations by emailing rwctulsa@gmail.com. The Republican Womens Club is holding a candidate meet-and-greet, with light refreshments and a cash bar, at 6-9 p.m. April 21 at the Doubletree Hotel-Warren Place, 6110 S. Yale Ave. Admission is $15, and tickets are available through Eventbrite. Bottom lines: OConnor has joined another multistate lawsuit against federal mask mandates. ... The Oklahoma Democratic Party accused Stitt of choosing the national spotlight over the best interests of the state when he decided to not only sign Senate Bill 2, but by making an event of it. Randy Krehbiel, Tulsa World Featured video: Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox! Stay up-to-date on the latest in local and national government and political topics with our newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. International visitors to Vietnam should get value-added tax (VAT) refunds for their purchases right at the designated shops where they have bought them, instead of at airports before leaving, a tax expert has proposed as a measure to encourage their spending in the country. Nguyen Thi Cuc, chairwoman of the Vietnam Tax Consultant Association, made the recommendation at a tourism conference held in Hanoi on Friday with the theme of Restoration of Vietnams tourism: New directions, new actions. As the average per capita expenditure of foreign tourists in Vietnam remained low, the government should adopt effective steps to boost their spending during their stay in the country, VnExpress cited Cuc as saying. One of the most appropriate measures is to make it convenient for international travelers to receive VAT refunds, the expert said. Under a circular issued in May 2014 by the Vietnamese Ministry of Finance, foreigners and overseas Vietnamese are given a refund of 85 percent of VAT on their goods purchased at eligible shops. The 15-percent remainder of the tax is accounted as service fees. Currently, before leaving Vietnam, international travelers receive such refunds at airports or ports by presenting to a refund customs inspection officer the invoices and VAT refund declaration forms issued by the said shops. After the officer checks and stamps the papers, visitors will take them to the payment counter to get their refund. Such procedures are inconvenient and time-consuming for foreign tourists and discourage their spending in Vietnam, Cuc emphasized. She therefore recommended that travelers be able to get VAT refunds right at such shops through some simple steps, as being applied in many other countries. The expert believed Vietnam, which is building its e-government mechanism by applying digital technologies, can adopt the new practice easily. Such simplified VAT refund procedures should be applied from the end of this month, when e-invoices are scheduled to be widely used across the country, Cuc suggested. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! When a dead whale washes ashore, inhabitants of coastal villages will gather to bathe the creature, then conduct the funeral service, prepare a grave and pay tribute to the whale like a person who has passed away. This unique custom was formed hundreds of years ago in some coastal localities in the north central province of Ha Tinh and has been upheld until now. A few days ago, in Dan Truong Commune, Nghi Xuan District in the province, a dead whale measuring some 1.5 meters long and weighing around 60 kilograms washed up near Luong Ninh Hamlet. Local residents notified each other of the news. Then, they jointly moved the whale onto land, bathing it and conducting the burial service. According to the beliefs of the locals, the whales wash ashore because they are exhausted after saving fishermen in distress. The locals call whales Ca Ong, or Sir Fish. Nguyen Thi Nga, a local official in Luong Ninh Hamlet, said that the custom of conducting burial services for whales was established in the area hundreds of years ago. A whale grave recently built by local people of Luong Ninh Hamlet, Dan Truong Commune, Nghi Xuan District, Ha Tinh Province. Photo: Le Minh / Tuoi Tre Legend has it that when seafarers of the previous generations were in distress in the sea, whales appeared to take them and their boats to shelter. To express their gratitude to the whales, local residents began building temples to worship the fish. Local people see a dead whale washing ashore like seeing their loved ones. The first one to discover the dead whale will host the funeral, hire a monk to perform funeral rituals, conduct the burial service as well as be in mourning for the fish for 30 days, Nga said. Some 200 meters away from Luong Ninh Hamlet, local residents of Dan Truong Commune built a temple for whales. On the first day and the 15th day of each lunar month, they give offerings to the whales and pray for favorable weather conditions, safe fishing trips, and lots of fish. Whales as family members Located around 60 kilometers away from Dan Truong Commune, a temple and tomb complex dedicated to whales covers thousands of square meters toward the beach of Cam Nhuong Commune, Cam Xuyen District in the province. A dead whale washing ashore is shrouded in red cloth as part of the burial service conducted by local people of Dan Truong Commune, Nghi Xuan District, Ha Tinh Province. Photo: Anh Thu / Tuoi Tre This is one of the largest temples to worship whales in Ha Tinh, dating some 600 years ago. It was ranked as a provincial cultural and historical relic in 2017. Legend says that when King Le Thanh Tong in the 15th century and his subordinates encountered a storm during a boat trip, a whale suddenly showed up and led the kings boat to the shore, and then it returned to the sea. When coming home safely, the king bestowed on the whale the title of Hai Nhan Ngu Ton Than (the Deity of the Sea). The local peoples custom of conducting burial service and building temples to worship whales was created around this time and was passed down through generations. In the 20th century, the Hai Nhan Ngu Ton Than temple was relatively small and experienced ravages of wars. Around a decade ago, the temple underwent expansion, with graves of whales being rearranged. The temple complex comprises the main shrine to worship the Nam Hai Nhan Nhu Ton Than (the Deity of the Southern Sea) and a cemetery housing nearly 200 graves of whales. The Ngu Ong Temple where local people worship hundreds of dead whales washing ashore in Cam Nhuong Commune, Cam Xuyen District, Ha Tinh Province. Photo: Le Minh / Tuoi Tre As shared by the head of management board of the Ngu Ong (Sir Fish) Temple, Nguyen Huu Phuong, a 64-year-old resident in Cam Nhuong Commune, most of the inhabitants in the commune do seafaring jobs, so they show great reverence for whales. Once they see a dead whale washing ashore, they will use clean water to bathe the whale, then use wine to clean the fish again before using red cloth to wrap around it and conducting a proper burial for it. The rituals of worshipping whales are the same as those for a person who has died. After burying the fish, the first person to see the fish washing ashore has to be in mourning for the fish and hold a memorial service on the third day, the 49th day, the 100th day since the funeral. "After two years, the whale will be reburied in another land in a brick or stone tomb, Phuong continued. The local fishermen will thoroughly name each whale washing ashore. A whale weighing over 50 kilograms will be called Ca Ong (Sir Fish) if it is a male whale, or Ca Ba (Madame Fish) for a female one. For smaller whales, they will be named Duc Cau (Uncle Fish) or Duc Co (Aunt Fish). The main shrine to worship the Nam Hai Nhan Ngu Ton Than. Photo: Le Minh / Tuoi Tre Phuong recalled that he has worked as a seafarer since he was little but has yet to struggle in the sea to be saved by whales. However, his late predecessor in the temple management board told him that the former had encountered an incident in the sea and was brought to the shore safely by a whale. The whale burial and worship custom was established a long time ago and is not a superstitious belief. All of the local fishermen have faith in whales, believing that whales are their good friends as well as the savior of many previous generations, Phuong asserted. Pointing out three earthen graves, Phuong said that three whales washed ashore in Cam Nhuong last year and were then buried by local residents. Two years after their funerals, their graves will be relocated to the tomb area. Every year, local people in Cam Nhuong Commune hold the Cau Ngu (whale worship) festival at the Ngu Ong Temple on April 8 to pray for good weather and safe fishing trips. On the first and the 15th day of each lunar month, local people visit the temple to perform rituals and offer incense sticks at a local cemetery for whales. Whale graves built in orderly rows, with gravestones showing the dates the whales passed away. Photo: Le Minh / Tuoi Tre The head of the management board of the Ngu Ong Temple offers incense at whale graves. Photo: Le Minh / Tuoi Tre Offerings prepared by local people for the Cau Ngu festival held on April 8 annually. Photo: Le Minh / Tuoi Tre Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Check out the news you should not miss today: Society -- Multiple areas in the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang have been severely flooded due to a heavy downpour that started on Friday morning. -- Three people have been sentenced to nine months in prison for arranging for a Chinese resident to stay in Vietnam illegally. -- One person was killed after a truck and an automobile collided head-on in northern Vietnamese province of Thai Binh on Friday. -- A 13-year-old child died of suffocation while two others fell unconscious after breathing in toxic fumes emitted by an aerator for fish tank inside their house in Phu Yen Province on Friday. -- A 16-year-old boy has died after falling from the 28th floor of an apartment building in Ha Dong District, Hanoi on Friday afternoon. World News -- Brazil's central bank employees began an indefinite strike for a wage increase on Friday, threatening the stability of the wildly popular Pix instant payment system and the publication of data releases, according to Reuters. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! A 16-year-old boy died after falling from the 28th floor of an apartment building in Ha Dong District, Hanoi on Friday morning. The victim was L.N.N.M., 16, who went to Hanoi - Amsterdam High School for the Gifted. M. fell to his death from the balcony of his house on the 28th floor of the Van Phu Victoria apartment building in Phu La Ward of Ha Dong District. After receiving a report on the case at around 3:30 am on Friday, the wards police arrived at the scene to examine it in order to clarify the cause of the incident. Officers completed the autopsy procedures and handed over the victims body to his family by Friday afternoon. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! Vietnam has become the 111th member of the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) that addresses the rights of performers and producers of phonograms in the digital environment, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) announced on Friday. Ambassador Le Thi Tuyet Mai, permanent representative of Vietnam to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, handed over the instrument of accession to the WPPT to WIPO director general Daren Tang on the same day. The WPPT addresses the rights of performers and producers of phonograms in the digital environment. Vietnams accession to the WPPT aims at strengthening the protection of related rights of those two kinds of beneficiaries under relevant WIPO treaties and meeting the countrys commitments under new-generation foreign trade agreements that it has recently signed, according to Ambassador Le Thi Tuyet Mai. We expected that the accession and implementation of the WPPT will encourage the development of Vietnams cultural industry, especially strongly promoting film and performance activities that contribute to the social-economic development of our country, she said at the accession ceremony. During his speech of congratulation on the accession, WIPO director general Daren Tang said the WPPT participation underlines Vietnams commitment to the global intellectual property system and to strengthening the rights of performers and producers in the digital environment. From My Tam, to Den Vau, to Son Tung MTP, musicians and creators are an increasing important part of Vietnams economy and the creative industries have a key role in driving growth forward, Tang said. By joining this treaty, Vietnam underscores its commitment to developing these cultural and creative sectors and the jobs and opportunities that go with them. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam! From a script point of view, Underbelly: Vanishing Act is faced with a dilemma, but one that Nines Head of Drama Ryan sees as a storytelling opportunity. Based on the real-life mystery that surrounds the bizarre disappearance of Melissa Caddick, it is a case that NSW Police have as an open finding: theories include suicide, murder or even faking her death. (Writers) Matt Ford and Michael Miller didnt want to just tell a story that was a box ticking bio-pic. In fact, in a show like this, it cant be a strict bio-pic because we dont really know what happened. After she went missing, we actually dont know what happened to her, he tells TV Tonight. From a storytelling point of view, that is really interesting opportunity. Theres a whole lot of things that we know about Melissa Caddick. But after the point that she went missing, we really dont know much at all. From a storytelling point of view, that is really interesting opportunity. For the record, Caddick was an Australian financial advisor who disappeared in 2020 the day after ASIC agents and AFP raided her home in Dover Heights on the suspicion that she had stolen millions from investors, including her own friends and family. 3 months later human remains discovered south of Tathra were confirmed to be Caddicks through DNA testing. Now it gets the Underbelly treatment led by former Wentworth star, Kate Atkinson. Shes a brilliant actress, first and foremost. Its not a show where she needs to have a great physical likeness to the real person, but as it turns out, Kates of a similar age to Melissa Caddick. So, that sort of helps with the verisimilitude of the whole piece. But mostly, shes just an outstanding actress who holds the screen. Kate Atkinson is outstanding and in almost every scene. Its a really complex role. The interesting thing about the script is that theres a certain amount we know about the real story of Melissa Caddick, and theres a lot we dont know. So the script and the show are able to go to places that are unexpected. Thats very demanding on an actress, to be convincing and capable. But Kate pulls it off. Shes outstanding and in almost every scene. Why the Underbelly brand for this story -previously associated with gangsters? It is a slight pivot for the Underbelly brand and thats okay, Ryan continues. Underbelly is about criminals living the high life, as much as it is about gangsters. Its about gangster bling, the proceeds of crime and the lifestyle that comes with crime. There are true crime dramas or inspired by real events but we dont want to make a docu-drama that just rehashes facts with actors. We want to tell a story that somehow shines a light on character motivations, or is greater than the sum of its parts. ..trust, deception, about how somebody could create a second life for themselves This was a story that raised all sorts of issues about things like trust, deception, about how somebody could create a second life for themselves are an alternative way of relating to people. That was bigger than just the story of one individual crime or one individual person. They are stories about what it is for a human to relate to other humans, and raise questions about how so much of how we operate in the world is based on an assumption of other peoples good faith. We assume that people were dealing with have similar world views or similar values to ourselves, or if they have different values, then theyre articulated. But when that trust breaks down its terribly distressing for people. This was something that played out in real life and something that enabled us, in the drama, to dramatise something about human emotional connections that are bigger, more universal than just the crime. The two part drama also includes Colin Friels (Water Rats, BlackJack, Mystery Road) youll have to stay tuned to see the nature of his role, Maya Stange (Love Child, A Place to Call Home, Wolf Creek) Frankie J. Holden (A Place to Call Home, Underbelly), Anne Tenney (The Castle, A Country Practice, Always Greener) and Sophie Bloom (Love Child, Amazing Grace, Reef Break). Weve got some lesser-known faces and names who really pop But Ryan is also excited about new ensemble cast members making their mark. Weve got some lesser-known faces and names who really pop, Jerome Velinsky plays Melissa Caddicks husband. Hes terrific. Hes done some guest roles on some other Nine shows, but hes not a face that will be familiar to the audience. Ursula Mills plays the ASIC investigator. Its her first TV role. Shes done a lot with the Sydney Theatre Company -fantastic talent. And Dylan Hare who plays Nash is terrific. So its a really fresh, new ensemble. The series by Screentime will paint a picture of a daughter, wife, mother and friend who kept Sydney and the nation guessing after embezzling over $40 million leaving police and her victims to piece together the mystery of who Melissa Caddick really was. Kate Atkinson does a voiceover as Melissa in this show, which is also an Underbelly sort of trope, so we pose the question right from the very start: is she telling the truth, or is she lying? Ryan asks. And therefore, is she alive or is she dead? Right from the start, you will be taken into the confidence of a confidence trickster. Underbelly: Vanishing Act 8:40pm Sunday, 9pm Monday on Nine. BLOOMING THE INTERNATIONAL CHARM OF THE BRAND, FENJIU IS EMERGING AS THE TOP WINE BRAND OF CHINA Beijing, China--(Newsfile Corp. - April 2, 2022) - Fenjiu, a leading wine making company of China has proudly announced that on March 20, 2022, it entered the Royal Thai Embassy in Beijing to showcase its magical wine and food. This took place in the second episode issue of the high-end life and food program "Ambassador's Gourmet Parlour" exclusively presented by the famous Chinese wine Qinghua Fenjiu came to the Royal Thai Embassy. The Honorable Ambassador, His Excellency Arthayudh Srisamot welcomed the guests to the Embassy, alongside the Director of Thailand Tourism Administration Pan Kenan. Ambassador's Gourmet Parlour Thai chapter To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8457/119048_bf2c195984d6cbfc_001full.jpg "We are delighted to host Ambassador's Gourmet Parlour to the Thai Embassy, and we had a great time with some of the most delicious stimulations to our taste buds," said The Honorable Ambassor, His Excellency Arthayudh Srisamot of Thailand, while welcoming the team at the Embassy. Fenjiu enters the Royal Thai Embassy in Beijing as a guest To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8457/119048_bf2c195984d6cbfc_002full.jpg Qinghua Fenjiu, a famous Chinese wine known for its delicate fragrance, has always aimed to become a carrier of exchanges between Chinese civilization and other civilizations in the world in the new era, and is committed to dialogue with the world in more diverse ways. According to the officials, the Ambassador's Gourmet Parlour program coincides with the event of the Royal Thai Embassy. Ma Xiaodong, deputy general manager of Fenjiu International Trade Co., Ltd., took a photo with Arthayudh Srisamoot, Ambassador of the Royal Thai Embassy to China To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8457/119048_bf2c195984d6cbfc_003full.jpg Story continues In addition, the famous Chinese liquor Qinghua Fenjiu has once again entered the field of international consumption, telling domestic and foreign consumers a new story of Chinese liquor, allowing more consumption to visitors, who can appreciate the unique charm of "International Fen" and taste the unique connotation of Chinese wine spirit. National Tourism Administration of Thailand Exhibition Area Meigong Market To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8457/119048_bf2c195984d6cbfc_004full.jpg Themed around Thai railway, the Thai-style event hosted by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Thailand, there were fresh fruit stalls on both sides that attracted everyone to stop and watch. It was themed to look like a railway, and the only "market on the rails" in the world. Thailand Maeklong Railway Fair The re-engraving of the city landscape. This event has simply restored this magical landscape of Thailand as the vendors on both sides of the railway sold all kinds of fresh fruits and food. The event simply brought the rich and diverse Thai culture to China and according to Pan Kenan, director of the Beijing Office of the National Tourism Administration of Thailand, the purpose of this Thai-style event is to let friends who cannot go to Thailand during the epidemic experience the authentic Thai culture here. Ms. Pan Kenan, director of the Beijing Office of the National Tourism Administration of Thailand, and the chief editor of Sohu Food, discharge the water lamp To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8457/119048_bf2c195984d6cbfc_005full.jpg Every November, Thailand holds the Loy Krathong Festival, where people put their own hand-made water lanterns into the river to express their best wishes. At the scene of this windy episode, the editor-in-chief of Sohu Food and Director Pan put the water lanterns carrying beautiful blessings into the pool, allowing the audience to experience a "water lantern" in an immersive manner. Coconut cake, produced by Thailand National Tourism Administration To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8457/119048_bf2c195984d6cbfc_006full.jpg Furthermore, the event was crowded, and the special snacks such as coconut-flavored cakes attracted most of the tourists. The event also included special snacks, Thai special dance performances, and Muay Thai performances. Anna, chef of the Royal Thai Embassy in China, made Thai fried rice noodles To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8457/119048_bf2c195984d6cbfc_007full.jpg "My favorite Thai food is pad Thai rice noodles because it doesn't need a lot of water, and the ingredients in it are very rich, including rice noodles, seafood and various seasonings, and the taste is very rich." The ambassador said. The Ambassador also talked about Thailand's table manners and how the children and adults are served food. Ms. Pan Kenan, director of the Beijing Office of the National Tourism Administration of Thailand, tasted Fenjiu liqueur chocolate To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8457/119048_bf2c195984d6cbfc_008full.jpg "I want to bring this wine chocolate back to Thailand to share with my friends," said Director Pan, whose heart was instantly captured by this wine chocolate made from Fenjiu. Fenjiu, as the representative of light-flavor liquor, is very close to the internationally popular whiskey and vodka in taste and is very suitable for the liquor-flavor of cocktails. At the same time, the pineapple, apple, pear and other aromas in the compound aroma of Fenjiu make it more acceptable to consumers in terms of taste than other aroma-type wines. Nowadays, in China, Fenjiu often uses limes from Thailand to make cocktails, and gradually formed a unique cocktail culture, which is widely sought after at home and abroad. To watch this entire program, please click the link below: https://youtu.be/cGz-hRcZefs For more information, please visit the website at: www.fenjiu.com.cn Contact: Zheng Xingsheng Tel: +86351 270 9799 Website: https://www.fenjiu.com.cn/ Publisher: TCB To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/119048 Angel Rosemond has always had a knack for languages. She easily picked up the Spanish her mother taught her as a child in their home. "I actually loved learning languages," Rosemond said. The 20-year-old from Douglasville, Georgia, also loved helping her community and felt called to serve her country after she joined the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC). "When I thought about what I wanted to do in the future, I wanted to help people. Then I thought, 'How do I want to help America?'" Rosemond said. "By joining the military I can help in a small way." Rosemond combined her two loves at the University of North Georgia (UNG). The junior is pursuing a degree in modern languages with a concentration in Arabic as a member of the Corps of Cadets. "I wanted to major in something that I could use in the military that was interesting to learn. I landed on Arabic," said Rosemond, who hopes to attend the Defense Language Institute. Rosemond has progressed toward that goal since she earned early acceptance to UNG coupled with an ROTC scholarship. After she graduated high school in 2017, she attended UNG's Summer Language Institute (SLI) for Arabic and earned eight academic credit hours during the six-week summer session. In summer 2018, Rosemond studied abroad in Fes, Morocco. "It was an amazing experience!" Rosemond said. "I got to experience a different culture and grow my language skills in the real world. My favorite part of the study abroad was my host family who lived in the old city." SLI and her study abroad trip were funded through a Project Global Officer (Project GO) scholarship. "The scholarships are really important," Rosemond said. "I try my hardest to get them and keep them and get more." Hard work is in store for her in spring 2020 as she prepares for Advanced Camp in the summer at Fort Knox in Kentucky. The rigorous, 12-week training is a program cadets must complete to be commissioned in the military. Cadets are tested on rifle marksmanship, buddy-team live fire, hand grenades, first aid, Army combat fitness, land navigation and much more. "Training for Advanced Camp is the most difficult thing I've done aside from one other thing," said Rosemond, who is the squad leader for Delta Company. The other thing is becoming a member of Sigma Gamma Rho, one of nine historically black international Greek-lettered sororities and fraternities. Rosemond along with UNG students Imani Arnold and Uriyah Davis made history Nov. 17 when they were presented as the newest members of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc., the first African American sorority presence at UNG. "I want a little bit of legacy," she said. "I'm hoping Imani, Uriyah and I can ramp up interest and build a community here because there are not that many people on campus who look like me here." In his recent rally in Florence, South Carolina, Donald Trump spoke in support of candidates he would like to see in office. That was the main purpose of his rally. But he said something else that received less attention but which was even more important that if he were reelected, he would introduce reforms so that the president would have the authority to fire everyone in the executive branch. In his words, he would make them all fireable. While this may have popular appeal, it is actually quite dangerous it would produce the most significant increase in presidential power in American history. Trump claims that this expansion of power is a way for him to eliminate what he has termed the deep state, but whatever you think about that term, Trumps proposal would just make things worse. It is true that the president cannot fire anyone he wants to fire, except for those who are political appointees. This limitation on presidential power exists because of the Pendleton Act of 1883 (later strengthened by the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978), which created the merit system of hiring members of the bureaucracy. The merit system for the civil service (a better term than deep state) is good for the country, because it demands evidence of expertise for hiring and a verifiable cause for firing employees. This also means that the civil service can oppose any president who attempts to act outside of the law, since the rank-and-file employees are not beholden to the president. The merit system was created to eliminate what Trump has called the swamp. Back in the 1800s, it was called the spoils system, when federal jobs were given as rewards to political loyalists, regardless of the level of their incompetence. In the 1800s, the executive branch was very small, but it grew enormously under Franklin D. Roosevelt in the 1900s and has continued to grow. It currently includes 15 departments, which I want to list here because seeing these helps one understand the breadth of governmental operations contained within them: Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, Justice, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury and Veterans Affairs. There are other entities, such as the Federal Reserve, that are part of the executive branch, but whose employees are not at this point fireable by the president. Again, all of these have political appointees in key leadership positions (including Cabinet secretaries, who are fireable), but the merit system exists for most civil servant jobs. The Constitution put a delicate system of limited government into place, including separation of powers and checks and balances. And while the Founders (especially Alexander Hamilton) talked of the importance of an energetic executive, they were unanimous about the principle that the president was not to be a king or tyrant. Ours was to be a republican (lowercase r) government. If a modern president can fire anyone in the executive branch at will, we will no longer have limited government. Imagine what could change if this proposal were implemented. What used to be civil service jobs would be handed out like candy for presidential loyalists who would be eager to please the president with everything they did. This would mean that any president would be able to use the CIA and the FBI for political purposes, and anyone standing in the way could be fired immediately. Political opponents of the president could be harassed and jailed at will. The IRS could become a political tool used to intimidate or threaten anyone who disagreed with the president. And the Department of Justice could launch investigations into the presidents opponents and could be forbidden to investigate the president or anyone the president wanted to protect. This would be a nightmare. I have no idea what is motivating Trump to make this proposal, but it would have deep and lasting implications for our future. It would create a much deeper swamp than the country has ever seen. And it would effectively create regime change in America. It would destroy the delicate balance established by the Constitution a balance that can sometimes be frustrating but which is essential for keeping our nation from transforming from a republican, representative government to a regime of almost unlimited presidential power. If this were to happen, there would be no need for another attempted insurrection in the United States; the country we know would have fallen using T.S. Eliots expression with a whimper rather than a bang. Solomon D. Stevens is the author of Religion, Politics, and the Law and Challenges to Peace in the Middle East. He wrote this for InsideSources.com. Once upon a time: (Story before bedtime at end of post) To contemplate what you see daily as the West says one thing, does another thing and then screams as they do another thing completely, many times very much different from what is logical and sensible. It is as if illogical and nonsensical actions and reactions has become a Western norm.embedded within its society What I see is the Empire in freakout mode. Russia has what the Western World has to have and needs, it is called resources. Thus, it is why the west looks condescending at Russia as a gas station, except this gas station is a bear and has nukes for claws Going into how we got to this point in history is mute at this point and if you are confused.it is because you desire to be. By now even a Yankee Doodle should be able to find Ukraine and Russia on the world map! The Ruble is performing against the Western attacks and Russias partners are opposing the Empires constant frantic intimidation. In the long & short interim, the U.S./EU is messing itself up, whether out of panic and or fear, they continue estranging China, India and Iran after it implemented extra manipulations on Iran over its long range rockets program, and implemented visa limitations on Chinese authorities, then as India is buying Russian oil and the USA is telling them how much to buy and tossing threats at India, if they buy too much oil from Russia The West seems to be lost in its own rhetorical and hubris of lies, sins and worshiping of itself, to the point of being disconnected from the real world of planet Earth. Thus, they just dont ask, they tell, demand and coerce others to do as they say.to make it worse, they actually want other countries to do as they say and not as we do In Ukraine there will be some massive well planned explosive activity on the Eastern Front of Ukraine and soon, what most likely will be called Novorossiya, Novorussia, or New Russia is becoming a new state as we watch. I suspect a baby Transnistria will be absorbed into Novorossiya as a satellite state.but, it looks more and more as if Ukraine will become landlocked. What will be Ukraine is going to be scavenged by the NATO Hyenas of Poland and company along the border. It is inevitable The Russian Bear is not just revamping the worldwide power structure; shes redrawing the complete playbook of the Western Empire. Ripping out the pages that say, USA is your god! & replacing them with all countries are equal Id say Russia is very much in control and in control means the Russian plan is approaching the expectations that are destined, by our destiny and as far as I might be concerned, it is and would be a new beginning for us all.a better way of life At the end of the day, the Russian Bear is mauling to death what needs to die My question is, Will the Bear finish off the Devil it finds under its claws and within its jaws? That my friend is the trillion dollar question! Let me tell you that story I promised before going to bed Once upon a time: The Western Empire sneered, ignored and laughed in the face of the Russia Bears questions and worries. Then as the Western Empire was getting ready to hurt the bears babies. Russia said, Back Off! The Empire laughed and said, You are just a gas station and by the way, clean the windows as you fill it up!!! Except this gas station is a Russian Bear and has Nukes for Claws You have a good night now WtR KYIV, Ukraine Ukrainian troops moved cautiously to retake territory north of the countrys capital on Saturday, using cables to pull the bodies of civilians off streets of one town out of fear that Russian forces may have left them booby-trapped. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that departing Russian troops were creating a catastrophic situation for civilians by leaving mines around homes, abandoned equipment and even the bodies of those killed. His claims could not be independently verified. Associated Press journalists in Bucha, a suburb northwest of Kyiv, watched as Ukrainian soldiers backed by a column of tanks and other armored vehicles used cables to drag bodies off of a street from a distance. Locals said the dead the AP counted at least six were civilians killed without provocation by departing Russian soldiers. Those people were just walking and they shot them without any reason. Bang, said a Bucha resident who declined to give his name citing safety reasons. In the next neighborhood, Stekolka, it was even worse. They would shoot without asking any question. Ukraine and its Western allies reported mounting evidence of Russia withdrawing its forces from around Kyiv and building its troop strength in eastern Ukraine. The visible shift did not mean the country faced a reprieve from more than five weeks of war or that the more than 4 million refugees who have fled Ukraine will return soon. Zelenskyy said he expects departed towns to endure missile and rocket strikes from afar and for the battle in the east to be intense. In his nightly video address Saturday, the Ukrainian leader said the countrys troops were not allowing the Russians to retreat without a fight: They are shelling them. They are destroying everyone they can. Russia, Zelenskyy said, has ample forces to put more pressure on Ukraines east and south. What is the goal of the Russian troops? They want to seize the Donbas and the south of Ukraine, he said. What is our goal? To defend ourselves, our freedom, our land and our people. Moscows focus on eastern Ukraine also kept the besieged southeastern city of Mariupol in the crosshairs. The port city on the Sea of Azov is located in the mostly Russian-speaking Donbas region, where Moscow-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian troops for eight years. Military analysts think Russian President Vladimir Putin is determined to capture the region after his forces failed to secure Kyiv and other major cities. The International Committee of the Red Cross had hoped to evacuate Mariupol residents Saturday but had not yet reached the city. A day earlier, local authorities said the Red Cross was blocked by Russian forces. An adviser to Zelenskyy, Oleksiy Arestovych, said in an interview with Russian lawyer and activist Mark Feygin that Russia and Ukraine had reached an agreement to allow 45 buses to drive to Mariupol to evacuate residents in coming days. The Mariupol city council said earlier Saturday that 10 empty buses were headed to Berdyansk, a city 84 kilometers (52.2 miles) west of Mariupol, to pick up people who managed to get there on their own. About 2,000 made it out of Mariupol on Friday, some on buses and some in their own vehicles, city officials said. Meanwhile, Ukraines deputy prime minister, Iryna Vereshchuk, said 765 Mariupol residents on Saturday used private vehicles to reach Zaporizhzhia, a city still under Ukrainian control that has served as the destination for other planned evacuations. Among those escaping was Tamila Mazurenko, who said she fled Mariupol on Monday, made it to Berdyansk that night and then took a bus to Zaporizhzhia. Mazurenko said she waited for a bus until Friday, spending one night sleeping in a field. I have only one question: Why? she said of her citys ordeal. We only lived as normal people. And our normal life was destroyed. And we lost everything. I dont have any job, I cant find my son. Mariupol has been surrounded by Russian forces for more than a month and suffered some of the wars worst attacks, including on a maternity hospital and a theater that was sheltering civilians. Around 100,000 people are believed to remain in the city, down from a prewar population of 430,000, and they face dire shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine. Zelenskyy said a significant number of Russian troops were tied up in Mariupol, giving Ukraine invaluable time that is allowing us to foil the enemys tactics and weaken its capabilities. The citys capture would give Moscow an unbroken land bridge from Russia to Crimea, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014. But its resistance also has taken on symbolic significance during Russias invasion, said Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Ukrainian think tank Penta. Mariupol has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance, and without its conquest, Putin cannot sit down at the negotiating table, Fesenko said. About 500 refugees from eastern Ukraine, including 99 children and 12 people with disabilities, arrived in the Russian city of Kazan by train overnight. Asked if he saw a chance to return home, Mariupol resident Artur Kirillov answered, Thats unlikely, there is no city anymore. In towns and cities surrounding Kyiv, signs of fierce fighting were everywhere in the wake of the Russian redeployment. Destroyed armored vehicles from both armies lay in streets and fields along with scattered military gear. Ukrainian troops were stationed at the entrance to Antonov Airport in suburb of Hostomel, demonstrating control of the runway that Russia tried to storm in the first days of the war. Inside the compound, the Mriya, one of the biggest planes ever built, lay wrecked underneath a hangar pockmarked with holes from the February attack. The Russians couldnt make one like it so they destroyed it, said Oleksandr Merkushev, mayor of the Kyiv suburb of Irpin. Irpin has seen some of the fiercest battles, and Merkushev said Russian troops left behind them many bodies, many destroyed buildings, and they mined many places. A prominent Ukrainian photojournalist who went missing last month in a combat zone near the capital was found dead Friday in the Huta Mezhyhirska village north of Kyiv, the countrys prosecutor generals office announced. The prosecutor generals office attributed Maks Levins death to two gunshots allegedly fired by the Russian military and said an investigation was underway. Elsewhere, at least three Russian ballistic missiles were fired late Friday at the Odesa region on the Black Sea, regional leader Maksim Marchenko said. The Ukrainian military said the Iskander missiles did not hit the critical infrastructure they targeted in Odesa, Ukraines largest port and the headquarters of its navy. Ukraines state nuclear agency reported a series of blasts Saturday that injured four people in Enerhodar, a southeastern city that has been under Russian control since early March along with the nearby Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Ukraines human rights ombudsman said via Telegram that the four were badly burned when Russian troops fired light and noise grenades and mortars at a pro-Ukraine demonstration. The head of Ukraines delegation in talks with Russia said Moscows negotiators informally agreed to most of a draft proposal discussed during face-to-face talks in Istanbul this week, but no written confirmation has been provided. However, Davyd Arakhamia said on Ukrainian TV that he hopes that draft is developed enough so that the two countries presidents can meet to discuss it. ___ Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Andrea Rosa in Irpin, Ukraine, and Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report. ___ Follow the APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal Si, Se Puede! is the motto of the United Farm Workers of America. Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta were the driving force behind the activist group that fought to make change for the workers. Fifty years later, the work hasnt stopped for Huerta, who continues the civil rights fight. On Saturday, Huerta will take part in the Recuerda Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta Celebration at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. This years event, which starts at 8:30 a.m., pays tribute to essential workers on the front line of the pandemic. Huerta says that when she and Chavez organized farm workers, it was to empower them. Unlike in the movie about his life, it took three years just to get started on that work. (The biggest challenge) was convincing them that this was never going to change unless they changed it, Huerta says. They are the ones that had to step up. They had to fight for their rights. And they did. Thats what we were successful in. The Dolores Huerta Foundation continues to lead the fight for rights. Huerta says the foundation still meets with people in their homes and helps them work to improve their living conditions. You cant wait for somebody to come and do it for you. You have to do it for yourself. And so that message is still very, very strong, Huerta says. Because we know our country is going through a lot of turmoil right now, in the United States, we have a lot of division. And we have a lot of inequities. So this message of empowerment is exactly what Cesar and I were doing, and what I continue to do it with my foundation is talking to people in their communities and organizing them so that they can then do the jobs that need to be done into the terms of getting their communities right. Huerta, 91, was born in Dawson and spends her time in Bakersfield, California. She often travels back to New Mexico to see family and friends, because the state holds a special place in her heart. New Mexico is always a healing journey, she says. Theres something about New Mexico, I dont know what it is the people, or the ambience, or the weather. Something about the climate here, that is also very healing. Its not only physically, but mentally, spiritually healing. I was always a sickly child, growing up in California, and my mother sent me one summer to live here with my dad, who was here in Albuquerque. And so I spent the whole summer here with my dad, and I never got sick again. Its very healing every time I come here, I just get reinspired and rejuvenated. According to the city of Albuquerque, the event will be livestreamed on the Recuerda a Cesar Chavez website and Facebook page so that the public can safely observe all the activities in store. Attendance will be limited. In-person event highlights include a car show, blood drive, health screenings, work glove donations, presentation of the Si Se Puede Awards, a performance by Latin band Nosotros, and many other cultural activities and performances. Its so important to remember our citys legacy of community leadership, and lift up their mission to create equitable opportunity, Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller said in a statement. The fight for labor and civil rights did not pause when the pandemic hit and is as critical today as ever. Were grateful for our partners and Albuquerque advocates who are keeping the fight alive and making progress happen. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal Police say five teens beat restaurant workers outside Coronado Center on Thursday afternoon, with two of them pistol-whipping the employees. The teens then shot out the back window of an SUV in the parking lot as they fled the scene, authorities said. Michael Ross Jr., 18, and a younger teen, Angelo Morales, allegedly pointed guns at the Fuddruckers employees and pistol-whipped them. Ross is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and aggravated battery in the incident. Rebecca Atkins, an Albuquerque police spokeswoman, said Morales was also arrested, but she did not say what he was charged with. Three other teens were issued criminal summons for battery. Atkins said there were people inside the SUV when the teens shot out the window, but nobody was struck by gunfire. According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court: Police responded around 3:45 p.m. to the burger joint after a 911 caller reported a group of teens had attacked employees and then shot out an SUVs window. A Fuddruckers employee told police the group came in trying to get change and when he refused because it was against store policy they began yelling. The employee said he escorted the teens outside, and they began punching him and another employee before two teens, later identified as Ross and Morales, pulled out guns. The employee told police the pair pointed the guns at him and then pistol-whipped both employees before taking off toward Target. Atkins said police found the teens at the Target and seized two guns, one from Ross and the other thrown into a vehicle by Morales in the Target parking lot. Morales girlfriend, another teen, told police the Fuddruckers employee was rude to her, so she and her friends attacked him. Copyright 2022 Albuquerque Journal New Mexico middle school students now have the chance to show off their civic skills for the chance to win $1,000 with the inaugural National Civics Bee sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. Students in sixth through eighth grade have until April 7 to submit a short civics-related essay to enter the first round of the competition, according to Sara Fitzgerald, Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce senior vice president of policy research and strategic communication. Kyle Beasley, civics bee chairman, said the competition reflects the Chambers commitment to community engagement. We want to teach our kids young about how they can stay informed and involved in important decision-making that keeps our community moving forward, and the civics bee makes it fun and kid-friendly, he said. The top 10 finalists will move on to an in-person quiz competition in Albuquerque on May 3. All finalists will receive a trophy, with cash prizes for the top three winners and $1,000 for the first-place winner, Fitzgerald said. This is a pilot program with Albuquerque being one of six cities in the nation to host the competition this year, she said. Students interested in entering will have to submit a 500-word essay that identifies a problem in their community and ways in which citizens can solve that problem. Essays must include or answer: What is the problem, and how do different members in your community or neighborhood view it? What civic principles or systems could help to address the problem? What is your idea or recommendation for solving the problem? What primary sources, such as the Declaration of Independence or the United States Constitution, provide supporting evidence or examples for your idea or recommendation? How might members of your community or neighborhood bring your idea or recommendation to life? Essays can be submitted at civicsbee.secure-platform.com/albq/ FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. Attorneys for Parkland, Florida, school shooter Nikolas Cruz will have one goal when jury selection starts Monday: to identify candidates who might give Cruz the single vote he needs to get a life sentence instead of death for the 2018 murders of 17 students and staff members. The process will involve a lot of educated guesses. Court officials said perhaps 1,500 or more potential jurors could file through Circuit Judge Elizabeth Scherers courtroom over several weeks as she, prosecutors and Cruzs public defenders select 12 panelists, plus eight alternates, for his penalty trial. Those chosen must say they can put aside their animosity toward Cruz for the 2018 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and judge the case fairly. The potential jurors must also be available through September. Cruzs attorneys should not even try to get a jury or juror who doesnt know about the case because that is ignorance; you would have to be living under a rock, said Orlando defense attorney Mark OMara. OMara came to national prominence after his successful 2013 defense of George Zimmerman, who was acquitted of murdering Black teenager Trayvon Martin. He is not involved in the Cruz case. Jury candidates who declare that they can be objective will complete a questionnaire that dives into their backgrounds and asks whether they can handle viewing graphic evidence. They will then return in a few weeks for courtroom interviews, where they must declare that they are able to vote for the death penalty but also dont believe it should be mandatory for murder. Cruz, 23, pleaded guilty in October to 17 first-degree murders, 17 attempted murders and a jail assault, leaving the jury to decide only whether the former Stoneman Douglas student gets death or life without parole. Instead of deciding whether someone is guilty based upon objective evidence, jurors sitting at this death penalty trial must answer a subjective question: Have prosecutors shown that aggravating factors the number of deaths, the weeks of planning and the cruelty and horror of Cruzs actions outweigh mitigating factors such as his lifelong mental illness and the death of his parents? For Cruz to get death, the jurors must all answer, yes. To get at least one no vote, Cruzs attorneys must show that his path to the murders wasnt pure 100% personal-created intent, said OMara, who has defended about a dozen capital cases that ended with no death sentences imposed. It is going to be difficult. Death is the default sentence in this case. The fact that no one who opposes capital punishment on principle can be selected for the jury eliminates some female, minority, religious and liberal candidates who could potentially be sympathetic toward Cruz, Miami jury consultant and lawyer Geri Fischman said. White people strongly support the death penalty, a Gallup poll last year showed, while most Black and Hispanic people oppose it. The survey also showed that more women oppose capital punishment than men, and that only a quarter of liberals support the death penalty compared with 70% of conservatives. Broward County is 2-to-1 Democratic. Catholic Church leaders, some Protestant denominations and Judaisms major rabbinical organizations also oppose the death penalty on theological grounds, although many individual members support it in practice. Death-qualified juries are skewed in favor of the prosecution, Fischman said. This wont be the first time Scherer, prosecutors and Cruzs attorneys begin picking a jury for him. In October, Cruz faced trial for assaulting a jail guard nine months after the shooting. Prosecutors wanted a conviction to use as an aggravating factor in their argument for the death penalty. Almost 300 prospective jurors were screened, 10 times what is typical in a Florida assault case. About half said they couldnt judge Cruz fairly, and three women cried just seeing him. The other half said they could be just, but the process ended with Cruzs sudden guilty plea. Until 2016, a Florida judge could impose the death penalty if a majority of jurors agreed. But after the U.S. and Florida supreme courts mandated a higher bar, the Republican-majority Legislature amended the law to require unanimity. This is the system used in 18 of the 26 other states with capital punishment. That change gives Cruz a chance, but the jurys composition is key, OMara and Fischman note. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys can strike a potential juror if they are able to persuade Scherer that the persons background or answers demonstrates unfairness. Cruzs attorneys might challenge school employees, for example, or someone with a relative who died at the hands of another. Both sides receive 10 peremptory strikes for any reason except race or gender. Scherer has indicated she might add more, given the cases high profile. Fischman said that if she were advising the defense, she wouldnt preclude any occupations, ages or economic groups. Instead, she said she would look closely for stealth jurors: candidates who skew answers to be picked so they can vote for death. Anyone who tells you repeatedly they are going to be fair, that they have no biases, that they have no preexisting views on this case, is likely hiding something, she said. Someone who says they have no views on a shooting where innocent children were killed is not being forthright. OMara said he might seek racial minorities and jurors with relatives who have been criminal defendants because they might be more sensitized to the inconsistencies and biases of the judicial system. He said he would avoid accountants, engineers and others whose occupations require very precise answers. Such professionals use a mental scale to precisely weigh the aggravating and mitigating factors a battle Cruz cannot win with 17 dead victims, he said. When you get to that kind of analysis, you get away from what the defense wants: the humanity of the jurors and the defendant, he said. The bottom line: A case like Cruzs has no certainties for the defense. You are, in effect, playing to one juror you just dont know which, OMara said. GENEVA The former chief prosecutor of United Nations war crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda has called for an international arrest warrant to be issued for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin is a war criminal, Carla Del Ponte told the Swiss newspaper Le Temps in an interview published Saturday. In interviews given to Swiss media to mark the release of her latest book, the Swiss lawyer who oversaw U.N. investigations in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia said there were clear war crimes being committed in Ukraine. She said she was particularly shocked by the use of mass graves in Russias war on Ukraine, which recalls the worst of the wars in the former Yugoslavia. I hoped never to see mass graves again, she told the newspaper Blick. These dead people have loved ones who dont even know whats become of them. That is unacceptable. Other war crimes she identified in Ukraine included attacks on civilians, the destruction of civilian buildings and even the demolishing of entire villages. She said the investigation in Ukraine would be easier than that in Yugoslavia because the country itself had requested an international probe. The current ICC chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, visited Ukraine last month. If the ICC finds proof of war crimes, she said, you must go up the chain of command until you reach those who took the decisions. She said it would be possible to bring even Putin to account. You mustnt let go, continue to investigation. When the investigation into Slobodan Milosevic began, he was still president of Serbia. Who would have thought then that he would one day be judged? Nobody, she told Blick. Del Ponte added that investigations should be carried out into possible war crimes committed by both sides, pointing also to reports about the alleged torture of some Russian prisoners of war by Ukrainian forces. ___ This story corrects Del Pontes title to chief prosecutor of U.N. war crimes tribunals. ___ Follow all AP stories on the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-war. SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. David Frodsham was a top civilian commander at a U.S. air base in Afghanistan when he jokingly asked an IT technician for access to YouPorn, the video-sharing pornographic website. During his time in the war zone, Frodsham told one woman that he hired her because he wanted to be surrounded by pretty women, and routinely called others honey, babe, and cougar before he was ordered home after the military verified multiple allegations of sexual harassment. I would not recommend placing him back into a position of authority but rather pursuing disciplinary actions at his home station, wrote one commanding officer when recommending that the Army order Frodsham to leave his post at Bagram Airfield and return to Fort Huachuca, a major Army installation in Arizona, according to a U.S. Army investigative file obtained by The Associated Press. But when Frodsham returned to his home station in fall 2015, he rejoined the Network Enterprise Technology Command, the Armys information technology service provider, where he had served as director of personnel for a global command of 15,000 soldiers and civilians, according to his Army resume. By spring of the following year, he was arrested in Arizona for leading a child sex abuse ring that included an Army sergeant who was posting child pornography to the internet. Among the victims was one of Frodshams adopted sons Frodsham pleaded guilty to sex abuse charges in 2016 and is serving a 17-year sentence. But records reviewed by the AP show that the U.S. Army and the state of Arizona missed or ignored multiple red flags over more than a decade, which allowed Frodsham to allegedly abuse his adopted son and other children for years, all the while putting national security at risk. The state permitted Frodsham and his wife, Barbara, to foster, adopt and retain custody of their many children despite nearly 20 complaints, and attempted complaints, of abuse, neglect, maltreatment and licensing violations. Meanwhile, the Army gave Frodsham security clearances and sensitive jobs at a time when his illicit sexual practices made him vulnerable to blackmail. He would have been an obvious target of foreign intelligence services because of his role and his location, said Frank Figliuzzi, the former assistant director of counterintelligence for the FBI. Fort Huachuca is one of the more sensitive installations in the continental United States. People with security issues should not be there. In addition to NETCOM, where Frodsham worked, Fort Huachuca is home to a contingent of the Armys Intelligence and Security Command, according to its website. Public relations officials at Fort Huachuca confirmed that Frodsham was a program manager for NETCOM before he was arrested on child sex abuse charges. They declined to say whether Frodsham was disciplined after returning from Afghanistan, or whether the Army ever considered him a security risk. Frodsham, former Sgt. Randall Bischak and a third man not associated with the Army are all serving prison terms for the roles they played in the child sex abuse ring. But the investigation is continuing because Sierra Vista police believe additional men took part. Now, the criminal investigation is spilling over into civil court, where two of Frodshams adopted sons have filed separate lawsuits against the state for licensing David and Barbara Frodsham as foster parents in a home where they say they were physically and sexually abused throughout their lives. A third adopted son filed suit Tuesday in Arizona state court in Cochise County, said attorney Lynne Cadigan, who represents all three. In the latest complaint, 19-year-old Trever Frodsham says case workers missed or overlooked numerous signs that David and Barbara Frodsham were unfit parents. These included a 2002 sex abuse complaint filed with local police by one of the Frodshams biological daughters against an older biological brother, and the fact that David and Barbara Frodsham were themselves victims of child sex abuse. Trevers allegations echo those featured in an earlier lawsuit filed by his older biological brother, Ryan Frodsham, and one filed by Neal Taylor, both of whom were also adopted into the Frodsham household. In an interview with the AP, Ryan Frodsham said his adoptive father began sexually abusing him when he was 9 or 10 years old and the abuse continued into his teens, when David Frodsham began offering his sons sexual services to other men. Makes me throw up thinking about it, Ryan said. In his lawsuit, Ryan Frodsham said the state was informed that David and Barbara Frodsham were physically abusing their children by slapping them in the face, pinching them, hitting them with a wooden spoon, putting hot sauce in their mouths, pulling them by the hair, bending their fingers back to inflict pain, forcing them to hold cans with their arms extended for long periods time, and refusing to let them use the bathroom unless the door remained open. In his AP interview, Ryan said Barbara never sexually abused him but walked into the room where David was abusing him at least twice. She knew what was going on, he said. The lawsuits and related legal filings also say investigators with the Department of Child Safety and case workers with Catholic Community Services, which subcontracts foster and adoption work from the state, failed to effectively follow up on 19 complaints and attempted complaints regarding the Frodsham home spanning more than a decade. The complaints began in 2002, when the Frodshams applied for their foster care license, and continued until 2015, when David Frodsham was charged with disorderly conduct and driving drunk with children in his car, prompting the state to suspend their license indefinitely and remove all foster children from their home, although the charges were later dismissed. Five months later, the Army deployed Frodsham to Afghanistan, where he was ordered back to Arizona after only four months of service. REPORTS FELL ON DEAF EARS The lawsuits say the Frodshams adopted children attempted to report their own physical and sexual abuse without success. For instance, Neal Taylors lawsuit says he attempted to report that David Frodsham was sexually abusing him in two phone calls to his case manager, both of which he placed from school. The first time, the case manager reported the call to Neals adoptive mother, who interrogated him and proceeded to punish him, according to his lawsuit. The second time, the case manager refused to meet with him unless he disclosed the reason for his call over the phone, because he would have had to drive 90 minutes from Tucson to Sierra Vista for a private meeting. Ryan Frodshams lawsuit and the related legal filings say he reported repeated alleged physical abuse by Barbara Frodsham to Sierra Vista police when he was 12 years old after running away from home. Police photographed several bruises, returned him to Barbara Frodsham, and reported the incident to the state Department of Child Safety. Despite the photographs and a police report, a case worker who met with Ryan five weeks later found his allegations unsubstantiated. Arizona Department of Child Safety spokesman Darren DaRonco declined to answer specific questions about the lawsuits. He instead sent an email outlining the states procedures for screening prospective foster and adoptive parents. Despite all of these safeguards, people are sometimes able to avoid detection, DaRonco said, especially if a person has no prior criminal or child abuse history. Yet David and Barbara Frodsham have both said they were abused as minors. In their written application to become foster parents, Barbara Frodsham indicated that neither she nor her husband had been sexually victimized. But in recent pretrial testimony for Ryan Frodshams lawsuit, she said she would have revealed her abuse if she had been asked by a state investigator as part of the licensing process. David Frodsham, for his part, told a probation official after his guilty plea that he had been abused as a teenager. Many child welfare experts believe people with a history of child sexual abuse are more likely to abuse children in their own households and should be questioned to ensure theyve overcome their trauma before being allowed to provide foster care. Arizonas child welfare case workers did not know how to interview and, therefore, they didnt get candid answers from the Frodshams, said Kathleen Faller, an expert witness retained in Ryan Frodshams lawsuit. In pretrial testimony, Faller also said the state should not have granted the Frodshams foster care license. Barbara Frodsham, who divorced David following his guilty plea, did not return multiple telephone calls from the AP, and did not respond to detailed questions left on her voice mail. At the time of her husbands sentencing, she was working at Fort Huachuca as a personnel specialist, according to law enforcement records. A spokeswoman at Fort Huachuca said she still holds the position. Attorneys for the state and the other defendants are seeking to have the cases dismissed, based in part on state law that grants immunity to state employees for mistakes or misjudgments committed in the course of their work. The law does not provide immunity for gross negligence, which the Frodsham brothers and Neal Taylor are alleging. The state also says all the complaints about the Frodsham children and the Frodsham home were properly handled. CHILD SEX ABUSE RING The Frodsham case started as child sex abuse investigations often do: with an undercover Homeland Security agent lurking in a chat room favored by child pornographers. The Philadelphia-based agent, using the Kik messaging app, ran into someone calling himself Pup Brass who was posting videos and photos labeled pedopicsandvidd. Kik offers users a degree of anonymity but it stores IP addresses, which help identify a devices connection to the internet and can help identify the devices owner. According to a Sierra Vista police probable cause statement, federal and local law enforcement agents using the IP address and other information some gleaned from social media accounts soon determined that Pup Brass was Sgt. Randall Bischak. When they raided his home, seizing computers, cell phones, tablets and CDs holding child pornography, Bischak confessed that hed been having sex with a 59-year-old man he called Dave and his teenage son. In at least one instance Bischak had secretly recorded the sex on video. He also told investigators that he and Frodsham discussed having sex with small children and that Frodsham had supplied him with at least one of the little ones. Thomas Ransford, who specializes in child sex abuse cases for the Sierra Vista police, was no stranger to Frodsham. In the mid-2000s, he served as a military police officer at Fort Huachuca when Frodsham was director of Training, Plans, Mobilization and Security. So, I knew him. I was familiar with him, attended meetings with him, Ransford recalled. He also knew that Frodshams foster kids were always in trouble. When Ransford first questioned Frodsham he denied everything. He was pompous, like he was the smartest guy in the room, Ransford recalled. Then Ransford played the video Bischak had secretly taken of himself having three-way sex with Frodsham and his adopted son, Ryan, and Frodsham began to acknowledge his crimes. Ryan Frodsham also initially denied his father had abused him. Ryan appeared very defensive of his father and did not want to implicate him in any misconduct, Ransford wrote in a probable cause statement. But when Ransford showed him a compromising photograph seized from Bischaks cell phone, Ryan began to open up. Over the course of several months, Ransford said, Ryan identified others he said were part of his fathers child sex abuse ring, fueling the continuing investigation. Theres others were aware of, Ransford said. Its open. The Frodsham child sex abuse ring is part of a cluster of sex abuse cases that have come to light in Cochise County, Arizona, over the last several years, including several involving U.S. Border Patrol agents, two of whom worked at the Naco, Arizona, Border Crossing. Among them: John Daly III. A year ago, authorities arrested the recently retired Border Patrol agent after DNA evidence led them to suspect him in at least eight rapes, and to consider whether he is the so-called East Valley rapist, who terrorized women outside Phoenix throughout the 1990s. Prosecutors in Maricopa and Cochise counties have charged him with multiple counts of sexual assault and kidnapping. Daly, who is being held without bail, has pleaded not guilty. Dana Thornhill. A year ago, Thornhill was sentenced to a 40-year prison term after pleading guilty to years of sexually abusing his two children. Thornhill was charged following a stand-off with police in which he holed up in a local church. At the time, Thornhill was the chaplain at the Naco Border Crossing. Paul Adams. In 2017, Adams was charged with raping his two daughters, one of whom was just 6 weeks old; taking videos of the sexual assaults; and posting them on the Internet. Adams, who took his own life before standing trial, was also stationed at the Naco Border Crossing. Ransford believes the cluster of cases should be attributed to good police work and effective prosecution, which give victims and others the confidence to report child sex abuse. People report because they know somethings going to be done about it, he said. But Cadigan, the attorney representing the Frodsham brothers and Neal Taylor, wonders whether child sex abuse in southern Arizona is on the rise. Law enforcement has been very effective, and I appreciate their efforts, but Ive been taking these cases for 30 years and Ive never been so busy, she said. A SCANDAL-PLAGUED DEPARTMENT The physical and sexual abuse allegedly endured by the Frodsham brothers and Neal Taylor occurred at a time when Arizonas child welfare system was embroiled in scandal. In 2013, officials revealed that what was then the Department of Protective Services had a backlog of more than 6,500 abuse and neglect complaints it had never investigated. The revelation prompted then-Gov. Jan Brewer to dissolve the entire department and create a new Cabinet-level office called the Department of Child Safety. It is evident that our child welfare system is broken, impeded by years of operational failures, said Brewer, a Republican. Underlying the scandal were deep budget cuts to family support services, leading to soaring abuse and neglect complaints and what an auditor generals report would later refer to as unmanageable workloads, staff turnover and the limited experience of some CPS supervisors and newly hired investigators. In 2014, an analysis produced for the state Legislature showed that the increase in workloads in Arizona during the decade that ended in 2012 was greater than in any other state but one. It also showed that the response time for abuse and neglect complaints ballooned from 63 hours to nearly 250 hours, between 2009 and 2012. In its defense against Ryan Frodshams lawsuit, the state is trying to exclude any mention of the departments troubled past. There is no evidence that the types of problems that led to the dissolution of CPS has any relation to or impact on his case, the state said in a pretrial motion. But David and Barbara Frodsham were licensed as foster parents in 2002, at the dawn of what was perhaps the departments most troubled period, and formally adopted the three men going to court about a decade later, shortly before the system collapsed. The jury is entitled to the full picture, lawyers for Ryan Frodsham said. In his AP interview, Ryan Frodsham said he filed his lawsuit for one reason: I want the state to admit what it did was wrong. ___ This story has been updated to correct that Fort Huachuca is home to a contingent of the Intelligence and Security Command. ___ To contact APs investigations team, email investigative@ap.org VALLETTA, Malta Pope Francis said Saturday he was considering a possible visit to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv and blasted the leader who launched a savage war, delivering his most pointed denunciation yet of Russias invasion of Ukraine. In his remarks in Malta, Francis didnt cite President Vladimir Putin by name, but the reference was clear when he said some potentate had unleashed the threat of nuclear war on the world in an infantile and destructive aggression. We had thought that invasions of other countries, savage street fighting and atomic threats were grim memories of a distant past, Francis told Maltese officials on the Mediterranean island nation at the start of a weekend visit. Francis has to date avoided referring to Russia or Putin by name, in keeping with the Vaticans tradition of not calling out aggressors to keep open options for dialogue. But Saturdays criticism of the powerful figure responsible for the war marked a new level of outrage for the pope. Once again, some potentate, sadly caught up in anachronistic claims of nationalist interest, is provoking and fomenting conflicts, whereas ordinary people sense the need to build a future that will either be shared or not be at all, he said. Francis told reporters en route to Malta that a possible visit to Kyiv was on the table, but no dates have been set or trip confirmed. The mayor of the Ukrainian capital had invited Francis on March 8 to come as a messenger of peace along with other religious figures, but has recently warned even healthy city residents who fled that the city is still endangered by Russian hostilities. Francis also said the war had pained his heart so much that he sometimes forgets about the pain in his knees. Francis has been suffering for months from a strained ligament in his right knee. The inflammation got so bad that the Vatican arranged for a tarmac elevator to get him on and off the plane for Saturdays flight to Malta, and his limp was more pronounced Saturday. The Malta visit, originally scheduled for May 2020, was always supposed to focus on migration, given Maltas role at the heart of Europes migration debate. The issue took on more import with the forced exodus of over 4 million Ukrainian refugees. Francis focused his remarks on the perilous Mediterranean migration route and Europes flawed migration policies in welcoming people fleeing war, poverty and conflict. Speaking with Maltas president by his side, Francis denounced the sordid agreements the European Union has made with Libya to turn back migrants and said Europe must show humanity in welcoming them. He called for the Mediterranean to be a theater of solidarity, not the harbinger of a tragic shipwreck of civilization. Francis was referring to the EUs program to train Libyas coast guard, which patrols the North African countrys coast for migrant smuggling and brings the would-be refugees back to shore. The program was strongly backed by Italy and other front-line Mediterranean countries to try to stem the flow of hundreds of thousands of desperate migrants each year. But human rights groups have condemned the EU-funded program as a violation of the migrants rights and documented gross abuses in the Libyan detention camps. Just this week, German said its military would no longer provide training to the Libyan coast guard given its unacceptable, and in some cases illegal, treatment of migrants. Francis has condemned the Libyan detention facilities as concentration camps, but he went further Saturday to shame the EU for its complicity in the abuses there. Civilized countries cannot approve for their own interest sordid agreements with criminals who enslave other human beings, he said. Malta, the European Unions smallest country with a half-million people, has long been on the front lines of the flow of migrants and refugees across the Mediterranean and often has come under fire for refusing to let rescue ships dock. Just this week a German aid group sought port for 106 migrants rescued at sea and, by Saturday, the ship was heading to Sicily instead. Malta has frequently called upon its bigger European neighbors to shoulder more of the burden receiving would-be refugees. Francis has frequently echoed that call, and linked it on Saturday to the welcome the Maltese once gave the Apostle Paul, who according to the biblical account was shipwrecked off Malta around A.D. 60 while en route to Rome and was shown unusual kindness by the islanders. Later Saturday, Francis travelled by catamaran ferry to the island of Gozo, making his own the Mediterranean seafaring tradition to celebrate a prayer meeting at Maltas national shrine. Flanked by two Maltese churchmen who are key aides at the Vatican, Francis sat on a white chair on deck for the hour-long trip and was welcomed by thundering canons as the ship came in Gozos port. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the APs collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content. GUATEMALA CITY Eager to show its trying to slow the steady flow of its people north to the United States, Guatemala recently tripled prison sentences for migrant smugglers. The day after Guatemalas legislature approved the measure in February, 18-year-old Yashira Hernandez left her home near the Mexican border for the trip north hiring a smuggler to help. A month later, Hernandez was back, deported from the U.S., fretting over her familys debt and contemplating a second attempt again with her smuggler. While the legal reform is supposed to dissuade smugglers and cast the government as a willing partner of the U.S. in managing migration, experts and lawmakers say it will only make the trip more expensive. The poverty, violence and other factors pushing Guatemalans to migrate remain strong and the smuggling networks continue to ply their trade sometimes with the help of public officials. Possible prison sentences hold little importance if those responsible rarely make it to trial. Guatemalas government says it is preparing for further increased migration due to a decision announced Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to end a system limiting asylum at the southwest border on May 23. That policy had been based on reducing the spread of COVID-19 during the pandemic. Officials throughout the region expect migrant smugglers to seize on the policy change to drum up more business with misinformation about the sort of reception migrants will meet. Guatemalas immigration agency said it was forming a multidisciplinary group to respond to changes in migration flows, including securing the countrys borders. In 2020, more than 21,000 Guatemalans were deported home from the U.S., but prosecutors only charged 12 people in connection with migrant smuggling, according to data from the Attorney Generals Office, said lawmaker Andrea Villagran. Only four of the 12 were convicted. You have to see the lack of capacity the Attorney Generals Office has to bring these criminal structures to justice, said Villagran who voted against the reform. The law change is only a show. What this law did was increase the price of smuggling. If the problem isnt really resolved, the people are going to continue wanting to migrate. Villagran also said theres little motivation for the government to slow migration. The interest is in continuing to export Guatemalans so they can continue sending remittances and continue sustaining this countrys economy, she said. Last year, despite the global pandemic, Guatemalans sent home $15 billion. Hernandez said she decided to leave last month to escape poverty. Her family scraped together thousands of dollars to hire a smuggler, but in a months time she was back where she started, now with a massive debt that is virtually unpayable if she stays in Guatemala. She was unaware that the penalties for migrant smuggling had risen to 30 years from 10, now on par with sentences for kidnapping and murder. Here theres no work and a lot of violence, Hernandez said. The tougher sentences were proposed by the office of President Alejandro Giammattei. His relationship with Washington has been tense, in part because the U.S. government has listed corruption as one of the root causes of immigration in Central America and has accused his administration of undermining Guatemalas justice system while inventing charges to prosecute anticorruption crusaders. Ursula Roldan, a migration expert at the Rafael Landivar University, said that while poverty and corruption remain rampant, emigration will continue. She notes that deportations from the U.S. have fallen even as Guatemalan emigration continues. Its not that people arent trying to leave Guatemala. Its that the containment is in Mexico, at the southern and northern borders, she said. Thats where the problem is building. Guatemalans have featured prominently in recent high-profile and deadly smuggling cases in Mexico. In January 2021, the incinerated bodies of 19 people, including 16 Guatemalan migrants, were found in northern Mexico near the Texas border. Prosecutors said they were shot by a Tamaulipas state police unit and then burned. In December, 55 migrants were killed and more than 100 injured when a semitrailer carrying them crashed in southern Mexico. Again the majority were from Guatemala. This year, Guatemalan authorities, under pressure to show theyre taking smuggling seriously, arrested 10 people allegedly involved in smuggling the migrants killed last year near the Texas border. People keep migrating because the structural causes of migration are still there, they havent changed, Roldan said. Stuardo Campos, the prosecutor charged with applying the new law, sees the increased sentences as a positive development and says smuggler arrests are up, but concedes that the factors driving migration are strong and says he lacks the resources to effectively tackle the problem. Campos noted that the new law requires prosecutors to show proof that moving, housing and helping migrants was done for an economic benefit. Thats a tall order when migrants almost never agree to testify against their smugglers. Many smugglers offer a second or third try if the first fails, and migrants have almost no hope of paying off the original debt without reaching the United States. So theres a large disincentive to helping prosecute their smuggler. Campos laments that lack of cooperation. He has 340 open investigations into migrant smuggling involving 10 smuggling rings operating across Guatemala. In the case of those killed in northern Mexico, Campos said the leader of the smuggling ring was a former mayor who is now a fugitive. There are criminal networks within the government that facilitate the entrance and exit and even (false) documents for migrants, said Villagran, the federal lawmaker. The whole system is so coopted that any popularly elected public official could be tied to these networks, she said. Ultimately, they need political favors to survive and those favors translate to financing of electoral campaigns. In the first three months of this year, 7,552 Guatemalans were deported from the United States. Among them were Hernandez and 20-year-old Emileth Tobar. Tobar left Guatemala on Feb. 1, the same day Congress voted to increase the sentences for migrant smugglers. Her mother had died, and as the eldest child it was her responsibility to provide for her siblings. Like Hernandez, she was detained shortly after crossing the U.S. border and within a week was flown back to Guatemala. It was her third attempt. When they deported us the plane was full of young people; they told us the oldest was 26, she said. Now we have to figure out what to do. Modern artists flocked to New Mexico, bringing fresh ideas and drawing from its cultures and landscapes across the 20th century. Open at the New Mexico Museum of Arts, Western Eyes: 20th Century Art Here and Now, explores how artists ranging from John Sloan and T.C. Cannon to Georgia OKeeffe and Fritz Scholder responded to the states rich heritage and stunning terrain, imbuing their work with styles informed by national and international trends. The common thread is beginning at the early 20th century, art in New Mexico was a national and international dialogue, curator Christian Waguespack said. At no point was New Mexico provincial. It has always been engaged in the most forward-thinking trends of the time. Most New Mexican art lovers know the story of the broken wagon wheel that prompted Ernest Blumenschein and Bert Phillips to stay in 1898, eventually forming the influential Taos Society of Artists. The exhibition will allow visitors to see unexpected works by artists they think they already know, Waguespack said. For example, there are works by Gustave Baumann, but they arent the Baumann you expect, he continued. The Santa Fe artist is known for his prints of glowing aspens and luminous landscapes. Weve got this great painting he did in the 1960s, Waguespack said. Its completely abstract. OKeeffes section compares her earlier, more representational Lake George and New York paintings to the work she produced in Abiquiu. Her Desert Abstraction (Bear Lake), a 1931 oil on canvas, is so pared down that curators have been uncertain how to hang it. Which side is up? Waguespack asked. Theres no objective way to see it. OKeeffe would often hang her paintings different ways. For OKeeffe, it was about form and color. Attempts to clarify the issue failed when the artist visited Santa Fe. At the museum, somebody asked her about it and she said, Yes, thats mine. It happened at a time when artists were playing with abstraction. The painting is really more about OKeeffes vision rather than the lake itself. Taos Society of Artists member Victor Higgins was a New Deal artist who painted the mural Moses the Law Giver at the former Taos County Courthouse in 1934. He studied with Diego Rivera and brought Mexican approaches to political art, Waguespack said. Its an international dialogue between Taos and Mexico City. The exhibition displays Higgins preliminary painting of the piece. T.C. Cannons (Kiowa/Caddo) Washington Landscape with Peace Medal Indian (1976) exemplifies the influence of Santa Fes Institute of American Indian Arts on Native American painting. Cannon enrolled in IAIA in 1964, where Scholder (Luiseno) was one of his teachers. They created a voice and an aesthetic for themselves, Waguespack said. I love it because its very indicative of how the Native American artists were taking control of the way Native Americans were represented. They were engaged with the art of the time; hes being influenced by Pop and Expressionist color. "Awakening (Memory of Father)," Agnes Pelton, 1943. (Courtesy of The New Mexico Museum of Art/Blair Clark) "The War Bonnet," E. Irving Couse, circa 1920, oil on canvas, 24 3/16 x 29 inches. Collection of the New Mexico Museum of Art. Gift of Mr. and Mrs. J. B. McEntire, Jr., 1981 (1981.18). (Courtesy of The New Mexico Museum of Art/Blair Clark) "Desert Abstraction (Bear Lake)," Georgia O'Keeffe, 1931, oil on canvas, 16 1/2 x 36 1/2 inches. On long term loan to the New Mexico Museum of Art from the Museum of New Mexico Foundation (1984.336). (Courtesy of The New Mexico Museum of Art/Blair Clark) "Light," Raymond Jonson, 1917, oil on canvas, 44 1/2 x 41 1/4 inches. Collection of the New Mexico Museum of Art. Gift of John Curtis Underwood, 1925 (292.23P). Courtesy of The New Mexico Museum of Art/Blair Clark) Prev 1 of 4 Next Cannon was inspired by a chief who traveled to Washington, D.C. to collect a peace medal. Hes got a top hat a symbol of white fashion, Waguespack said. He makes us think more critically about the peace medal and the top hat. A former Chicago set designer, Raymond Jonson is known for his modernist absraction-meets-theosophical spirituality Transcendental paintings of the Southwest. After visiting New Mexico in 1922, he returned home and painted its landscapes. His 1917 oil on canvas Light reveals a more representational side to his work. Its a landscape, but it looks so modern, Waguespack said. It was incorporating the ideas of the Transcendental Painting Group and (the Russian non-objective painter Wassily) Kandinsky in Europe. The show also reveals how the Ashcan School founder John Sloans palette shifted after he came to New Mexico. The artist spent his summers in Santa Fe for 30 years. The desert landscape inspired a new concentration in his rendering of form. We think about 20th century art as about this place, Waguespack said. But almost everything that happened here had broader connections. Taos Society of Artists first president E. Irving Couse studied art in both New York and Paris. He spent his summers in Taos, where he painted Native Americans. The exhibition includes c. 1920 oil on canvas The War Bonnet. The painting shows a pueblo man holding a Plains war bonnet. There are people who have a knee-jerk reaction to the painting, Waguespack said. They have this idea that Couse was doing the Edward Curtis thing. The photographer provoked criticism by mixing tribal regalia and promoting the cultural stereotype of the so-called vanishing Indian. But Taos Pueblo members often traded with the Plains tribes. People in Taos were trading for beautiful moccasins and bonnets because they were desirable objects, Waguespack said. We have this idea that Native people lived in isolation from each other. It isnt as far-fetched as he thinks it is. There are lots of voices in Matthew David Rudds arsenal. Though the Albuquerque native cant be seen on camera, movie lovers can hear his voice in the film, Jujutsu Kaisen 0. The anime film is currently playing in theaters and Rudd provides the voice to Panda. Yes, a panda, Rudd says with a laugh. This role is going to be a big one. This is one of the most fortuitous moments that I have in my career. Jujutsu Kaisen 0 follows Yuta Okkotsu, a nervous high school student, who enrolls in the mysterious Tokyo Jujutsu High School under the guidance of Satoru Gojo after being haunted by the curse of his childhood friend. The film is based on Jujutsu Kaisen 0, a prequel manga to the smash hit supernatural adventure series Jujutsu Kaisen from Gege Akutami. Rudd has been a voice actor for more than a decade. Hes been involved in projects of all sizes. I was super lucky to roll into this one, he says. Recording for the film was done during the pandemic. This is when Rudd put more work into his home recording studio. He splits his time between Dallas and Los Angeles. It was scary during lock down because nothing was happening on the recording fronts, he says. We wondered if finding new jobs was in the cards. Because we could record at home, the industry wasnt too affected. Rudd found many commonalties between him and Panda. Its not much of a stretch to play him, he says. I add grit to his voice. The show is pretty heavy and Panda is the comedic element. Panda is there as emotional support. Hes making people laugh. Oh, and hes a talking panda. Hes the only big, talking animal in the show. Rudd says Panda is also a cursed corpse spirt. Thats the only information they give you about his background, he says. They show something in this movie that they hadnt mentioned about his story. Theres a big fight scene and the way he incurs damage. You see it and it leads to more questions. Growing up in New Mexico, Rudd was exposed and influenced by Native American and Mexican culture. After graduating from Sandia Prep High School, he went to Florida to attend Ringling College of Art and Design. It was there he explored filmmaking and working with audio recording. I started auditioning for audio roles and I was pretty lucky to have a couple video games, he says. Im a huge fan of animation and how things are recorded. Its still fascinating for me. I have a 7-year-old son and he loves the shows Im in and we watch them together. Rudd still makes trips back to Albuquerque to visit his dad, Tim, a few times a year. New Mexico will always have an impact on me, he says. I grew up in the art world. IN THEATERS Jujutsu Kaisen 0 is playing at AMC 12, Century Rio 24, Cottonwood, Icon Cinema, Winrock 16, Regal Santa Fe Place In todays day and age, what can be better than a free event at a historic venue? On Saturday, April 9, and Sunday, April 10, the University of New Mexico Sculpture Program and Corrales Historical Society are collaborating to present Juntos. The event is a showing of work created by UNM sculpture students from professor Randall Wilsons beginning and advanced sculpture classes and will be exhibited in the Historic Old San Ysidro Church in Corrales. The creative work presents both the canons of fine art and the functional potential as identifiers of beauty and its role in art as design (and) design as art, Wilson said. A powerful foray into the value found in community, making with its presentation of sculpture inside of a gathering place a historical building, the Old San Ysidro Church in Corrales. The students are presenting sculptures made in a curriculum unfolding the potential of individual expression in three studio assignments that are characters, constructions, and bird baths. The works are created in wood, cast concrete, steel and paper mache. One of the projects is looking at the architecture itself and we will be working with the idea of viga and corbel in an abstracted way, Wilson said. I have the advanced class casting concrete, so we are working on designing bird baths but again, its still a bit about architecture as well. Though not completed, the bird baths are shaping up for some interesting figures. They are almost finished but what I am seeing are interesting forms, said Carol Rigmark, visual arts coordinator with the Corrales Historical Society. They are fairly contemporary and interpretive and I think sculpture is a medium that can really lend itself to that. To Wilson, this showing is about educating the public. I think its about learning something about the people as these are the sons and daughters of New Mexico, Wilson said. So the public has an onus to perhaps look into the work and they find it interesting that is fine and if not, that is OK, but there will be something for everybody I believe, because of the figurative work. Wilson has served as a professor at UNM since 2012, after teaching in California since the 1980s. One of the things that I brought, I believe, to the school was the idea of art and function, coming together as sort of fusion of disciplines instead of separation, Wilson said. I moved here nine years ago from Los Angeles, and was teaching both in design and architecture for over 20 years including at SCI-Arc, Southern California and was teaching at Art Center in Pasadena. The Old Church is an incredible environment that exemplifies the value found in sculpture and its historical prominence in New Mexico, Wilson said. Corrales Historical Society is a nonprofit organization that promotes greater appreciation for the traditions and histories of the centuries-old community of Corrales and its residents of today and the past. The mission also serves to support CHS in preserving, maintaining and promoting the Historic Old San Ysidro Church. The church is 154 years old and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and is also listed on the New Mexico Register of Cultural Properties. We are very fortunate to have an opportunity to exhibit at the old church in a few weeks, Wilson said. Despite its age, it has stayed in fairly good shape. It is a beautiful building and you know the fact that its 154 years old now, but it is just the simplicity of it, and the feeling that you have walking around or sitting in it, Rigmark said. It is so representative of, to me what New Mexico was and continues to be and it is well maintained. Sun and Fire food vendors from Jemez Pueblo are providing food with Native American roots during the two days of the show. Both breakfast and lunch are being served featuring Frito pies, burritos, chile stew with Pueblo bread, enchilada plates and more. One of the reasons people will have a good time is that we are providing food, Rigmark said. But it also can be sort of a social event so we will set up tables so people can linger and socialize as well. The book Commissions y Corridos: Poems shows the breadth of subjects, the depth of thinking and the vibrant flow of creativity of distinguished Albuquerque poet Hakim Bellamy. Not all the poems are commissions, and Bellamy suggests in the books preface that none is a corrido, per se. But they are songs. They are songs about my life in this place, full of characters (including Burque itself) real and make believe, he writes. The opening poem is all-embracing One Hundred Years of Corridos: A Song for the New Mexico Centennial. The centennial year was 2012, which happened to be the first year of Bellamys two-year term as Albuquerques inaugural poet laureate. The poem notes, in part, For one hundred years BC / before the Commodores / before Lionel Ritchie / and for one hundred years more / weve farmed, feasted, and fixed cars. The poem later advises that with New Mexico having the oldest and highest state capital in the country, people on both coasts / should look up to us / instead of wondering / if they have to exchange their money before coming. In the profound and provocative poem Bread & Roses, Bellamy assigns different meanings to the words labor and unions. It opens with a reference to slavery as a union of labor: The very first unions in America / were brought here by boat, / broken by back. / By whip, / rape, / and rope. The poem moves forward in time and places workers alongside historic figures, many of them labor leaders: We are Dolores Huerta. / We are Cesar Chavez. / We are Samuel Gompers. / We are Gabriel Prosser. / We are Lucy Gonzalez Parsons. / And we are Rosie the Riveter. Another Bellamy poem, Bless Me, was inspired by the life and literature of Rudolfo Anaya. However, the poems focus is on the character of Antonio, who is six when the curandera Ultima comes to stay with his family in Anayas famous coming-of-age novel Bless Me, Ultima. One particular line in Bless Me resonates today in view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It reads and its quite normal / for war / to make people lose their faith . / in everything. Another poem pays tribute to teachers in their roles in and out of the classroom. It concludes, For as long / As youve been on your feet for me / I will stand for you. Several poems are specifically about Albuquerque. The shortest poem in the collection is this haiku: Albuquerque. Where / the desert doesnt get in / the way of your view. Another poem, ABQ Manifesto (For We Are This City), has the spirit of an anthem: We be loco. / We be local. / We be lobos / singing to the night. / We are your favorite citys / favorite city. A third, Sidewalk Society, takes a critical look how Albuquerque values its public art. Some of the poems in the collection were composed during Bellamys tenure as the citys poet laureate. The volume, part of a series celebrating Albuquerques poets laureate, is copublished by the citys Arts and Culture Department and the University of New Mexico Press. Bellamy has lived a multidimensional life. Hes been a member of two national champion poetry slam teams. Hes a musician, actor, journalist, playwright, community organizer, facilitator of youth writing workshops and was the on-air host for New Mexico PBSs AColores! program. According to Shelle Sanchez, director of the Albuquerques Arts and Culture Department, whats important about the process of selecting the citys poet laureates is that it is community-led and driven, and is separate from city government. Lehar Raj is Senior Media Activation Manager, India at Essence, a global data and measurement-driven media agency that is part of GroupM. Joining Essence in 2016, she has been an advertising technology and media planning advisor for brands in the e-commerce, non-profit, technology and video streaming sectors. She is currently leading social media activation for the agencys clients in India and Southeast Asia. Additionally, she is a member of GroupM Indias Youth Committee, a shadow board that works with the Executive Committee on organisational projects. Prior to Essence, she served at Fever FM and start-up Jukebox Studio. In conversation with Adgully, Lehar Raj, Senior Media Activation Manager, India, Essence, shares about her journey with Essence, long term career in the Digital sector and social media, future career related plans and more. What particular skill sets do you think you bring to the table? Firstly, communication. I pride myself on being able to convey not just my thoughts and ideas, but how I feel about them too. Whether it is giving a review of the latest movie I watched or presenting a media approach to clients, I am able to convey both information and my excitement about it. This really comes in handy when pitching ideas, because the recipient of those ideas can often sense my passion and excitement about them. The second would be proactiveness. I do not shy away from taking on additional responsibilities and putting in a few extra hours to get the best output. It always ends up being an enriching experience and, very often, a great opportunity to meet and interact with new people. How did you join your current organisation? I began my career in sales, but was always looking to do something more technical. That was when I stumbled upon Essence, which had set up its office in India and was looking to hire people who were familiar with JavaScript and SQL languages. I was interviewed and, during the process, really loved my interactions with the interviewers. That was when I decided this was the kind of work culture I want to be a part of, and the rest is history! Icons in this field you look up to and how they have influenced you and your work? My colleagues at Essence and the clients I work with are some of the most brilliant people I have had the privilege of crossing paths with in life. They have definitely helped me grow, not just professionally but personally as well. What are the five most productive things that you do in your everyday routine? I would be lying if I say I do five productive things every day! My day pretty much starts with me opening the laptop and ends with me watching sitcoms on television thanks to the pandemic. That being said, the three highlights of my day would be: a morning huddle with my team, eating my mothers experimental food for the day, and listening to my sibling share about her job every evening, while I share my day with my partner. Do you think a career in this field is a viable one in the long term? Absolutely, it is so exciting! It is like a TikTok trend that changes every other day. There is just so much to specialise in creative, data analytics, media planning, consumer research, and more. The sky is the limit in this field, as long as you are willing to welcome and embrace it with open arms, like Shah Rukh Khan in DDLJ! What does it take to succeed in a career? The art of balancing something we all struggle with, including me. Balancing between delivering expectations to all stakeholders internal and external. Balancing between each step and with the individual involved in the process of producing quality work; there is not one individual who is more important than another and everyone has an equally important role to play. Balancing work and personal life everything happens on the go and if boundaries are not set, burnout is inevitable. What would be your advice to youngsters planning to enter this industry? I think this applies to any industry do not get caught up in the pay scale when you start your career. It is important that we use the first few years of our career to build our knowledge bank and identify our strengths and weaknesses. Once you have a solid foundation, everything else will catch up quickly. Where do you see yourself in five years time? I do things on-the-go and maybe that is why this field is so apt for me. It is hard for me to envision my next six months, let alone five years. Hopefully, I will be working remotely from Hawaii, sipping on a pina colada while discussing a media plan with clients. Is there any organisation that you would like to work with in the future? Disney, in particular, Marvel! I love all Marvel movies and I feel so passionately about each character. I love how they celebrate people, differences, ethnicities, and values. I would definitely want to join the team and play a role in taking their stories to every nook and corner of the world. It is my lifelong dream, and it would be such a privilege to see my name in the credits for one of their movies! Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd (KNPL) has elevated Mr. Anuj Jain as Managing Director, Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd. He succeeds Mr. H M Bharuka, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of Kansai Nerolac Paints who has been spearheading the company for the last 21 years. In his tenure spanning over 30 years at Kansai Nerolac Paints, Mr. Anuj Jain has worked in various capacities and played a pivotal role in driving growth organically and inorganically along with business excellence. Mr. Jain commenced his journey with Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd. in 1990 as a management trainee. He worked with the decorative sales function covering various markets in the North and South regions of India. Being recognized for his noteworthy contribution and expertise in marketing, he rose the ranks to take over as Vice-President, Decorative Marketing & Sales in 2003. Subsequently, he was promoted to Director, Decorative for Kansai Nerolac Paints in 2010. He has been serving as Executive Director in charge of the Sales & Marketing, Manufacturing, Technical & Human Resources functions since 2018. Commenting on his appointment Mr. Anuj Jain, Managing Director, Kansai Nerolac Paints Ltd said I express my heartful gratitude to the Board and Kansai Paints Japan for entrusting me with this enormous responsibility and for their unstinted support, rendered during my tenure as the Executive Director. I look forward to strengthening the companys position and taking it to greater heights with the support of our Nerolac family. The focus on innovations to grow our business is in sync with our plans to establish Nerolac as a Paint+ brand. Backed by our principal Kansai Paints Japan and the technological prowess we have built in India, we will continue to provide superior, sustainable solutions to our customers. The Indian beauty brand SUGAR Cosmetics crossed the 2 million milestone on Instagram making SUGAR the ___ Indian digitalfirst brand to join the 2 million clan on the platform (Instagram page handle & link - https://www.instagram.com/trysugar/). SUGAR Cosmetics, one of the fastest growing premium beauty brands in the country, was established in 2015 by Ms. Vineeta Singh & Mr. Kaushik Mukherjee, to allow women to discover, understand, and enjoy beauty products that are specifically curated for them by beauty experts who understand the complexities of Indian skin tones and complexions. Having had crossed the 1 million landmark in a span of 5 years since its inception, beauty brand SUGAR Cosmetics crossed the 2 million milestone on Instagram in less than a year and a half since, proving to be one of the fastest growing Indian D2C beauty brands. Right from their early days, they quickly understood how essential it is to prioritise value-based content that is put out on social media pages and through the engagement received, they slowly but surely also started to learn about where their followers interest lies. Through this the brand has now succeeded in making the page engrossing for everyone that would like to know more about the beauty space by generating content that is as much educational as it is appealing to watch. Rejoicing on this achievement, Vineeta Singh, Co-founder & CEO at SUGAR Cosmetics said, While the journey from 1 to 2 million has been a short one, there have been many teachings along the way. Extremely grateful for our digital family to have reciprocated our love and efforts towards them. I strongly believe social media is a powerful tool to educate the masses about makeup rather than bombarding them with offers and promotions, and this just proves to be a boost to continue doing the same! Speaking on this milestone, Resha Jain, Head of Content Marketing at SUGAR Cosmetics said, Crossing the 2 million followers milestone feels like a pat on our backs for a job well done! At SUGAR Cosmetics we tap into the greatest network of influencers and nanoinfluencers with whom our audience connects effortlessly with and feels a sense of similarity to. We make certain that our audience learns something new from the content we offer, and that no question or doubt is left unanswered. Our customers are everything to us; they are the ones who determine our brand's success and recognise our true potential, for which we are truly grateful." SUGAR Cosmetics presence on other social media platforms has also been growing and evolving at a great pace. Their YouTube page has also had a huge growth spurt this year reaching 469K subscribers. Twitter on the other hand has also had a great engaging growth and stands strong at 22.7k. The brands strategies for each social media page, be it LinkedIn or Instagram, differ platform-wise which makes it compelling for the followers to engage with. To combat discrimination, we first have to recognise and acknowledge it. The latest Anti-Workplace Discrimination campaign by the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (TAFEP) aims to kick discrimination out of the workplace by emphasising that an individuals work performance is based on ones abilities and experiences garnered over the years and not by characteristics such as gender, age, family responsibilities and race. Lorraine Paul, Assistant Director of Marketing Communications at TAFEP explains, Our campaign Workplace Discrimination. Know it to end it. not only aims to raise awareness of workplace discrimination, especially in areas pertaining to Age, Gender, Family Responsibilities and Race, but to also establish TAFEP as a resource and recourse centre for any individual who is facing or has experienced workplace discrimination, and needs help, or employers who need assistance in implementing fair and progressive employment practices. It is through the acknowledgement of our unconscious biases; which may lead to discriminatory thoughts and behaviours that we can actively take the first step towards creating a fair and inclusive workplace, where everyone is respected at the workplace. The spot that was first launched in March 2022, aptly tells us that the measure of a persons contributions within the organisation should be based on their abilities, experiences and work outcomes, and not on other factors. Tay Guan Hin, Chief Creative Officer of BBDO, added, It's critical everyone should be given a fair opportunity to contribute and excel at work without such biases clouding our thoughts and behaviours. Our campaign featured a diverse cast of gender, age, family responsibilities, and race to reflect our society. By knowing and acting fast on biases happening around us, we can do our part to create a fair and inclusive workplace for everyone. After all, for a subject like workplace discrimination, it is only when we all do our part to create a fair and inclusive workplace that we can start making the change. And it all starts with knowledge, because like the spot puts it, we need to know it to end it. TVC Radio, digital banners and FB/IG OOH include Bus Shelters, MRT Platform Screen Doors and HDB Lift Lobbies Credits: Client: Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices Chief Creative Officer: Tay Guan Hin Senior Art Director: Amanda Ler and Derek Chia Senior writer: Ivan Ng and Joe Yeoh Account Management: Chermaine Chong and Erica Sanidad Project Lead: Anne Lee Producer: Anita Toh Production House: Smallshop Director: Elgin Ho DOP: Alan Yap Executive Producer: Yee Zhiyun Editor: Jacen Chan, Knackfolks Audio Engineer: Mark Toh, Knackfolks Photography House: Nemesis Pictures PTE Ltd Executive Producer: Jeremy Wong Photograher: Juliana Tan Producer: Justin Goh Digital retouching: Miracle Factory Government asks for intensified measures to protect Lam Dong forests Deputy PM Le Van Thanh has just asked the Ministry of Public Security to co-operate with concerned agencies to investigate and deal with the rampant forest destruction in neighbouring areas of Dalat City. A forest is destroyed by illegal loggers in Lam Dong Province A rising number of forest destruction cases in the central highlands province of Lam Dong have recently been reported by local media. The problem has mostly occurred in some neighbouring districts of Dalat City including Duc Trong, Lam Ha, and Bao Lam where land prices have been sharply increasing. Since the beginning of 2022, authorities in Lam Ha District have dealt with three cases in which loggers destroyed local forests to take the land. "In the latest case we found a group destroying a pine forest in Nam Ban Town," a representative of the Lam Ha District Forest Ranger Department said. "After clearing the trees on an area of 1,300 square metres, loggers were starting ground filling work when we arrived. They arranged teams to watch for local authorities and fled before we arrived." According to deputy director of Tan Mai Company, Vuong Hoang Tru, there has been increased destruction of forested land around Dalat City since land prices are rising. "The problem has been reported in Ta Nung Commune and Ward 7," he said. "Forest land has been illegally used for construction and trading." The Government Office on March 31 issued a document signed by Deputy PM Le Van Thanh to the Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, asking them to deal with forest destruction and illegal forest land occupation in Lam Dong Province. The Lam Dong Provincial People's Committee has also asked district authorities to intensify forest protection and strictly punish illegal loggers in their areas. Local districts have also been asked to reclaim the forest land for replanting trees in the rainy season of 2022 Beginning with the Obama presidency in 2009, progressivism and its surly companion, wokeness, invaded the American political landscape. Progressive liberals champion political correctness at the expense of free speech, Critical Race Theory at the expense of white people, and defunding the police at the expense of law and order. They characterize America as an evil society weighed down by oppression of minorities and women. To be woke, says Scott McConnell in The American Conservative, is to believe that all social life is permeated by interlocking systems of oppression, and that overturning them is a moral imperative. Progressivism has morphed into our newest religion. It is an authoritarian movement that wants total compliance with its dictates, said Daniel Greenfield, Shillman Journalism Fellow at the Freedom Center, with severe punishments for those who disobey. Thanks to their religious fervor, todays liberals believe that freedom of speech is a flawed concept. Conservative viewpoints are demonized by the Left as hate speech. Woke, says Urban Dictionary, is a state of awareness only achieved by those dumb enough to find injustice in everything except their own behavior. People who violate the progressive code, said political commentator Mark Levin in Liberty and Tyranny. A Conservative Manifesto, are socially ostracized, sued for discrimination, forced to resign, and driven out of business. In short, progressivism and wokeness run contrary to all of the values that we used to revere as typically American: freedom of speech, respect for individual rights, the rule of law, equality of opportunity via free market competition, the acceptance of personal responsibility, and the American Dream. Wokeness, said Greg Gutfeld on Fox, takes stuff that you love and can turn it to poison. A recent example of this poisoning has been supplied by the Walt Disney Company, which used to be the purveyor of Mickey Mouse and other things American. Disneys current management has been seduced by the powerful LGBTQ lobby. The company has announced that, from now on, 50 percent of its characters will be LGBTQ or minorities. In a shameless case of overreach, Disney attacked a new parental rights law just passed in Florida that bans instruction concerning sex from kindergarten through the third grade. A strong majority of Floridians support the law. Disney doesnt give a damn. Following the lead of the left-wing media, Disney has attempted to mischaracterize the law as anti-gay. The important thing to realize is that a majority of Disney employees are not in lockstep with their management. Jose Castillo, a current Disney employee who is running for Congress in Florida as a Republican, said that the "silent majority" of Disney employees supports the parental rights law despite the loud minority leading Disney to oppose it. "Disney and similar corporations listen to the loudest voices in the crowd," said Castillo. The Disney cast members who support the parental rights far outnumber those who are protesting against it." English broadcaster Piers Morgan summed it up: Youve got this small group of very woke people that bully companies into following their very narrow worldview. What about the majority of Americans -- do they accept wokeness? The answer is no. Wokeness is an example of what I call the tyranny of the minority. The actual number of the woke remains small, says Scott McConnell, perhaps six percent of the population, according to Pew surveys of American political attitudes. It is educated, it is mostly white, it is heavily concentrated in the media and universities. But it isnt powerful enough to control the country if majorities are mobilized to resist it. Many polls, including NPR/PBS/Marist, Pew, and Fox make clear that most people are opposed to political correctness, defunding the police, and major increases in government spending. As voters from New York City to Buffalo to Seattle showed without ambiguity, McConnell says, when wokeness is on the ballot and opposed vigorously, it loses. In activism and voting patterns, Americas most rapidly growing demographic groups are largely showing themselves indifferent or actively hostile to woke policies. The Democratic Party is beginning to recognize that its support of the extreme leftist agenda has become an enormous handicap at the polls. [Democratic] politicians and party strategists are admitting that their biggest challenge comes from within, said Chris Cillizza at CNN. Woke liberals are demanding adherence to policies on crime, the environment and government spending that are simply not shared by a majority of the country. Cillizza says there is broad acknowledgment that talking about things like defunding the police or the Green New Deal or ending the detention of people coming across our southern border illegally are a recipe for political disaster in the 2022 midterm elections. Wokeness is a problem and everyone knows it, said Democratic Party strategist James Carville Its hard to talk to anybody today -- and I talk to lots of people in the Democratic Party -- who doesnt say this. But they dont want to say it out loud. What does the future portend? It is likely that wokeness will be rolled back, concludes Scott McConnell, its practitioners and cultural preferences first widely mocked and then ignored, its victims rehabilitated and in some cases honored. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell warns that, Corporations will invite serious consequences if they become a vehicle for far-left mobs to hijack our country from outside the constitutional order. Predictions suggest that the Republicans will win back both houses of Congress in November and retake the presidency in 2024. That ought to spell the death knell for wokeness. Good riddance. Ed Brodow is a conservative political commentator, negotiation expert, and author of eight books including Tyranny of the Minority: How the Left is Destroying America. He is a former U.S. Marine officer, Fortune 500 sales executive, and Hollywood movie actor. Image: US Congress Every day, I meet people who are concerned by current events. They see schools, municipalities, states, and federal alphabet-soup agencies pushing globalist agendas and opposing the people they are supposed to serve. But people speak of their grave concerns only in hushed tones, if at all. And most of them, lacking clear direction, are paralyzed into inactivity. I want to show how one community is coming together. Perhaps it will inspire others to do the same. Evil wins by isolating individuals and discouraging them from acting. That's why the First Amendment to the Bill of Rights specifically protects "the right of the people peaceably to assemble." There is power in personal connection. Our Founders knew it, and so does every tyrant. But it's not only state power that can prevent peaceful assembly. We also see psychological manipulation used to isolate us. Media companies employ swarms of behavioral psychologists whose task is to keep us glued to the screen; they have isolated more people and crushed more communities than any tyrant in history. Thankfully, the spell of social media is not irresistible. As rational creatures, we can choose a better way. When we break the grip of social media and get people together, we are empowered. Assemblies of people are force multipliers. Like the dying embers of a campfire, physical proximity rekindles the flame. Once gathered, we are positioned to fight the next dragon: discouragement. In war, psychological operations are designed to undermine the enemy's will to act. They do this by exaggerating the power of the enemy and belittling the power of any resistance. People who feel powerless lack the courage to act. But the propaganda that makes you feel powerless is a lie. The truth is that even the smallest resistance is infinitely powerful. You can resist the power of lies by refusing to adopt their language. You can resist the destruction of families by keeping your own family together. You can push back against the forces of secularization simply by going to church. These and a thousand other acts are more powerful than you know. And courage is contagious. By acting, you encourage others to act. If you are looking for a list of meaningful actions to give you a starting place, you will benefit from an article in The Federalist written by Joy Pullman titled "85 Things You Can Do To Help The United States Shake Wide Awake." Pullman compiled assorted ideas from The Federalist staff. Suggestions range from the simple act of playing a board game or reading with your kids to writing a book or running for office. The fourth suggestion on the list is "Start a neighborhood group present yourself under an umbrella that welcomes all other responsible members of your community who are sick and tired of being sick and tired, and who are willing to stand up." Inspired by Pullman's article, several people from Evanston, Wyoming did just that. We called a meeting on a cold January morning. A baker's dozen showed up. Many had never met one another. But soon friendships were forming. We decided that the answer to global and impersonal problems is to focus on local and personal solutions. Our second meeting doubled in size and brainstormed a list of key decision-makers in Evanston. Since nobody can attend to everything, tasks were divvied up. Some volunteered to cover the school board, while others went to the legislative session, local party meetings, or the city council. We share what we learn with each other and recommend action when needed. We are unabashedly Evanston-first. We are not careless about other communities, but we are confident that Evanston's success will benefit them as well. By the third meeting, we adopted a motto: "We gather to build, not to tear down. We focus on local solutions to distant problems. We work to support neighbors for a better community." Evanston is defined by geographical boundary lines. We have had enough of the false language of "neighbors" in Timbuktu and "communities" that will never occupy the same real estate. Our commitment is to real flesh-and-blood community. Real-world encounters expose the fraud of divisive ideologies. That makes us non-partisan. We invite participation from everyone. No political, ideological, or religious requirements are needed only a desire to share ideas and work for the mutual benefit of our friends and neighbors. Try this in your community. Don't wait until you have figured all the angles. Just get people together and get out of the way. The Bill of Rights protects assemblies because they have amazing power to build. Graphic credit: j4p4n, public domain. In the German state of Baden-Wurttemburg, the minister of agriculture and consumer protection echoed the elitism of Pete Buttigeig and suggested that in the face of exploding energy costs, struggling citizens simply don an extra layer. For Peter Hauk, the comfort and provision of his people is a small price to pay for an escalation of tensions between two foreign nations. Prior to the conflict's eruption on February 24, Germany received 55% of its gas, a third of its oil, and 45% of its coal from Russia, and Hauk is calling for a complete ban on the imports, in turn ramping up energy costs. So what about the people who won't be able to afford to heat their homes properly? Hauk, being the altruistic and compassionate humanitarian he is, acknowledges that his countrymen aren't the concern, it's the people in a foreign nation that take precedence. Here's what he told his constituents: "You can withstand 15 degrees [Celsius] in a sweater. No one dies of it. But people are dying elsewhere." Hauk is taking a page from his American counterpart: Pete Buttigeig told the American people the high gas prices were our part to pay for the war in Ukraine, and if we didn't like it, we should simply buy an electric vehicle. So what's the deal? Is it a joke to them, or are they just unbelievably oblivious? These people might be politically liberal, which certainly indicates a decent level of mindlessness, but they aren't stupid. These are the same elites who hate the common man, calling us "useless eaters" and "life unworthy of life." They say we had better get used to eating bugs and that we will "own nothing and be happy." They live by the philosophy of "rules for thee, but not for me," consistently violating the standards they put in place for us. They consider us a joke. And should we blame them? We allow ourselves to be pawns in their games, believing they aren't that bad when they toss us a crumb, or falling for every little distraction they throw our way. Although overt political enemies of our God-given rights are without a doubt hazardous to our security, they aren't the only threat. "Green" globalist elites seeking to subjugate the people of the world are found in all political parties. Don't be fooled. From the day in November of 1963 when Walt Disney decided to locate his new theme park in the area south of Orlando, Disney's corporation has had a seemingly perfect symbiotic relationship with the state of Florida. Disney wanted a Disneyland-style park somewhere in the eastern part of the country after realizing that the vast majority of the visitors to his Anaheim venue came from the west coast. There were many more potential patrons out there, and Disney wanted them, and the fortune they would spend, to have a theme park bearing his name available to the eastern part of the country. St. Louis had been a major contender for the park until the evening that a tipsy August Busch, Jr., the head of Budweiser, insisted to Disney that any amusement park without alcohol sales would be a foolish venture. This ran counter to the family-style venue that Disney imagined, so St. Louis was scratched as a possibility. Niagara Falls and a few other northern sites were eliminated because of the weather factor; Disney wanted the park to be open year-round, and icicles hanging from Magic Kingdom castles would not have been an attractive look. Florida was the obvious choice. Disney, using shell companies, secretly bought up vast tracts of land in the area south of Orlando. It was important that the buyer remain unidentified to prevent massive escalations in land prices, which surely would have occurred had area residents known the purpose of the purchases. Other areas of Florida, notably Palm Beach, had been anxious to land the coveted nod from Disney, but Walt saw what he wanted in Central Florida, and there was no looking back. The Florida Turnpike, then being constructed, would run north and south and join I-75, bringing hordes of tourists from the north. I-4 ran east and west and brought Florida residents from both coasts. It was and is the perfect crossroads. Everyone was happy, except possibly the landowners in Palm Beach who thought they had a shot at landing the park in their backyard. The fact that the Disney Corporation was run from the People's Republic of California didn't seem to be a problem. Disney had been shifting a large number of its workers to the more tax-friendly Florida in recent years. But then along came Florida's HB1557, a seemingly innocent bill aimed at prohibiting sex education for kindergarten through grade 3 in Florida's schools. We all know the nonsense propagated about the 'Don't Say Gay" law and the progressive drivel offered by the supporters of the LGBTQ, etc. agenda. The Disney Corporation at first remained silent on the matter. Then, prodded by "woke" members in their midst, they decided to condemn the bill, saying it never should have been passed and asking the courts to strike it down. A determined Governor Ron DeSantis says it is a good, commonsense bill that will be enforced. Woke progressives, lacking common sense, will try to defeat it. Gov. DeSantis will prevail. The Disney properties, conservatively estimated to be worth just slightly less than $4 billion, cannot be picked up and relocated to a more 'woke" location. Florida, for its part, cannot afford to lose the billions in tourist dollars and the resultant hundreds of millions in sales and hotel tax dollars that Disney brings in. Not if it wants to continue to be a no-income-tax state, that is. Picture a Gary Cooper High Noon gunfight, with DeSantis facing off against some trans, or pan, or whatever sexual member of the Disney Crew. I like the governor's chances. If a state loses revenues, it can, though grudgingly, raise taxes. If the Disney Corporation so turns off its tourist trade by appearing to be pandering to a group indifferent to the innocence of children that they stop coming to the park, or lose state-provided tax incentives, there's comparatively little they can do. Stay tuned. We all know that the progressives are persistent, but they've never been up against a guy like the Florida governor. Image: kordite. Progressives have a pedophilia problem. Full stop, as the Barack Obamas of the world might say. From CNN producers to Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) station chiefs and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) field agents; from the woke Disney corporation to Democrat donors; from Hollywood to the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA); from Facebook/Meta to the Lincoln Project to America's public school system the progressive Left has a demonstrated prurient interest in underage children. This is not guilt by association, innuendo, or conjecture; it is a firmly established fact pattern. And this is not to suggest that no Republicans have ever espoused or committed similar atrocities against children; extremely rare countervailing exceptions like Republican Dennis Hastert (who, unlike Democrats, was actually imprisoned in part for his crimes of child molestation) prove the rule that many Democrats have a strong affinity for pedophilia and the normalization of the same. Empirically and factually, an overwhelming majority of public figures who are confirmed and aspiring pedophiles (along with pedo-friendly corporations like Disney) are progressive Democrats in terms of political orientation. All of this is hushed up by our progressive media, and thanks to progressive privilege, virtually nobody is ever prosecuted or punished. Why is it never a national scandal when Democrats routinely prey on young children? Simple because the progressive media protect Democrats far better than Rome's Praetorian guard ever protected any of the Caesars. If Jeffrey Epstein's client roster had been chock-full of identifiable Republicans (instead of Democrats from Bill Clinton to Bill Gates to Bill Richardson we knew nothing!), or if FOX News producers were outed as skeevy pedo perverts, the earsplitting cacophony from the media would be maximally amped with hysterical shrieks of sustained, collective outrage. Moreover, if the progressive Epstein had instead been a prominent conservative donor and activist, he would've been rightly imprisoned decades ago. Perhaps he would even be alive today rather than conveniently dead. Instead of truth and exposure, we have media silence. A favorite media tactic is the lie by omission. If a station chief or agent from John Brennan's beloved and woke CIA sexually abuses a two-year-old baby, but CNN producers and the media decide it is not a scandal, then poof, it all goes away. Like the tree falling in the forest with nobody to see or hear it, perhaps it simply never happened at all. The one time the media did make a national scandal of child molestation was when they saw it as an opportunity to take down the Catholic Church in the wake of the Church's scandals and cover-ups. But even there, the media's motive was strictly to discredit and destroy the Church itself, not to condemn the practice of predatory homosexual pedophilia. If the mental health "professionals" of the progressive American Psychiatric Association (APA) weren't themselves so deeply mentally and emotionally disturbed, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) would do a deep dive on why the denizens of the left seem vastly more predisposed to acts of pedophilia than traditionalists and people on the Right. Instead, the official position of the APA and most psychiatrists is that conservatives are mentally ill because, well, they're conservative. Pick a deep blue state at random say, Oregon. A former longtime mayor of Beaverton, Dennis "Denny" Doyle, was recently charged with possession of child pornography. But that was nothing new in the Beaver state. There was also popular Portland mayor Sam Adams, who relished pederasty with underage boys. Oh, there was also Democrat governor Neil Goldschmidt, who committed statutory rape against a 13-year-old girl and went on sexually abusing her for many years afterwards. Goldschmidt's victim's life was destroyed, and she died decades later at age 49, with drugs, alcohol, and mental illness as contributing factors. Unlike Dennis Hastert, none of these progressive figures went to prison for his crimes of molesting children. They all got a free pass. And most voters and politicians living near Oregon's deep blue I-5 corridor between Portland and Eugene didn't (and don't) care. As long as progressive pedophiles and their institutional cheerleaders and enablers have a (D) next to their name, pedophilia does not necessarily conflict with the values of Democrat voters or progressive Supreme Court appointees like Ketanji Brown Jackson. This is the same political party that always screams without irony that it's for the children. Democrats, their corporate affiliates, and their voters are likewise indifferent to the widespread sexual trafficking of children near America's porous border with Mexico, even as they wildly celebrate President Brandon's recent endorsement of sex "reassignment surgery" and hormone-blockers for children. To rephrase a couple modern figures of speech: Democrats gonna Democrat. And yes, that is who they are. Image: Jeffrey Epstein, CBS Evening News via YouTube. Whatever happened to the polling for the Texas governors' race? We have not seen a single poll in over a month. What makes all this interesting is that both candidates won their primaries easily on March 2. The latest poll was 52-47% (The Hill-Emerson). The RCP average is Abbott plus 8 points. What does this silence mean? It could mean nothing or simply a coincidence. Or it could mean that pollsters would rather do other polling. As far as I can tell, the O'Rourke can't find the magic of 2018. Everything was going for Beto in 2018, especially running against Senator Ted Cruz in President Trump's first midterm. Also, Beto was the darling of the left, who saw defeating Cruz as a national calling and sent millions down here to do it. It's a bit different today, as The New Yorker, hardly a right-wing source, recently noted: By last November, when O'Rourke announced his gubernatorial campaign, he was no longer an unknown. "It's going to be much harder for him to campaign as a new voice or an alternative to business as usual," James Henson, the director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, said. O'Rourke is popular among Democrats and the runaway favorite for the primary, on March 1st, but more than seventy per cent of Republicans now have an unfavorable opinion of him. "For Republicans in the state, he's become what Ted Cruz is for Democrats the figure they really love to hate," Henson said. Among independents, O'Rourke is more disliked than the incumbent governor, Greg Abbott, and head-to-head matchups show Abbott leading by ten points. So here we are, 30-plus days without new polls. Beto O'Rourke is popular with Democrats but enthusiasm on that side of the political world is a problem. He is losing independents and enthusiasm is not a problem with them. And the candidate had scheduling conflicts when President Biden came by Ft. Worth a few weeks ago. And last, but not least, I don't see Beto much, but the governor is everywhere. So maybe Beto will soon join the Biden press secretary at MSNBC. PS: Click for my videos and podcasts at Canto Talk. Image: Mike Rastiello. Viktor Orban has now served twelve years as prime minister of Hungary, emerging as one of the most exemplary conservative leaders of our time. On Sunday, he once again faces re-election as he seeks to lead Hungary for a fourth term as prime minister. Although this is a pivotal election for Hungary and for Europe, it is also vital for American conservatives to hope and pray for an Orban victory. For one, Orban has shown what populist conservatives can do when given sufficient time and political capital to succeed. While it is true that the system of government in Hungary and its relative age has prevented the development of a U.S.-style "Deep State," Orban's refreshing willingness to use power for conservative ends has allowed him to deliver on ideological priorities and also benefit the Hungarian people. His innovative family policies have seen birthrates rise, his independent foreign policy has allowed his country to wield outsized influence with regional and world powers, and his fortitude on immigration has helped preserve Hungarian national identity. Over the last two years, I have had the pleasure of getting to know several leading officials within Orban's government, including now-president Katalin Novak, foreign minister Peter Szijjarto, and political director Balazs Orban. Like Prime Minister Orban, they are unashamedly patriotic, Christian, and anti-establishment, drawing the ire of globalists from Brussels to Washington. Nevertheless, Orban's government has stood strong, refusing to bow to globalist diktats and safeguarding the Hungarian nation's sovereignty and the Hungarian people's traditional values. Now these very globalists are striking back. As 2020 showed, the number-one threat to U.S. national security is not any foreign adversary, but domestic subversion by an unaccountable elite that includes the permanent political class, the intelligence agencies, and the fake news media. This enemy is currently at the forefront of the effort to remove Viktor Orban. There, it seeks to oust a democratically elected leader simply for prioritizing his national interest over the latest "current thing." Using their vast NGO network, they have been funding and organizing subversive opposition groups for years much as they did during the Trump presidency in the United States. This year, they have helped assemble a ragtag coalition of all the various opposition parties behind Peter Marki-Zay, a fake "conservative" manufactured to appeal to the hardworking, small-town Hungarian voters who have historically supported Orban. Marki-Zay's motley crew even includes former communists and neo-Nazis. Yet this coalition is laundered by globalist special interests and their allies in the U.S. media as an alliance for liberal democracy. In reality, these efforts expose the true face of modern "liberal democracy" an authoritarian ideology hell-bent on world conquest, which is prepared to align with virtually anyone to achieve its goals, before ultimately discarding its former unsavory allies. This same "liberal democracy" encourages the brutal crackdowns on protesters that took place in Australia and Canada in the name of public health. It pursues an endless "war on terror" until it aligns with Islamists to wage war in the Middle East before backing communists against those very Islamists. It questions the integrity of an election where a non-liberal candidate prevailed with vague insinuations of Russian interference or mass data manipulation, while simultaneously condemning any criticism of elections where a liberal candidate prevailed as dangerous to democracy. Indeed, should Orban succeed in his re-election attempt, expect to see the State Department, the fake news media, and international institutions with so-called "observers" question the outcome. In addition, with the ongoing destabilization of neighboring Ukraine, a strong Hungary under Prime Minister Orban is critical. A weak and chaotic government in Budapest is exactly what these globalists want, as it is more likely to do their bidding. This will come at the expense of the Hungarian people, who will face indecision and disarray, and the American people, who will lose one of the few genuine allies we have in the world. With President Trump having been ousted by election fraud and President Bolsonaro at risk of a similar coup, Orban may well be the last man standing in the Western national-populist movement. Just as he stood by us in January 2021 in recognizing Stop the Steal as an internal affair of the United States at a time when most of the world's nations were condemning our president and our movement we should stand by him on Sunday. Mark Ivanyo is an attorney and the executive director of Republicans for National Renewal, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting national-populism within Republican Party institutions. Photo credit: Estonian Presidency. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dicks last day on the job will come next weekend. The Mayors Office for Police and Crime (Mopac) has agreed that Dame Cressidas last day in post will be Sunday April 10. She quit in a surprise move last month but agreed to stay on until arrangements to find a replacement were finalised, with a successor expected to be appointed in the summer. Dame Cressida Dick arriving for a Service of Thanksgiving for the life of the Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey, on Tuesday (Kirsty OConnor/PA) Deputy commissioner Sir Steve House will temporarily serve as acting commissioner while the recruitment process is ongoing, London mayor Sadiq Khans office said. The mayor will work with the Home Secretary to appoint a new commissioner to address the deep cultural issues facing the Met Police Service, his office added. A spokesman for Mr Khan said: The mayor thanks Dame Cressida Dick for her decades of public service. My last working day as Met Commissioner will be 10th April. It has been a tremendous honour to serve the people of London and the UK. "I will share more on the work of my brave officers and staff next week. Cressida Dick pic.twitter.com/KqUoNbtVKf Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) April 2, 2022 The mayor has been clear that candidates for the next commissioner must have a plan to restore the trust and confidence of Londoners. The Met tweeted a picture of Dame Cressida and a quote from her which said: My last working day as Met Commissioner will be 10th April. It has been a tremendous honour to serve the people of London and the UK. I will share more on the work of my brave officers and staff next week. Dame Cressida will take unused annual leave after April 10, with her last day of employment being Sunday April 24. Dame Cressida Dick with Mayor of London Sadiq Khan in 2021 (Victoria Jones/PA) Home Secretary Priti Patel confirmed during the week that the circumstances of Dame Cressidas resignation will be reviewed by the outgoing chief inspector of constabulary Sir Tom Winsor. The Home Office said the review, to begin on April 1 and expected to finish by the summer, will aim to: Establish and assess the full facts, timeline of events and circumstances which resulted in the stepping aside of Dame Cressida; Consider whether due process was followed; and Include recommendations on how accountability and due process may be strengthened. Dame Cressida quit after Mr Khan expressed his displeasure at her handling of outrage over racist, misogynist and homophobic messages shared by a group of officers based at Charing Cross police station. Her resignation, which came hours after she said in a media interview she had no intention of quitting, was greeted with dismay by many officers. Drinks giant Diageo is doubling production at its canning facility in Belfast with a 24.5 million investment. The company is also investing 16 million in its bottling plant in Runcorn in England. Diageo said the ramping up of production was required to meet growing demand for Guinness products in the domestic and export markets. Deirdre Delaney, operations manager at Diageos Belfast packaging site (Diageo/PA) The expansion work at the two plants is to commence immediately with the additional production capacity set to come online next year. Existing warehouses at the Belfast facility are being converted into a new packaging line capable of producing 72,000 cans an hour. The Runcorn investment will upgrade its bottling line and expand warehousing capacity. Aidan Crowe, operations director for beer at Diageo, said the 40.5 million investment would deliver a significant development of the companys packaging facilities. The projects in Belfast and Runcorn will support our growth ambitions, helping us to deliver end-to-end product innovation, and reinforce our agility to meet demand and provide excellent service to our customers around the world, he said. Deirdre Delaney, operations manager at Diageos Belfast Packaging site, added: This is an exciting time for our site in Belfast as we invest in our business to support the growth of our business. We contribute considerably to the local economy in Belfast and the 24.5 million investment will further support our supply chains and local communities. Veterans who fought in the Falklands War have marked its 40th anniversary by revisiting the port they returned home to after the conflict. Rosyth dockyard, on the Firth of Forth, prepared Royal Navy ships for their journey to the south Atlantic battle, which began on April 2, 1982. It also saw several of the ships and their crew return home after the brutal 74-day conflict. More than 50 veterans, Babcock employees and members of the Royal Navy gathered at the port on Saturday to commemorate those who fought in the war, and to recognise the dockyard workers who were working day and night to prepare the boats. In attendance was Craig Mac McDermott, who was onboard the HMS Antrim, which served as the flagship during the recapture of South Georgia in April 1982. With tears in his eyes, he reflected on the brutal conflict that claimed the lives of more than 900 men. It makes me cry, he said. I was 17. I was a boy, fighting other boys. Mr McDermott, who lives at Erskine home in Edinburgh, a place set up to support war veterans, said he shared stories of his time at war with fellow comrades at the ceremony. We shared the same water, he said, with a smile. Also at the event was Alf Ramsay, who started working at the Rosyth dockyard in 1974 as an apprentice. He spoke about his time working 16-hour shifts preparing the ships, including HMS Plymouth, for battle. I am still working here, he laughed, 48 years later. The now production engineer said during the Falklands War he worked in the dockyards fabrication bays, producing mostly ammunition lockers. Obviously there was a need for all the ammunition when they were going down to the South Atlantic, he said So, it was ammunition lockers that we were building, and they were fitted on to the ships. It was long hours, 16-hour shifts sometimes, seven days a week, but it was worth it. Reflecting on the moment the troops returned to the dock at the end of the war, Mr Ramsay said the state of the ships, including the Plymouth, which he described as battle-scarred, shed a light on the brutality of war. (PA Graphics) It brought home a bit of reality as to what the guys were going through, he said. We were just seeing it on the television, so it did bring a bit of reality to what had gone on, it was emotional. Veteran Norman McDade, who prefers to go by the name Mac, was onboard the Plymouth aged 20 during the war. The now 60-year-old lives in Erskine and shared fond memories of the day he and his crew returned to the ships bay in Rosyth, where he stood proudly on Saturday. It was quite something, he said, emotion in his voice. We had a lot of small boats with us on the way in, lots of people up on the Forth bridges. I remember people on top of the railway bridge, right on top of it, waving at us as we came through. It was quite emotional when we came in because I could see my family, they had a banner up. It was quite a welcome home, the whole dockside was full of people. The Plymouth was hit by four 1,000lb bombs on June 8, 1982. Miraculously, none of them exploded, but they still caused a lot of damage that day, a day Mac said he will never forget. Speaking about the condition of the Plymouth on return to Rosyth, the veteran said: We had a lot of damage, we had a big steel plaster, if you like, on our funnel where the bomb had gone through, so it was quite something to see the reshaping of the ship. He added: There will be a lot of remembering as we go on through the next couple of months. I dont think I will ever forget it. After speaking to some people here today, it feels like it was yesterday. The ceremony heard speeches by members of the military, including the Lord-Lieutenant of Fife Robert Balfour and Rear Admiral Mark Beverstock. A plaque was also unveiled to the sound of a pipe band to recognise the dedication and hard work of the Rosyth dockyards workforce during the war. Commenting on the day, Brigadier Andy Muddiman ADC Royal Marines, Naval Regional Commander Scotland & Northern Ireland said: Its very gratifying to see, as we begin the Falklands 40th anniversary period here in Scotland, that we are quite rightly focusing on the significant efforts of our colleagues who worked in the Rosyth dockyard at the time. It was down to their efforts and those of other dockyard personnel around the country that Britain was able to achieve such a huge undertaking. To refit, and in some cases completely outfit from scratch, a number of merchant ships, in just a few days, for a purpose they hadnt been designed for, to then sail some 8,000 miles and operate as part of a quickly created taskforce within a war zone was an incredible task. As much as it was the soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen who fought the war, they couldnt have done that without the extremely important preparation. Sean Donaldson, managing director at Babcock Rosyth, said: Rosyth Dockyard employees played an important role in the national effort, supporting some of the fleet at the outbreak of the conflict, including the conversion of five trawlers into minesweepers. The Rosyth event is one of a number of commemorative events Babcock is proudly supporting throughout the UK this year. Ben Affleck and Joey Lauren Adams in Chasing Amy. (Photo: Miramax/Courtesy Everett Collection) After his 1994 black-and-white indie sensation breakout, Clerks, Kevin Smiths second most highly regarded film is undoubtedly the bittersweet 1997 boy meets lesbian romantic comedy Chasing Amy. One of the central reasons: Joey Lauren Adams, who transcended the dude-centric energy of Smiths smart-yet-sophomoric brand of shenanigans with a soulful performance and unmistakable voice that keyed a more mature, more nuanced story (even if the writer-directors depiction of bisexuality in the film was called clumsy and hasnt necessarily aged any better). A sometimes charming, sometimes infuriating rom-com dressed up as a raunchy buddy comedy, Chasing Amy pushed the boundaries of sexual mores, pitted the casual (and sometimes not-so-casual) misogyny of comic book culture against budding male vulnerability, and tackled the complications of love and friendship in ways that deeply connected with a generation of almost-adults in the 90s who were just figuring out how to grow up, Shannon Keating wrote for Buzzfeed in exploring its sexual politics in 2017. Think pieces aside, few can deny Adams killed as Alyssa Jones, comic book artist and gay objection of affection for Holden McNeil (Ben Affleck), the Bluntman and Chronic writer whose pursuit of her threatens his relationship with his best friend Banky Edwards (Jason Lee). While Smiths flock of players typically portray the same character in every entry of his View Askewniverse, all three actors actually played different roles in 1995s Mallrats but have hung on to their Amy personas ever since. Adamss career had been on the uptick since a guest role on the popular '90s sitcom Married With Children (her character famously took Bud Bundys virginity) lead to the short-lived spinoff Top of the Heap in 1991. Notables roles in the 1993 movies Dazed and Confused, The Program and Coneheads as well as 1994s S.F.W. would follow. Smith and Adams dated after making Mallrats together, and when their relationship ended, the filmmaker wrote Chasing Amy as "sort of penance/valentine" and a "thank-you homage" to Adams. (While a rumor later surfaced that Adams herself was bisexual, she denied it, and married Brian Vilim in 2014.) Kevin Smith and Joey Lauren Adams at the Chasing Amy premiere in Los Angeles, Calif. (Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc) Adams drew instant high praise for her compelling turn as Alyssa. All-time great critic Roger Ebert called her a discovery. Wrote Newsweeks David Ansen: Adams will tear your heart out as she fights to bring Holden back to his senses. Opined Rolling Stones Peter Travers: She delivers Alyssas stand on sexual politics with bewitching persuasiveness. The Arkansas-born actress won the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Actress, and also earned high profile nominations from the Golden Globes (Best Actress, Musical or Comedy) and the MTV Movie Awards (Best Breakthrough Performance and Best Kiss, shared with Carmen Llywelyn). So why havent we seen much of Adams since? And especially in the past decade or so? Its not that Adams hasnt been working, but much of her work has flown under the radar. Her most memorable post-Amy role probably came in 1999s Big Daddy, in which she played the lawyer Layla Maloney, love interest to Adam Sandlers unlikely caretaker. I bought a boat after that film, and called it Big Daddy, she told Funny or Die in 2012. In the years that followed, Adams worked with Shirley MacLaine (2000s Bruno), Sally Field (2000s Beautiful) and James Toback (2001s Harvard Man) and Harvey Keitel (Beeper), but none of those projects broke through. She did voice a squirrel in Dr. Dolittle (2001) and play Jennifer Anistons sister in The Break-Up (2006), but those were her only hits of the decade and certainly not the type of leading lady opportunities it felt like she deserved after Amy. Adams has worked with Smith twice again, reprising her role of Alyssa Jones for cameo appearances in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) and Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019). Ben Affleck and Joey Lauren Adams during 2005 Vulgarthon: 10th Anniversary of Chasing Amy Q&A at Cinerama Dome Theater in Hollywood, Calif. (Photo: Albert L. Ortega/WireImage) After a six-episode arc in United States of Tara in 2010, her steadiest role in more recent years came in the 2016-17 CMT sitcom Still the King, in which she costarred with country star Billy Ray Cyrus through two seasons and 26 episodes. So what is her relationship with acting now? The now-54-year-old Adams hasnt done much press in recent years, so we can only speculate. She hasnt come right out and said it, but Joey Lauren Adams seems to have all but retired to wedded bliss, wrote Giant Freaking Robots Ross Bonaime a year ago. According to Adamss IMDb page, however, she recently completed a comedy called Tankhouse, is currently filming the horror movie Oak and could re-team with Smith for a Mallrats sequel. In the meantime, well continue Chasing Joey. From afar. You know, not literally. When mom-of-three Patricia Feldman decided on helping fund her son's engineering degree at Purdue University, she didnt expect him to graduate owing nearly $100,000 to a loan servicer in addition to several federal student loans. It sounds worse than a payday loan, Feldman told Yahoo Finance. "It sounds almost illegal." Income-share agreements, known as ISAs, are an alternative type of student loan financing where a borrower receives a loan, then pays a percentage of their income after graduation. The terms of an ISA depends on various factors, such as their major topic of study and projected future earnings. A Purdue ad for ISAs as an alternative to student loans. (Source: Purdue) Purdues Back a Boiler program, launched in 2016, offers ISAs to students seeking alternatives to traditional federal and private student loans. Feldman's son took out a $10,373 ISA for the 2018-19 academic year, and a $29,491 ISA for the 2019-2020 year, according to documentation seen by Yahoo Finance. That $39,864 loan ballooned to $99,660.50 as of January 2022. "This is more than double the original lend," Feldman stated in a January 18 letter that was addressed to Purdue President Mitch Daniels, and seen by Yahoo Finance. "In what world is this equitable for my son?" Since the ISA stated that the borrower would not have to pay if they did not find a job, or earned income that did not exceed $40,000, Feldman added: "Should I encourage him to stay home, run out the clock on the agreement (104 months) and owe nothing? He wouldnt do that because he is a fine young man, with a great education and a good job. All due to Purdue." When asked about Feldman's case, a Purdue spokesperson told Yahoo Finance that "Purdue takes seriously its commitment to make sure Back a Boiler participants are fully aware of their repayment obligations in advance of entering into any agreement. Our website, as well as our contracts, clearly spell out those terms. And each Back a Boiler participant must successfully complete a quiz prior to entering into an ISA to ensure their awareness of those obligations." 'This horrendous deal that I've gotten him into' ISA companies previously claimed their product is neither a "loan" nor a "credit," but instead a "contingent debt" since a student doesn't have to pay the ISA until they find a job. The federal government recently categorized ISAs as "private education loans." Feldman initially thought the ISAs were a great alternative to traditional loans since they were tied to a borrowers income and marketed as a fresh new way to pay for college. She now thinks what she helped her son sign up for was far worse than a federally-backed student loan. "I write to you with a sickening stomach because I arranged and encouraged this loan," her letter to Daniels stated. "I made a terrible mistake, but in continuing to market and entice unsuspecting students and parents, you are to blame. I will be fighting this for a very long time as my son attempts to pay back an alarming amount of money." Feldman said after her son made two $900 monthly payments on his nearly $100,000 in debt, she tried to pay the entire sum off on behalf of her son but the terms of the ISA didnt allow for a lump sum payment. So now her son has $900 monthly payments while juggling his first job out of college. It's been just this horrendous deal that I've gotten him into, Feldman said. Purdue students in the stands during the college football game between the Boilermakers and Northwestern Wildcats on August 30, 2018. (Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty) 'We write today to highlight troubling ongoing practices by a Title IV school' Feldman and her sons negative experience is becoming more commonplace, according to student loan advocacy group Student Borrower Protection Center (SPBC), which is working with Feldman and pushing for increased federal oversight of ISAs. Aside from categorizing ISAs as private student loan debt, the federal government reminds higher education institutions "of their obligations when recommending, promoting, or endorsing private education loans. In August 2021, California became the first state to move toward regulating ISAs. "Colleges that market private student loans must follow the Departments rules regarding preferred lender arrangements and private student loans, including disclosing key terms and establishing a code of conduct," an Education Department (ED) spokesperson told Yahoo Finance. "These rules relate to loans not offered by the federal government, including ISAs that meet the definition of a private education loan." On Thursday, SBPC sent a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona requesting the federal agency to investigate how Purdue is structuring and marketing its ISAs. We write today to highlight troubling ongoing practices by a Title IV school that appear to violate provisions of the Higher Education Act ('HEA') and otherwise to jeopardize the schools Program Participation Agreement ('PPA') with the Department, the advocacy group wrote, adding that Purdue seemed to be masking its relationship with private student lenders through its Back a Boiler program. Purdue Pete joins the Paint Crew student section during the Big Ten Conference college basketball game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the Purdue Boilermakers on January 24, 2020, at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana. (Photo by Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) Purdue, which is governed by the Higher Education Act since it draws on federal funding as a Title IV school, is generally prohibited from co-branding private loan products with student lenders and is bound by substantial restrictions and disclosure obligations around so-called 'preferred lender arrangements' ('PLAs') between colleges and creditors, the SBPC letter stated. All available evidence indicates that Purdue has brazenly ignored these limits and responsibilities as part of a scheme to drive its students to take on risky, high-rate private student loans, the letter added. "Purdues ongoing lawlessness in the face of these clearly articulated expectations requires the Department to put this statement into action." Some students who have taken out ISAs at other educational institutions have ended up suing the same lender that Purdue works with, Vemo Education, Yahoo Finance previously reported. Advocates have previously sounded the alarm over the growing number of ISA providers that presented themselves as an alternative to traditional student loans, arguing that many of the products offered skirt consumer protection laws and engage in deceptive practices. Purdue President Mitch Daniels watches a replay during a game at Ross-Ade Stadium. (Photo: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports) "Our findings are just the latest in a long line of serious concerns surrounding the back-room deal Mitch Daniels cut with the student loan industry and his friends on Wall Street to push high-cost loans onto Purdue students," Ben Kaufman, who heads research and investigations at the SBPC, told Yahoo Finance. "It boggles the mind why Mitch Daniels is so resistant to just following the law, but it's clear that the Department of Education must step in. Too many students have already been harmed by Mitch's predatory pet project in private student lending." The ED spokesperson added that over the next year, the agency "plans to work with other federal partners to provide additional information to colleges on how to further improve the accuracy and consistency of requirements related to preferred lender arrangements" in an effort to provide more transparency to parents and students who may have been approached by schools offering ISAs. 'I will flood his email' Thanks to the student loan payment pause, which is currently set to end after May 1, Feldman said she wasnt yet making monthly payments for her sons federally-backed student loans. I'm fully prepared to do that," Feldman said. "That's part of what I have to do. I don't like it. But that's what we're gonna do. Student loan payments and interest accrual on federally-held debt have been suspended since March 2020, meaning that nearly 37 million borrowers have not had to make loan payments during that time and their amount due has not increased. There is also a debate over cancellation: President Joe Biden backed the forgiveness of $10,000 in student loan debt on the campaign trail in 2020. During his administration, prominent Democrats have repeatedly urged a seemingly skeptical President Biden to enact broad-based cancellation of up to $50,000 via executive action (as opposed to legislation passed by Congress). The impatience over a decision by the White House reached a point where even a major student loan refinancing company has joined the chorus of voices calling for student loan forgiveness. (ISAs would not be part of the cancellation.) In any case, Feldman and her husband have been working to obtain more information about ISAs and publicize the issue. Feldman also said she began sending weekly emails to Purdues Daniels. I emailed him every Monday for months," she said. "And it was the same letter, just repetitive." She added a lawyer from Daniels office reached out to her in late February to understand her situation, but the correspondence has been quiet recently. For me, Mitch Daniels will never have another restful night, Feldman said. If I don't hear [from him], I will email every day, I will flood his email. And I don't know what it will do. But it's something I can do. Aarthi is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. She can be reached at aarthi@yahoofinance.com. Follow her on Twitter @aarthiswami. Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Flipboard, and LinkedIn In 2015, naval observers noticed that Russia had purchased and refurbished a small fleet of dilapidated cargo ships barely suitable for scrap. Russia lacked modern supply vessels and needed the creaky ships to transport weapons and supplies to Russian troops fighting in Syria on behalf of President Bashar al-Assad. In 2018, Russias largest floating repair dock sank near Murmansk, in northern Russia, damaging Russias only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov. Officials blamed a power outage. In 2019, 14 Russian sailors died in a fire on a mysterious submarine operating off the coast of Norway. Five months after that, the cursed Kuznetsov, still in Murmansk, suffered a fire that killed at least one, injured many others and left the ship damaged. A superpowers navy is supposed to project force around the world and demonstrate fearsome combat capabilities. Russias navy, during the last few years, has been showcasing something else: cracks in Russias military that stem from an unproductive economy, widespread corruption and the obstinacy of autocracy under President Vladimir Putin. Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a meeting with Presidential Grants Foundation CEO Ilya Chukalin in Moscow, Russia March 29, 2022. Sputnik/Mikhail Klimentyev/Kremlin via REUTER Those flaws are now on display for all the world to see in Ukraine, which Russia invaded on Feb. 24, clearly with the aim of rapidly deposing the elected government and installing a puppet regime. Much has gone wrong. Russian missiles and artillery fired from long distances have wrecked many undefended areas and killed hundreds of civilians, but Russias territorial gains have been minimal and its losses great. At least 10,000 Russian troops have died, approaching the death toll Russia suffered in Afghanistan during an entire decade in the 1980s. Ukraines military has destroyed hundreds of Russian tanks, trucks and other military vehicles, and dozens of aircraft and helicopters. The Russian effort to take Kyiv, Ukraines capital, completely foundered and those troops have largely withdrawn. [Follow Rick Newman on Twitter, sign up for his newsletter or send in your thoughts.] More stunning than numerical losses may be widespread evidence of incompetence and hollowness. Russian vehicles break down due to dry-rotted tires and poor maintenance. Units have abandoned dozens of multimillion-dollar tanks for lack of gas. Russia seems to lack modern logistical tools such as cranes, pallets and fork lifts, crucial for moving materiel quickly and safely under stress, including combat. Camouflage efforts are primitive. Russian troops communicate over open radios, susceptible to interception, and loot Ukrainian homes and stores for basics such as food. One unit of panicked Russian troops appears to have turned on its own leader, running him over with a tank. A top British intelligence official said Russias command and control is in chaos. The cancer of corruption and inefficiency What happened? Western analysts obviously failed to notice many fundamental problems with Russias military, with many estimating before the invasion that overwhelming firepower and a deep kit of military tools would help Russia steamroll Ukraine. They had reason to believe that, however. For the last decade, Russia has increased defense spending and embarked on an aggressive modernization program, funded by lucrative sales of oil, natural gas and other valuable minerals. The 2014 annexation of Ukraines Crimea region encountered little resistance and went smoothly, from a military perspective. Wrecks of a Russian Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) and military vehicles are seen on the front line near Kyiv as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues, Ukraine March 29, 2022. REUTERS/Gleb Garanich One thing thats extremely difficult to diagnose from a distance, though, is the cancer of corruption and inefficiency. Russia has adopted some market reforms since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, but it has also become a kleptocracy with endemic graft and plodding state agencies that make Americas federal bureaucracy look like a whiz-bang startup. In Ukraine, those shortcomings may have metastasized into disaster. Corruption is part of the political and economic system in Russia, and what we are seeing in Ukraine is part of the explanation, Katarzyna Zysk, a professor at the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies in Oslo, tells Yahoo Finance. The problem is theres no accountability. We assume this continues to be part of the problem in the Russian military. Russias annual defense budget is around $62 billionless than one-tenth what the United States spends. Even then, secret bidding for military contracts and an overcomplicated military bureaucracy leave ample room for graft. In a couple of rare admissions, Russian military leaders have estimated that 20% to 40% of Russias military budget is stolen. Former Russian foreign minister Andrei Kozyrev, who now lives in the United States, said on Twitter on March 6, the Kremlin spent the last 20 years trying to modernize its military. Much of that budget was stolen and spent on mega-yachts in Cyprus. Some analysts have been aware of the holes in Russias military, even if it wasnt yet evident on a battlefield. In a 2020 analysis for the University of Oxford, Zysk identified a slew of Russian military vulnerabilities: overlapping weapons programs that sap resources, logistical shortfalls, a weak drone program with limited attack capability, shipbuilding hindered by sanctions imposed after the 2014 invasion of Crimea, radar and satellite shortcomings, young people who want to leave the country en masse, poorly trained draftees, and more. Putin personally favors Russias submarine force, which might explain why the navy gets 26% of Russias military funding, with just 14% going to the ground forces that account for the majority of the Russian military. But the main problems behind Russias military woes, the Oxford paper concluded, are pervasive corruption, low labor productivity, brain drain, the inability to acquire a large blue-water navy and, limited innovation. A destroyed Russian armoured fighting vehicle is seen amid Russias attack on Ukraine continues, in the town of Trostianets, in Sumy region, Ukraine March 28, 2022. Picture taken March 28, 2022. REUTERS/Oleg Pereverzev Putin himself is responsible for those problems. As Russias leader or de facto leader for 22 years, he has fashioned the entire economy according to his liking, and probably purloined more of the nations wealth for himself than anyone else. Putin is the corrupter-in-chief, Barry Pavel, director of the Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security at the Atlantic Council, tells Yahoo Finance. In autocratic systems like Russia, China or North Korea, its much easier to skim a lot of money off the top. The same thing is happening in the military. Each branch of the military gets a certain budget, and it seems to me there are chunks off the top that go for the aggrandizement of those leaders. Dude, I stole your army U.S. intelligence officials have deduced that Putins deputies are reluctant or afraid to tell him the truth about Russias shoddy military and its halting war in Ukraine. That might be because those are the same people who plundered the military budget in the first place, leaving poorly equipped troops to deal with the deadly consequences on foreign turf against a determined defender. Nobody wants to tell Putin, dude, I stole your army. America shouldnt gloat. The U.S. military is clearly more competent than Russias, with better accountability, superior integration and a highly professionalized officer and enlisted corps. But theres still plenty of waste, fraud and abuse in the U.S. military budget, plus the infamous military-industrial complex that sometimes prioritizes profits and campaign donations over national security. Americas two-decade mission in Afghanistan ended with an ignominious withdrawal last year, followed by the immediate collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government. A general view of destroyed Russian tanks and vehicles, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in Dmytrivka village, west of Kyiv, Ukraine April 1, 2022. REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra Russia does have an effective submarine force, advanced missile technology and, of course, a vast nuclear arsenal. So it would be a mistake to assume Russias sloppy performance in Ukraine means it would roll over in a broader conflict with NATO or any other power. After 2014, when Russia took over Crimea, we exaggerated Russias capabilities, says Zysk. Now we are in danger of exaggerating in the other direction. If Russia were preparing for a war with NATO, theyd be preparing very differently. They would use different kinds of weapons, morale would be better, their psychology would be different. That's a test best avoided. Rick Newman is the author of four books, including "Rebounders: How Winners Pivot from Setback to Success. Follow him on Twitter: @rickjnewman. You can also send confidential tips. Follow Yahoo Finance on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Flipboard, and LinkedIn Sweet Homemade Gourmet Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich for Lunch The peanut butter and jelly sandwich is an American classic: synonymous with memories of school lunches and often thought of as an easy option when there's nothing left in the kitchen. But for some avid peanut butter and jelly lovers, this iconic combination is just the beginning. Foodies around the internet are cooking up comforting and creative dishes that prove PB&J can be much more than just a simple childhood staple. Soy Nguyen, a food influencer from Los Angeles, Calif. took to TikTok recently to share a new, savory twist on the dish kimchi-topped PB&J. "I wanted to try something different and thought kimchi would be an interesting element to add," Nguyen tells Yahoo Life. "I love kimchi with everything, so why not classic PB&J? It was great because the kimchi didn't overpower the PB&J but it provided good texture with a nice crunch." Ravi Parikh tells Yahoo Life he found his idea of the weirdest take on a PB&J at a state fair and has never forgotten the combination. "This deep-fried peanut butter and jelly included cottage cheese and jalapeno, which I wasn't aware of until I bit into it," Parikh, who lives in Austin, Tex. recalls. "The flavor combination took some getting used to, but it wasn't bad by the end." Stephanie Cole, a self-proclaimed peanut butter and jelly aficionado from Ashland, Oreg. shares her best sandwich creation came to her one day while she was feeling both creative and hungry. "My favorite and possibly the strangest combo of PB&J I've made is this ... chewy sourdough bread with top-quality almond butter, apricot jam, bacon, cream cheese and sriracha sauce," she says. While spicy peanut butter and jelly recipes may not seem like the most natural combination, even professional chefs are taking this innovation to the masses. In Louisville, Ky. at The Manhattan Project restaurant, Chef Ronnie Dunning and owner Erick Strnatka worked together to create the PB&J Burger, a combination of peanut butter, jelly, habanero jack cheese and bacon that became so popular during Louisville's annual burger week that it became a permanent staple on their menu. The PB&J burger, a menu staple at Kentucky restaurant The Manhattan Project, contains peanut butter, jelly, bacon and habanero jack cheese. (Photo: The Manhattan Project) "We got the inspiration from a burger that caught our eye in a magazine," says Strnatka. "We made some tweaks to get the flavor profile we wanted and it turned out amazing." For Cara Campbell, the Calgary, Canada-based food blogger behind The Gourmet Bon Vivant, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are best enjoyed in a glass. Her two-ingredient peanut butter and jelly mixed drink calls for Chambord, a naturally-flavored raspberry liqueur, and peanut butter whiskey to emulate the flavors of the classic sandwich. To make a PB&J cocktail at home, "prepare two rocks glasses with ice, then pour in one ounce of Chambord," says Campbell. "Next, slowly add two ounces of peanut butter whiskey. Garnish with berries and mix for the full PB&J effect." Peanut butter whiskey and Chambord make up this PB&J cocktail, created by Cara Campbell, a Canadian food blogger. (Photo: The Gourmet Bon Vivant) And Campbell isn't the only foodie combining the flavors of peanut butter and jelly with alcohol. Tony Yanow, owner of the restaurant Mohawk Bend in Los Angeles, Calif., says "edible cocktails" have become popular menu items. "We have three brunch menu items that each have a full cocktail's worth of alcohol in them," Shapiro explains. "So far, our most popular has been the almond butter, bourbon and jelly sandwich." Each of Mohawk Bend's boozy PB&Js contain Four Roses bourbon whipped into housemade almond butter and blackberry and fig preserves and are served on sourdough bread. From savory dishes to sweet cocktails, it seems peanut butter and jelly can be turned into anything, even a beloved local candy confection. Robyn Dochterman, the Scandia, Minn. owner of St. Croix Chocolate Company, forages for local wild grapes to make her own jelly for creating bite-sized peanut butter and jelly chocolates. "It's hyperlocal and the wild grapes give the combination just a little more tartness while still feeling familiar," Dochterman says. Familiarity truly seems to be the common link that makes PB&J sandwiches so universally beloved. And, while most concoct their more creative versions of the sandwich later in life, others have grown up on their unique peanut butter creations. Glenn Boyd recalls his own dad making these peanut butter, mayonnaise and relish sandwiches when he was a kid. (Photo: Glenn Boyd) Glenn Boyd of Canton, Ohio, serves up hist perfect peanut butter sandwich sans jelly, with a whole lot of nostalgia. "My perfect sandwich is wheat bread, crunchy peanut butter, a thin layer of mayonnaise and a layer of sweet relish," he says. Boyd recalls the days growing up when his dad, who was the captain of the Fullerton Fire Department in Fullerton, Calif. would make these sandwiches for the crew at the firehouse. "My dad always said don't even bother buying creamy butter, why would you waste your time?" Boyd shares. "Now, as an adult, I still eat it and am reminded of those days with my dad. It's really perfect any time of day, but I like it most as a late-night snack; sweet, salty and nostalgic." Want lifestyle and wellness news delivered to your inbox? Sign up here for Yahoo Lifes newsletter. Ricardo Zuniga, the Biden's administration special envoy for the Northern Triangle countries, says the U.S. will likely see an uptick in asylum requests and immigration. (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Democracy in Central America appears to be on the downslide. In Guatemala, an anti-corruption judge went into exile on March 21 amid threats to her life after presiding over cases implicating high-level Guatemalan officials, including the countrys president, Alejandro Giammattei. In El Salvador, President Nayib Bukele has arrested hundreds of people in response to a spikein homicides, including a string of gang-involved killings last weekend that left scores of people dead. Bukele's crackdown has raised fears that hes trying to further consolidate power and is trampling on civil liberties. In Honduras, former President Juan Orlando Hernandez faces extradition to the U.S. under a cloud of accusations that he colluded with drug cartels to ship tons of cocaine to the U.S. in return for financial support for his political party. All this took place in a span of two weeks. Ricardo Zuniga, the Biden administration's special envoy for the region, spoke of the challenges in Central America, and how they are expected to result in an uptick of immigration from the region, while visiting Los Angeles for a Summit of the Americas event earlier this week. All were trying to do now is halt the slide" of democracy and accountability, Zuniga said in an interview with The Times, "so that we can have some place to build from." Zuniga spent most of his three-day stay meeting with Angelenos who form part of the Latin American diaspora. His visit came just days ahead of Friday's announcement by the Biden administration that it planned to end by late May a controversial policy that has blocked most migrants from seeking humanitarian protections at the U.S. border. The policy often referred to as Title 42 was invoked by the Trump administration, referring to a rarely used 1944 public health statute that allows for the quick expulsion of migrants either to Mexico or to their home countries. Trump administration officials cited the need to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Over the last two years, border authorities have used Title 42 to expel migrants in about 60% of encounters more than 1.7 million expulsions while allowing others in with humanitarian exemptions. But as the response to the COVID-19 pandemic changed within the U.S., officials began preparing an end to the policy. Biden's decision to undo Title 42 is a potentially risky move as the midterm elections approach. Immigration hard-liners on the right are certain to pounce if the policy reversal leads to a Central American exodus. Zuniga, the U.S. principal deputy assistant secretary in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, said State Department officials have been preparing for months to implement the policy reversal. Speaking with The Times on Wednesday, Zuniga, who also is the administration's special envoy for the Northern Triangle countries, spoke about what's next for Central American relations, starting with the lifting of Title 42, a decision that a number of Republicans and at least one prominent Democrat, Sen. Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, quickly attacked on Friday. Once the policy changes, the number of apprehensions along the U.S. southern border will initially look as if its decreasing, Zuniga said. But thats because for some time data have been collected in a misleading way. After then-President Trump implemented Title 42 in March 2020, the administration allowed border officials to quickly expel migrants seeking admission into the U.S. without much processing. There really werent any repercussions to crossing illegally, so the same person would often try to cross multiple times. Thats one reason why the Border Patrol stopped labeling this data as apprehensions and labeled them as "encounters." Encounters can mean multiple attempted crossings by one person, a classification that has artificially inflated the numbers. For several months, the Biden administration had hinted at lifting Title 42 but had stopped short of doing so, sparking criticism and increased pressure from immigration advocates and progressives. Zuniga believes that after Title 42 is reversed, it will dissuade some people from trying to cross more than once because there will now be consequences such as prison time attached to those attempts. But what we are preparing for is the expectation that there will be increased numbers of migrants overall, he said. People will continue to come to the United States for the same reasons as they always have, Zuniga said. Many Central Americans don't believe that economic conditions will improve, while democracy, the rule of law and the security situation continue to deteriorate. Whats different from this moment is not just that its Mexican and Central American immigration although thats big, Zuniga said. Its Venezuelan. Its Nicaraguan. Its Cuban. Its Colombian and to some extent Ecuadorean. We are seeing a lot of communities at once because the displacement caused by the pandemic is so widespread. Misinformation and disinformation about the administration's policy reversal is another concern for Zuniga. He believes that misperceptions and false reports could lead to a significant increase in immigration. They are going to be sold an impression that now, 'The border is open. There are no more restrictions. Title 42 is gone. You won't be returned,'" he said. "And the question is how to make sure people understand and get the real information ahead of time that the implications are real. As in the past, State Department officials are working on messaging in order to stem the possibility of a sudden Central American exodus. They are in conversations with Central American leaders about what the policy lift means and how they plan to enforce immigration law and prosecute multiple border crossings. They plan to run advertisements in regional radio stations in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, urging would-be immigrants to stay put and warning them of the dangers of clandestine immigration, Zuniga said. Also, State Department representatives have spoken with Central American government leaders about readying consular services to provide rapid access to documents, including passports, to those who end up in U.S. immigration detention and are removed from the country. But Zuniga knows that word of mouth probably will have the greatest impact on immigrants' perceptions. We can do all of those things, but its going to take real cases of people having the real experience of going through that process for people to understand there is going to be a process. "We need to implement it as efficiently as we can, so thats peoples experiences, and thats what they report back 'That's what mi primo dice' 'That's what my cousin says.'" This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. GENEVA (AP) The former chief prosecutor of United Nations war crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda has called for an international arrest warrant to be issued for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin is a war criminal, Carla Del Ponte told the Swiss newspaper Le Temps in an interview published Saturday. In interviews given to Swiss media to mark the release of her latest book, the Swiss lawyer who oversaw U.N. investigations in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia said there were clear war crimes being committed in Ukraine. She said she was particularly shocked by the use of mass graves in Russia's war on Ukraine, which recalls the worst of the wars in the former Yugoslavia. I hoped never to see mass graves again, she told the newspaper Blick. These dead people have loved ones who dont even know whats become of them. That is unacceptable. Other war crimes she identified in Ukraine included attacks on civilians, the destruction of civilian buildings and even the demolishing of entire villages. She said the investigation in Ukraine would be easier than that in Yugoslavia because the country itself had requested an international probe. The current ICC chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, visited Ukraine last month. If the ICC finds proof of war crimes, she said, you must go up the chain of command until you reach those who took the decisions. She said it would be possible to bring even Putin to account. You mustnt let go, continue to investigation. When the investigation into Slobodan Milosevic began, he was still president of Serbia. Who would have thought then that he would one day be judged? Nobody, she told Blick. Del Ponte added that investigations should be carried out into possible war crimes committed by both sides, pointing also to reports about the alleged torture of some Russian prisoners of war by Ukrainian forces. ___ This story corrects Del Ponte's title to chief prosecutor of U.N. war crimes tribunals. ___ Follow all AP stories on the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-war. People gather for a rally in support of Ukraine in front of parliament in Tbilisi, Georgia. (Daro Sulakauri / Getty Images) In the hilly, cobblestoned capital of the Black Sea country Georgia, a Russian IT worker made his latest of multiple attempts at what would normally be a mundane task: opening a bank account. A branch manager, sounding skeptical about Artyom Smirnovs reasons for being in Tblisi, asked what would happen if he just went home to Nizhny Novgorod, a city in western Russia. I could be put in jail just for saying Im against the war! said Smirnov, 25. His request for an account was rejected, along with those of a Russian couple at the bank branch. Russias invasion of Ukraine has sparked Europes biggest refugee flow since World War II, with millions of people driven from bombed-out homes and devastated cities. Roughly a quarter of Ukraines 44 million people are either internally displaced or have sought safety outside the countrys borders. But the war has also spun off a smaller diaspora: Russians, in numbers estimated to be approaching a quarter-million, have chosen to leave their homeland rather than remain under President Vladimir Putins rule. These exiles are mainly young, well-educated and relatively affluent. Many are from the tech sector or have other portable remote-working skills; others are journalists, activists or academics, or worked for progressive nongovernmental organizations. Such affiliations have been essentially criminalized under repressive measures enacted by Putins allies soon after the Feb. 24 invasion. Those include the shutdown of independent media outlets and a ban on criticizing the special military operation, as it is officially called not a war. By the tens of thousands, these expatriates arrive daily in cities like Istanbul, Turkeys commercial capital, or make their way to the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, or cluster in the capitals of other ex-Soviet republics such as Georgia, Armenia and Kazakhstan. Almost the first thing many of them will say is that they recognize that they are immensely privileged, that there can be no comparison between their plight and that of war-traumatized Ukrainians. But they acknowledge, quietly, that they left behind entire lives apartments, jobs, relatives and have little idea what the future might hold. And they also understand that theyre far from welcome everywhere. As elsewhere, Russians arriving in Tblisi more than 25,000 in just the first three weeks after the war began, according to Georgian authorities have taken to social media to exchange tips and warnings: about balky landlords and suddenly skyrocketing rents, about circumstances under which its unwise to speak Russian in public, about feelings of guilt and shame over the war Putin is waging in their names. The Russian leader, for his part, has gone out of his way to vilify those who have left, likening them to gnat-like insects. The Russian people will always be able to distinguish the true patriots from the scum and the traitors, Putin said in a bilious March 16 speech. And just to spit them out like a midge that accidentally flew into their mouths. Many of those who fled made their decision precipitously, in the days or hours after the invasion began. With European airspace closing, and with cash and flights hard to come by, many seized an opportunity to depart for places like Georgia, where they could travel without a visa. American author and journalist Masha Gessen, who visited Moscow days after the wars start, described a startlingly swift uprooting. People that I know in Moscow started to feel panicked, like really panicked, Gessen, who was born in Russia, said in an interview last month on the public radio show Fresh Air. Gessen reported a distinct sense that the borders were likely to close, that the country was just spiraling into some kind of North Korean scenario in which it would become impossible to leave. That was the experience of Dasha Takk, a 30-year-old who made a comfortable living in Moscow directing TV commercials and is attempting to settle in in Tblisi. We were watching the news and deciding where and how to go, she said. Then a friend reported that two other acquaintances had been taken off a flight by Russian security officials and prevented from leaving. We realized we need to go fast while we still can, and took the first flight to North Caucasus to cross to Georgia, Takk said. Bad weather held them up for five days, but they arrived safely and found a place to stay. The welcome has been muted, though, in part because of Georgians unhappy history with Russia. Putins forces invaded in 2008 and occupied about a fifth of the countrys territory. The fact that nearly all the arriving Russians share Georgians sympathies with Ukraine, the exiles say, does not entirely remove the stigma and some Georgians worry that the influx could again make them a target. Smirnov, the IT worker, says he understands that mistrust. Some think we just want to avoid sanctions; some say we must go back and fight Putin, he said. I have this feeling Im a bad guy by default now, and I have to prove Im normal. Russian authorities are showing signs of worry over the tech-heavy demographic of those who are leaving the country. One industry lobbyist, Sergei Plugotarenko, told Russian lawmakers last month that April alone could bring the loss of 100,000 technology workers, who are eagerly welcomed elsewhere in the region. On channels on the encrypted app Telegram, those who want to leave Russia, particularly if they work in the tech center, are being warned to take steps such as purchasing a round-trip ticket, traveling light and deleting as much information as possible from phones and other devices. Travelers have reported being forced to unlock their phones and being interrogated by security service operatives about why they are leaving. Even after reaching safety, some emigres report falling prey to depression and disorientation. At first, I was enthusiastic to start something new, said Sima Kondratenko, a 19-year-old photography model who left Moscow with two friends. But reading the news from Ukraine, you get deeper and deeper in this dark abyss you just dont understand how all this could happen. Kondratenko, whose mother is Ukrainian, said she and other exiles had found solace in throwing themselves into volunteer work with Helping to Leave, an international organization that remotely provides Ukrainian refugees with logistical and other assistance. From Georgia, it runs around-the-clock chat forums to provide information and advice. One of the groups Russian founders, Egor Eremeyev, 34, said relief work helped expat volunteers put their own upheavals in perspective and envision a future that might not lie in Russia. When they come to us, they get this new self-identity Im a normal person, I help other people, help to overcome the humanitarian crisis that is going on, he said. Eremeyev, a longtime activist before he left Russia for Georgia, was pessimistic about whether antiwar protests could truly threaten Putins rule. Public opinion polls suggest that most Russians, particularly older people who get their news from state TV, accept the Kremlin narrative that Ukraine, not Russia, was the aggressor, and that the West deliberately provoked the conflict. He can last for a long time, he said of the Russian leader. If there are 100,000 people protesting, they can arrest them and pack into their detention centers and police stations they were getting ready for this for years. Kolotilov is a special correspondent and King is a Times staff writer. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl, such as the ones shown here in an undated file photo, are often made to look similar to authentic tablets "with 'M' stamped on one side and '30' on the other," prosecutors said. (U.S. attorney's office for the District of Utah) After an investigation spurred by dozens of fentanyl overdoses in the Fresno area, the alleged leader of a drug trafficking ring and 17 others were arrested and charged by federal authorities, prosecutors said Friday. Horacio Torrecillas Urias Jr., the self-proclaimed "M30 King of Fresno," and the others were charged last month with trafficking fentanyl powder and pills, cocaine and methamphetamine, according to the U.S. attorney's office for the Eastern District of California. The investigation into the ring began after a series of overdoses last fall involving counterfeit oxycodone tablets, commonly labeled "M30," which were found to contain fentanyl. "Similar to authentic oxycodone M30 tablets, they are small, round, and light blue or green in color with 'M' stamped on one side and 30 on the other," the U.S. attorney's office said. According to the criminal complaint, Torrecillas obtained tens of thousands of counterfeit M30 pills and large quantities of other drugs from sources in Mexico, then distributed them along with his co-defendants to dealers in California and elsewhere. Local, state and federal agencies including the Fresno Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Department of Homeland Security participated in the investigation. "During the investigation, federal, state, and local law enforcement agents conducted traffic stops, intercepted packages, and executed residential search warrants that resulted in the recovery of over 55,000 M30 fentanyl pills, 6 pounds of fentanyl powder, 10 pounds of methamphetamine, a pound of cocaine, 25 firearms, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition," the U.S. attorney's office said. In one case, an investigation into the overdoses of two juveniles last October led to the arrest of Uriel Diaz-Santos on suspicion of supplying the pills. During a search of Diaz-Santos' phone, investigators determined that Torrecillas may have supplied Diaz-Santos with the pills, according to the federal complaint. In December, investigators searched a phone found at the scene of another overdose and discovered conversations between the person who had overdosed, Torrecillas and another person, Brayan Cruz, in which they discussed a drug sale, prosecutors said. Following busts of other dealers, investigators said they discovered other conversations involving Cruz, Torrecillas and other dealers negotiating sales, some in private messaging apps on social media sites. Investigators said they obtained a wiretap warrant for Torrecillas' cellphone in January. In one intercepted conversation, they said, he asked another person to drop off a package at the post office to send to New Mexico. The package was found to contain 3 pounds of methamphetamine. Over the course of several weeks, investigators said they intercepted several conversations between Torrecillas and others negotiating the sale, purchase and distribution of thousands of pills and other drugs. Fentanyl is a true danger, not just to our community, not just to our state, but to our nation," Fresno Police Chief Paco Balderrama said in a news release. "It was fentanyl overdoses that led to the development of the Fentanyl Overdose Resolution Team (FORT) here in Fresno. Last year alone, they responded to 84 overdoses, with 34 of them resulting in death." The defendants each face prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life and fines of $1 million to $10 million, prosecutors said. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. By Tyler Clifford and Nathan Layne (Reuters) -A jury will begin deliberations on Monday in the trial of four men charged with conspiring to kidnap Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, as one of the most closely watched trials in recent memory involving allegations of domestic terrorism neared its conclusion. The 12-person jury was presented with dueling narratives during closing arguments that concluded late on Friday afternoon. Granted the option by U.S. District Judge Robert Jonker, jurors chose to start discussing the case on Monday. On Friday, jurors heard a government prosecutor describe the defendants as "filled with rage" and bent on sparking a civil war, followed by defense attorneys who accused the FBI of entrapping their clients, who they said were often high on drugs and prone to "crazy" talk rather than concrete action. The case stands as one of the most high-profile prosecutions of alleged members of right-wing organizations that have risen in prominence in the years since former President Donald Trump's election in 2016. It also highlights the extent to which the pandemic and government efforts to control it have become a wedge issue in U.S. politics, pushing some people to extremes. In his closing argument, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler sought to portray the men as hatching a specific plan of attack over several months, which included collecting firearms and conducting reconnaissance on Whitmer's vacation home. "They trained to kidnap the governor, they cased her house in the middle of the night, they mapped it out, they planned it, they gathered weapons and bombs," Kessler said in federal court in Grand Rapids, Michigan. "That is the conspiracy that they are charged with and in America it's a crime." All four of the defendants - Adam Fox, Brandon Caserta, Barry Croft Jr. and Daniel Harris - have been charged with kidnapping conspiracy. Fox, Croft and Harris were also charged with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction. If convicted the men could spend the rest of their lives in prison. The attorney for Fox, who prosecutors have accused of being the ringleader of the plot, argued that his client was lured into actions by FBI informants and was vulnerable to entrapment due to his heavy marijuana use. "Somebody rattles the keys, somebody beats the drum and gets 'em all worked up," said the attorney, Christopher Gibbons. "Thats unacceptable in America. Thats not how it works. You dont make terrorists so we can arrest them." Two other men initially charged in the alleged plot struck plea deals. The pair, Ty Garbin and Kalen Franks, served as star witnesses for prosecutors, who sought to prove that the four defendants planned to break into Whitmer's vacation home in northern Michigan, hog-tie her and take her away at gunpoint for a "trial" on treason charges over her COVID-19 mandates. Garbin is currently serving a six-year sentence, while Franks is awaiting sentencing. The four on trial are among 13 men who were arrested in October 2020 and charged with state or federal crimes in the alleged kidnapping conspiracy. Seven of them are facing charges in state court. DUELING NARRATIVES The FBI said it had begun tracking the group's movements after seeing online discussions that included posts about the violent overthrow of some state governments. The group's goal was to end pandemic restrictions, as well as trigger a second American civil war as adherents to the "boogaloo" movement, Kessler said. Harris, Caserta and an undercover informant who testified at the trial were members of the Wolverine Watchmen, a militia group, prosecutors say. Croft and Fox were members of the "Three Percenters," a similar far-right organization. In charging documents the men are accused of discussing Whitmer's kidnapping and planning to meet in Wisconsin to train with assault rifles. The men were also alleged to have discussed buying supplies to be used in the kidnapping and putting Whitmer's vacation home under surveillance, prosecutors say. Fox ordered $4,000 worth of explosives from an undercover FBI agent posing as a co-conspirator, according to the indictment. The document also accused Fox and Harris of making payments for the explosives. Joshua Blanchard, Croft's lawyer, described his client as engaging in "crazy" and "stoned" talk at times, but denied that he was ever involved in a concrete plan to kidnap Whitmer. "There was no plan, there was no agreement," Blanchard said, accusing FBI informants of attempting to lure his client into action. "It's just smoke and mirrors." (Reporting by Tyler Clifford; Editing by Frank McGurty, Aurora Ellis and Mark Porter) Two veterans, whose paths crossed when fighting during the Falklands war, have been reunited four decades later. Bill McDowell, 60, and Norman McDade, also 60, met for the first time since the 1982 conflict at a home in Bishopton, which is run for veterans by charity Erskine. The pair, who both now live in Erskine, likely came across each other during a transition of British troops on to ships heading into battle during the Falklands. They decided to reunite to mark the wars 40th anniversary on Saturday. Mr McDade, who prefers to go by the name Mac, joined the Royal Navy aged 17 in 1978 and trained as a chef. But when war broke out between the British and the Argentines, Mac and his crew onboard the HMS Plymouth were ordered to head to the South Atlantic to fight. When not dodging bombs and defending troops against fighter jets, the Navy chef-turned gunner was involved in assisting in the transportation of soldiers arriving from the UK onto ships going into battle. On May 27, the Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2) arrived in South Georgia carrying the 5th Infantry Brigade, including Mr McDowell, who was a member of the Scots Guards. The troops were then transferred to smaller ships, including the Plymouth and HMS Intrepid, to be transported on to East Falkland. This is where the two were believed to have come across each other for the first time. There is definitely a possibility we waved at each other or saw each other at this point, Mac said. Its not always easy to recognise everyone because we all look a little different now, most of us certainly have less hair. Speaking about his memory of the transfers between boats, Mr McDowell said he was reduced to tears on several occasions. In the boats most of us were crouching, kneeling or sitting in icy water which gathered in the bottom, at times it was so cold that I could barely hold my rifle, he said. The two Falklands veterans in the grounds of the Erskine Home in Bishopton, Renfrewshire (Andrew Milligan/PA) There were several ship-to-ship transfers, as the QE2 could not be put at risk. He said on June 5, the troops embarked the HMS Intrepid, which was an amphibious assault ship used by the Royal Marines and headed to Bluff Cove. It was from HMS Intrepid that we were launched, crammed into a couple of landing crafts for what could only be described as a night of freezing cold and wet hell. The whole night was spent in the bitter freezing cold, pitch black, South Atlantic winter. At one point during the night, shells burst over the landing crafts, shells which were fired from Royal Navy warships that were unaware that the battalion was in the landing crafts and came very close to identifying us as enemy and opening fire. The flat-bottomed ships were tossed mercilessly in the waves and every time the boats bow came crashing down, the freezing cold water would come pouring into the boat and rushing over there would be a collective gasp as the water hit us. When 2nd Battalion Scots Guards landed at Fitzroy, a settlement on East Falkland, on June 6, Mr McDowell and his comrades then went on to fight in the Battle of Mount Tumbledown a week later. On June 13, the bloody conflict, with hand-to-hand fighting, led to the deaths of nine Scots Guards troops and 47 wounded. I still find it difficult to talk about the moments that changed my life forever, Mr McDowell said. I was confused, scared and a long way from home. The UK could massively scale up its nuclear power capability by 2050 with new stations having far greater capacity, it is understood. The Business Secretary has suggested six or seven new sites could be in operation by that point, with all but one of Britains existing plants set to be decommissioned by 2030. The PA news agency understands that while the number of stations is likely to remain similar to now, the plan is for each new site to be far more powerful than those they will replace, significantly pushing up the UKs capacity. The Sunday Telegraph reported that Boris Johnson is preparing to announce plans to expand the Governments commitment to move forward with new large-scale nuclear power stations this decade. The newspaper said the plan had been to back one by 2024, but it is thought the new ambition will be to support the construction of two by 2030. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has suggested six or seven new nuclear sites could be in operation by 2050 (James Manning/PA) The move to scale up nuclear power production will reportedly form part of a major expansion of homegrown energy in the wake of the Ukraine crisis. It comes as the Governments energy security strategy is expected to be unveiled on Thursday. Asked about the scale of the its nuclear ambitions, Kwasi Kwarteng told The Sunday Telegraph: There is a realisation across Government that we could do more on nuclear. With energy, youre thinking maybe 30, even 40 years [ahead]. If we fast forward to 2050, there is a world where we have six or seven sites in the UK. That isnt going to happen in the next two years, but its definitely something that we can aspire to. The Prime Minister said, in terms of the energy generation mix, we could see maybe a quarter of that being nuclear. Id say 15 to 25 per cent. But obviously in the first three years youre not going to suddenly have six new nuclear stations in three years. Its physically impossible to do that. Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. YEREVAN, APRIL 2, ARMENPRESS. Accompanied by the Minister of Defense Suren Papikyan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan visited "Yerablur" military pantheon, paid tribute to the memory of the heroes who sacrificed their lives in the Four-Day War of 2016 and the Artsakh liberation war, ARMENPRESS was informed from the Office of the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister laid flowers at the tombs of the victims of the Four-Day War, Sparapet Vazgen Sargsyan and Commander Andranik Ozanyan. Nikol Pashinyan laid a wreath at the memorial to the fallen freedom fighters. According to new guidelines, Modified 'Maharshi Charak Shapath' is recommended when a candidate is introduced to medical education The Hippocratic Oath, ethical code attributed to the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, is a widely adopted guideline to conduct medical profession throughout the ages. (Representational image: iStock) New Delhi: Medical education regulator National Medical Commission (NMC) has recommended that 'Maharshi Charak Shapath' should replace the Hippocratic Oath in a new curriculum for MBBS courses and students pursuing them in the country. According to new guidelines, "Modified 'Maharshi Charak Shapath' is recommended when a candidate is introduced to medical education." The guidelines also recommend a 10-day yoga "foundation course", beginning June 12 every year and culminating on the International Yoga Day on June 21. "Yoga training is recommended to be initiated during the foundation course,(one hour, preferably in the morning in orientation week). Yoga practices shall be for maximum one hour every day during the period of 10 days beginning from 12th June every year to be culminated on International Yoga Day, i.e. June 21, to be celebrated in all medical schools across the country," according to the revised guidelines. According to the guidelines, a robust continuous formative and internal assessment is required to ensure competencies and thereby a competent medical graduate. "If required, we can have two internal assessments and the third internal assessment can be calculated from various unitary and continuous tests taken throughout the year," it said. Interestingly, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya recently said in Parliament that 'Maharshi Charak Shapath' would be optional and not forced on medical students. Charaka Shapath or Charaka oath, a passage of text in Charaka Samhita which is the Sanskrit text on Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine), is a set of instructions by a teacher to prospective students of the science of medicine. The Hippocratic Oath, ethical code attributed to the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, is a widely adopted guideline to conduct medical profession throughout the ages and still used in the graduation ceremonies of many medical schools. The Russian minister also praised India's foreign policy as 'independent' and 'not bowing to US diktats' New Delhi, April 1 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday evening told visiting Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov that there should be swift cessation of violence in Ukraine and conveyed India's readiness to contribute in any way to the peace efforts. With India buying Russian oil at highly discounted prices and the Russians apparently willing to offer more, Mr Lavrov had, after talks with external affairs minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar, earlier declared his country would be ready to supply any goods that India wanted to buy from it, adding that the Rupee-Rouble mechanism is a way to bypass trade in dollars and the Western sanctions imposed on Russia. Discussing the Ukraine crisis and its economic impact on trade ties, EAM Jaishankar told his Russian counterpart that as a developing economy, global volatility in different domains is of particular concern to India and that it is important for both countries that their economic, technological and people to people contacts remain stable and predictable. India has close defence ties with Russia spanning decades and these were also discussed on Friday. Interestingly, Mr Lavrov hailed Russia, India and China as three natural partners that have a common approach to resolve problems. The Russian foreign minister wrapped up his scheduled two-day visit to Delhi in the evening after calling on PM Modi. Asked whether Indian mediation was possible to solve the Ukraine crisis, Mr Lavrov at a select media briefing organised by the Russian side in the afternoon also indicated in a somewhat cautious answer that Russia was seeking certain security guarantees from Ukraine and that the West had ignored its responsibilities, adding that if India wanted to support the peace initiatives, Russia was not against this. The Russian foreign minister said, India is an important country. If India sees to play that role which provides resolution of the problem...If India is with its position of a just and rational approach to international problems, it can support such process. Mr Lavrov also said there was no approved plan as yet to resolve the Ukraine crisis. The Russian minister also praised India's foreign policy as independent and not bowing to US diktats. He appreciated that India was looking at the Ukraine crisis in its entirety of facts and not in a one-sided way, adding that both countries always respect and accommodate each others interest. India has not voted against Russia at the UN on the Ukraine crisis and has also not condemned Moscow for its military offensive in Ukraine. During the talks on Friday, EAM Jaishankar also sought to convey New Delhis consistent stand to Moscow that violence and hostilities ought to end immediately, with New Delhi conveying a veiled disapproval by saying that differences and disputes should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy and by respect for international law, UN Charter, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. In his media remarks at the start of talks, the EAM said, Our meeting today takes place in a difficult international environment quite apart from the pandemic. India, as you are aware, has always been in favour of resolving differences and disputes through dialogue and diplomacy. In his remarks at the start of talks, Mr Lavrov recalled that bilateral ties and the privileged strategic partnership between both nations had sustained through many difficult times in the past. Mr. Lavrov said, We respect basic Indian principles based on legitimate national interests. Speaking later at the select media briefing, Mr Lavrov said that for gas supplies from Russia to Europe, an honest scheme has been found for payment in roubles since the West had promoted discrimination by freezing Russian accounts in Euros and Dollars. Mr Lavrov blasted the West for forcing others to join their politics and accused the US of acting recklessly in nations such as Libya and Syria. by Stefano Caprio In the fog of mistrust and hostility that has long imobilized relations between Catholics and Orthodox in Russia, the charge of proselytism has been progressively "neutralised". However, another accusation remained, far more incisive and historically well-founded in its various interpretations: that of Uniatism in Ukraine. The history of a Church since 1596 reluctant to exalt the Moscow "third Rome". One of the first signs that Russian politics was veering towards a rather aggressive form of nationalism was the expulsion of several Catholic missionaries from Russia in 2002. This was certainly not a striking event, but rather a common occurrence in the history of missionary works that have to settle in countries around the world that are not always well disposed towards the Catholic Church. Specifically, two years after President Vladimir Putin took office, it indicated a clear stance in defence of Orthodoxy as the "state religion", which, moreover, had already been elevated above all other confessions in the law on religious freedom reformed in 1997, at the proposal of the Communists and inspired by the patriarchate of Moscow. The prologue to that law proclaimed that the historical religion of Russia was Orthodoxy, while four other religions were recognised as "traditional secondary": Islam, Judaism, Buddhism and... Christianity, evidently meaning Catholics and Protestants, present in Russia for centuries, but distinct from the Orthodox as another religion. It was not a slip of the tongue, and in fact that term has never been corrected: Russian Orthodoxy is in fact a distinct spiritual dimension, in which Christian dogmas are mixed with pagan residues, much more so than in the other branches of Christianity, and above all are reformulated into universalistic national ideals, which indicate Russia as a "salvific people" for the whole of humanity. It was, in short, a sign not so much and not only of the disagreements between the Churches of East and West, but directly of an application to the politics and construction of the new (post-Soviet, but also post-Eltsinian) Russia; the construction of a framework of reference values and principles based on the distinction and rejection of the so-called "West", understood as a whole as a space dominated by the degraded spirit of the enemies of the true faith, by the Antichrist prophesied in various forms by the biblical scriptures and medieval sagas. The anti-Catholic reaction was thus provoked by a resurgence of this post-religious ideology, meaning a wholly political interpretation of the 'religious renaissance' of post-communism, which had turned from a spontaneous search for God into a rebirth of the State Church. The accusations against missionaries and Catholic structures in Russia concerned the "ecclesiastical" version of the invasion of the enemy, Catholic "proselytism" on Orthodox canonical territory. It was evident that this accusation was specious, since Catholics were a tiny minority within the Russian population, a few hundred thousand out of 145 million, of whom only a very small percentage attended church. Nor could it be claimed that the Catholics had taken away the faithful from the Orthodox, given that the few hundred Russian Catholics who were not of Polish, Lithuanian or German origin were mostly unbaptised or did not attend the Churches of the Moscow Patriarchate. Since the opening of the apostolic nunciature in Moscow in 1990 and the episcopal appointments in 1991, there had not been a single real case of conflict between Catholics and Orthodox in Russia over disputes over worshippers or places of worship, which were returned with great difficulty, so much so that even today many are denied. Personal relations between priests and faithful of both sides were more than cordial, in many cases downright fraternal. The expulsion of the missionaries took place under a bureaucratic pretext: the four Catholic apostolic administrations (Moscow, Saratov, Novosibirsk and Irkutsk) were elevated by the Holy See to the rank of diocese, an almost automatic decision after a certain interval of time, and this (incautious) decision was considered a "declaration of war" by the Orthodox and nationalists. In the ten years, until the meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill in 2016, relations between Catholics and the Russian Orthodox remained frozen in a mixture of mistrust and hostility, and Catholics on the territory of Russia were forced to limit their activities as much as possible. The accusation of proselytism was progressively "neutralised", thanks also to a commission chaired by the patriarchate that made it compulsory for Catholics to ask permission for any new initiative. Another accusation remained, far more incisive and historically well-founded in its various interpretations: that of Uniatism in Ukraine. The Greek-Catholic Church in Ukraine has no direct branches in Russia, except for small communities scattered here and there in Europe and Siberia, but "Uniatism" and "proselytism" were associated in a single strategy of "Catholic invasion" in the area of the patriarchate of Moscow. The Union of Brest had been signed in 1596, as a response by the Russian Orthodox of the Kingdom of Poland to the proclamation of the Moscow Patriarchate seven years earlier, choosing to rejoin the papal 'first Rome' instead of exalting the Moscow 'third Rome'. Since then the dispute in these lands has experienced moments of stagnation and dramatic periods, such as when in 1946 Stalin decided from on high to suppress the Greek-Catholic Church by imposing its fusion with the Moscow Patriarchate, in the pseudo-Synod of Lviv organised by the then secretary of the party in Ukraine Nikita Khruscev, with the endorsement of "Stalin's Patriarch" Alexis I in Moscow. The Uniates were harshly persecuted throughout the Soviet period, and they did not wait for the end of the empire to return to the forefront: in 1990 they came out into the open, taking back the churches they had taken away almost fifty years earlier, and expelling the "Muscovite" priests, many of whom declared themselves on the side of the Greek Catholics. The Holy See had no choice but to recognise its own Eastern-rite faithful in Ukraine, whom the saintly Pope John Paul II defended against accusations and hostilities within the Catholic Church itself. In 1991, the nuncio to the Soviet Union published the appointments of Uniate bishops in three dioceses, which became many more in the following years, covering the territory of the entire independent Ukraine. There are about 3 million Uniates, the majority of whom live in the western parts of the country, but they have churches and monasteries in every region. While the Patriarchate of Moscow has almost completley overcome the issue of "proselytism" over time, its guard against Uniatism has never been lowered: when there was the anti-Russian Maidan uprising in 2014, from patriarchal circles the finger was pointed at the Uniates as the real inspirers of the uprisings, even attributing to them the spiritual paternity of the most vocal groups of the Ukrainian extreme right, the "neo-Nazis" who were indicated by Putin as the enemies of the "Russian world", against whom the defensive "special military operation" was necessary to free Russians and Ukrainians from Western influence. It should be added that many of the Greek Catholic priests and bishops actually come from the Ukrainian diaspora around the world, or have spent long periods in various countries, such as the same Major Archbishop Svjatoslav (Sevcuk) who met Pope Bergoglio in Argentina, and whom the Uniates explicitly call "our patriarch". His predecessor, Cardinal Ljubomyr Husar, had returned to Ukraine after long years of exile in Rome, which he spent with many compatriots in the monastery of Grottaferrata and in the Ukrainian church of Santa Sofia in Via Boccea, the Ukrainian cathedral abroad built by Cardinal Iosif Slipyj, who had come to Rome after 18 years in a Siberian lager. Today Husar's body rests in the new Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, on the left bank of the Dnipro, the river of the Baptism of Rus' in 988. In this modern Byzantine church consecrated in 2011, Archbishop-Patriarch Svyatoslav resides, housing hundreds of people in the crypt to protect them from the Moscow bombings. He declared it "a miracle" that the capital is still standing and not occupied by Russian tanks, in a dramatic video link-up with his confreres at the Pontifical Oriental Institute in Rome on 29 March. Svjatoslav recounted that "the invasion had been well planned, we found our parishioners, choristers and youth groups holding lists of targets to be eliminated, in which were all the leaders of our Church and of the Orthodox ones". The most violent fighting took place around the Greek-Catholic cathedral, from which the Russians thought they could cross the river and take over the historic Orthodox cathedral of St Sophia, on the heights of the right bank. "They were apocalyptic moments, when we thought the world was collapsing, and we had to organise ourselves as best we could," says the archbishop, "the most important thing was to stay in touch with the bishops and priests, so that they could take care of our people". Svyatoslav's daily five-minute messages became everyone's only source of information and directives for action, with the phrase "it's me, Kiev is alive!", which he recounted between tears: "With you I can cry, I must give people words of hope". And so 'the moral strength of the Ukrainian people has become a miracle that surprises the world, the life of the capital is being reborn, even though only one million people, a third of the population, are left'. The figures for Ukraine's martyrdom are impressive, as all the newspapers now testify on a daily basis, and Svyatoslav points out that "all the priests have remained in their parishes", even those in the ghost-cities of Mariupol, Cernihiv and Kharkiv, razed to the ground by Chechen bombs and missiles: "1300 rockets in a month, churches and historical buildings have been destroyed". Two churches a day are demolished, knowing that people take refuge in crypts, and most of them are churches of the Moscow Patriarchate in Ukraine. The archbishop also tells of a great solidarity between the Churches, Greek-Catholic, autocephalous and Moscow. Representatives of all the communities are in constant contact with each other, especially in the protection of St Sophia, the cathedral-symbol of Christianity in Kiev, where a mosaic of the Praying Madonna protecting the people is still preserved, which miraculously remained intact even during the Tatar-Mongolian invasion in 1240. The apostolic nuncio, Mgr Visvaldas Kulbokas, a Lithuanian, the only ambassador who did not move to the safer Lviv, also remained heroically in Kiev, because "I am a pastor, before being a diplomat", and Svyatoslav confirms: "we are pastors, not altar boys to power". The archbishop thanked Pope Francis, who called him immediately after the start of the hostilities and made him feel his closeness, also through the frequent calls of Cardinal Parolin. He gave thanks for "the extraordinary event of the consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, because we are experiencing an apocalyptic clash between good and evil and we need a miracle from Our Lady, from the one who crushed the head of the ancient dragon, we need the supernatural strength of the Immaculate Conception that we, Catholics, Orthodox and many ordinary people, feel in our midst". The history of Catholics in Russia and Ukraine begins a new from faith and communion in suffering, and this is the real hope for these lands. The new Baptism of Kiev regenerates humanity in need of rediscovering peace and love among Christians, among peoples and among men. RUSSIAN WORLD IS THE ASIANEWS NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO RUSSIA. WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE IT EVERY SATURDAY IN YOUR E-MAIL? TO SUBSCRIBE, CLICK HERE. The Chinese continue to gloss over the possibility of mediating between Kiev and Moscow. The EU threatens to respond in case of Chinese aid to the Kremlin. Europeans demand an end to Beijing's trade boycott of Lithuania. The Union wants to relaunch human rights dialogue with the Chinese government. Brussels (AsiaNews) - No commitment to mediation in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict; business as usual; silence on human rights. As was expected, the European Union got nothing from China in the annual summit held yesterday by videoconference. The fact that the meeting of EU leaders with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang did not go well is evidenced by the fact that the two sides did not issue a joint statement, but only separate declarations. Not surprisingly, Ursula von der Leyen, head of the European Commission, spoke of "open and frank" talks. Translated: the two sides disagreed on everything. Ukraine was the highlight of the discussion. The Europeans repeatedly asked Beijing to mediate between Moscow and Kiev. On the ongoing conflict, the Chinese have an ambiguous position: on the one hand, they rhetorically support Putin's positions; on the other, they remain cautious to avoid clashes with the US and the EU. Von der Leyen said that any support to Moscow would damage the reputation of China in Europe. On this point, the EU leader was clear: "We have adopted massive sanctions that are effective. More than 40 countries in total have joined these sanctions. So we also made very clear that China should, if not support, at least not interfere with our sanctions." Von der Leyen's reference is to US intelligence information according to which Beijing would be willing to help the Kremlin militarily and economically. In its statement, with an unusually threatening tone, the EU said that "any attempt to circumvent sanctions or support Russia by other means must be stopped." In this sense, Europe's weapon is to push its companies to leave China. On the Ukrainian issue, Xi said China and the EU should play a "constructive role" to add stability factors to a turbulent way. In an indirect blow to Washington, the Chinese president called on Europe to follow an "independent" policy on China. On the same evasive line, Li pointed out that Beijing has promoted "in its own way" peace talks between Russia and Ukraine. If no progress has been made on Ukraine, the same can be said about Sino-European trade relations. Chinese media emphasize the stability of bilateral trade, which in 2021 reached a record 800 billion dollars. However, the EU has asked Beijing to end the unjustified trade boycott of Lithuania, imposed due to Vilnius' growing relations with Taiwan. Otherwise, the Union will pursue the complaint against the Chinese already presented to the World Trade Organization. The Europeans also continue to demand equal treatment for their companies operating in China. Regarding the respect of human rights in China, the EU has reiterated its concerns about the condition of minorities in Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia, as well as the Tibetan population and the crackdown on the democratic movement in Hong Kong and Chinese human rights defenders. European Council President Charles Michel explained that the Union insisted on the revival of the bilateral dialogue on human rights, adding that Li was willing. On the eve of the summit, however, international groups have asked the EU to suspend talks on the issue with China, which they consider unnecessary, and to initiate a "shadow" discussion with humanitarian activists who can provide a more realistic picture of Beijing's repressive policies. Today's headlines: a state of emergency declared in Sri Lanka to stem protests; Covid-19, all of Shanghai in lockdown (to greater or lesser intensity), first difficulties in hospitals; the Council of Ulemas launches an appeal not to attack restaurants open during the day during Ramadan; in Russia a pensioner is attacked and robbed by other women for sugar; Tokyo media caught between Russian gas and condemnation of the war in Ukraine. YEMEN Yemen's waring parties have reached an agreement for a two-month truce. UN source say it is the first nationwide ceasefire since 2016. The country is experiencing one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world and the war has already claimed nearly 400,000 lives. Sixty per cent of these have died from hunger, lack of medical care and lack of drinking water. CHINA The 25 million inhabitants of Shanghai are subjected to a more or less severe lockdown. Even those in the east remain confined, although the measure was due to end yesterday. The escalation of cases driven by the Omicron variant, which jeopardises the "zero-covid" policy, is worrying. First alarms also came from hospitals, fearing possible victims in nursing homes for the elderly. SRI LANKA In Sri Lanka, a state of emergency has been declared by the authorities following violent protests outside the private home of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Yesterday, security forces arrested 53 protesters; five photojournalists were also detained and tortured in a police barracks. A curfew was in force for the second night, but protests continued. INDONESIA The Indonesian Ulama Council (MUI), the country's most important Islamic institution, launched an appeal for Ramadan. The leaders ask that restaurants and street food vendors, which are open during the day - for non-Muslims - in the holy month of fasting and prayer, not be hit or damaged. Retailers, they say, "must not be forcibly closed" to respect "those who do not fast". RUSSIA In the Tula region of Russia, a 73-year-old pensioner was attacked by other women as she was returning home. The aim of the attack was to take away 5 kg of sugar she had just bought at the supermarket. The woman had waited for hours for the entire load to be delivered, which was sold out in 30 seconds. UZBEKISTAN The authorities in Uzbekistan are expecting the return of at least 100,000 labour migrants from Russia. Their return is linked to the 'fall of the rouble', as Labour Minister Mikhitdinov explained. In response to the emergency, he promised to create new jobs for them in the local construction industry. JAPAN Japan cannot give up the Russian gas and oil programme 'Sakhalin-2' as Prime Minister Fumio Kishida explained, but is trying to balance it with its clear opposition to the invasion of Ukraine. Shell, which held 27.5%, has withdrawn from the project; Japan's Mitsui&Co. controls 12.5%, Mitsubishi 10%. The remaining 50% is in the hands of the Russians of Gazprom. ISRAEL The Israeli digital hunters of Fake Reporter have identified the 'strong point' of the Kremlin's media operations against Ukraine. It is the website 'War on Fake', used by the Moscow leadership to spread propaganda messages in Russia and abroad via the social accounts of Russian diplomatic representations around the world. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Like it or not, these are some of the pioneers of the modern automotive industry, as they have not only started new trends with these cars, but they are not considered niche products anymore either. And you only have to look at their rivals, which they have indirectly influenced, to understand why.In this story, we are going to put the spotlight on the second generation Nissan Juke for one obvious reason named Kolesa , as they have turned it into a full-blown R. Now, that might not mean anything to you, unless you have a soft spot for small crossovers, or you simply cannot have enough of the GT-R, because what could possibly be that exciting about a Juke-R, right?Actually (insert meme here), this is a digital ode to the original Nissan Juke-R , which was based on the first-gen. As some of you may remember, a handful of them got the same engine as the R35 GT-R, as well as many other upgrades. The twin-turbo 3.8-liter V6 was tuned to push out 690 brake horsepower, which turned this model into a real pocket rocket.Other highlights included the dual-clutch automatic transmission lifted from the Godzilla , dedicated exhaust system, custom suspension, Brembo brakes, sticky tires wrapped around the alloys, and bespoke looks. The work continued inside with the front bucket seats, racing harnesses, and roll cage, which created a very racy feel.As for the one imagined by the said website, it follows a similar theme, albeit applied to the second generation. In a side-by-side comparison with the regular Juke, this one stands out like a punch to the face. It features a new front bumper, bigger central air intake, chin spoiler, and blacked-out V-motion grille. The back end follows the sporty theme, with the new bumper, more aggressive diffuser, a single reflector mounted in the middle, and quad exhaust pipes. A big wing decorates the tailgate, and the Juke-R log o sits on the left side of the license plate.There are no swollen wheel arches on this project, but the Nismo-branded alloys are brand-new, and appear to have been lifted from the GT-R. If you look behind them, you will see cross-drilled rotors, and bigger calipers, part of the uprated braking system. Also, it sits closer the ground, as in the real world, it would have a new chassis setup as well. Moreover, due to the obvious weight-saving design of such a model, it might have less comfort and tech equipment.Unfortunately, the pixel manipulator behind these renderings decided to call it a day before imagining the cockpit. Thats a pity, because we would have wanted to see the Spartan approach, but we can tell you that a modern-day Juke-R would definitely follow in the footsteps of its predecessor in this department too. Thus, it would receive front seats with integrated headrests and extra side bolstering, racing harnesses, and a roll cage to keep occupants protected if something bad happens.We wouldnt dream of a new Nissan Juke-R if we were you, because it would be tricky to make due to the stricter emission regulations. On top of that, not many people would be interested in owning a mega crossover, and those who would be, would probably not afford it, because in case you forgot, the original one was a six-digit affair, and it is still valued at well over $200,000 today. That said, do you think the Japanese automaker should still give it a go? EV kWh Deliveries of the 2022 GMC HummerPickup Edition 1 deliveries began in December last year. As you might know already, this all-electric truck sold immediately after reservations were made possible. The interest people manifested surprised even the company executives, who told the press at the time they were delighted about how the EV was received.With the Hummer EV Pickup now reaching more owners or companies, transactions on the used market were expected to happen. What almost nobody foresaw was one selling for more than $164,000 over the MSRP, which couldnt be changed by dealers because the manufacturer handled the reservations.But it happened. This all-electric truck with four-wheel steering and the impressive Crab Walk function found itself a new owner for the impressive price of $275,000. This unit was an Edition 1 spec, which means it has all the bells and whistles, including the three electric motors, air-ride suspension, the 200-battery pack, Super Cruise, launch control, underbody cameras, the extreme off-road package, multifunction tailgate, and removable transparent panels.The Detroit-built truck was offered on BaT at no reserve after the selling dealer put just 10 miles on the odometer. The first 790 miles were added previously by the original holder of the reservation. This new Hummer doesnt even have its own section on the auction site. Its listed under the Electric Vehicles category.According to investor information GM published recently, there are only 99 Hummer EV Pickups delivered to customers in the U.S.While were strongly in favor of people spending their hard-earned money exactly as they please, we cant help but wonder if the used car market is still extremely hot or theres just enough money to go around for everything that generates a little hype.A couple of auction watchers sarcastically said they feel like theyre in the metaverse, indicating that something like this cant actually take place in our own current reality. While the BaT community was polite about the surprising transaction and didnt let out a lot of their own feelings, social media feedback turned into a bashing contest where someone said rich people are ruining the car enthusiast market one auction at a time.In the end, the market makes its own rules, even if some of us like it or not. Supply and demand both play a major role in these buying and selling decisions.Let's also not forget that the first GMC Hummer EV Pickup sold for $2.5 million.Cheaper versions of the all-electric truck will arrive in 2024, with prices starting from around $80,000 if battery cell costs won't completely unbalance the scales. Sometimes fires happen in the forests, and they need to be extinguished as fast as possible. However, since flames are spreading with incredible speed, sometimes firefighters need more than trucks and tons of courage to extinguish wildfires. Since some of these fires are happening in remote areas, almost unreachable with any kind of wheeled or tracked vehicle, an aircraft is the best bet.The most efficient airplanes in firefighting are the amphibious ones, which can land on water, refill and take off to drop their loads on top of large areas. With the DHC-515 Firefighter, DeHavilland can drop up to 700,000 liters (app. 185,000 US gallons) per day, twice as much as its closest competitor.DHC-515 was built after the aircraft maker learned essential lessons from the DHC-415 firefighter aircraft. Thanks to its rugged construction and intelligent technologies, it can refill in just 12 seconds from any lake, river, or sea. That's an important advantage over land-based aircraft. Also, unlike a helicopter, which has to stop and drop the tank to refill it, the airplane doesn't have to. It can fill "on the run" while cruising on the water.Like the DHC-415, the new model features a straight-wing design with a big wingspan and turboprop engines placed on top. These prove to be more trustworthy at lower speeds than jet engines. Moreover, they emit up to 50% lower CO2 in the air and are more fuel-efficient than turbofans. The aircraft can refill even in rough waters, with up to 6 ft (2 meters) waves, thanks to its rugged construction. It can also perform in high winds, typical with megafires . Unfortunately, due to climate changes, wildfires are happening more often than a few decades ago, and new solutions are needed. DeHavilland Canada installed state-of-the-art electronic equipment and navigation systems, so the aircraft would be more effective in the battles with fires.By now, the DHC-515 won the hearts and money of 22 European customers. Countries like France, Greece, and Spain already used the DHC-415 for firefighting, so they trust DHC aircraft. Due to that, the factory from Calgary, Canada, will deliver the last batch around 2025. You can see that in the main image of this piece. It was snapped back in the beginning of March as one of the bombers, deployed with the 69th Bomb Squadron from Royal Air Force Fairford in the United Kingdom, was flying over the Alps.The instance was snapped from an unidentified airplane as it was on an undisclosed Bomber Task Force operation. These are "predetermined deployments with NATO partners and allies to demonstrate and strengthen the shared commitment to global security and stability," according to the U.S. Air Force (USAF).The Alps are Europes highest and most extensive mountain range. They cross eight countries (France, Switzerland, Monaco, Italy, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, and Slovenia), and at their highest (Mont Blanc), measure 4,809 m (15,778 feet). In fact, the range has no less than 128 peaks that reach above the 4,000-meter (13,123-feet) threshold.With those numbers in mind, its easy to understand why even the beast with eight engines hanging by the wings is just a spec of dust on natures playground.With all the horrors taking place in Ukraine, the Stratofortress seems to be popping up more and more often in USAFs releases. The Big Ugly Fat Fella made its comeback to Europe just a week or so before Russia invaded Ukraine.Simple math shows that, if need be, these bombers could easily reach any targets on this Earth the things range is rated at 8,800 miles (over 14,000 km), but that's before aerial refueling. Now, you might think that pitching a Ferrari 812 Superfast against a McLaren 600LT is a bit unfair, given the difference in horsepower levels. But you should always remember that there's more to a car than that. In today's Italy versus the United Kingdom battle, the weight of these two machines might just play a decisive role in establishing the outcome. So before moving on with the quarter-mile (402 meters) action , let's have a look at the specs of both cars. The limited-edition 812 Superfast is powered by a 6.5-liter, naturally-aspirated V12 that puts out 789 horsepower and 530 lb-ft (718 Nm) of torque.But the 812 Superfast is quite heavy, as it weighs in at around 3,968 lbs (1,800 kg)! That's not quite the figure you'd expect from an Italian supercar. But that's what you get when you add all the modern amenities to what is essentially a road-legal race car. Looking at the 2,989 lbs (1,356 kg) McLaren , its 3.8-liter twin-turbo V8 unit is rated for 592 horsepower and 457 lb-ft (620 Nm) of torque. So in terms of horsepower to weight ratio, these two cars are not that far apart, but the McLaren does have a minor advantage.As you'd expect from a CarWow test, the McLaren and the Ferrari will be going through three different challenges: an all-out quarter-mile drag race, a roll race, and last but not least, an evaluation of their stopping power. For the first run of the day, the two contenders seem to be quite evenly matched, and we get to see a photo finish! The Ferrari reveals the reason for having "Superfast" in its name on the second run, as it gets an excellent start and finishes the same way. Finally, the third run is the decisive one, and the 600LT gets the win, which isn't necessarily proof that it's the faster car here.The 600LT crossed the finish line in 10.7 seconds, while the 812 Superfast required an additional 0.4 seconds. The human factor is not to be taken lightly, and chances are that if this test would be repeated with 10 other drivers, the results would vary time and time again. Moving on to the roll race, it will be interesting to see if the McLaren will score another victory due to being lighter or if the Ferrari will turn the tables using pure grunt. For the first run, both cars will be using their least sporty settings and will be engaging in a wide-open-throttle battle as soon as they hit 50 mph (80 kph).If you were expecting to see the McLaren 600LT in the lead for this one, you'd be disappointed. The 812 Superfast is in front for both the half-mile and 1-mile marker, with an exit speed of just under 200 mph (321 kph). For the next run, both cars will be engaging their fastest settings, but once again, the result is the same. As they are tied for points, the braking test will be the one to settle the score. Usually, you'd expect the lighter car to win this one, but the brakes on the 812 Superfast are on a different level, it seems, and fans of the Italian manufacturer will be happy to see the conclusion. Speaking exclusively to Reuters , Zak Brown said adding more races to a season of F1 and exploring new locations is what makes this sport interesting to watch. Sharing the drivers enthusiasm for the new venue in Las Vegas, Brown said it will be the perfect fit. He also praised the interest manifested by promoters in posh locations like Singapore and Abu Dhabi, underlining that billionaires and business leaders will follow the motorsport throughout the world.With Miami, Austin, and Las Vegas confirmed for 2023, Zak Brown thinks Monaco should up the ante or face the loss of an annual presence of the racing held there. He acknowledges the importance of the track there, but also points out the fact that theres now a need for more glamour than the tiny European principality can offer.His vision is based on the fact that other places where F1 drivers race are already offering better deals, which means they just pay more to have the event held there.The executive is not only focused on the money, as he points out that the cars got a bit wider, and the street circuit makes overtaking almost impossible. This doesnt translate into an enhanced viewership experience as it already happens elsewhere in the world. Id much rather have Monaco than not... but just like the sport is bigger than any one driver or team, I think it's bigger than any one Grand Prix, said the CEO.In his opinion, F1 should have 17 or 18 fixed, permanent races, while other seven or eight can take place once every two or three years. Brown also considers 23 races are enough, but he doesnt dismiss the idea of having a season with less than 22 races in a year an opinion thats not shared by current Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali.In the end, you should remember that Zak Brown is regarded as a good CEO for McLaren's F1 endeavors, and he identifies himself as a marketer and an engineer. The XP-72 was, for all intents and purposes, the ultimate evolution of the mighty Republic Thunderbolt, one of the toughest, deadliest piston fighters of World War II. Its Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine could lug this 10,000 pound (4,536 kg) jug of an airframe up past 400 miles per hour (644 kph) and 42,000 feet (13,000 m) in the air.It was also tough; it could shrug off flak and machine-gun fire barrages and still take its pilot safely back to base. All in all, the Thunderbolt is up there with the Spitfire and the Mustang as one of the most memorable aircraft from that era ever to fly. But as outstanding as the capabilities of the P-47 were, Republic engineers knew there was room for even more. More specifically, Republic engineer Alexander Kartveli knew there was room for improvement.The Georgian-born engineer, as in the Eastern European Georgia, not Atlanta, had grand ideas for what the Thunderbolt's airframe was capable of. Firstly, while powerful and reliable, the iconic Double Wasp engine was a bit like last week's newspaper by 1944. Entertaining enough, but there was juicier stuff out there at this late stage in the Second World War.The juicier engine selected for the upgraded Thunderbolt was the gargantuan 4,360c cubic-inch (71.489L) Pratt & Whitney R-4360-13 radial leviathan that made more power than most early jet engines. We're talking about upwards 3,500 horsepower. And to think it ran on regular aviation gas, and not jet fuel.With the engine paired with the Thunderbolt's airframe, the result was something Republic hoped would be twice as good as the P-47 it originates from. Speaking of Republic prototypes, the design team was also hard at work on the XP-69 high altitude fighter. A high-altitude fighter intended to feature a pressurized cockpit, perfect for shooting down German and Japanese bombers at heights above 30,000 feet (9,144 meters).Ultimately, it was the mildly more conventional XP-72 that was chosen to commence production. An order of as many as 100 airframes was thought to be on the table between the Farmingdale, New York, based Republic Aviation and the Army Air Corps. The finished product had a very similar silhouette compared to the base P-47. But closer inspection reveals a tougher, beefier aircraft, with an enormous quad-bladed propeller that swallowed huge swaths of air through themselves as they dragged this 14,433 pound (6,560 kg) airframe all the way to an estimated top speed of 490 to 500 miles per hour at service altitude.In the second built prototype, the prop arrangement switched to a wicked-looking contra-rotating dual prop configuration. Armament was slated to be one of three configurations. You'd find either the eight browning machine guns in the average P-47D, a set of four M4 37 mm autocannons, or a third configuration using a mix of machine guns and autocannons with two M4s and four M2s in each wing. Such a powerful airplane could have gone toe to toe with the best variants of Axis fighters in service during the period, including the German Bf-109G, Fw 190 A-5, and the Japanese A6M5 Zero and N1K-J Shiden.It's almost a guarantee that an airplane of this caliber could be a difference-maker in a potentially long and dragged-out tail end of the war. That is, if not for a couple of big problems. For one thing, the priorities of the U.S. Army Air Corps had changed somewhat since 1941. By late 1944, P-51D Mustangs and British Mosquito fighters were already escorting hoards of bombers from the American Eighth Air Force into the heart of Germany.With Dresden, Berlin, Stuttgart, Hamburg, and just about every other German city of any significance in ruins, and with Imperial Japan soon to follow, there simply wasn't a need for a point defense interceptor the likes of which fought, for example, in the Battle of Britain. But on top of all of that, right around the time the XP-72, colloquially called the Superbolt by enthusiasts, took to the skies, the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star jet fighter had already made its first test flight.Regardless of whether or not the Axis forces surrendered by the end of 1945 or not, the writing was already on the wall for the twilight of the piston-engined fighter. As such, the production order for the Superbolt was canceled.From then on, Republic set about building the admittedly excellent F-84 Thunderjet instead. The fate of the two only prototypes remains a mystery to this day. The first thing youll probably notice is that there arent many people working on these new production and assembly lines. Robots are doing all the hard work, with some human supervision. What is truly fascinating about this footage is how streamlined everything seems to be. You could use a Vivaldi soundtrack for this video and it would fit perfectly!As the drone is skillfully controlled and keeps flying through the factory, youll be able to see where the employees are in bigger numbers. Theyre overseeing the paint process and analyzing lots of data that are required for making sure each vehicle passes certain important tests. Yes, we know Tesla had a lot of issues in the past with their alignment and fitment, but those seem to have been sorted out.Elon Musks European agenda seems like its going to work brilliantly. Tesla knows how to do simple, yet very attractive marketing and Europeans want EVs. Norway proved things could change rapidly if incentives are aplenty and the Supercharger network keeps expanding. This Gigafactory will play a key role in the carmaker's plans sooner than most of the experts anticipated.The Berlin plant is not yet fully finished, but its operational and thats what matters. There are some parts that still need some finishing touches, like the exposed sector showed at the end of the video. From here on out, the American carmaker could easily expand and bring its expertise from U.S. and China. Making energy a part of the European branch of Tesla would also be a smart next move. Theres a clear need for alternative sources of power now across the pond.Besides showing their newest factory, Teslas also looking for new hires. What better way to attract more employees, if not by showing where they could work, what impact they could have on the decarbonization of personal transport, and how cool itd be to wear the clothing they provide together with some awesome benefits, like the 35% off on products. Merchandise and services, not cars. Unfortunately for the Japanese firm, the March 2022 and first-quarter U.S. sales pretty much speak for themselves, reminding the world that the chip shortage isnt over (and is unlikely to come to an end too soon anyway).Toyota sold a total of 194,178 vehicles in the United States in March 2022, and this represents a decline of no more, no less than 23.5 percent. When it comes to the first quarter as a whole, Toyota Motor North America (which comprises all brands, including Lexus) shipped 514,592 vehicles, this time a drop of 14.7 percent versus the same period a year ago.As far as the Toyota brand itself is concerned, its sales declined 22.6 percent in March, while the drop recorded by Lexus year-over-year exceeded 29 percent.While Toyota doesnt say it clearly, the whole thing is obviously the result of the very constrained chip inventory that the company has to deal with as we speak.The entire automotive industry is going through some very hard times right now, with Ford, for instance, recently announcing the temporary halt of all manufacturing operations at another North American facility. This time, the production of the Mustang will be suspended as the American company tries to restore its supply inventory and then resume manufacturing at normal speeds.Nobody knows for sure when the chip shortage is supposed to come to an end, though. Earlier forecasts indicated the whole thing could happen in the second half of the year, but the geopolitical tensions are making this recovery uncertain, especially as it causes new shortages of components and materials across the globe. Palmdale, CA (93550) Today Plenty of sunshine with gusty winds developing this afternoon. High 87F. Winds WSW at 20 to 30 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.. Tonight Some clouds. Low 59F. Winds WSW at 15 to 25 mph. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph. Chinese embassy in U.S. protests against Washington Post's Taiwan-related op-ed Xinhua) 08:09, April 02, 2022 The screenshot shows a letter sent to the editorial board of The Washington Post, which was written by the Chinese Embassy in the United States. (Photo credit: Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the United States of America) "The Taiwan question and the Ukraine crisis are totally different in nature. Ukraine is sovereign state, and the Ukraine crisis is a conflict between sovereign countries, while Taiwan is part of China's territory, and the Taiwan question is a Chinese internal affair," the letter read. WASHINGTON, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Embassy in the United States has sent a letter to the editorial board of The Washington Post in protest of an op-ed carried recently by the newspaper that absurdly related the Taiwan question to the ongoing Ukraine crisis. Sent by Minister Counselor Zhu Haiquan, chief of the political section of the Chinese embassy, the letter -- part of which appeared in the Opinion section of The Post's website - was a solemn response to the op-ed authored by Bi-khim Hsiao dated March 24 and titled "Ukraine has inspired Taiwan. We must stand against authoritarianism," which used the Ukraine issue to distort the fact that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same China. "The Taiwan question and the Ukraine crisis are totally different in nature. Ukraine is sovereign state, and the Ukraine crisis is a conflict between sovereign countries, while Taiwan is part of China's territory, and the Taiwan question is a Chinese internal affair," Zhu wrote in the letter. "Taiwan has been and will always be an inalienable part of China's territory. It is not an independent sovereign state," he said. Combing through historical facts confirming and reaffirming Taiwan's status since World War II neared its end, Zhu wrote that "the 1943 Cairo Declaration states that Taiwan shall be restored to China. The 1945 Potsdam Proclamation reaffirms that the terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out. Since the People's Republic of China was founded and became the sole legal Government representing the whole of China, Taiwan has indisputably become part of China. The (United Nations General Assembly) Resolution 2758 has further confirmed Taiwan's status. These are ironclad facts." "In the video call with President Xi Jinping on March 18, President Joe Biden reiterated that the United States adheres to the One-China policy and does not support 'Taiwan independence.' The claim that Chinese mainland 'threatens' Taiwan cannot hold water at all. People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are Chinese bonded by blood ties. Millions of Taiwanese live and work in the Chinese mainland. Why would family members threaten each other? As Taiwan's largest export market and source of its biggest trade surplus, the mainland can only bring tangible benefits and well-being to Taiwan compatriots. How can there be any threat?" Zhu said. "The Taiwan question is not about 'democracy versus authoritarianism,' but about secession versus anti-secession. Using 'democracy' and 'authoritarianism' to draw a line between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait is to provoke confrontation and seek an excuse for 'Taiwan independence' separatist forces. This is the only and real threat to the people of Taiwan. The future of Taiwan lies in peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and the reunification of China. Chinese people on both sides of the Strait should work together to pursue national reunification," wrote the diplomat. (Web editor: Peng yukai, Liang Jun) Ed Napleton Automotive, an Oakbrook Terrace-based dealership group, agreed to a record $10 million settlement with the Federal Trade Commission and Illinois attorney generals office for allegedly adding on illegal fees and charging Black customers more for financing during purchases. The settlement agreement, announced Friday, was filed jointly with a complaint in Chicago federal court, alleging the multistate dealership group charged thousands of customers hundreds or thousands of dollars for add-on products such as paint protection without informed consent. Advertisement The complaint also alleges that Napleton discriminated against Black customers, charging them on average $99 more for add-on packages and $190 more in financing interest charges than white customers. Working closely with the Illinois Attorney General, we are holding these dealerships accountable for discriminating against minority consumers and sneaking junk fees onto peoples bills, Samuel Levine, director of the FTCs Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a news release. Especially as families struggle with rising car prices, dealerships that cheat their customers can expect to hear from us. Advertisement In a statement issued Friday, a spokesman for the Napleton group vehemently denied any wrongdoing. The Ed Napleton Dealership Group has resolved disputed claims made by the Federal Trade Commission and the Illinois Attorney Generals office, said Napleton spokesman Tilden Katz. We made this decision to avoid the disruption of an ongoing dispute with the government. As a result, we reluctantly determined that it was in our best long-term business interests to resolve these matters. Founded in 1931, family-owned Napleton has grown into one of the largest Illinois-based auto groups, with 51 dealerships in eight states: Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Missouri, Minnesota, Florida, Georgia and Pennsylvania. The complaint names eight dealerships as defendants, including Ed Napleton Elmhurst Imports and Napletons Arlington Heights Motors. One consumer cited in the complaint alleged the Arlington Heights dealership tacked on $4,000 in add-on fees without consent. In addition to violations of federal consumer fraud, truth in lending and equal credit opportunity acts, the complaint also alleges Napletons Arlington Heights dealership and its general manager, Hitko Kadric, ran afoul of Illinois auto advertising regulations with an April 2021 direct mail campaign offering a $3,000 gift card toward the purchase of a new car. Under Illinois law, dealers are prohibited from offering a free gift in connection with the purchase or lease of a vehicle where the final price is reached through negotiation. Advertisement Katz said the settlement is the result of a three-year investigation and that there was no actual finding of intentional wrongdoing. Napleton has taken steps to implement additional safeguards to ensure full transparency to our customers, he said. A record-setting monetary judgment for an FTC auto lending case, $9.95 million of the $10 million settlement will be used to provide relief to consumers, with $50,000 paid to a special fund of the Illinois attorney generals office for law enforcement and public education. Consumers who are eligible for relief will be contacted by the FTC. The settlement requires Napleton to establish a fair lending program that caps the additional interest markup. It also requires the dealerships to charge consumers only with express, informed consent, and prohibits them from misrepresenting the cost or terms to buy, lease or finance a car. rchannick@chicagotribune.com Will Smith, right, hits presenter Chris Rock on stage while presenting the award for best documentary feature at the Oscars on March 27 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. A nursing student administers the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination center at UNLV, in Las Vegas in 2021. Lily Prince's 'Both Sides Now' opens at the Carrie Chen Gallery on April 9 You have permission to edit this article. Edit Close Business writer Tony Dobrowolski's main focus is on business reporting. He came to The Eagle in 1992 after previously working for newspapers in Connecticut and Montreal. He can be reached at tdobrowolski@berkshireeagle.com or 413-496-6224. Jacque Mena comforts her five-year-old daughter Dahiana as she receives her second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at Esperanza Health Centers medical clinic in the 4700 block of South California Avenue, March 30, 2022, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune) Some Illinois providers may have to cut back on COVID-19 testing and vaccination clinics for vulnerable groups as federal funding dries up a situation that health care leaders fear could leave the state ill-prepared for another COVID-19 surge. Until now, COVID-19 tests were free to people without health insurance because a federal program reimbursed medical providers for tests given to the uninsured. But that program stopped accepting claims March 22 because Congress didnt allocate additional money to it. That same program is slated to stop paying for COVID-19 vaccines for the uninsured on Tuesday. Advertisement President Joe Biden has been pleading with Congress to approve additional funding, and its possible Congress could reach a deal in the coming days, though it may be for far less money than the president requested. For now, many major Chicago-area providers say theyre continuing to give people without health insurance free COVID-19 tests and vaccines, including Walgreens, CVS Health, Northwestern Medicine, Duly Health and Care and Sinai Chicago, among others. But some smaller providers, in areas that serve vulnerable populations, are already planning fewer vaccination and testing clinics. Others worry that if theres another COVID-19 surge, they wont be able to quickly scale-up to meet demand for tests and vaccines. Advertisement Though COVID-19 case counts are low now, a more contagious version of the COVID-19 subvariant BA.2, also known as stealth omicron, is now the dominant strain in the United States. We still do want to be able to help the community, but we cannot do it at the capacity they were requesting, such as every weekend, said Jamie Tountas, chief strategy officer Mobilevax, a River North-based company thats been using the federal funding to partner with community organizations to offer testing and vaccines in underserved neighborhoods. Its heartbreaking. For example, Mobilevax had been discussing going out to Metropolitan Family Services center in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood frequently once the weather warmed. But that now seems unlikely, Tountas said. When it is not free and it is not accessible, it becomes another barrier for individuals, and, more importantly, it puts all of us at risk, said Roxanne Nava, executive director of the Belmont Cragin and Skokie offices of Metropolitan Family Services. It puts more people at risk for unintentional spread. Esperanza Health Centers, which has community health centers on the West and Southwest sides of the city, plans to continue providing free tests and vaccines, for now, but may have trouble continuing to do so if theres another surge, said Dan Fulwiler, president and CEO of Esperanza. At the moment, Esperanza is able to absorb the extra costs of testing and vaccinating uninsured people only because the demand is so low, he said. A worker inside a shipping container outfitted as a COVID-19 testing facility waits for drive-up appointments in a parking lot at Esperanza Health Centers medical clinic in the 4700 block of South California Avenue, March 30, 2022, in Chicago. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune) Were very worried if the demand goes up again we might have to revisit that decision, Fulwiler said. I think the choice wed have to make is how much can we afford to lose doing it. Over the course of the pandemic, about half of all the COVID-19 tests and vaccines Esperanza has provided have been for people without health insurance, he said. Another COVID-19 surge without that federal funding for the uninsured could mean that Esperanza would have to cut other programs to meet demand, he said. Or, Esperanza might have to offer less testing and vaccinations than the community would like. Advertisement Though providers no longer have to offer free testing to people without insurance, they must still provide free COVID-19 vaccines to them, under federal requirements, even if they dont get reimbursed for them. A provider like Esperanza might have to deal with that requirement by simply offering fewer COVID-19 vaccines to everyone, he said. The lack of federal funding for uninsured patients comes at the same time the state health department has closed its 10 community-based COVID-19 testing sites. Those sites closed March 31, with the state health department citing a steep drop in demand and an anticipated end to federal funding for them. Some worry that the closing of those sites, combined with a lack of money for testing for uninsured people, will make it more difficult for some people to access testing. The state health department, however, said many resources remain for people to get tests and vaccines, such as free at-home COVID-19 tests from the federal government, federally qualified health centers which offer services to people with low incomes, and 33 state-funded sites that provide free, saliva-based, SHIELD COVID-19 tests. A worker speaks with a driver at the drive-thru COVID-19 testing and vaccination site on March 31, 2022, in Arlington Heights. All 10 of the drive-thru facilities sponsored by the Illinois Department of Public Health close down March 31. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune) The state is currently strongly positioned to respond to a potential surge, with the state stockpile of tests nearly fully replenished, said Michael Claffey, a spokesman for the state health department, in an email. There are more than 1.5 million rapid tests on hand, with a half a million more on the way in the coming weeks. Chicago Department of Public Health spokesman Andrew Buchanan also said in an email that, While provider reimbursement programs are changing, no resident should be turned away from receiving, or be asked to pay for, a COVID-19 vaccine. Advertisement He noted that providers may still get reimbursements for testing people without insurance through a separate Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services program. That program will continue to pay providers for the tests regardless of a persons income or immigration status. People who live in certain ZIP codes of the city may also order additional, free, at-home COVID-19 tests at https://www.accesscovidtests.org/. The federal government is continuing to offer two sets of four free at-home tests to people at covidtests.gov. Though options remain for uninsured people to get tests and vaccines, some providers say any reduction in access is worrisome, especially for people who live in hard hit communities and lack health insurance. Though COVID-19 case numbers are low now, they may not stay that way, especially without widespread testing and vaccinations, some say. What we have to understand is we cant take help away from these communities just yet, said Dr. Mick Singh, chief medical officer and CEO of Mobilevax. We cant allow that to be completely taken away abruptly because these are the most at-risk populations and they will be the most asymmetrically affected. This is how we make sure our health systems dont get overburdened in the long run. lschencker@chicagotribune.com The Checkup for April 2, 2022: Steep rise in cases over the last week PITTSFIELD Miguel Angel Estrella, the 22-year-old aspiring tradesman shot and killed a week ago by Pittsfield police, will be buried Saturday after an invitation-only funeral. On Friday afternoon, people came through a Pittsfield funeral home to say goodbye to the man they knew as "Miggy." In time, a report will render the official judgment as to whether Pittsfield police were justified in shooting Estrella twice in the chest late March 25 outside his home in the Bartlett School Apartments on Onota Street, after twice being called to reports of a distraught man with a knife. Estrella was in obvious distress after drinking and had been cutting himself. People who knew and loved Estrella cant believe his life ended this way. Estrellas sister, Elina, has started a crowdfunding campaign in her brothers memory, dubbed "Long Live Miggy." On it, she writes: Miguel was a big part of his community. He was loved by many, he had so many plans. Its a tragedy that could have been prevented. Everyone involved who failed him in his time of need will feel their wrongdoing. Mental health crisis should not be a death sentence, she wrote. Estrella is also survived by his mother, Marisol Estrella, and a brother, Jean Carlos, as well as his girlfriend, Daneya Falwell. For the past week, Estrellas friends, mentors and co-workers have struggled to speak of him in the past tense, as they shared stories about a person they describe as warm-hearted, playful, generous, respectful and community-minded. His closest friends, when asked what people should know about Estrellas life, said this: Your past doesnt define you. Here are some of their stories. Robert Jefferson, a former outreach worker for the Pittsfield Community Connection program who had known Estrella for years and once had temporary custody of him: He was like my kid. I spent more time with him than I did my own kid. Up until recently, you know, he still called me every day. He was a good kid. He's just misunderstood a lot of the time. People like him get swept under the rug a lot. They forget about who they are and what they need stuff like that. Even in trouble, I was the go-to. Id just go with him to hell and back. And I'd go back with him. He shouldn't be gone right now. That's a fact. I just wish, I'd had enough time to get to him. But unfortunately, I didn't. Debbie Vall, a community member and friend of Estrella: He was going to be going to McCann [Technical School in North Adams] this year because he wanted to be an electrician. That has been his dream for as long as I can remember. He's not just a statistic. He's just not another Hispanic man. He is a person. He had hopes and he had dreams and he had plans for his future. And he was going after those plans with full force. He had faced a lot of adversity and he had a lot of barriers, a lot of barriers. But he struggled and he was always smiling. Tayshia Hoisington is the sister of Estrellas girlfriend, Daneya Falwell: When I first met Miggy, oh my god was he loud! I looked at my sister, like, Who is this? But my family learned to love him, like they all love him. He comes around every single holiday. He made my family laugh. Miggy was hands down the funniest person. You could be in the worst mood and he'll find something to just light you up. What I'm gonna miss the most is every single morning him and my sister used to wake me up just laughing about nothing about nothing. When I first first met him, all I did was shake my head. He had a lot of energy. But as years went by, I've seen him grow a whole lot. The Miggy we know to this day, that was not him a couple years ago. Like he's changed a lot for the better. He had a plan, a set goal, and he was ready to move forward. Which is why he motivated me a lot. He realized he's getting older and he wants to accomplish things. He was working really hard, even with my sister, and helping motivate her. He was taken away too soon. Daneya Falwell, who lived with Estrella as his girlfriend, said he had been suffering from depression: Everything he's been through, losing a lot of friends. He was talking about losing his friends. He wasn't happy. He just struggled with a lot. He wasn't hurting anybody at all. He wasn't a threat to nobody ... but himself. We were going to buy a house. We were going to have a vacation in May. We can't do none of that. He was my future. He helped me get a job. He said even if you dont, I got the bills, don't worry about it. He had just started living. Carolyn Valli, CEO of Central Berkshire Habitat for Humanity, where Estrella worked after graduating from a construction training program: We all know him in many-faceted ways. And all of them are good. I've known him for over seven years. He has gone through ups and downs, but every single time there's been a down, he's come to me and said, I'm going through this" or "I'm going through that." "What do you think about this? And he's always been resilient and putting together a plan about how to overcome that. About six months ago, he was just going to pick somebody up at his house and his car got shot up. They called the police. Miguel told me this firsthand. He said, The first thing [the police] said to me is, Miguel, we thought you got out of that life. And he said I'm not in that life. He was the one who was victimized, yet he was being villainized. I can only imagine if that bias came to the site [of the shooting] on Friday. I tried calling the police department [at the time] and their big concern was, Can you get him to tell us who did it? And he was like, I won't do that. Because we all know what that means in the street, that means you will be dead. So he was not going to do that. He came to me probably two weeks later, because he kept hearing from whoever it was that shot up the car. He said [the shooter] was going to go to [a Habitat work site] one day. And he said to me, I can't put you guys at risk. I didn't do anything wrong, but I'm not gonna have any of you die. Because, you know, that's the person he was that he cared more about other people than he did for his own safety. When I got the call [that he'd been shot], I just couldn't believe it. I couldn't understand how if somebody was self-harming themselves, why you didn't take them and bring them to Jones [the psychiatric department at Berkshire Medical Center]. That's the piece that I don't get at all. They're saying that he was advancing on police. I absolutely do not believe that. Because that is not who he is. Gail Krumpholz, a community member who has known Estrella since he was young: What a wonderful human being this young man was; his life was cut too short. We want to make sure, all of us, that he is presented as the wonderful human being that we all knew, and were working with, from the age of 15 or 16 years old. Kendell Thompson, a friend of Estrella: He overcame a lot of adversity. You know, since he was 14, he changed his life around a lot. He got his GED. Went on to a program out in Boston. Got his life together. Came back here. He got himself together and did great things. He was a great human being. He didn't deserve that. Always did good things for others and the community. He did good for his community. He'd pick up community service at the schools. Always paid rent for his mother. John Schnauber, a social worker who had known Estrella for seven years: He did a lot of jobs for the community. He worked at the farmers market. Anytime that he was needed by any of his friends, and by the community itself, he was there. All we had to do was ask him. I mean, he had a beautiful soul. He really did. He had life situations that led him in different ways. And honestly, it's just the way the world is nowadays. It's the way that he was left to grow up. The system is so unjust. This was almost a foreseeable outcome. Quote "These kids walk home from school getting guns pulled out on them." Jon Schnauber These kids walk home from school getting guns pulled out on them. They are not safe. And there's not [anything] being done about the kids needing help. They need a home, they need somebody to care, that's what they need and nobody in this community will give them a place to even be safe. People go to City Council meetings and they ask for programs for their children or a drop-in center. I've been to them recently when [officials are] walking around and saying "Weve got $31 million" or whatever, "to hand out." But not for that. Not for them. Orrin Powell, a human services worker, now employed by 18 Degrees: There was a change in Miggy. He wanted better. And he did better. He chose to want to improve his life with work, with aspirations of getting a house, improving his credit. That's the biggest thing for me, the change in him. He wanted it and he was seeking it out. He was driving his own vehicle towards success. And that's not an easy feat. Change is not easy. And he was changing every day. Dubois Thomas, Habitat staffer who worked with Estrella: I had some dealings with Miguel over the last several years. Miguel understood that it wasn't just a light switch to flip, and then life would just change. He knew it was going to be a day-to-day thing. It's just a travesty that for young men that look like Miguel and I, a bad day or a mistake is the end of your life. He didn't deserve that. I'm at a complete loss in my imagination for how that could have gone down that way. Rachel Hanson, a licensed social worker who had known Estrella since he was a young teen participating in the Pittsfield Community Connection mentoring program: Miguel was a good person. He was there for his community. He was there for his friends. He worked really hard. He shoveled driveways for the elderly. He overcame so much adversity. There were things that he went through in his life and there were ways that he struggled. He was a good person and he cared about other people deeply. It's tragic, what happened to him. Absolutely tragic. It shouldn't have happened. Quote "He knew he wanted to get out. It wasn't just for him." Rachel Hanson He struggled in different ways, at different times, for different periods of time. There were times that he was in really dark places. And he had people around him that were able to help him his friends, you know, people he could call on. He always came back to a point where he knew he wanted to be successful. He knew he wanted to get out. It wasn't just for him. It was for him, his friends, his family. His dream wasn't just solo. He was a natural born leader. He wanted it for everyone. He worked so hard to be able to be successful. And he touched so many people and allowed them to believe in themselves. Hes going to leave a hole in our lives. Forever, forever. And it's gonna affect so many people. Miguel brought people around to the [PCC] program. He realized that there were a lot of people who could benefit. We had dinners where we had kids in the community come over and serve each other food and not only do that, but make the food together, as a whole big family. Miguel was at the head of that. He brought people over and he wanted to do more. He was so resilient. It was genuine. It came from his soul. It's what drove him. It's what drove him every day. Brent Getchell, a construction manager at Habitat who worked with Estrella: So many people cared about Miguel. We took him in. He was an employee of Habitat because we felt strongly that he was going somewhere. And that he was teachable, trainable, respectful. He treated everyone kind of even-keeled. When the pandemic hit, him and I were the only ones on the job site for what seemed like forever. I worked side by side with him and spent eight hours a day with the guy, every day, and he became one of my best friends. We had a shooting at a job site, in the intersection, about a year ago. A guy got out of the car, walked around the corner and shot four shots into a house, then went up the street and shot a couple more shots. Within five minutes, we had eight or nine cruisers show up. Once they saw Miguel, it didn't matter who else was on the job site. One police officer approached Miguel and [asked] what was going on, what's happening. Why are they shooting at you? And Miguel's like, I'm not in that. I work. You can see I'm working full time for Habitat. I don't have time for that stuff. I just want to make sure the people here are okay." It turns out it had nothing to do with Miguel. It just happened in that neighborhood. Even though I considered the police officer to be harassing Miguel, Miguel maintained a very respectful demeanor. Very respectful, probably more so than I would have. Last Friday night? I don't know what happened. I could speculate. I just know he was done wrong. And so was the community. Because we lost such a great, great person that was going places. Elizabeth Walker, a community member who knew Estrella: He was working so hard to bring his family up, stable and good. But right along with it, he was bringing this community up and he had every intention to keep doing that. It wasn't ever just about him. I think everybody feels like family, because he made us feel that way. Like you were taken care of and he would have our back. You are the owner of this article. The Berkshire Dream Center announces the grand opening of Bright Morningstar Kitchen, Berkshire Countys first restaurant-style soup kitchen, on Friday, April 1, at 475 Tyler St. A ribbon-cutting ceremony at 11:15 a.m. will be followed by a free lunch in the dining room from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Reporter Heather Bellow, a member of the investigations team, joined The Eagle in 2017. She is based in the South Berkshire County bureau in Great Barrington. Her work has appeared in newspapers across the U.S. GREAT BARRINGTON Clinton Church Restoration is inviting the public to a celebration today to honor a woman who championed Black history, culture, community, and particularly the legacy of W.E.B. Du Bois while serving as the first female pastor of the towns historic Black church. The Rev. Esther Dozier would have turned 80 on April 2. The festivities at Saint James Place will begin at 4 p.m. with music, tributes and refreshments, free of charge. Donations can be made to Clinton Church Restoration in Doziers memory. The nonprofit, that sprung from the former Clinton African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church on Elm Court, is repurposing the former church into an African American heritage and cultural site. The late Rev. Dozier was active in the church for four decades after moving to the Berkshires from rural Alabama with two sisters, according to event organizers. She was pastor for nine years the first woman following 48 male pastors. Sign-up for The Berkshire Eagle's free newsletters Sign up Dozier began an annual Du Bois birthday celebration in 2001. This has since morphed and expanded into the towns annual W.E.B. Du Bois Festival. Dozier also supported the Du Bois Boyhood Homesite and worked to place the church on the National Register of Historic Places. Her reach went beyond the church. Dozier believed that the church was a place for refueling but her activities and influence extended far in to the community, said the release. In addition to lifting up Black history and culture and the legacy of Du Bois, she spoke passionately against injustice, intolerance and socio-economic inequality. Delano Burrowes, Doziers nephew and a Brooklyn-based artist who helped plan and will speak at the event, said that his aunt was so much about the future. She planted seeds for a lot of the conversations were having today, she said. Her legacy prompts us to think of our own what are we doing about the future? How can we live up to her ideals of hope, action and service to our communities? Clarence Fanto can be reached at cfanto@yahoo.com. The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of The Berkshire Eagle. Lenox native James Brooke is a visiting fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. He has traveled to about 100 countries, reporting for The New York Times, Bloomberg and Voice of America. On April 9 at 4 p.m., he will give a talk called Ukraine Will David Beat Goliath? at Trinity Church in Lenox. A young man is dead. A community is in shock. Important questions need answering. Friends and co-workers question fatal police shooting in Pittsfield, as investigation begins Friends and co-workers of Miguel Estrella, 22, are mourning his loss in a fatal Pittsfield police shooting Friday and questioning why officers resorted to lethal force. On a Friday night in Pittsfield, police officers fatally shot Miguel Estrella. It was the second time police had interacted with Mr. Estrella while responding to a disturbance call from Onota Street. The first time, officers found Mr. Estrella unarmed in the street with what appeared to be self-inflicted wounds on his face. He declined medical attention, according to police, who say they determined the scene was safe and left Mr. Estrella in the care of his girlfriend. When another disturbance call came saying that Mr. Estrella needs to be taken to the hospital, police responded and found Mr. Estrella in the street again, this time holding a knife. His girlfriend pleaded with police to take him into custody. Mr. Estrella, still wielding the knife, then began approaching the officers, who twice used Tasers in an unsuccessful attempt to incapacitate him, after which one officer drew his gun and shot Mr. Estrella twice. The 22-year-old later died at Berkshire Medical Center. We hope that the State Police investigation into this tragic loss of life is swift and thorough. All the facts surrounding this sad night must be brought to bear to determine exactly what occurred and what should happen in the aftermath. We will not prejudge the outcome of that probe, and we urge others to do the same to avoid unnecessarily turning the temperature up while the city is already on edge. Still, the circumstances here speak to a problem bigger than Pittsfield: All too often, Americans in the throes of mental health crisis wind up dead at the hands of police when they or their loved ones ask for help. While we await the critical details of an investigation, there are broader questions about police response to people in extremis that we believe are not only relevant to this case but could hopefully go toward preventing such tragedy in the future. A police mental health co-responder ended their shift minutes before the first 911 call from Miguel Estrella's address Events at a fatal police-involved shooting unfolded so fast Friday it is uncertain whether a mental health co-responder could have arrived in time to help save the life of Miguel Estrella, according to an early review by the Pittsfield Police Department. Several high-profile police killings in recent years have spurred a vigorous conversation across the country about the role and application of policing. This has led some departments to rethink approaches to confronting people in distress. Pittsfield is one such department, employing a mental health co-responder who can help officers de-escalate situations involving people in crisis. That co-responder was not on the scene on this fateful Friday night, however, either for the first call when Mr. Estrella was unarmed or the second when he was holding a knife. Pittsfield Police Chief Michael Wynn told The Eagle that, based on an initial review, the mental health co-responder shift ended before the calls. In fact, it was a matter of minutes, according to Chief Wynn, who said the shift ended at 9:40 p.m. while the first call to Onota Street came at 9:46. We believe this mental health co-responder program is a sensible and compassionate one that the PPD was right to adopt. If this sort of response could pose a considerable difference in how difficult scenes like this one play out, why is that response limited to a single shift? If we believe that a trained mental health professional can sometimes be more appropriate than the threat of lethal force, why is the former less ready to deploy than the latter? Like crime, people becoming distressed enough to hurt themselves or others can happen at any time. If the PPD is implementing this program which it should we shouldnt have to wonder whether six minutes could have been the difference between a person in pain getting the help they need and that same person dying in the street. As with any police shooting, every detail is vital here. Eyewitnesses gave varying accounts to a scene that played out in a public street at night. That can make getting to the truth more difficult, though no less crucial. Would Pittsfield Police putting body cameras on officers make it a bit easier to get to the truth in these tough situations? A knife is not a firearm, but it is a deadly weapon. Mr. Estrella apparently had hurt no one but himself. He approached officers, but its unclear exactly how. Its also unclear exactly what the verbal exchanges were between Mr. Estrella and the officers. Any uncertainty only fans the flames of controversial events like these that stand to drive a wedge between communities and the police duty-bound to serve and protect them. Facts and accountability matter, but without body cams is there a definitive way to get to them? Meaningfully addressing the mental health crisis in this country cannot and should not end with policing policy. Mr. Estellas loved ones said that he had struggled with a history of abuse as a child and clinical depression in adulthood. That our society fails so many of our neighbors like Mr. Estrella goes to the paltry mental and behavioral health services available to those who need them most, especially in rural, underserved regions and vulnerable, low-income communities. Increasing those resources is a systematic way to curb outcomes involving police presence and gunshots, as well as the lifelong suffering that precedes them. Realistically, though, that systemic shift will not be a quick development, even if we as a society pursue the most ideal models. This will not be the last time that police will confront a person in crisis, and we sadly recognize its not the last time it will end tragically. This particular tragedy, where a community loses a young man with his entire life in front of him, cries out for thoughtful reviews of both the mental health crisis response and continuum of force policies within the Pittsfield Police Department. It is awful that someone who needed help wound up losing his life. The only thing worse would be forgoing any opportunity to learn how to prevent such pain in the future. I almost cant believe that Im about to say what Im about to say, but I believe it to be true. If youre looking for guidance on how to live an interesting and moral life, you will find great inspiration in the lives of comedians. Advertisement This thought came to me after recently finishing Bob Odenkirks memoir, Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama. While Odenkirk today is most known for his role as Jimmy McGill/Saul Goodman in Better Call Saul (premiering its final season April 18), the bulk of the book, as the title indicates, is about his years pursuing his passion for making comedy. What struck me is that, despite myriad setbacks along the way, Odenkirk has had an interesting and fulfilling professional life, combined with the pleasure of having a loving and supportive group of family and friends, while even promoting some good along the way. Advertisement Comedian and actor Bob Odenkirk has a new memoir, "Comedy Comedy Comedy Drama." (Random House) Odenkirks story was reminiscent of the animating spirit of another recently released book, All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business which covers Mel Brooks 70-year romp through the comedy landscape. Looking at my shelves, I saw echoes in a bunch of other books: Tina Feys Bossypants (2011), Amy Poehlers Yes Please (2014), Steve Martins Born Standing Up (2007) and Marc Marons compilation of interviews, Waiting for the Punch: Words to Live by from the WTF Podcast (2017). How can people who get famous for putting an arrow through their head (Martin) or staging an epic scene of flatulent cowboys around a campfire (Brooks) possibly be exemplars for living a happy and productive life? My theory: Start small, with whoever will have you. Mel Brooks first performing work was in the military at the end of WWII, while entertaining the troops. Odenkirk wrote sketches for his Southern Illinois University campus radio station. Martins first time performing was part of a gig selling souvenirs at Knotts Berry Farm theme park. To describe the beginnings as humble is an understatement. Surround yourself with the like-minded. Another consistent theme is the benefit of working with a community of others trying to achieve the same ends. For Brooks, it was on Your Show of Shows where he first met Carl Reiner. For Odenkirk and Fey, it was Second City in Chicago. For Poehler, Chicagos iO Theater. Being among people you think are talented helps with believing you might be talented too. Laughing all day while youre at work also helps. Keep working with those talented people. Advertisement Steve Martin and Martin Short. Fey and Poehler, Odenkirk and David Cross, and Brooks and Reiner are all comedy soul mates. Brooks and Reiner had dinner together almost nightly up to Reiners death. How great is it to produce great work with your closest friends? Say yes, and The core of improv on stage is saying yes, and to keep building on anothers suggestion, which must create a high tolerance for risk and new challenges. Brooks went from comedy to producing serious films like The Elephant Man. Fey tried her hand in at writing a Broadway musical version of Mean Girls. Odenkirk is now an action star after his butt-kicking turn in Nobody. Failure only makes you stronger. Fey, who would go on to perhaps the most impactful impression in the history of Saturday Night Live as Sarah Palin, was initially rejected as a performer on the show. Martin would do club shows for zero laughter. Brooks, even once established, as a writer/director/producer thought it was a good idea to put Jami Gertz and Jason Patric on roller skates in all-time turkey, Solarbabies. If you can survive Solarbabies. You can survive anything. Advertisement John Warner is the author of Why They Cant Write: Killing the Five-Paragraph Essay and Other Necessities. Twitter @biblioracle Book recommendations from the Biblioracle John Warner tells you what to read based on the last five books youve read 1. The Last Confessions of Sylvia P. by Lee Kravetz 2. Lost & Found: A Memoir by Kathryn Schulz Advertisement 3. H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald 4. Play It as It Lays by Joan Didion 5. Slow Days, Fast Company by Eve Babitz Stephanie K., Lake Forest Im looking for a book that combines the intersection of the exploration of a subject, with the personal, human experience of the author. Theres a risk that Stephanie will have read this, but Lab Girl by Hope Jahren feels like the perfect fit. 1. Bewilderment by Richard Powers Advertisement 2. Three Girls from Bronzeville: A Uniquely American Memoir of Race, Fate, and Sisterhood by Dawn Turner Trice 3. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro 4. The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen 5. Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead Denise T., Chicago I recently unearthed a bag of books Id taken from an office at school that Id packed up and stuffed in a closet, which cut me off from the visual reminders of a bunch of titles that are truly special reads. One of those is Toni Cade Bambaras challenging, but highly rewarding, The Salt Eaters. Advertisement 1. Einsteins Dreams by Alan Lightman 2. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut 3. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 4. The Risk Pool by Richard Russo 5. Portnoys Complaint by Philip Roth Nick T., Urbana Advertisement Nick tells me every single one of these books is a reread, so Im going to try hard to give him something new, another favorite from that school office pile, Edwin Mullhouse: The Life and Death of an American Writer 1943-1954 by Jeffrey Cartwright by Steven Millhauser. Get a reading from the Biblioracle Send a list of the last five books youve read and your hometown to biblioracle@gmail.com. A pair of migrant families from Brazil passes through a gap in the border wall to reach the United States after crossing from Mexico in Yuma, Ariz. (Eugene Garcia/AP) The ban on asylum-seekers at the U.S-Mexico border on public health grounds was imposed by a president who wanted to restrict immigration entirely. It will soon be ended by a president who is facing increasing pressure from within his own party to welcome immigrants. The path ahead for President Joe Biden looks far from smooth. With the end of the ban on May 23, he faces an expected increase in migration at the border under a system incapable of managing such large migrant flows and buckling under a backlog of more than 1.7 million asylum cases. Advertisement Republicans are already eager to assign Biden blame for the expected images of thousands of people likely to be crammed into temporary border facilities. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Friday that it would lift the asylum ban, known as Title 42, next month. The ban had become increasingly hard to justify as pandemic restrictions ended around the country. Advertisement Many Democrats and immigration advocates viewed it as nothing more than an excuse for the United States to avoid its moral and legal obligation to offer safe haven to asylum-seekers at the border. By delaying the end of Title 42 for nearly two months, Biden appeared to be seeking a political balance between liberals who want the policy scrapped and moderates who have joined Republicans in supporting continued restrictions. He may end up satisfying neither. The expected influx of migrants could create a political damaging crisis for Biden with the the November midterm elections approaching. That debate will probably hinge more on partisanship than facts. Migrants rest in a dormitory of the Good Samaritan shelter in Juarez, Mexico, March 29, 2022. (Christian Chavez/AP) American attitudes on immigration are based on perception, not reality, said Rene D. Flores, a sociology professor at the University of Chicago who studies public opinion and immigration. Its not about deciding what is the most sensible immigration policy, he said. Its about managing public perception. The president has already faced withering criticism from both Democrats and Republicans over how he has managed immigration. Republicans say his push to repeal Trump-era restrictions has led to an increase in illegal crossings. Democrats have criticized the administrations continued use of a policy that forces migrants back to Mexico to wait out their claims, even though that policy was reinstated by the Supreme Court. An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll last year found that most Americans disapproved of how Biden had handled a sharp increase in migrant children and an influx of Haitian migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. Approval of his other efforts on larger immigration policy fell short of other top issues. Ryan Enos, a professor of government at Harvard University, doubted that the end of Title 42 would shift public opinion much, especially when views about immigration have become so polarized. Advertisement Any issue besides the economy is going to be a marginal issue, he said. The seven-week gap between Fridays order and the expiration of the asylum ban late next month is meant to allow officials time to increase staffing at the border, including erecting tents for an expected influx of asylum-seekers. It also allows for government officials to vaccinate more migrants at the border. But in the interim, it creates a policy muddle. Nearly all migrants seeking to cross into the U.S. will be turned away under a health authority that American officials say is no longer necessary. It also gives opponents of ending Title 42 plenty of time to sue. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas said Biden was refusing to listen to Americans and had chosen to jeopardize the safety and security of those very Americans he swore to protect and defend by ending Title 42 expulsions. He said Texas must now take even more unprecedented action to keep our communities safe by using any and all constitutional powers to protect its own territory. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said the decision confirms that President Biden has abdicated his responsibilities and is actively working to make the border crisis worse. From Day One of his administration, he has failed to protect our nations security and to secure the border. Advertisement Migrants, below, walk outside a camp that blocks the entrance to a pedestrian crossing into the United States, above, Nov. 8, 2021, in Tijuana, Mexico. (Gregory Bull/AP) From the other side, Biden faces criticism for waiting so long to act. The continued use of this policy even for the next two months is indefensible and unjustified, said Efren Olivares, the deputy legal director of the Southern Poverty Law Centers Immigrant Justice Project. The Title 42 restrictions went into place in March 2020 under the Trump administration as coronavirus cases soared. While officials said at the time that it was a way to keep COVID-19 out of the United States, there always has been criticism that the restrictions were used as an excuse to seal the border to migrants that Trump did not want to let in anyway. It was perhaps the broadest of President Donald Trumps actions to restrict crossings and crack down on migrants, and he instituted the policy over the objections of CDC officials, the AP reported. The health order has caused migrants to be expelled from the United States more than 1.7 million times since March 2020 without a chance for them to request asylum. Biden came into office promising a return to more humane immigration policies after the Trump administration, which separated thousands of children from their parents at the border. But Trump dramatically changed how the U.S. system functions, shrinking the number of asylum-seekers allowed into the U.S. and adding restrictions that caused the backlog of immigration court cases to explode. Biden undid many of Trumps policies and raised asylum caps, but some of his attempts have been stopped by courts, including the effort to end the Remain in Mexico policy, which forces migrants to wait in Mexico for their asylum cases to play out. The Supreme Court reinstated that policy, and there are thousands of people now in Mexico waiting for a chance to seek asylum. Advertisement Administration officials acknowledge there is likely to be a large influx at the border when the ban lifts, including Ukrainians displaced by the war with Russia. The U.S. government is erecting tents, bolstering agents, hiring more civilians and working to reduce the existing case backlog. Jessica Bolter, an associate policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, estimates the hardest hit spots could be Del Rio, Texas and Yuma, Arizona locations that are already overwhelmed. We were always going to see a significant spike in border crossings, she said. To some degree, the administration doesnt have a ton of options. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said Friday that a long-term solution can only come from comprehensive legislation that brings lasting reform to a fundamentally broken system. Biden knows prospects for Democrats and Republicans to come together on such a deal are remote. A 22-year-old man was fatally wounded, and three others were injured in a separate shooting within minutes of each other overnight Friday in the Pilsen and Palmer Square neighborhoods, Chicago police said. The fatally attack happened shortly after 11:30 p.m. Friday in Palmer Square neighborhood in the 2100 block of North Bingham Street. Advertisement Preliminary information said the victim was on the sidewalk when two males fired shots after an argument, striking him to the chest. He was taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. Shortly before 11:30 p.m, three men were shot in the Pilsen neighborhood in the 900 block of West Cullerton Street. Advertisement Police said the victims were involved in an exchange of gunfire with people in a red pick-u truck. A 33-year-old man suffered a wound to the right arm, and a second man, 34, suffered a wound to the buttocks. The third man, 47, suffered gunshot wounds to the body and was listed in critical condition at Stroger Hospital where all three men were taken for treatment, police said. The latest shooting happened shortly after 1:30 a.m. Saturday near the Oak Park and Chicago border in the 900 block of South Austin Boulevard. Police said a 26-year-old woman was northbound on Austin Boulevard when someone inside of a red sedan fired shots hitting her in the back. She was taken by Chicago Fire Department paramedics to Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood where she was listed in critical condition, police said. Detectives were investigating. On March 31, 2022, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Tajik Justice Minister Muzaffar Ashurion, who came to China to attend the Third Foreign Ministers' Meeting on the Afghan Issue Among the Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan, in Tunxi, Anhui Province. Wang Yi said, President Xi Jinping and President Emomali Rahmon have established deep friendship and strong mutual trust, and the strategic guidance of the two heads of state has provided the most important political guarantee for the development of bilateral relations. China firmly supports Tajikistan in safeguarding its independence, sovereignty and security, and in achieving its development goals. China will be Tajikistan's trustable and reliable strategic partner. Wang Yi said, China is ready to work with Tajikistan to jointly advance Belt and Road cooperation with high quality and help Tajikistan accelerate industrialization and agricultural modernization. China is ready to run Luban Workshop well to provide talent support for Tajikistan and enhance friendly exchanges among the youths. China is ready to strengthen cooperation with Tajikistan to fight against COVID-19 and speed up the construction of a China-Tajikistan center for traditional medicine. Ashurion extended congratulations on the positive outcomes of the series of meetings on the Afghan issue. He said that President Rahmon cherishes the friendship with President Xi Jinping and Tajikistan is also a reliable partner of China. Tajikistan is committed to expanding all-round cooperation with China and is ready to deepen Belt and Road cooperation and strengthen cooperation in investment, energy and production capacity. He thanked China for its strong support for Tajikistan's fight against the pandemic and expressed his willingness to strengthen bilateral cooperation in traditional medicine. The two sides agreed to deepen cooperation in the security field, firmly crack down on the "three evil forces" of terrorism, extremism, and separatism and transnational organized crimes, and maintain respective and regional security and stability. The two sides agreed to strengthen coordination and cooperation in multilateral institutions such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia. The first person announcing their candidacy to become the Wheat Citys next mayor is a familiar face. Advertisement Advertise With Us The first person announcing their candidacy to become the Wheat Citys next mayor is a familiar face. Three-term city councillor Jeff Fawcett (Assiniboine) revealed to the Sun on Friday that hes entering the race to replace incumbent Mayor Rick Chrest after first being elected to council in 2010. Earlier this year, Chrest announced his intention to retire from politics after eight years as mayor while Manitoba prepares for municipal elections later this October. With Fawcetts announcement, there are now four people who have declared their intentions to run for municipal office in Brandon. Councillors Shaun Cameron (University), Sunday Frangi (Meadows-Waverly) and Glen Parker (Riverview) have all said theyre running for re-election. "I want action, I want people to look at this election and have choices," Fawcett said. "Consciously or unconsciously, we did have to convince our current mayor to run again last time. He was going to be getting into his 60s. We did twist his arm, but I did have a lot of discussion with a lot of people at that point that if he wasnt going to run, they would have liked me to run." He had a lot of praise for Chrest, saying hes "loved" working with him and hell miss the mayors presence on council. If Chrest was running again, Fawcett likely wouldnt have entered the race. Asked what his leadership style would be like as mayor, Fawcett even said hed like it to be similar to Chrests. "I try to do that at my business, I try to do that on my other boards in that you do listen to people," he said. "Ive never been the smartest person in a room, but almost every room I go in, I get to learn an awful lot because I do like to listen to people. I know there are people skilled and talented in things that I am not. "Thats what municipal politics is; we dont agree on a lot of stuff, but you always listen and you find the skillsets of everyone around you and use them to their strengths." Throughout Chrests tenure as mayor, the Sun has run editorials criticizing him for having a lack of forward vision for the city. Though he doesnt believe things will change overnight, Fawcett said Brandon needs to better establish itself as Manitobas second-largest city "Weve always kinda been in that flux of are we the largest town in the province or the second major city," Fawcett said. "The reality is, we are the second major city in this province. We do need to step up and make sure that were addressing large urban issues and representing our region." He said southeastern Winnipeg has been working hard on development with the province and Brandon needs to step up and become more ambitious to get similar results. According to him, people have been asking again if he was going to run. At his business, D&B Sprinklers, preparations were being made in the event he might throw his name in the ring. One of the factors Fawcett said led him to run for mayor is timing. Hes at a point in his life where his sons are 18 and 19 respectively and he can take on the job without missing too much of their lives. "Im in that right spot in life, sometimes timing matters a great deal." The councillor also feels hes ready to put his experience in municipal governance and working with his council colleagues into practice. "Over time, Ive watched how the council itself matters and the people on there matter," he said. "I really want to work with the people on there. They bring skillsets that I dont have. You bring out the best in those people and you really get a picture of what Brandon needs when you listen to everybody on there. I think theres lots to do with the new group with at least a handful of new people on there." When it comes to his qualifications, Fawcett pointed not just to his time on council and his experience running a business, but his work with the Brandon Urban Aboriginal Peoples Council, the Brandon YMCA, the Blue Door Project, Helping Hands and more. Despite being the representative for one of the citys 10 wards, Fawcett said hes always aimed his efforts for the city as a whole. Those who watch council meetings regularly will know Fawcett is a believer in fiscal responsibility. Another factor in his decision to run for mayor is he thinks he can help the city balance its need to be prudent with taxpayers dollars while maintaining and improving services. With the provincial and federal governments spending big during the pandemic, Fawcett worries extra costs might get passed down to the municipal level. "We watched [former prime minister] Paul Martin as he fixed the federal government by hampering the provincial government and trickling everything down," he said. "We applauded him for what he did for the feds, but it came down. We really, really have to watch that things dont trickle down to the municipal level because it has nowhere to go but the taxpayer." In last years Meadows-Waverly byelection, fewer than 100 people voted. This time around, Fawcett would like to promote higher voter turnout. He said he chose this week to announce his candidacy in part because he wants to give any potential candidates looking to fill his seat on council enough time to mull over whether or not they want to make the four-year commitment if elected. "I think it is important that we have people run and you dont have to run against someone," he said. "You can just say I also want to run, youre doing a good job but I also want to run, Im willing to put my name up because Im at a good time in my life and if you choose me I think I could do a good job. I would expect people to run against me as mayor." Fawcett said he believes Chrest getting acclaimed through no fault of his own led to "embarrassing" voter turnout in 2018. He hopes a real contest for mayor this time around will improve turnout not just for council races, but for seats on the Brandon School Divisions board of trustees as well. "Im very excited about it," Fawcett said of his campaign. "My familys really excited about it as much as I do want competition, the reality is Ive entered the race because I intend to win it and Im going to do everything I can to win, because I want to still participate and still grow things Ive been working on, still continue to work with people Ive been working with in the community." For the full interview, listen to next weeks episode of the Suns podcast "Sunny Side Up," available at anchor.fm/the-brandon-sun, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. cslark@brandonsun.com Twitter: @ColinSlark ROME When Jade Harper of Peguis First Nation came to Rome to help make a documentary about the First Nations delegation meeting the Pope this week, she knew what she needed to bring: a brick. Advertisement Advertise With Us ROME When Jade Harper of Peguis First Nation came to Rome to help make a documentary about the First Nations delegation meeting the Pope this week, she knew what she needed to bring: a brick. Not just any brick. One from the former Brandon residential school attended by her grandmother and other relatives. The documentary filmmaker visited the site of the old school in 2015. While there, she felt compelled to take some small pieces of the structure with her. "I didnt know why back then," Harper said, adding shes held on to the items for seven years. When Harper learned she would be coming to Rome to help document the journey of survivors, "I brought those things with me, and I will be letting pieces of them go here," she said Friday. "I do not have a gift for the Pope, but I am returning some of what they brought to our homelands as a way of moving forward and healing." Harper wasnt yet sure where she will leave the items, but knows what it will mean for her. "The brick and wall pieces were witnesses to the traumatic experiences of my relatives," she said. "Im simply returning something that was never ours in the first place." Winnipeg Free Press One of the driving forces behind Granthams relocation after the deadly flood of 2011, in which 12 townspeople were killed, may not be easily applied to towns devastated by this years floods. Jamie Simmonds was a planning engineer who in 2011 was catapulted from finding faster ways to get projects approved to giving Grantham a second lease of life. Mr Simmonds moved on in 2016 after the new Grantham estate, about 100 kilometres west of Brisbane, was built on nearby higher ground. His work on the Strengthening Grantham Project gave him a worldwide reputation for community recovery that he will take to a conference at the US National Academy of Sciences in Washington next week, where he is slated to speak. In 2018, backbencher Julia Banks, upon resigning from the Liberal Party, denounced bullying and intimidation and an entrenched anti-woman bias in the party. Former deputy leader of the Liberal Party, Julie Bishop after leaving parliament - said that the treatment of women in politics would not be tolerated in any other workplace across Australia. Illustration: John Shakespeare Credit:SMH So why is nothing happening? Is the problem that we just see politics as horrible anyway? Or that politicians only acknowledge it at the point of retirement or resignation? Will this ever change if there is too great a cost to air concerns beforehand? A study in the Australian Journal of Social Issues published last week analysed the responses of Liberal MPs to allegations of bullying and intimidation by female MPs and found that a politics is tough repertoire served to downplay and legitimise bullying and intimidation as normative and unproblematic. As the authors, Jasmin Sorrentino, Martha Augoustinos and Amanda Le Couteur from the University of Adelaide, point out, the consistent pattern of responses to bullying is to deny it happens more with women than men, and to shrug it off as part of an intense political environment. Consider this language. When Morrison was asked on The Project about whether women had been bullied before his leadership win he said: Well politics is pretty ferocious. I mean, its probably been the most ferocious period of human politics over the last decade that I think we have seen since ... Gough Whitlams time when those ballots are conducted, both men and women are subject to a lot of pressure when they are making these decisions. Loading The president of the Liberal Partys Federal Womens Committee, Helen Kroger, told ABCs RN that both men and women cry during leadership contests, but that politics was just a rough and tough game and an environment which is not for everyone. What worries me is that accepting this premise just means only those blessed with rhinoceros hides, or narcissistic types who are oblivious to criticism because it is also packaged with attention will bother with politics. Dont we want gentler souls in politics along with the thick-skinned spotlight-bathers? And arent we all sick of ugly spats on our public stages? How often do you see a genuine act of grace in political life? In 2018 Fierravanti-Wells said if women wanted to complain, they should go through a complaints process. And we all know how that works out. Four years later, she is making her complaints public. Her serious charges should be investigated by the party, and probably wont be. I cannot speak to the truth of them. But in previously denying bullying when it happens to other women, and by shoring up the narrative that politics is a tough business, she too has been part of the problem. Sure, her act of vengeance on budget night was gutsy, but true courage would also require talking about behavioural issues in your own party or across parties when you are in Parliament, when you are in a position to lend weight to other people, when you are being watched by other men and women who have suffered from similarly vile behaviour and been silenced by the prospect that their complaints would only see that behaviour get uglier. There are many ways to support other women under fire without trashing your own party. Loading Think of all the women who either participated in, or silently watched the mass cultural bullying of former prime minister Julia Gillard. The stifling notion of putting up with all behaviour in the cause of unity is partly what made Brittany Higgins think she had to stay quiet about her alleged rape. She said: There is a strange culture of silence within the parties, as though to speak of poor conduct would be letting the team down. Who would it be letting down? Mostly the bullies. On Thursday night, speaking on a panel about women in politics (that I was also on with the journalists Jess Hill and Marian Wilkinson, organised by Avalons wonderful Bookoccino bookstore), Julia Banks was blunt: The leader determines the culture. This applies of course to all party leaders. What kind of culture is Albanese creating? How accountable has he been, and will he be to bullying behaviour in his party? Will Kitchings experience give him, and the party pause? The worst time for such allegations to be responded to is at the time of someones death. Health economist Professor Martin Hensher warns that long COVID poses a serious public health threat and critical data is missing. At the moment we really have no idea of the extent of long COVID in Australia, he said. We are flying pretty blind. Professor Hensher, who worked alongside a team modelling long COVID at Deakin University, estimates that at 12 weeks post infection, anywhere between 80,000 and 325,000 of the more than two million Australians infected during the first Omicron wave alone will have ongoing symptoms. And, while a large proportion are predicted to recover within six months, thousands are expected to experience persistent symptoms. He is part of a growing chorus of experts calling for the urgent rollout of a national survey to measure the scale of long COVID in Australia and a database to track symptoms. Loading In Australia, up to 30 per cent of seriously ill COVID-19 patients have reported at least one symptom persisting after six months. The most common symptom was shortness of breath, but others included fatigue, headaches and a loss of taste or smell. Ms Costello, who was double vaccinated six months before contracting the virus, and before boosters were approved, is one of an estimated more than 90,000 Australians who have a smell or taste disorder after six months. The figure in Australia is far below other parts of the world where Delta was the prevalent variant. Studies have found up to 60 per cent of people who had Delta lost their sense of smell and/or taste, compared to one in five with Omicron, the most common variant in Australia. About two per cent of those people will have impaired senses long term. Peoples experiences range from complete or partial loss to distorted and imagined senses. Some people complain certain foods taste like garbage or rotting meat, while others can smell faeces or smoke when neither are nearby. Ms Costello often gets phantom garbage smells. Exactly why this occurs is still unknown, but there is an emerging consensus, including by a team studying the phenomena at Harvard Medical School, that smell loss occurs when the coronavirus infects cells that support neurons in the nose. To the frustration of sufferers, there is no easy cure for olfactory dysfunction. Smell training, which involves sniffing several potent scents twice a day to stimulate the olfactory system, is the recommended treatment. But it will not help everyone. There arent robust studies on its efficacy among COVID-19 survivors and earlier studies show it works to some degree on about half of sufferers. Chrissi Kelly, who founded UK charity AbScent after losing her smell due to a sinus infection and now is a published researcher in the field, said it took dedication and at least four months to see results. Simon Carney, a spokesperson for the Australian Society of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, said smell training kits should be included on the Medicare Benefits Schedule. Steroid nasal sprays and vitamin A drops have also shown some efficacy. Professor Carney said the area had long been neglected, but that COVID-19 had spurred promising research in the UK and elsewhere, including a trial of a drug to stimulate olfactory nerve growth. Ms Kelly, who regained her sense of smell after eight years before losing it again from COVID-19, said most peoples senses would return in time. Susanna Vitikainen, who lives in Ocean Grove on Victorias Bellarine Peninsula, gets phantom smells (phantosmia) and has lost her sense of taste on and off since contracting COVID-19 in January. Susanna Vitikainen, who suffers from long-COVID with a variety of symptoms including loss of taste, phantom smells, fatigue, nerve pain and brian fog. Credit:Luis Ascui But more distressing for her is the severe nerve pain, chest pain, heart palpitations, fatigue and brain fog, which forced her to resign from her job as a chef. I will spend days in bed, and Ill be lucky to go to [the] kitchen or shower or get dressed, said the 54-year-old, who was double vaccinated and booked in for a booster when she was infected. At The Alfred hospital in Melbourne, senior clinical neuropsychologist, Dr Leonie Keall is treating an increasing number of people with perplexing symptoms lingering many months after their coronavirus diagnosis. Some were infected as far back as July last year. Demand for neuropsychological treatment is soaring to record levels nationally and Dr Keall says there is a growing need for more services to help treat increasing numbers of people experiencing brain fog post COVID. Some people describe it as feeling like theyre hung over every day, they have greatly reduced mental clarity, they feel less sharp, theyre forgetful, Dr Keall said. One woman said she felt like her whole world had been thrown out the window and another said it was like her brain had been cut in half. Its been really tough on a lot of people. Some of her patients describe absent mindedness, like putting objects in the fridge mistakenly. Others have trouble remembering words or their phone numbers. For most people, fatigue fuels their cognitive difficulties, so her job is to help them manage their sleep and to regain their concentration through cognitive rehabilitation therapy. Most of the patients she treats are aged in their 20s to 50s and many were high-achieving people with fast-paced jobs before being struck down with coronavirus. For some, treatment can be easily adapted into their daily life; keeping a whiteboard in their kitchen to trigger their memory, setting timers to ensure to take regular breaks at work and keeping a diary to remind them of what they need to do each day. But it is the unpredictability and uncertainty of the condition that distresses people the most. Its confronting, and it is a scary thing for people, Dr Keall said. They want answers on when they will be better, but the research is still in the early stages. The hardest thing is that we cant give them those definitive answers. Professor Carney said smell and taste loss could lead to a significant reduction in quality of life. The loss of taste can make people extremely depressed and suicidal, he said, especially in a country like Australia where we are so food and drink culture orientated. Loading Ms Kelly said there was also a biological component to the depression as the smell sense was located in the same part of the brain that governed emotion and memory. Disruption to the mechanisms of smells, in this very important, central part of the brain, of course is going to affect the way we feel and think and act, she said. A 2021 study, co-authored by Ms Kelly, found health care professionals often overlooked the serious consequences of smell and taste loss, including malnutrition, reduced psychological wellbeing and impaired relationships. The tax structure has meant that since 2015, Australian adherents have been able to draw on $400 million in tax deductions not available to followers of other religions or denominations. A Mormon Church spokesman did not respond to written questions about this discrepancy, but said the church operated in accordance with tax laws. Dr Neville Rochow, QC, says the church has structured itself to minimise tax. In the mid-2010s, Dr Rochow was involved in a Mormon-instigated econometric study used to justify its tax status and to ensure that religious trust properties of other churches were not taxed. Soon after, it started to direct substantial donations and tithing through its charitable trust a decision he was not involved in. Before that, in a submission it made to Treasury, the church said it spent just $36,000 a year, on average, on charitable donations between 1985 and 2010. There has been little to no growth in the 61,600 Mormon adherents in Australia over the past decade that could explain the reported 2000-fold increase in charitable giving. Each year, funds are transferred from the churchs charitable trust to a separate entity, Sydney-based LDS Charities Australia. From that entity, about $70 million a year is distributed to global charitable causes. The church spokesman said after LDS Charities Australia was created in 2012, there was a desire and the ability to significantly increase the support of global humanitarian and development projects. That $70 million a year is close to the amount the global church whose strongest following is in the United States itself says it gives each year on average throughout the world, according to its own annual reports. LDS Charities Australia has no paid staff, Australian website, expenses or infrastructure to run what purports to be one of the countrys major charities, collecting more in individual donations than Oxfam, Beyond Blue or Caritas Australia, the Catholic Churchs international aid charity. It runs in parallel with the Utah-based Latter-Day Saints Charities, which apparently directs the churchs charitable spending throughout the world and includes all its senior staff, management and infrastructure. A church spokesman denied LDS Charities Australia was run by Utah-based Latter Day Saints Charities and said it funded programs through other charities including the Red Cross, Water for the People and the World Food Programme, allowing it to keep costs low. All decisions about which projects are funded are made right here in Australia, the spokesman said. The programs it cited were also funded by its Utah-based charity. University of Tampa professor of sociology Ryan Cragun, an expert on Mormonism, said it was inconceivable that the church was making significant global charitable decisions from Australia. Its a stunningly hierarchical religion, Professor Cragun said. So, any big decisions like that are going to be made in Salt Lake City. In 2019, the Australian Tax Office made a binding ruling that for an Australian charity to have deductible gift recipient (DGR) status which allows tax write-offs for donors it must have Australia as the focal point of the DGR in a legal or organisational sense. University of Tampa sociology professor Ryan Cragun Krystian Seibert, a charities expert at Swinburne Universitys Centre for Social Impact, speaking in general terms, said the DGR rule meant the operations and management decisions of a charity needed to be made from Australia. It can, of course, engage and consult with partner organisations outside Australia, but if it effectively outsources operational and management decision-making to individuals or organisations that are outside Australia, that could raise issues under our tax laws. Mormonism is a US religious movement that began in the 19th century and has become incredibly wealthy. A Washington Post investigation in 2020 revealed the church was secretly running a $US100 billion investment fund, Ensign Peak Advisors, that was accumulating vast tax-free wealth by investing in hedge funds, Chevron, Visa, Apple and some of the biggest landholdings in the US. Professor Cragun said the church, for a time, disclosed its charitable giving, which equated to less than 1 per cent of its revenue. It is shocking how little they give, he suggested. But on the flipside, this is the part thats really interesting: they advertise it every single time. And thats where the ex-Mormon in me is like, Thats exactly what Jesus said not to do. He said many of the churchs current leaders called apostles had backgrounds in senior positions in the corporate world. The international church, he said, was run like a multinational corporation, with practices all but identical around the world. According to Cragun, the church is likely to milk the system for every tax deduction they can... And theyre very, very good at it. Senior ex-Mormon Simon Southerton has been involved in a complaint to the Australian Charities and not-for-profits Commission about the churchs tax practices. Loading The sea devoured the beaches and the wind brought down trees and their branches on Saturday as the low-pressure system that brought flooding to the North Coast earlier in the week moved south. Only 11 beaches were open between the Queensland and Victorian borders and waves reached heights of over five metres, nudging closer to six metres on the South Coast, with south-facing beaches copping the brunt of the weather. The lifeguard tower at Bondi Beach at high tide on Saturday morning. Credit:Dylan Coker The high tide all but swallowed Bondi in the morning, with waves slurping across its famous promenade and spilling across the road. It also lapped at the front steps of houses in Avoca on the Central Coast. A dinghy broke free of its moorings at Gordons Bay and made it as far as Bondi, where it was spotted half-submerged in the broiling swell and triggered a search party, until the owner presented at a police station and declared it was unmanned. Police have made an emergency declaration due to an ongoing hazard south-west of Brisbane, where two bodies have been found. About 4pm on Friday, police attended a Blakes Road property at Rosewood, west of Ipswich, to conduct a welfare check. Police say due to the rural nature of the location, there is no risk to any other property owner. Credit:Jason South Inside, they found two bodies, but preliminary investigations indicate the deaths were not suspicious. However, police have identified several potential hazards within the home resulting in an exclusion zone being declared as a precaution. Online exchange platform Syndex paid tribute to Mr Perry, aged in his 50s, as a great friend and colleague, who joined the company in 2020 to lead its Australian business. Chief executive Ross Verry said Mr Perry was a genuine champion of the businesses he worked with and for, and, we were in awe of his standing in the Australian and global agricultural sector. Most of all he was a standout bloke, with a huge zest for life and a wonderful family that he adored and who adored him, Mr Verry said. He leaves behind a wide group of family, friends and colleagues that will miss him dreadfully. Pilot Dean Neal. The AXIchain website stated Mr Perry had a long history in banking, finance, and capital markets in the agriculture and agribusiness industries. He lived in NSW, and once worked as the head of agribusiness for ANZs corporate and institutional banking division. The company said both Mr Perry and Ms Woodford were on the flight, which was from Melbourne to Ulupna, near Victorias northern border, to visit clients in regional Victoria. Nine News reported on Saturday the charter company that owned and operated the helicopter, Microflite, was working to put together a tribute to the people who died in the crash. Ms Woodfords friend Miriam van Heusden told The Age and Sydney Morning Herald she was very passionate, strong and family-orientated, and was living her dream as the companys chief executive. Martin Gibson, who said he was Ms Woodfords friend of 25 years, described her on Facebook as a beautiful, fun-loving and genuinely compassionate soul. Linda Woodford, founder and chief executive of AXIchain. Credit:AXIchain She packed a lot into her half century, and shell leave a big hole in so many peoples lives, including mine, he wrote. Pilot Dean Neal, aged 32 from Cheltenham, was remembered by his family as someone who was fun-loving and lived life to the fullest. Dean has always been the most conscientious of professional pilots and always put the safety and wellbeing of his passengers in the highest of his priorities during his many years of professional service, his father, Rodney, said in a statement. We know Dean would have done anything in his power to deliver his passengers safely to their destination. Albert Park grandfather and stalwart of the global meat industry Paul Troja, 73, took the flight to Ulupna, near Victorias northern border, to assist with the sale of a business, according to his son Luke Troja. He had vowed it would be his last job, and welcomed a new granddaughter only the day before the crash near Blairs Hut on Thursday. Stalwart of the global meat industry Paul Troja. Credit:Nine News He wanted to spend more time with family, but he wanted to do one more last job to get money behind him, so he could help us out with things that we wanted to do, Luke Troja told Nine News. This was going to be it, then he was going to give it away. Another man who died in the tragedy, also from NSW, is yet to be identified. Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigators took over the site of the helicopter crash on Friday, and bureau chief commissioner Angus Mitchell said they would stay there analysing the wreckage for at least three days. Once their analysis was done and they had retrieved any components to take back to their Canberra technical facilities, it would be up to the helicopters owner or their insurance company to have the wreckage winched out. As of Friday afternoon, investigators were yet to retrieve anything from the aircraft, or talk to the pilot of the other helicopter, which was in convoy with the one that crashed. Mr Mitchell said, that certainly will be one of our priorities. Well gather anything we can, whether it be recorders, whether it be anything that passengers may have had on them at the time, Mr Mitchell said. Well also look at not only whats on the ground there, [but] well try and put up drones ... to get a picture of what was the flight path of the helicopter in its final moments, particularly where it may have impacted any of the trees, and what that story can tell us. Victoria Polices Chief Commissioner Shane Patton said the terrain of Mount Disappointment and amount of wreckage strewn around the scene meant it would be a complex investigation. He said it would be some time before the bodies of the five people who died in the crash could be retrieved. On March 31, 2022, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister Umurzakov Sardor Uktamovich, who came to China to attend the Third Foreign Ministers' Meeting on the Afghan Issue Among the Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan, in Tunxi, Anhui Province. Wang Yi said that since China and Uzbekistan established diplomatic ties 30 years ago, the two countries have trusted and supported each other and deepened cooperation in various fields to an unprecedented level. The two heads of state have maintained close exchanges and established solid mutual trust, charting the course for the development of China-Uzbekistan relations. China will continue to support Uzbekistan in pursuing the development path that suits its national conditions and is ready to work with Uzbekistan to implement the important consensus between the two heads of state and push bilateral relations to a new level. Wang Yi said that China is willing to further align the Belt and Road Initiative with the new Uzbekistan Development Strategy and make proper preparations for the China-Uzbekistan Intergovernmental Cooperation Committee. China stands ready to expand its economic, trade and investment cooperation with Uzbekistan, select and implement a number of key cooperation projects, and expand new energy cooperation to create a diversified and multifaceted cooperation pattern. Umurzakov said that President Shavkat Mirziyoyev values his high-level mutual trust and deep friendship with President Xi Jinping. Uzbekistan firmly adheres to the one-China policy and is committed to deepening the friendship between the two countries. Uzbekistan admires China's development achievements, looks forward to learning from China's experience in governance, especially in poverty alleviation, and is willing to strengthen cooperation with China in various fields. The two sides agreed to strengthen connectivity cooperation to add new impetus to the regional integration process. It was also agreed to tap the potential of agricultural cooperation, strengthen people-to-people exchanges and cooperation at the sub-national level, deepen anti-pandemic and medical and health cooperation, and build a China-Uzbekistan health community. The two sides agreed to support Kazakhstan in hosting the third China + Central Asia (C+C5) foreign ministers' meeting to deepen solidarity and cooperation and jointly withstand risks and challenges. The two sides also agreed to enhance communication and coordination within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Wang Yi said that China fully supports Uzbekistan in hosting the SCO Samarkand Summit, and stands ready to jointly oppose external interference, combat the "three forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism and build a solid regional security barrier. Umurzakov thanked China for its support, and hopes to work together to ensure the success of the Summit. The two sides exchanged views on the Afghan issue. Umurzakov congratulated China on successfully holding a series of meetings on the Afghan issue and achieving important outcomes of these meetings. Wang Yi expressed his welcome and support for Uzbekistan's hosting of the Fourth Foreign Ministers' Meeting on the Afghan Issue Among the Neighboring Countries of Afghanistan. He also expressed his willingness to work with all parties to help Afghanistan attain peace, stability and development at an early date. Ive been in the Liberal Party for over 40 years, and Ive never witnessed such a vicious preselection with such distortions of the truth, Ms Ficarra told The Sun Herald and The Sunday Age on Saturday. It almost caused me to want to leave the party from what I saw. Liberal members elected Mr Towke as their candidate for Cook in a ballot in July 2007 in which he won 82 votes and Mr Morrison won 8, but this sparked a dispute over the claims against Mr Towke and led to Mr Morrison being endorsed as the candidate the following month. Another person who voted in the ballot, Lorraine Johnson, said she knew of claims made against Mr Towke that were false. I remember it was an unfair preselection. It was unfair to Michael Towke, she said. The two statutory declarations, signed in 2016 about the events in 2007, claim Mr Morrison told party members it was electorally risky to select Mr Towke because of his ethnic background and because of rumours he was a Muslim. Outgoing Liberal senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells left it until she was on the way out to take a stand. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The ballot came less than two years after the Cronulla riots in 2005, which pitted some beachgoers against youths with Middle East backgrounds at the beachside suburb that is part of the Cook electorate. One of the declarations was from a delegate in the preselection, Scott Chapman, who said Mr Morrison spoke about his rivals family background as a factor in the contest. Scott Morrison told me that, if Michael Towke were to be preselected, there would be a swing against the Liberal Party in Cook because of Mr Towkes Lebanese background, Mr Chapman said. Also during that meeting, Scott Morrison informed me that there was a strong rumour about that Michael Towke is actually a Moslem [sic]. Mr Chapman worked for the local Liberal effort after the preselection and helped Mr Morrison win the seat, gaining recognition for this in the Prime Ministers first speech to Parliament when he thanked Mr Chapman for being part of his campaign team. In his 2016 statutory declaration, however, Mr Chapman said that Mr Morrison had told him during the 2007 contest that there were numerous allegations against Mr Towke. The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age sought comment from Mr Chapman, but he declined to respond. The second declaration, written by Mr Towke, says a number of party members told him Mr Morrison had appealed to them to vote against him solely on the rationale that my family heritage was Lebanese because this would hurt the Liberal campaign. He was adamant and explicit that a candidate of Lebanese heritage could not hold the seat of Cook, especially after the Cronulla riots, he said. It was also brought to my attention that in some of these meetings Morrison informed the preselector that he was aware of a strong rumour that I was actually a Muslim. Scott Morrison, speaking with locals at Cronulla Beach in the lead up to the 2007 federal election, and (inset) Michael Towke. Credit:Dallas Kilponen/Jon Reid This masthead has previously reported that Mr Towke grew up as a Maronite Catholic and went to Marcellin College in Randwick and later attended Our Lady of the Way, a Catholic church in Sylvania, where the Liberal branch became part of his base in the preselection. The statutory declarations were signed in 2016 after several years of litigation in which Mr Towke received $50,000 from News Corp Australia publications over their reports on the claims made against him and also received $33,000 from the Liberal Party to refund his legal costs. Loading The two statutory declarations were not used in legal proceedings and appear to have been prepared to record events for media inquiries, although their contents were not revealed until this weekend in an online report by this masthead and a report in The Saturday Paper. Mr Morrison on Saturday denied that he had ever warned Liberal Party members the safe seat of Cook for which he hoped to be pre-selected at that time in 2007 could be lost because voters might mistakenly believe Mr Towke was a Muslim. Asked directly if he had said those words, or warned about Mr Towkes Lebanese background, the Prime Minister said no three times to questions from journalists. Mr Morrisons spokesman emphatically rejected the claims when asked on Friday if the Prime Minister had spoken in this way about his opponents Lebanese background or the rumour he was a Muslim. These claims are baseless and false and reflect poorly on those spreading such lies with such malicious intent, the spokesman said. The former member for the seat, Bruce Baird, who was aware of the preselection dispute but did not vote in the contested ballot, said he had never heard Mr Morrison say anything racist. I never found him racist, I didnt find him a bully, said Mr Baird, who employed Mr Morrison at the Tourism Council when he led the organisation in the 1990s, in a period between being a NSW government minister and moving into federal politics. There were lots of people he interacted with, but nobody said he was a bully. Ive never heard him say anything racist at all. Another former member, Stephen Mutch, who represented Cook in the 1990s, said he voted for Mr Towke in the ballot after hearing from Mr Morrison. Mr Chapman was one of Mr Morrisons campaign team in the 2007 election and was thanked by the Prime Minister in his first speech to Parliament, but wrote the statutory declaration in 2016 to record the conversations in which Mr Morrison raised Mr Towkes family background. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age sought comment from Mr Chapman but he declined to respond. The second declaration, written by Mr Towke, says a number of party members told him Mr Morrison had appealed to them to vote against him solely on the rationale that my family heritage was Lebanese because this would hurt the Liberal campaign. He was adamant and explicit that a candidate of Lebanese heritage could not hold the seat of Cook, especially after the Cronulla riots, he said. The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age contacted Mr Towke, but he declined to comment. The statutory declarations were signed in 2016 after several years of litigation in which Mr Towke received $50,000 from News Corp Australia publications over their reports on the claims made against him and also received $33,000 from the Liberal Party to refund his legal costs. The two statutory declarations were not used in legal proceedings. Mr Morrison on Saturday denied that he had ever warned Liberal Party members the safe seat of Cook for which he hoped to be pre-selected at that time in 2007 could be lost because voters might mistakenly believe Mr Towke was a Muslim. Asked directly if he had said those words, or warned about Mr Towkes Lebanse background, the Prime Minister said no three times to questions from journalists. Asked where the story had come from, Mr Morrison said youll have to ask them. Mr Morrisons spokesman emphatically rejected the claims when asked if the Prime Minister had spoken in this way about his opponents Lebanese background or the rumour he was a Muslim. These claims are baseless and false and reflect poorly on those spreading such lies with such malicious intent, the spokesman said. Labor leader Anthony Albanese said on Saturday that the comments attributed to Mr Morrison spoke to his character. These reports join other reports from within the Prime Ministers own party. You have, whether its the former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, his current Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, the comments that have been made by Gladys Berejiklian, the former premier of New South Wales, the comments this week of Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, but also crossbenchers like Pauline Hanson and Jacqui Lambie, who have dealt with this prime minister, he said. There is a theme comes through about the Prime Ministers character, and Ill leave other people to look at those comments and make their own judgments. Mr Albanese pointed out that Mr Morrison had won just eight votes in the first ballot for the seat of Cook, before the preselection was re-run. They [Liberal pre-selectors] judged that other candidates would be better to represent their local community than Scott Morrison, he said. The former member for the seat, Bruce Baird, who was aware of the preselection dispute but did not vote in the contested ballot, said he had never heard Mr Morrison say anything racist. I never found him racist, I didnt find him a bully, said Mr Baird, who employed Mr Morrison at the Tourism Council when he led the organisation in the 1990s, in a period between being a NSW government minister and moving into federal politics. There were lots of people he interacted with, but nobody said he was a bully. Ive never heard him say anything racist at all. Another former member, Stephen Mutch, who represented Cook in the 1990s, said he voted for Mr Towke in the ballot after hearing from Mr Morrison. In that preselection, Morrisons telephone sales pitch to me galvanised my support for Michael Towke, said Dr Mutch, who became an academic at Macquarie University after leaving Parliament. Dr Mutch added that he had great sympathy for Senator Fierravanti-Wells in her complaints about manipulated preselection processes in the NSW division of the Liberal Party, a concern that led some members to go to court last week to seek the right to vote in preselection ballots. The fact that genuine grassroots democracy is a sick joke in the party is the reason I am no longer a member of it, he said. Senator Fierravanti-Wells told the Senate last Tuesday that Scott Morrison was not fit to be prime minister because of his conduct. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen The events of 2007 have been disputed within the Liberal Party ever since Mr Morrison gained endorsement and entered Parliament, leading Senator Fierravanti-Wells to tell the Senate last Tuesday that he was not fit to be prime minister because of his conduct. In an extraordinary attack on a Liberal prime minister from an elected member of his party ahead of an election, Senator Fierravanti-Wells described Mr Morrison as ruthless and a bully and said he had made racial comments against Mr Towke in the 2007 preselection contest. Mr Towke was close to Ms Fierravanti-Wells who had supported him in his preselection bid. Mr Morrison rejected those claims last week and said he understood why Senator Fierravanti-Wells was disappointed she had lost a ballot last month to keep her place on the Senate ticket, which means she will leave the upper house on June 30. Cabinet ministers including Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, Finance Minister Simon Birmingham and Financial Services Minister Jane Hume defended Mr Morrison and noted that Senator Fierrvanti-Wells had lost the ballot to stay in Parliament. I can say that Ive never experienced bullying within the party, certainly not from this prime minister, Senator Hume said last week. Two other candidates in the disputed 2007 preselection, Paul Fletcher and David Coleman, also lost to Mr Morrison but went on to win other seats for the Liberal Party at later elections and both serve as ministers in the government. Mr Fletcher is Communications Minister and Mr Coleman is Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. In the years since the ballot neither has said Mr Morrison made racial comments or acted unfairly, but both declined to comment for this story. Questions over character are likely to become part of the election campaign after Mr Morrison challenged Mr Albanese on whether he had the toughness to lead the country. Mr Albanese has been under fire from the government over his refusal to launch a review into the treatment of Kimberley Kitching, who died of a suspected heart attack on March 10. With Senator Kitchings friends revealing concerns that she was bullied by Senate colleagues including Penny Wong, Kristina Keneally and Katy Gallagher, the government has accused the Labor leader of being a hypocrite for not being willing to look into problems in his own party after calling for reviews into the Liberals. What weve got from Anthony Albanese, at the first sign of hard questions, and were not even into the campaign, he has gone into complete hiding. Frankly, I think its pretty gutless, Mr Morrison said on March 22. The Prime Ministers supporters dismissed the claims from Senator Fierravanti-Wells by saying they were motivated by sour grapes because she did not keep her position on the Coalition Senate ticket for the coming election at a ballot held last weekend. Labor aged care spokesman Clare ONeil took a swipe at Mr Morrison during an interview on Sky News on Friday by listing people including Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce who had expressed a very dim view of the Prime Minister. Australian academics are calling for the voting age to be lowered from 18 to 16 years of age, as the push for young people to have a say about issues like climate change gains momentum around the world. Chair of adolescent health at Melbourne University Susan Sawyer believes its only a matter of time before Australia lowers the voting age. Secondary student Brigid Potter, 17, supports lowering the voting age. Credit:Jason South Professor Sawyer, one of the worlds leading authorities on adolescent health, says the rise in social media combined with a more politically active younger population demonstrated that 16-year-olds were aware of their political clout. In this age of social media, young people have realised that they can be much more politically active and can influence political decision-making through the range of activities that they have been engaged in, she says. A beachfront house in Bronte sold for $17.7 million at auction on Saturday, surpassing its 2018 sale price by $6.5 million. Four buyers turned out to compete for the three-storey home owned by F45 co-founder Rob Deutsch, and bidding from two parties pushed the sale price past the $17.5 million guide. F45 gym founder Rob Deutsch sold his Bronte house. Credit: It was one of 921 Sydney properties scheduled for auction on Saturday. By evening, Domain Group recorded a preliminary clearance rate of 66.1 per cent from 657 reported results, while 153 auctions were withdrawn. Withdrawn auctions are counted as unsold properties when calculating the clearance rate. The auction for the three-bedroom house began with an opening offer of $14 million. Bidding hit $15 million on the second offer, then climbed in a mix of six-figure increments and $50,000 raises as two of the bidders went head-to-head. Brussels: China has offered the European Union assurances that it will seek peace in Ukraine but says it will be on its own terms, deflecting pressure for a tougher stance towards Russia. Premier Li Keqiang told EU leaders that Beijing would push for peace in its own way, while President Xi Jinping said he hoped the EU would treat China independently, in a nod to Europes close ties with the United States. Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during a video meeting with European Union leaders on Saturday. Credit:Xinhua/AP The EU told Beijing during the virtual summit with Li and Xi that ended in the early hours of Saturday not to allow Moscow to circumvent Western sanctions imposed over Russias invasion of Ukraine. We called on China to help end the war in Ukraine. China cannot turn a blind eye to Russias violation of international law, European Council President Charles Michel told a news briefing with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen after the first EU-China summit since December 30, 2020. on Friday announced the temporary slowing down of production of COVAXIN across its manufacturing facilities, having completed its supply obligations to procurement agencies and foreseeing the decrease in demand. "For the coming period, the company will focus on pending facility maintenance, process and facility optimization activities. As all existing facilities were repurposed for the manufacture of COVAXIN, with continuous production during the past year, to meet the public health emergency of COVID-19, these upgrades were due," said. Certain highly sophisticated equipment which was required to enhance the process stringency was unavailable during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has to be stressed that the quality of COVAXIN was never compromised at any point in time, it said. During the recent WHO post-EUL inspection, agreed with the WHO team on the scope of the planned improvement activities and indicated that they will be executed as soon as practical. The company was also pleased to learn from the WHO, that the necessary optimization work "does not indicate a change in the risk-benefit ratio (for Covaxin) and the data, available to WHO indicates the vaccine is effective and no safety concern exists". The WHO has further stated, "The vaccine is currently under the WHO Emergency Use Listing (EUL)". This risk assessment by the WHO is based on the supply of hundreds of millions of doses of COVAXIN globally, during which the product has demonstrated an excellent safety and efficacy profile in detailed and thorough post-marketing surveillance activities. "More than 1 million doses of COVAXIN were oriented under the clinical trial mode, where the safety of subjects was actively documented. Finally, COVAXIN has been extensively evaluated in 30,000 subjects in more than 10 controlled clinical trials, resulting in more than 15 publications. Based on this wide body of data as well as a wealth of empirical evidence from India and globally, this is a strong justification for the WHO conclusions on COVAXIN safety and efficacy," Bharat Biotech said. "Notwithstanding this excellent safety and efficacy record, Bharat Biotech is diligently working to further improvements and upgrades to ensure that the production of COVAXIN continues to meet ever-increasing global regulatory requirements. Since patient safety is the primary consideration for any new vaccine, there can be no compromises in meeting operational excellence objectives," it said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) IT major is shifting its services from Russia to its other global delivery centres, according to sources. The move comes amid mounting pressure on UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak, who has been fielding some tough questions lately over the Russian presence of Infosys, a company in which his wife, Akshata Murty, has a share. Sources said that is transitioning services from Russia to other global delivery centres but did not elaborate on any details. has less than 100 employees in Russia, and the status of the local staff there and whether they will be relocated could not be immediately ascertained. To a emailed query by PTI, Infosys said, "We do not have any comments". The UK earlier imposed wide-ranging sanctions on Russian businesses and individuals, with Sunak issuing a call for all UK to think very carefully about any investments in Russia over the ongoing Ukrainian conflict. With reference to stringent sanctions being imposed on Russia, Sunak, who is the son-in-law of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy was asked on air if his advice to businesses was not being followed within his own home. The minister stressed that the operations of individual was a matter for them. Last month, an Infosys statement said the multinational software services major supports and advocates for peace between Russia and Ukraine. The statement had said: "Infosys has a small team of employees based out of Russia, that services some of our global clients, locally. We do not have any active business relationships with local Russian enterprises. "A key priority for Infosys in times of adversity, is to continue extending support to the community. The company has committed USD 1 million towards relief efforts for the victims of war from Ukraine. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ltd (MCL), a subsidiary of Coal India Ltd (CIL), on Friday said it has produced 168 million tonnes (MT) of coal during the financial year 2021-22 registering a growth of about 14 per cent over the previous fiscal. The company said it has set new milestones in all the performance parameters vis-a-vis coal production, despatch and overburden removal (OBR). Addressing a press conference here, MCL Chairman-cum-Managing Director O.P. Singh said: "The last fiscal has been a great year, full of achievements for the company, and I am happy to inform that MCL's achievement in had been 103 per cent of target at a record 168.17 million tonne for the financial year ended yesterday." Besides, the company has dispatched 176.17 MT coal to the consumers, with a growth of 21 per cent over previous year, he said. Similarly, the MCL has registered a growth of more than 18 per cent in overburden removal at 207 MCuM (million cubic meters), which will help us toAincrease the during the current fiscal, Singh said. He also said that MCL had been successful in meeting the rising demand of coal during the third quarter of last financial year 2021-22, despite challenges posed by Covid-19 pandemic. About the future of coal demand, Singh said: "It is estimated that the coal demand will continue to remain high in the coming times." The company has set a target to produce 176 million tonne coal in the financial year 2022-23. "We have also made advance preparations, keeping in view the erratic rainy season and other operational challenges, to meet the rising demand by producing more coal," he said. He also said that the company has also done capital expenditure of Rs 3,805 crore during the last financial year, which would help MCL in meeting the future goals. MCL is the largest coal producing company in the country, having its mining operations spread over Sundergarh, Jharsuguda and Angul districts of Odisha. --IANS bbm/vd (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prabhakar Sail, an independent witness of the (NCB) in the drugs-on-cruise case involving Aryan Khan, died of a heart attack, police said on Saturday. Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil said the death seemed suspicious and he has ordered Director General of Police Rajnish Seth to conduct a probe. "Prabhakar Sail, 37, died of a heart attack at his house in Mahul (in Mumbai) on Friday evening," a police official said earlier in the day. He was rushed to the civic-run Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar where he was declared brought dead, the official added. "The sudden death of Sail looks suspicious and I have ordered the DGP to probe the matter," Walse-Patil told reporters. Police initiated a probe by registering an Accidental Death Report at suburban RCF Police Station. Sail was living in a rented house in Mahul area for the last few days, said a senior police official, adding it was not immediately known why he had shifted there. Sail's lawyer Tushar Khandare confirmed that he suffered a heart attack, and said Sail's family members do not suspect foul play. Sail, who claimed to be the bodyguard of NCB witness K P Gosavi, had alleged in an affidavit that he had heard Gosavi discussing a Rs 25 crore pay-off deal to let off Aryan, son of Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, in an alleged drug seizure case. The NCB had told a court later that Sail has turned hostile. Aryan Khan was arrested during an NCB raid on a cruise ship off the coast on October 3, 2021. He and 19 others were booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for alleged possession, consumption, sale/purchase of banned drugs, conspiracy and abetment. Aryan and 17 others got bail while only two accused are currently in judicial custody. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) On April 2, 2022, President Xi Jinping exchanged congratulatory messages with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Xi Jinping pointed out, China and Azerbaijan are traditional partners of friendly cooperation. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties 30 years ago, China-Azerbaijan relations have maintained a sound and steady momentum of development. The two sides have deepened political mutual trust, made solid progress in cooperation across the board and conducted closer coordination on international and regional affairs. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, China and Azerbaijan have stood together and helped each other, demonstrating the traditional friendship between the two peoples. Xi Jinping stressed that I attach great importance to the development of China-Azerbaijan relations and stand ready to work with President Aliyev to take the 30th anniversary as an opportunity to push for more achievements in bilateral ties and cooperation in various areas for the benefit of the two countries and the two peoples. Aliyev said, Azerbaijan-China relations have continued to develop on the basis of mutual trust. The two sides have carried out mutually beneficial cooperation in politics, economy and trade and other areas at a high level, and multilateral cooperation has also achieved fruitful results. The Azerbaijani side supports the Belt and Road Initiative and believes that the traditional friendship between Azerbaijan and China will continue to deepen and benefit the people in both countries. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has become the first party since 1988 to touch the 100-seat mark in the with the results of biennial elections to the Upper House. The rise of numbers in the House has been accompanied by a decline in Congress numbers as the opposition party has lost a string of assembly polls since 2014. The loss of Punjab to the Aam Aadmi Party in the recent assembly polls has further brought down Congress numbers and the party will be close to losing the status of Leader of Opposition that its leader has in the House, by July this year. The and NDA's growing strength in is also likely to translate into the government legislation having a smoother passage in the upper House. In Himachal Pradesh, candidate Dr Sikandar Kumar was elected unopposed to . The party now has all seats from the state in the Upper House of . S Phangnon Konyak, who is the president of BJP Nagaland unit's Mahila Morcha, was also elected unopposed to the Upper House. She is the first Rajya Sabha MP of the BJP from Nagaland. BJP Tripura president Manik Saha won the lone Rajya Sabha seat from the state on Thursday, becoming the first member of the BJP from the state in the Upper House. BJP and Indigenous Peoples Front of Tripura (IPFT) MLAs cast their votes in favour of Saha and he left his rival candidate Bhanu Lal Saha far behind in the race. BJP and its ally United People's Party Liberal won the two Rajya Sabha seats in Assam for which polling was held. For the first time, Congress will have no Rajya Sabha MP from Assam. The polls later this year in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and next year in Karnataka will be vital for Congress to also shore up its numbers in Rajya Sabha. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) At least 26 villages in disputed Meghalaya's Jaintia Hills have written to the state government voicing their concern at the possibility of being "given away" to the neighbouring state of Assam, officials said. At a meeting held on Friday, village elders from 26 villages under an umbrella organization called Labang Nongphyllut Pangam Raliang Area Committee (LNPRAC) at Lamarang village, resolved to remain in . Block I in Jaintia Hills district and Block II in Ri-Bhoi district are part of the 6 areas with more complicated differences between and that will be resolved during the second round of border talks. The other four areas are Langpih, Borduar, Nongwah-Mawtamur and Psiar- Khanduli. LNPRAC adviser Erwin Sutnga told PTI : Village elders from at least 26 villages in the area have met me. They have written to the state government of on their desire to remain within the jurisdiction of the state. He said that another 10 villages will also soon submit their resolution on the issue. According to Sutnga, the villages under Block I and Block II were originally under the United Khasi-Jaintia Hills district and followed the land ownership and the jurisdiction of the tribal chiefs (Syiems). He however, said a notification by the then Governor in April 1951 creating another district the then Mikir Hills (now the Karbi Anglong district) resulted in some of these villages being transferred to the then new district. Several objections to the transfer of villages went unheard and have remained unresolved till date, he said. Meanwhile, at least two persons were injured along the Assam-Meghalaya border at Jatong village in the disputed Block II area when unidentified miscreants attacked, officials said. The incident took place Friday evening and following the attack, police personnel from both Meghalaya and arrived at Jatalong to disperse the crowd that had gathered there, they said. The area has been tense for some time. Today, a magistrate from the district headquarter of Nongpoh in Ri-Bhoi district was also deputed to monitor the situation, a senior district official said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) With the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) finding that the government was not able to use more than Rs 842 crore of central funds for the irrigation sector between 2014 and 2020, the Opposition Congress and BJP demanded action against officials responsible for such an "inefficiency". Senior Congress leader and MLA Suresh Routray said the government must punish those who were responsible for the "non-utilisation of funds and delay in project completion". "The government has been taking action against corrupt and inefficient officers. Now, it must dismiss those responsible for the return of funds and delay in projects, Routray said. BJP Kisan Morcha president and former MLA Pradip Purohit also hit out at the "inefficient officials and engineers" for the non-utilisation of funds. "This is an anti-farmer government and it has no such efforts to provide irrigation facilities for agriculture," he said. The report on the state's performance on surface irrigation was tabled in the assembly on Friday. The auditor also covered 24 irrigation projects, which were completed or partly completed from January 2011 to March 2017. The detected several deficiencies in the planning, implementation and monitoring of the projects. Though the state government had initiated various at a considerable cost in order to provide adequate water supply for farming, it was, however, noticed that the "objective was not fulfilled and this deprives farmers of irrigation facilities", the said in its report. During the period (2014-19) covered by this performance audit, the checked five major irrigation projects, nine mega lift points (MLPs) and 10 minor for which a sum of Rs 12,742.11 crore had been incurred up to March 2020. Other than nine MLPs, project costs escalated in the "range between 182 and 4,596 per cent due to delay of work", it pointed out. Despite escalation, only one major initiative, the Upper Indravati Irrigation facility, was completed and the four other projects were in different stages of execution, the report said. The performance audit of surface irrigation revealed several deficiencies in the planning, implementation and monitoring of the projects. "The financial management of the test-checked projects was marred due to surrendering of funds resulting in non-completion of projects...," it said. The auditor said there were also instances of loss of central assistance, parking of funds without utilisation, non-realisation of government revenue, non-adjustment of advances and inadmissible payment of tax. The projects were found "deficient in preparation and execution of DPRs and incorrect calculation of benefit cost ratio (BCR)". "These led to modifications in design and scope of work and revision in cost estimates affecting the schedule of implementation of the projects," it said. Similarly, in spite of incurring an expenditure of Rs 12,742.11 crore in all of the test-checked projects, the irrigation potential achieved was 1,22,418 hectare as against the proposed IP of 5,02,842 hectare, which constituted only 24 per cent of the envisaged potential, the report mentioned. Odisha's water resources minister Raghunandan Das said non-completion and non-achievement of irrigation potential are mostly due to problems in getting environment and forest clearance. The CAG, however, said the delay was due to "deficient DPRs, defective survey and investigation, deficient design in the execution of the projects, and inadequate availability of water in the canals". The auditor has also made some recommendations to the water resources department to improve financial and administrative management. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The on Saturday clarified that allocation of power from central generating plants is done by the Union government to states on their request and the Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has no jurisdiction over those. "Power from the Central Generating Stations (CGS) is allotted by the Central Government to the States on their request. The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has no jurisdiction in the matter," a statement said. According to the statement, if any reallocation is to be done it is only on the request of the state government; and that also in case any other state is willing to take the surrendered power. The DERC jurisdiction extends only to fixation of tariff and giving advice and direction to discoms of their state. The DERC cannot give any direction to the central or the state governments, it stated. In case of NTPC Dadri-II Thermal Power Plant, the central government had made allocation of this power to Delhi and Uttar Pradesh vide letter dated 8th March, 2011, it stated. The ministry said that "Satyendar Jain, Minister of Home, Health, Power, PWD and Industries, Government of NCT of Delhi, vide his DO letter dated 6th July, 2015 had surrendered power from 11 central generating stations which also include Dadri stage-II thermal power plant of NTPC, with immediate effect and to reallocate the same to other needy States. As per the said letter Delhi had surrendered full 735 MW allocation permanently." Thereafter, the ministry stated that the Government of India wrote to all States on November 20, 2017, May 8, 2018, November 14, 2018, December 24, 2018 and February 6, 2019, that this power which has been surrendered by Delhi is available for reallocation. "The Government of Delhi did not protest or withdraw their letter of surrender. The reallocation of power surrendered by Delhi was done to other states as and when other states requested for it," it explained. The statement showed that since April 2016, the power was reallocated six times from Dadri stage-II plant from the share of Delhi. The Delhi Government did not protest against these reallocation at any time, the ministry stated. The balance power from Dadri stage-II to an extent of 728 MW was available for reallocation and, accordingly, on 28th March, 2022, the same has been given to Haryana based on their request, it stated. No request for withdrawal of the surrendered share had been received from Government of Delhi to the Government of India till March 28, 2022, it informed. "It was only after reallocation of this power on March 28, 2022, that the Government of NCT of Delhi woke up on March 30, 2022 and wrote to to restore the Delhi share from Dadri stage II", it stated. The Government of NCT of Delhi has quoted a letter from DERC dated 6th January, 2022 which was written to NTPC and a letter of DERC dated 14th October, 2021. However, as pointed earlier, DERC has no jurisdiction in the matter of allocation of power from central generating stations, it stated. "It may also be noted that Delhi have relinquished their share of 756 MW from Dadri-I indicating that this power is surplus. Thus, if Delhi is really under crisis and have concern about their consumers, they should not have surrendered their share from Dadri-I," the ministry explained. As the reallocation to Haryana has already happened on March 28, 2022, any further reallocation can only be after hearing Haryana as Haryana is now also an affected party and any withdrawal would impact their power adequacy plans, the ministry stated. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) was imposed in Karauli city of after communal tension broke out there following stone-pelting at a motorcycle rally passing through a Muslim-dominated area on Nav Samvatsar, the first day of the new year under the Hindu calendar on Saturday, officials said. Over 25 persons were injured in the stone-pelting, leading to communal clashes, necessitating the imposition of the and deployment of the additional police force, they said. The has been imposed in the city. An additional police force has also been deployed to maintain law and order, Karauli District Magistrate Rajendra Singh Shekhawat said. Terming the situation in the city as tense but under control, he said some incidents of arsons too took place at several places. Over 25 people suffered injuries. Of them, five to seven are under treatment. One injured person was referred to a Jaipur hospital in critical condition while the rest were discharged after primary treatment, the police control room said. It said a rally was being taken out and when it passed through a Muslim-dominated area, some miscreants pelted stones at it, leading to an eruption of communal clashes in which a few two-wheelers and shops were torched. Police officers, including Bharatpur IGP Prashan Kumar Khamesra and Karauli SP Shailendra Singh rushed to the spot and an additional police force was deployed to control the situation, the PCR said. DGP ML Lather has also deployed ADG Sanjib Kumar, IG Bharat Lal Meena, Jaipur's Crime Branch DIG Rahul Prakash and DCP, Jaipur South, Mridul Kachawa in Karauli, it added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Outpatient department (OPD) services were disrupted across on Saturday following a joint call of the IMA's state chapter and the Health Services Association (JHSA) demanding a fair probe into the death of a Ranchi-born doctor in Rajasthan. The OPD services were affected in most government and private hospitals of following a 12-hour strike called by the two forums. The medical fraternity in Rajasthan has also been agitating and demanding justice for their colleague who allegedly died by suicide in Dausa district of the western state last week. The police had filed a case of murder against her following the death of a patient. General secretary of (IMA), Jharkhand chapter, Pradip Singh told PTI, OPD services across government and private hospitals remained paralysed in Jharkhand. Doctors and medical staff are aggrieved over the incident that took place in Rajasthan and the police action that provoked her to take the extreme step. Singh said the doctor had done her MBBS at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) Ranchi. The police lodged Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against her in violation of Supreme Court order, he said. The apex court has directed that Section 302 (punishment for murder) cannot be imposed on doctors. There is a direction to constitute an inquiry committee even before an FIR. Noting that the situation is no different even in Jharkhand, Singh said doctors often face violence from patients and their relatives. So, we demand that the Medical Protection Act be implemented as soon as possible in Jharkhand, he said. Joint secretary of IMA Ranchi, Dr. Ajit Kumar said, OPD services at two major government hospitals in Ranchi were affected. The service was also hit in private hospitals of the city. Meanwhile, terming the doctor's death as extremely sad, Union minister and former Jharkhand chief minister Arjun Munda urged Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and PMO to take stern action against the guilty. According to a report from East Singhbhum district, around 1,000 doctors went on a strike during the day. Medical practitioners, holding placards, staged a two-hour demonstration in front of the district collectorate here in protest against the incident and support of its demand for immediate implementation of the Medical Protection Act, said Dr. Saurabh Choudhary, secretary of IMA, Jamshedpur. Barring emergency services, Dr. Choudhary said all routine medical services remained suspended in the medical facilities of the district. A delegation of IMA, Jamshedpur, met the Deputy Commissioner and handed over a memorandum addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in support of their demands. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, on Saturday said the newly signed trade pact with Australia is expected to take bilateral trade from the existing USD 27 billion to nearly USD 45-50 billion in the next five years and the government expects one million jobs to be created in India in the next four to five years. The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA) was signed by commerce minister and his counterpart Australian trade, tourism and investment minister Dan Tehan in a virtual ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison today. Noting that the IndAus ECTA truly symbolises the unity and the spirit of cooperation between the two countries, Union Minister Goyal while addressing a press conference after the deal was signed said, "It is a historic day for India, as it is the first agreement India has entered with a large developed country in a decade. "We expect one million job creation in India in the next four to five years. In-services also we have expanded the scope of bilateral relations. India has offered services and access to services in many sectors to Australia and likewise, reciprocated by Australia," Goyal said. "A number of new opportunities will open up for Indian chefs and yoga instructors in the years to come. Post-study work visas for our young boys and girls who are going to Australia are also part of this agreement," he added. Goyal pointed out that over one lakh Indian students live in Australia and also shared information regarding the promotion of tourism. "There are over one lakh Indian students living and studying in Australia. We're looking at a work and holiday visa arrangement for promoting tourism. A post-study work visa between two and four years will be available for Indian students, particularly for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) graduates," he said. Referring to the newly signed trade deal, Goyal said the Ind-Aus ECTA is expected to almost double bilateral trade to about USD 45 to USD 50 billion in the next five years. Australia is offering zero duty access to India for about 96.4 per cent of exports (by value) from day one. This covers many products which currently attract 4-5 per cent customs duty in Australia. He further said that removing trade barriers will have great potential for labour-oriented sectors, like textiles, pharmaceuticals, leather and will also have huge potential for engineering goods, automobile and many more. In services, Australia has offered 135 sub-sectors to India, while India offered 103 sub-sectors to Australia. Key areas of India's interest like education, IT, Business, professional services, health, audio-visual have been committed by Australia under ECTA. Adequate safeguards have been provided in the agreement to prevent circumvention or diversion of goods from any non-party. There is also a provision for bilateral safeguard measures to protect against sudden surge in import of goods. For the first time, a clause has been introduced for a special review mechanism, which provides for compulsory review after 15 years in a time-bound manner. During the press conference, Goyal gave information about his visit to Australia next week. "I shall be visiting Australia next week and will meet Australian business leaders along with the large business delegation of India to build the bridges and the greater economic cooperation between business persons and our diaspora in Australia and India," the minister said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement is a "watershed moment" for bilateral ties. "Consensus on such an important agreement in such a short period of time shows the mutual trust between the two countries. This is truly a watershed moment for our bilateral relations," PM Modi said at the virtual signing ceremony of the agreement. PM Modi said the newly signed trade deal will contribute to the increasing supply chains resilience and stability of the Indo-Pacific region. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the signing of the Agreement further develops the promise of economic relations between the two countries. The Australian government said that the deal will eliminate tariffs on more than 85 per cent of Australian goods exports to India, rising to almost 91 per cent over 10 years. On the very first day of the implementation of the interim pact, over 6,000 tariff lines would be available for Indian exporters at zero duty. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) signed between India and Australia on Saturday will give a boost to engineering goods exports from India, the industry body said. "The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement bodes well for the engineering goods sector. The deal would add to the growth momentum and help the exporters get deeper market access in Australia," said Mahesh Desai, Chairman, Engineering Export Promotion Council (EEPC) of India. India's Union Minister for Commerce and Industry and Australia's Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Dan Tehan on Saturday signed the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, in a Virtual ceremony in presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison. India has signed a trade deal with Australia less than a week after inking a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the United Arab Emirates. "The trade deals signed by India and those in the pipeline would together give a giant push to the engineering sector which has been one of the key sectors propelling exports from the country. Engineering being a labour-intensive sector, the rise in exports would mean creation of more and more jobs," said Desai. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President said here on Saturday that India and share a broad regional consensus on the issues related to Afghanistan, including the formation of a truly representative and inclusive government, combating terrorism and drug trafficking and preserving the rights of women, children and other ethnic groups and minorities. President Kovind met with his Turkmen counterpart Serdar Berdimuhamedov on Saturday and discussed the recent developments in . As immediate neighbours of Afghanistan, our countries are naturally concerned about the developments within that country and their external repercussions, he said in a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs. We share a broad regional consensus' on the issues related to Afghanistan, which includes the formation of a truly representative and inclusive government, combating terrorism and drug trafficking, the central role of the UN, providing immediate humanitarian assistance for the people of and preserving the rights of women, children and other ethnic groups and minorities, he said. President Kovind arrived here on Friday as he began his three-day state visit to . This is the first-ever visit of the President of India to independent and comes just after the inauguration of new Turkmen President Berdimuhamedov. The Taliban seized power in on August 15, two weeks before the US' complete troop withdrawal on August 31 after a costly two-decade war. This forced Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who was backed by the US-led West, to flee the country to the UAE. The Taliban insurgents stormed across Afghanistan and captured all major cities in a matter of days, as Afghan security forces trained and equipped by the US and its allies melted away. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, in his February report, said the situation in Afghanistan remains precarious and uncertain nearly six months after the Taliban takeover, as the multiple political, socio-economic and humanitarian shocks reverberate across the war-ravaged country. The Taliban is showing efforts to present itself as a caretaker government. The movement, however, has yet to form governing structures that reflect the country's ethnic, political and geographic diversity and include women. Efforts are constrained by the lack of resources and capacity, as well as an ideology that clashes in many ways with international norms of governance, it said. The current Taliban regime in Kabul has not yet been recognised by the international community as they have failed to address global concerns regarding the formation of a truly representative and inclusive government in the war-torn country. The hardline Islamists have also been urged to preserve the rights of women, children and other ethnic groups and minorities in Afghanistan. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Russian Foreign Minister said that he discussed with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar about actively developing the Russia-India-China trilateral mechanism in the interests of stabilising international relations and ensuring "equity in international affairs". "This is especially true given that all the three countries - Russia, India and China - are now members of the UN Security Council. So we have a lot of plans," he said while responding to a query here on Friday over Moscow looking at Beijing and New Delhi to make up for a likely dip in its energy exports. "We are close partners with both countries. The three of us participate in a number of international formats... There is our 'troika' - RIC (Russia, India, China)," he said while talking about Moscow proposing an RIC summit earlier this year. Lavrov left for Moscow on Friday after his two-day visit to India. In Delhi, he called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held discussions with Jaishankar over the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, crude offer and arms deal. Lavrov briefed the Prime Minister on the situation in Ukraine, including the ongoing peace negotiations. Modi reiterated his call for an early cessation of violence, and conveyed India's readiness to contribute in any way to the peace efforts. --IANS sk/ksk/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For the Chinese literati, the doctrine of moderation is a key influence in their lives and calligraphy an effective and artful means to express their emotions and thoughts. For the literati, the doctrine of moderation has often been regarded as a code of conduct, which many unconsciously integrated onto their brush tips, giving rise to harmony between art and heart in their works. Celebrated calligrapher Yan Zhenqing (AD 709-784) was one of them. The core of the doctrine of moderation lies in moderation. The doctrine advocates for finding the best possible solution without going to the extreme. To do so, one must be self-cultivated and understand the objective laws of nature and society. Be that as it may, it is not the same as making compromises or taking the middle way. Instead, it emphasizes "harmony without uniformity" and calls for mutual tolerance without simply "going along with one another". Moderation emphasizes merits of calmness, wisdom, honesty,kindness and intelligence. It also lauds persistence. Such positive and upbeat mindsets have encouraged the Chinese people to be indomitable, resolute, intolerable to evils and fearless against danger. Yan Zhenqing was a faithful practitioner of the doctrine of moderation both in his work and life. He grew up in a family that valued education and served in the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) court. With his noble personality and determination to serve his country, he reversed the downward-tide and prevented the collapse of his court. Yan's self-cultivation of moderation trickled down into his calligraphy and art style. Prior to Yan, renowned calligrapher Wang Xizhi's style, which stressed gracefulness and a free and untrammeled form, dominated Chinese calligraphy for hundreds of years. Yan forged himself a new path - a monumental, dignified and powerful style marked by smoothness, stability and masculinity. In the words of Su Shi, the most celebrated scholar-poet of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Yan was the "sole hero who challenged this ancient tradition." Yan's calligraphy is reflective of his upright, brave and aboveboard life. Simplicity, sincerity, power and generosity run through his brushstrokes, which won him admiration of the distinguished officials, including emperors, as well as later generations. Moderation is also reflected in Yan's sophisticated brushwork in his use of ink and layout, or neutralization. Neutrality is understood as a high degree of unity of contradictions, a balance between yin and yang, and a harmonious integration of the subject and the object. In the context of calligraphy, it alludes to expressions that are mediatory and controlled, capturing the beauty of nature and personality in dots and lines. One such example is running script, in which characters can be big and small, dry and wet, in regular script and in cursive script, even in classic style. All characters in a piece of work are changeable but integrated with the unity of harmony. Eulogy for a Nephew (Ji zhi Jiming wen gao) is an example of such neutrality, a piece of work that Yan completed while mourning his nephew Jiming. Hit with emotional turmoil, Yan poured all of his grief and anger out into the work. Most of the characters are oblique, some facing left and others right. Many characters were scribbled and rewritten, making the work seem a little chaotic. Despite a pandemonium of emotions, his brush was still under control, and even the spacing of the characters handled moderately. In whole, the work is well-proportioned, with a rhythm rendered by the change of ink tones and size of characters. Its layout is reasonable, where empty spaces do not appear hollow and useless. At the moment of creation, Yan was not tied by rules of sophisticated calligraphy and let his emotions run free through his brush. Yan's eulogy is another masterpiece in the history of Chinese calligraphy after Preface to the Poems Collected from the Orchid Pavilion by Wang Xizhi in AD 353, which is often regarded as the first masterpiece of running script. Observing that India has shown its strength in the design, development and operation of in the five tonne category, Defence Minister on Saturday said in order to become a global leader there is a need to progress in the design of 10 tonne Indian multi-role helicopter. Further, aggression of any type has never been there in the history of India and in the last few years, the relation among peace, security and military power have deepened, he said. "When I am talking about making oneself strong, I don't mean establishing our dominance in the world. India has been such a country, if it has carried arms, then it is for protecting the 'shastras'. Shastra means knowledge. Shastra means our civilizational values.... shastra means truth, non-violence and peace." "Aggression of any type has never been there in the history of India. If you see the situation during the last few years, you will find that the relation among peace, security and military power have deepened. If the message of 'vasudhaiva kutumbakam' (the whole world is one family) has gone to the whole world, it has only gone from our motherland, India," he said in his address at a conclave organised here to commemorate the 60 years of Chetak helicopter's service to the nation. The Defence Minister said the indigenously designed and developed Advanced Light Helicopter DHRUV and its variants are examples of the country's strength. He described the Light Combat Helicopter as another example of the country's capability in light for combat operations. He stressed on the need to march forward in the design of the 10-tonne Indian multi-role helicopter. According to an estimate, there is demand for more than 1,000 civilian and an equal number of helicopters in the military sector in the country, Singh said, adding, this opportunity in the chopper market should be exploited. There is also a need to make efforts to strengthen the country's claim in the Rotary wing domain, he said. He reiterated the government's resolve of achieving 'Aatmanirbharta' (self-sufficiency) in defence production and preparedness, in view of the constantly changing global security scenario. External conditions have impacted on the serviceability of India's critical weapons and equipment and therefore, efforts for self-sufficiency continues to be the need of the hour. Singh said that by being strong, India does not mean to establish dominance in the world. India has always followed the path of truth, non-violence and peace and does not support aggression of any kind, he said. He also spoke about the efforts made to encourage domestic industry. "Free technology is being transferred to them by DRDO. FDI limit has also been increased," he said. Two positive indigenisation lists of defence items have been issued, while the third list will be out soon, he said. He pointed out the positive response from the services, research and development organisations and public and private sector industries. The MSMEs, start-ups, innovators and academia are together exploring new avenues of defence production, he said, exuding confidence that the unprecedented steps taken by the government would get unprecedented response. The Defence Minister said the conclave is a fitting tribute to those who have served the nation with hard work and dedication. Comparing 'Chetak', a horse of Rajput king Rana Pratap, he described the helicopter named after it as not just a machine, but a vibrant and dedicated entity which has been continuously engaged in the service of the nation for the last six decades, setting an example for others. Chetak played a key role in the 1971 Indo-Pak war and Lt Gen Niyazi (who signed the surrender document) and a Major General were brought as Prisoners of War to India in a Chetak helicopter, a senior official said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India and on Saturday unveiled a cross-border railway network and several other developmental initiatives even as Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba pitched for setting up of a bilateral mechanism to resolve the lingering boundary issue. After their wide-ranging talks, Prime Minister and Deuba virtually inaugurated the 35-km railway network from Bihar's Jaynagar to Kurtha in Nepal, launched a 90-km power transmission line and rolled out the RuPay payment card in . Signalling a major reset of ties that came under severe strain after the boundary row escalated in 2020, the two sides unveiled a vision document for cooperation in the power sector and inked four pacts providing for ramping up India's supply of petroleum products to and boosting ties in sectors such as clean energy and railways. In his media statement, Modi referred to the discussion on ensuring that the open borders between India and Nepal are not misused by undesirable elements. "We discussed that the open borders between India and Nepal are not misused by undesirable elements. We emphasised on deepening of cooperation between our defence and security authorities. I am confident that our talks today will be able to attain the objective of achieving the ambitious targets of the India-Nepal ties," he said. Deuba arrived in New Delhi on Friday in his first bilateral visit abroad after becoming prime minister for the fifth time in July 2021. In his remarks, Modi said India has been a firm partner in the journey of peace, progress and development of Nepal and will always remain so. "The friendship of India and Nepal, the relationships of our people, such an example is not seen anywhere else in the world. Our civilization, our culture, the threads of our exchanges; are connected since ancient times," Modi said in his media statement. In his comments to the media in presence of Modi, Deuba said the boundary issue was discussed in the talks between the two sides and he urged the Indian prime minister to resolve it through the establishment of a bilateral mechanism. Hours later at a media briefing, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said there was a general understanding that the issue needed to be addressed in a responsible manner through dialogue and its "politicisation" should be avoided. "The issue was briefly discussed. There was a general understanding that both sides needed to address this in a responsible manner through discussion and dialogue in the spirit of our close and friendly relations and politicisation of such issues needs to be avoided," Shringla said. Ties between the two countries came under severe strain after Kathmandu published a new political map in 2020 that showed the three Indian territories - Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipulekh - as part of Nepal. The prime minister said he and Deuba also agreed to give priority to the initiatives on trade and cross border connectivity in all respects and that the joint vision statement on power corporation will prove to be a blueprint for future collaboration. "We also agreed on the subject of more participation by Indian companies in Nepal's hydropower development plans. It is a matter of happiness that Nepal is exporting its surplus power to India," Modi said. He said the introduction of the Rupay Card in Nepal will add a new chapter to the bilateral financial connectivity, adding other projects like Nepal Police Academy, integrated check post at Nepalganj and Ramayana Circuit will also bring the two countries closer. "We emphasized the importance of progressing at a fast pace in the Pancheshwar Project. This project will prove to be a game-changer for the development of the region," Modi said. The Jayanagar-Kurtha section, the first such broad-gauge passenger railway service between the two countries, was flagged off by the two prime ministers. The railway link has been built with grant assistance from India. On Twitter, Modi described the talks as "fruitful" and said that one of the key emerging pillars of India-Nepal cooperation is energy. The prime minister said Deuba has always played a key role in boosting the India-Nepal friendship. Separately, the Ministry of External Affairs said Modi and Deuba reviewed the full spectrum of the bilateral agenda covering political, economic, trade, energy, security and developmental issues. It said India's relationship with Nepal is one of the main pillars of its 'Neighbourhood First' policy. "The visit of the prime minister of Nepal to India will contribute in further cementing the traditional and age-old ties of friendship and cooperation between the two countries," it said in a statement. "The expansive and productive talks between the two Prime Ministers provided high-level direction and gave shape to a robust agenda for bilateral cooperation in multiple sectors, particularly those related to energy and connectivity," it added. The MEA said both sides agreed to expedite progress in the implementation of the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project, beginning with the early finalisation of the Detailed Project Report (DPR). "They reviewed the progress in implementation of Indian projects in Nepal, including the cross-border rail-link projects connecting (a) Jayanagar-Kurtha-Bijalpur-Bardibas (b) Jogbani-Biratnagar (c) Raxaul-Kathmandu," it said. The MEA said Modi welcomed Nepal's decision to join the International Solar Alliance (ISA). (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Medical education regulator Medical Commission (NMC) has recommended that 'Maharshi Charak Shapath' should replace the Hippocratic Oath in a new curriculum for MBBS courses and students pursuing them in the country. According to new guidelines, "Modified 'Maharshi Charak Shapath' is recommended when a candidate is introduced to medical education." The guidelines also recommend a 10-day yoga "foundation course", beginning June 12 every year and culminating on the International Yoga Day on June 21. "Yoga training is recommended to be initiated during the foundation course,(one hour, preferably in the morning in orientation week). Yoga practices shall be for maximum one hour every day during the period of 10 days beginning from 12th June every year to be culminated on International Yoga Day, i.e. June 21, to be celebrated in all medical schools across the country," according to the revised guidelines. According to the guidelines, a robust continuous formative and internal assessment is required to ensure competencies and thereby a competent medical graduate. "If required, we can have two internal assessments and the third internal assessment can be calculated from various unitary and continuous tests taken throughout the year," it said. Interestingly, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya recently said in Parliament that 'Maharshi Charak Shapath' would be optional and not forced on medical students. Charaka Shapath or Charaka oath, a passage of text in Charaka Samhita which is the Sanskrit text on Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine), is a set of instructions by a teacher to prospective students of the science of medicine. The Hippocratic Oath, ethical code attributed to the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, is a widely adopted guideline to conduct medical profession throughout the ages and still used in the graduation ceremonies of many medical schools. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Citing the "historic" decision of the Centre to lift the Armed Forces Special Powers Act from "major parts" of Assam, and Manipur, the BJP on Saturday asserted that peace has returned to the Northeast region which has now become a part of the "mainstream". Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-pronged approach of development and dialogue with insurgent groups in dealing with various challenges in the region has paid dividends. A "colourful, beautiful and peaceful" Northeast awaits people from across the country, he said at a press conference while appealing for travel and investment in the region. The Congress had left the region "devastated", he alleged and added that Prime Minister Modi had the big heart the region needed. People of the region wanted the government to reach out to them, which has happened under him, the minister said. Modi's vision of lifting the completely from the region will also be realised, Rijiju said. The gives security forces sweeping powers in dealing with insurgents and has been criticised by civil rights groups over alleged excesses. "We used to hear that the Northeast has to be brought into the country's mainstream. I can say today that it is already in the country's mainstream," Rijiju said, stressing that the region is developing at a fast pace and will become an important economic hub of the country. The region has been given due attention since Modi became prime minister in 2014, he said, adding that no one could have thought that he will visit the region over 50 times in his tenure so far. Besides the prime minister, other ministers have been regularly visiting the region to help in its development, and the earlier sense of "alienation and step-motherly treatment" is now gone from the minds of people there, Rijiju said. Modi turned the "look east" policy into the "act east" policy with development works and peace initiatives going hand in hand, he said, adding that the region is now in a "transformational mode". The region has been allocated over Rs 76,000 crore in the recent budget, a hike of Rs 7500 crore, he said noting that the central government's flagship schemes have boosted road and mobile phone connectivity there. A "four-cornered attack of development" has ensured that no one loses out, he said. A safe, secure and developed Northeast "'is a very good news" for India, he said while pointing out the security challenges the region has traditionally posed. He noted that the was lifted from Tripura in 2015 and from most of Arunachal Pradesh as well, with the Centre signing peace accords with various insurgent groups to defuse the decades-old crisis. The government has also been working to settle all border disputes among different states in the region, he said and credited Home Minister Amit Shah for executing Modi's vision on the ground by constantly holding dialogues with chief ministers. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia also lauded the Modi government for its work to restore peace and boost development in the Northeast and asserted that it has resolved major issues facing the region and the country. The AFSPA, under which a geographical location is declared as disturbed area to facilitate operations of the armed forces, will now be applicable fully in 31 districts and partially in 12 districts of four states in the Northeast - Assam, Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. These four states together comprise 90 districts. The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958, was completely withdrawn in Meghalaya in 2018, Tripura in 2015 and Mizoram in the 1980s. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Naga Students' Federation (NSF) on Saturday condemned the firing incident in Arunachal Pradesh, where two civilians were "mistakenly" shot at by Army personnel, and sought strict punishment for the guilty besides complete removal of from all Naga-inhabited areas in the Northeast. The apex Naga students' body in Nagaland, Manipur, Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, in a statement, said it "outrightly rejected the Centre's ploy to please certain sections of Northeast" by removing Armed Forces (Special Powers Act), 1958 from some pockets, while keeping it imposed in a majority of Naga-inhabited areas in the region. "Two Naga youths Nokphua Wangpan and Ramwang Wangsu were critically injured when 12 Para Special Forces fired upon without any warning while they were returning from the river after fishing early Saturday morning. "Such acts of the armed forces trampling upon the dignity, existence, freedom and happiness of the Naga people without any remorse under the protection of cannot be accepted by the Federation in particular and the Naga people in general," it said. The Army said that it was a case of "mistaken identity" as there was credible information about the movement of armed insurgents in the area in Tirap district of . NSF demanded that justice be delivered to the innocent civilians at the earliest and befitting punishment to the "trigger-happy" jawans. The federation said it would undertake a series of democratic agitations to press for their demands but did not announce a date for launching the stir. The Centre had on Thursday announced a reduction in the number of "disturbed areas" under the purview of the contentious law in Nagaland, Assam and Manipur with effect from April 1. "There is no denying that areas falling under 15 police stations in seven districts of will benefit from the Centre's policy but a major chunk of the Naga homeland spread across Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and remain classified as 'disturbed areas'," it said. It questioned the yardstick used to lift the Act from certain areas of the Northeast as "police stations within the Naga homeland, which have almost perfect law and order records, have been completely left out". "This step is more like rubbing salt on the wounds of Naga people who are still reeling under the shock of the Oting incident wherein 14 innocent Naga souls were gunned down by armed forces in a botched military operation in December last year," it added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba met and held delegation-level talks at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Saturday. "Wide-ranging talks on our multifaceted partnership are on the agenda," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. This is Prime Minister Deuba's first bilateral visit abroad since assuming office for the fifth time in July last year. Deuba, who is accompanied by a high level delegation. is visiting India at the invitation of PM Modi. Ministry of External Affairs Arindam Bagchi informed that the wide-ranging talks between India and Nepal's multifaceted partnership are on the agenda during the meeting. "Working together to take India- relations to newer heights. The meeting between PM @narendramodi and PM @SherBDeuba of gets underway. Wide-ranging talks on our multifaceted partnership are on the agenda," Bagchi tweeted. Earlier in the day, the Nepal PM paid respects to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat in New Delhi. Yesterday, Nepal Prime Minister met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla in the captial. Earlier, he met Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) President JP Nadda at the party headquarters in a courtesy meeting. "Had a courtesy meeting with Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba today. India and Nepal are not just neighbours but are very close to each other even from religious, cultural, linguistic and historic viewpoints," Nadda said in a tweet. The last Head of State/Head of Government-level visit from Nepal was in May 2019, when then PM K P Oli visited India for the swearing-in ceremony of PM and the Union Council of Ministers. Before that PM Modi had visited Nepal in August 2018 for the 4th BIMSTEC Summit in Kathmandu, which was preceded by a State Visit to Nepal in May 2018. PM Modi had extended a congratulatory message to Sher Bahadur Deuba soon after he won the Vote of Confidence in Nepal's Parliament. This was followed by a congratulatory telephonic conversation on 19 July 2021. The most recent meeting between PM Modi and Sher Bahadur Deuba took place on November 2, 2021, on the sidelines of COP 26 in Glasgow. Sher Bahadur Deuba is a veteran politician of the Nepali Congress with a political career spanning over seven decades. This is Deuba's fifth tenure as PM. His first term was from September 1995 to March 1997. He has visited India several times, both when in and out of power. This will be his fifth visit to India as PM, with the last visit being in August 2018. The previous three visits took place in 2004, 2002 and 1996. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) on Saturday became the fourth foreign country to operationalise the card with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba jointly launching the Indian electronic payment system in the Himalayan nation. The three other countries that have the card are Bhutan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. The card was launched by the two leaders after holding talks covering wide-ranging issues including cooperation in areas of trade, investment and energy. Deuba arrived in New Delhi on Friday in his first bilateral visit abroad after becoming prime minister for the fifth time in July 2021. "Introduction of card in will add a new chapter to our financial connectivity," Modi said in his media statement after the talks. The Ministry of External Affairs said the launch of the card in would open new vistas for cooperation in financial connectivity, and is expected to facilitate bilateral tourist flows as well as further strengthen people-to-people linkages. RuPay card scheme was launched in 2012 as part of the Reserve Bank of India's vision to have a domestic, open and multilateral system of payments. People familiar with the project said the Nepal SBI Bank (NSBL), a subsidiary of SBI and Nepal's largest international bank, worked on the initiative for over a year with support from Nepal's Central Bank. They said the launch of the card in Nepal will forge a new path to financial convenience and empowerment with the use of technology and innovation. It will not only enable ease of payment for RuPay car holders but also uplift Nepal's payment ecosystem capabilities, they said. After the Modi-Deuba talks, Nepal and India also inked a pact for the renewal of an MoU for the supply of petroleum products for a period of five years between Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) and Nepal Oil Corporation Ltd (NOC), the people cited above said. Both parties had signed an agreement on March 27, 2017, which expired on March 31. The renewed agreement will remain valid for a period of five years. The agreement is in the form of an umbrella pact enabling IOCL to supply petroleum products to NOC, including through the Motihari-Amlekhgunj pipeline which was commissioned in July 2019. Another agreement was signed for sharing of technical expertise between IOCL and NOC. The agreement is intended to assist NOC in acquiring technical knowledge and skill in petroleum products, and in the operation and maintenance of facilities required for the purpose. The people said IOCL will impart training and knowledge to NOC personnel in the fields of quality control, engineering, pipeline, IT, terminal/depot operation, infrastructure development and safety. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Curfew was imposed in Karauli city of after communal tension broke out there following stone-pelting at a motorcycle rally passing through a Muslim-dominated area on Nav Samvatsar, the first day of the new year under the Hindu calendar on Saturday, officials said. Over 25 persons were injured in the stone-pelting, leading to communal clashes, necessitating the imposition of the curfew and deployment of the additional police force, they said. The curfew has been imposed in the city. An additional police force has also been deployed to maintain law and order, Karauli District Magistrate Rajendra Singh Shekhawat said. Terming the situation in the city as tense but under control, he said some incidents of arsons too took place at several places. Over 25 people suffered injuries. Of them, five to seven are under treatment. One injured person was referred to a Jaipur hospital in critical condition while the rest were discharged after primary treatment, the police control room said. It said a rally was being taken out and when it passed through a Muslim-dominated area, some miscreants pelted stones at it, leading to an eruption of in which a few two-wheelers and shops were torched. Police officers, including Bharatpur IGP Prashan Kumar Khamesra and Karauli SP Shailendra Singh rushed to the spot and an additional police force was deployed to control the situation, the PCR said. DGP ML Lather has also deployed ADG Sanjib Kumar, IG Bharat Lal Meena, Jaipur's Crime Branch DIG Rahul Prakash and DCP, Jaipur South, Mridul Kachawa in Karauli, it added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Vice-President M. on Saturday said that some people are unable to digest India's growth. He said that while is being respected and recognised, some of the western media carry propaganda against it on small issues. Naidu was addressing Telugu new year Ugadi celebrations at Swarna Bharat Trust at Muchintal on the outskirts of Hyderabad. "The entire world is looking to . is being respected, recognised and being realised. Though some of the western media may carry propaganda against India on small issues but larger public life, the value systems, the traditions and heritage of India are being respected everywhere," he said. Some people, he remarked, were not able to digest India's growth. The media in some countries write something which they feel is in the interest of their country but some people in India use the same content and try to tarnish the image of the country. The Vice-President also expressed concern over the decline in the conduct of some members in Parliament and state Assemblies. He said the kind of language being used was bringing bad name to the entire system. Naidu, who is chairman of Rajya Sabha, said some incidents in Parliament and state legislatures were painful. He also found fault with the media for giving importance to such incidents. He said if the legislators speak well on issues it's not news for the media but if somebody creates commotion, uses bad language or resorts to personal attacks on others it becomes news. "Good behaviour, good conduct and good delivery is not a news," he said and advised media to realise its responsibility. Naidu stressed the need to speak in one's own mother tongue. He said everybody should speak in their mother tongue at home and in the midst of those who understand that language and if he is with other Indians, he should speak in Indian languages. "There is nothing wrong with learning foreign languages. You can learn any foreign language but you should speak in your mother tongue. This is our address and identity," he said. Naidu also underlined the need for following the culture and traditions in daily life, including wishing others and the food habits. --IANS ms/shb/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) : People across both the Telugu states celebrated Ugadi marking a New Year beginning from the first day of traditional Chaitra month, with fervour and deity. Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan in a tweet extended greeting to Telugu people. "On this happy and auspicious occasion of Sri Subhakruthu nama "Ugadi" festival, the Telugu New Year Day, I extend my heartiest greetings to the people of and to the Telugu people living all over the world, he tweeted. Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan in a message said "On this happy and auspicious occasion of Ugadi, the Telugu New Year Day, I extend my warmest greetings to the people of Telangana and to the Telugu people across the World." Chief Ministers of Telangana and and YS Jagan Mohan Reddy in separate messages have greeted the people on the occasion. KCR in a statement said the year of 'Shubhakrut,' which wraps up the auspiciousness in the name itself, will bring good fortune to the people in all spheres. He participated in Ugadi celebrations held at Pragati Bhavan, his official residence. Expressing happiness, he said with the blessings of God, Telangana was abuzz with plentiful water and green fields. Jagan Mohan Reddy, in a tweet said, he wishes everyone good health, longevity, health and happiness in this auspicious New Year. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) You are here: Business Beijing authorities have released a plan for energy development from 2021 to 2025, emphasizing replacing coal with clean energy. According to the plan, Beijing will strengthen the control of the amount and intensity of energy and carbon emissions and continue to promote clean energy use in rural areas. By 2025, the city will achieve a coal-free heat supply. Beijing will improve its natural gas supply capacity and form emergency reserves of about 1.4 billion cubic meters of natural gas by 2025. By 2025, newly-added installed power generation capacity of renewable energy will reach about 2.1 million kW. An additional 45 million square meters will be heated by renewable energy. Located at approximately 40 degrees north latitude, the heat supply is a vital measure to ensure Beijing citizens survive the cold winter. The latest heating period lasted 137 days from 2021 to 2022 and ended last week. The city's coal consumption has been massively reduced from over 11.65 million tonnes in 2015 to 1.35 million tonnes in 2020, showed official data. The has dismissed a petition that sought 10 per cent reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in general category candidates in Higher Judicial Service examination, 2020, saying that once the advertisement is out, it would not be just and proper for authorities to insert any new clause. Earlier notices were issued and the high court administration in its reply stated that the reservation of EWS "provided under Act No.10 of 2020" was not adopted by the high court while issuing the notification. The Public Services (Reservation for economically weaker sections) Act, 2020 (U.P. Act No. 10 of 2020) provides that at the stage of direct recruitment, 10 percent of vacancies shall be reserved in public services for persons belonging to the economically weaker sections. Petitioner Sandeep, who is a practicing lawyer at Meerut, had moved the court seeking a direction to the high court administration to issue an amended notification providing the 10 per cent reservation for EWS. Dismissing the petition, a bench comprising justices K J Thaker and Ajai Tyagi observed, "Once the advertisement is out, it would not be just and proper for the authorities to insert any new clause. The apex court has also held that change of any condition in the advertisement would be violative of constitutional mandate." Hence, we cannot direct the High Court by way of mandamus to provide reservation benefit to the Economically Weaker Sections category candidates for taking the examination this year. However, we request the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad to adopt the same, if not adopted." the court said in its order on March 25. "We are unable to accept the submissions of the petitioner. The advertisement issued by respondent no.2 (Registrar General) cannot be termed as illegal or arbitrary and against the mandate of the Constitution of India. It cannot be said that petitioner is discriminated," observed the court. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The has expressed concern over delay in execution of arbitral awards, calling it "a very sorry state of affairs". A bench of Justices M R Shah and B V Nagarathna made the observation while hearing a case in which the arbitral award passed in 1992 remained pending for execution despite passage of more than 30 years. The apex court said this case is a glaring example of frustrating the arbitration proceedings under the Arbitration Act. It noted that the award has been passed in the year 1992 and the execution petition is of the year 2003, which is still reported to be pending. "It is very unfortunate that even after a period of 30 years, the party in whose favour the award is passed is not in a position to enjoy the fruit of the litigation/award. Even the execution petition is also pending for more than 19 years. "This is a very sorry state of affairs that even the execution proceedings to execute the award passed under the Arbitration Act are pending for more than 20 years," the bench said. If the award, under the Arbitration Act, is not executed at the earliest, it will frustrate the purpose and object of the Arbitration Act as well as the Commercial Courts Act, it noted. "Even according to the new Commercial Courts Act, 2015, the commercial dispute is required to be decided and disposed of at the earliest and within the stipulated time provided under the Act, namely, one year. "There must be number of such proceedings pending in the courts under the jurisdiction of the High Court of Judicature at Allahabad," the bench said. The top court directed the Registrar General of the Allahabad High Court to place on record execution petitions pending in the subordinate courts/executing courts in the entire state. "The aforesaid information in the form of a detailed report shall be placed before this court on or before the next date of hearing," it said. With regard to the case in question, the apex court directed the executing court to finally decide and dispose of the execution petition within a period of four weeks from the date of receipt of the present order. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) India and Australia inked an economic cooperation and trade agreement (ECTA) on Saturday, under which Canberra will provide duty-free access in its market for over 95 per cent tariff lines, including textiles, leather, furniture, jewellery, machinery and select medical devices. The deal will take around four months to be implemented. This is the first trade agreement that India has signed with a developed economy after more than a decade. This agreement was signed at a time when India is already working with other developed countries such as the UK, Canada and the European Union to sign a free trade agreementan evident shift in Indias strategy. Australia is the 17th largest trading partner of India and India is Australias 9th largest trading partner in the current fiscal. Bilateral trade in goods and services for both the countries is expected to rise from the existing $ 27.5 billion to $ 45 billion in five years. To arrest a surge in imports and protect the domestic industry, both nations have already worked out a mechanism. The safeguard mechanism will be available for about 14 years from the date of completion of elimination or reduction in tariff. There will be a special review mechanism for compulsory review after 15 years for certain aspects of the agreement in a time-bound manner. The review, if requested, is compulsory and has to be completed in six months. Officials said that since Australian exports are more concentrated in raw materials and intermediates, many industries in India will get cheaper raw materials and make them competitive, in particular for sectors like steel, aluminum, garments among others. On the other hand, for the products of export interest of Australia, India is offering concessions mostly on raw materials and intermediates either in the form of tariff elimination, tariff reduction (TR) with or without a tariff-rate quota (TRQ). Indias offer includes immediate tariff elimination on 40 per cent of its tariff lines comprising 85 per cent of Australias exports in value terms to India and another 30.3 per cent of its tariff lines for elimination or reduction of tariffs in 3,5,7 and 10 years time period. Only a few agricultural products such as oranges, mandarins, almonds, pears and cotton among others have been allowed with limited quota. India has agreed to reduce duty on Australian wines. Tariffs on wine with a minimum import price of $5 per bottle will be reduced from 150 per cent to 100 per cent on the deal's implementation and subsequently to 50 per cent over 10 years. The duty on bottles with a minimum import price of $15 will be reduced from 150 per cent to 75 per cent, and subsequently to 25 per cent over 10 years. India has kept many sensitive products in the exclusion category (29.8% of tariff lines) without offering any concession. Some of these are Milk and other dairy products, chickpeas, walnut, pistachio nut, wheat, rice, bajra, apple, sunflowers seed oil, sugar, oil cake, gold, silver, platinum, jewellery, iron ore and most medical devices. This is a major gain for India in this Agreement. For the pharma segment, the pact would provide fast-track approvals and fast-track quality inspections of manufacturing facilities. In the services sector, benefits for India include post study work visa of two-four years for Indian students on reciprocal basis; and work and holiday visa arrangement for young professionals. Post study work visas will provide extended options for working in Australia to eligible Indian graduates, post graduates and STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) specialists, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said. He also said that Australia has agreed to resolve the double taxation issue being faced by domestic IT companies in that market. Australia has also agreed to amend its domestic tax law to stop the taxation of offshore income of Indian firms providing technical services in Australia. It has been six years since the government launched the Smart City Mission, under which 100 cities were selected. The timeline to complete the programme was set to 2022, and was shifted to June 2023 last year. A Business Standard analysis shows that of the 100 cities, only 14 have completed over 50 per cent of the projects in terms of value. Furthermore, five of those belong to Uttar Pradesh (UP). The other five in UP have a completion rate of over 30 per cent. Varanasi had the highest completion rate of 87.1 per cent among all the cities. The city led the country with an 86.8 ... European governments and companies worked on a common approach on Friday to Russia's demand that they pay for its gas in roubles as the threat of an imminent supply halt eased. European capitals have been on alert for a disruption to gas imports as Russian President Vladimir Putin seeks retaliation over Western sanctions for the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine. A crunch point appeared to be in the offing when Moscow issued a decree on Thursday requiring foreign buyers of Russian gas to open rouble accounts in state-run Gazprombank from Friday or else risk being cut off. But the Kremlin said on Friday it would not immediately turn off the taps to as payments on deliveries due after April 1 come in the second half of this month and May. That message, and signs would take a pragmatic approach, were a relief for . Gas prices, which had risen on fears of disruption, fell. "If things remained like this, all in all not a lot would change," Italy's Ecology Transition Minister Roberto Cingolani told state broadcaster RAI. With weeks left before bills are due, governments in Europe, which relies on Russia for more than a third of its gas, are talking to energy companies about how to pay them. "Working closely with Member States and operators. EU coordination today to establish a common approach on currency payments for gas contracts with Russia," European Commission energy division director general Ditte Juul Jorgenesen tweeted. The European Commission declined further comment. Analysts said the rouble payment plan, which cements Gazprom's position at the heart of Russian gas trading, was more about shielding the oil and gas company from future sanctions than depriving of fuel. Gazprombank has been spared from the harsh sanctions imposed on other Russian banks so European gas buyers could open an account with it and let the lender buy roubles on their behalf. It would have to remain unsanctioned for trade to continue. Although energy exports are Putin's most powerful lever against sweeping Western sanctions, his room for manoeuvre is also limited because Moscow does not have alternative for its gas, which is piped to Europe. "If Putin turns off the gas, it might only be for a relatively short period of time. He needs our money and cannot reroute all the natural gas," one European gas trader said. Germany meanwhile said it was examining Putin's decree. An economy ministry spokesperson said private contracts were valid and that the country, which depends on Russia for 40% of its gas needs, was paying in euros. Berlin has already activated an emergency plan that could lead to gas rationing if supplies drop too low. Gazprom said on Friday it was exiting its business in Germany, although it was not immediately clear how this would affect the supply of Russian gas into Europe's largest economy. PRICE PRESSURE Putin's decision to enforce rouble payments has boosted the Russian currency, which fell to historic lows at the start of the invasion, which Moscow calls a "special military operation". The rouble has since recovered much lost ground. European buyers are still prepared to buy gas under existing contracts while they seek clarity on Putin's demand, while Gazprom said on Friday it had started to notify clients of a requested switch of end-payment currency to roubles. Austria's OMV and Gazprom have had initial contact regarding paying for gas in roubles as demanded by Moscow, a spokesperson for OMV said on Friday, adding that the company is now waiting for written information. Denmark's Orsted, which has a take-or-pay contract with Gazprom running until 2030, said it had received a demand from Gazprom Export to pay for in roubles. "We have no intention of paying in roubles. We are in close dialogue with other energy companies and the authorities regarding a common European response to Gazprom Export," it said in a statement. Poland's dominant gas company PGNiG said it had been formally notified by Gazprom about changes to payment terms for . German utilities Uniper, RWE and VNG all declined to comment. Italian energy group Edison, which has a contract with Gazprom for 1 bcm of gas per year which expires at the end of this year, also did not comment. Italy's Eni said it had received a communication from Gazprom over switching its gas payment currency to roubles, and was analysing the matter. European gas prices have climbed as a result of uncertainty over Putin's plan, with rises of 7%-10% since his order, coming close to previous peaks. Relief that the taps would not be turned off any time soon prompted prices to turn negative. At 1512 GMT, the benchmark front-month contract for May delivery in the Dutch gas market was down 6.60 euros at 113 euros per megawatt hour (MWh). (Reporting by Marwa Rashad and Nina Chestney; Additional reporting by Kate Abnett in Brussels, Stephen Jewkes in Milan and Isla Bennie in Madrid; Alexander Smith; Editing by Carmel Crimmins, Jan Harvey and Grant McCool) (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A federal grand jury has heard testimony in recent months about Hunter Biden's income and payments he received while serving on the board of a Ukraine energy company, according to two people familiar with the probe. It remains unclear whether he might be charged. But the grand jury activity underscores that a federal investigation into President Joe Biden's son that began in 2018 remains active as prosecutors continue to examine foreign payments and other aspects of his finances. A lawyer for Hunter Biden did not return a phone message and email seeking comment on Friday. A Justice Department spokesman deferred a request for comment to the U.S. attorney's office in Delaware, which is handling the investigation. A spokesperson for the office did not return a phone message seeking comment. The people familiar with the investigation could not discuss details of the ongoing probe publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity. No matter how the investigation resolves, it has already presented a political headache for the Biden administration, particularly if Republicans who have already seized on the probe to attack the president retake control of the House in midterm elections later this year. Republicans would then control congressional committees and shape the focus of any investigations. A White House that has sought to deflect questions about law enforcement matters to the Justice Department was asked this week whether it stood by the president's assertion in a 2020 debate that his son had not had unethical business dealings with Ukraine or China. White House communications director Kate Bedingfield said yes. The investigation could also force a delicate decision for a Justice Department that has sought to assert its independence and publicly stressed its willingness to let the facts and evidence, not political decisions, guide its investigative and charging decisions. Attorney General Merrick Garland has not shed any light publicly on the investigation. But the Justice Department did leave in place the top federal prosecutor in Delaware David Weiss, a Trump administration holdover presumably as a way to ensure continuity. Hunter Biden confirmed the existence of an investigation into his taxes in December 2020, one month after the presidential election. He said in a statement that he was confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional advisors. The Associated Press reported later that month that a subpoena served on the younger Biden sought information related to more than two dozen entities. One was Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company whose board he had joined when his father was vice president. That move sparked concerns about a potential conflict of interest given that elder Biden was deeply involved in U.S. policy toward Ukraine during the Obama administration. The breadth of the subpoena highlighted the wide-ranging scope of the investigation into Hunter Biden, though there is no indication that the probe includes any scrutiny of the president himself. Biden has said he did not discuss his son's business dealings with him and has denied having ever taken money from a foreign country. Witnesses in recent months have been questioned about payments Hunter Biden received while serving on the Burisma board, the people familiar with the probe said. Republicans tried making Hunter Biden's business dealings in Ukraine a prominent issue during the 2020 presidential election. A year earlier, then-President Donald Trump tried pressuring his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to launch investigations into the Bidens at the same time Zelenskyy was seeking military aid from the U.S. Trump was later impeached by the House over the phone call but was acquitted by the Senate. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A former Sri Lankan ambassador has pleaded guilty to diverting and attempting to embezzle USD 332,027 from the Sri Lankan government during its 2013 purchase of a new embassy building in D.C., the Department of Justice said. Jaliya Chitran Wickramasuriya, 61, who now lives in Arlington, Virginia, served as Sri Lankan ambassador to the US from 2008 to 2014. On Friday, he pleaded guilty in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The charge carries a statutory maximum of five years in prison and potential financial penalties, a media release said. According to court documents, from in or around late 2012 through November 2013, Wickramasuriya devised a scheme to defraud the government of during its 2013 purchase of a new embassy building in D.C. by inflating the price of the real estate transaction by USD 332,027 and, at closing, diverting those funds from the government to two companies which had no role in the real estate transaction. At and after the January 2013 closing, Wickramasuriya directed these payments. Later in 2013, he ultimately had an equal amount of funds redirected back to government accounts, leaving the Sri Lankan government with no loss, the Department of Justice said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director-General of the Vienna-based Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said he would head an assistance and support mission to Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant "as soon as possible" to help ensure the facility's safety. In a tweet, Grossi said that the mission "will be the first in a series of such nuclear safety and security missions to Ukraine", reports Xinhua news agency He also told a press conference in Vienna that the IAEA mission would be in Chernobyl "very, very soon". The IAEA chief has just returned from his recent visits to and Russia, during which he held discussions with officials on both sides about ensuring the security of the war-torn nation's nuclear facilities. The UN nuclear watchdog said on Thursday that Russian forces which had been in control of the Chernobyl plant were leaving the facility and had transferred control of the plant to Ukrainian personnel. At Friday's press conference, Grossi said he had not discussed with Russian officials why Russian forces left Chernobyl. Grossi said the IAEA was still unable to confirm reports that Russian forces were contaminated with radiation at the Chernobyl plant. He added that the general radiation level around the plant was "quite normal". "There was a relatively higher level of localized radiation because of the movement of heavy vehicles at the time of the occupation of the plant, and apparently this might have been the case again on the way out," he said. Ukrainian authorities said Russian forces had been in control of the plant since Moscow started its invasion on February 24. The Chernobyl plant, some 110 km north of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, witnessed the worst nuclear accident in human history on April 26, 1986. --IANS ksk/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Prime Minister on Saturday urged the youth of to stage "peaceful protests" against a "foreign conspiracy" allegedly hatched against his government but told them not to criticise the Army, a day ahead of the crucial vote on the no-confidence motion against him. Speaking at a live question and answer session, Khan said he had "more than one plan" for Sunday's vote on the no-confidence motion against him in the National Assembly. Terming it a "war for the future of the country, Khan said was standing at a decisive point. "There are two routes we can take. Do we want to take the way of destruction or a path of pride? There will be difficulties in this path but this is the path of our Prophet. This path is for our good. This path brought a revolution in the country," he said. The prime minister said the of Pakistan had reached a point where the people of the country had to take a call, the report said. A society that stands with honesty and justice takes a new life. But when a society becomes neutral, it begins supporting the bad, he said. "There's a conspiracy against the government right now and it has been proven that politicians are being bought like goats to topple the government," he said, noting that the conspiracy started abroad and some politicians in Pakistan were helping these people. "History never forgets those. And I want Pakistan's history to not forget these traitors either. It is your responsibility. Don't let them feel that you have forgotten," he said. "The official document says that if you remove Imran Khan, your relations with the US will get better, he said. The prime minister said he will take legal action against those who "betrayed the nation, the report said. "I met my lawyers today and we have a plan. We won't let them go free. All of them will be punished. We will decide by tonight the kind of legal action we want to take against them," he said. Addressing the youth of the country, Khan said: "You don't have to sit silently [because] if you stay quiet, you will be on the side of the bad. I want you to protest and speak up against this conspiracy not for me but for your future. "I want you to come out and protest today and tomorrow. Come out for peaceful protests," he said. When asked what he would say to those criticising the Army, the prime minister said there are two things that have kept the country united. First is the army of Pakistan. It's a strong and professional army. It is important for the country because a lot of countries are trying to harm Pakistan. Second is the PTI because it's a party that has kept the country connected, he said. "We need this army. It has sacrificed for us. I want you to not criticise the army," he added. Khan also rejected the claims that he was not getting along with the army. "I have no differences with the army. They took a decision and we respect it. The army decided to stay neutral and we respect it," he said. The prime minister claimed that the political crisis created against him was a result of him wanting to devise an independent foreign policy for Pakistan, which he said was previously attempted only once, the report said. "Except under Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, our country has never had an independent foreign policy. And then too, Mir Jaffers such as Fazlur Rehman and Nawaz Sharif had got him killed by conspiring with the foreign powers," he said. Despite the Opposition seemingly having accumulated enough MNAs to topple his government, Khan remained buoyant, saying: "Don't worry at all. A captain always has a plan, and this time I have more than one plan... god willing we will win tomorrow. I will defeat them in the Assembly. "The nation will see tomorrow ... if they cast the vote tomorrow, they know they will be rejected by the public. You will see that we will win tomorrow," he added. The prime minister's remarks came at a crucial time when he is facing a no-confidence motion from the opposition parties. The resolution was tabled in the National Assembly last month and voting on it is expected to take place tomorrow. The resolution against the embattled premier was tabled by Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif on March 28. Khan needs 172 votes in the lower house of 342 to foil the Opposition's bid to topple him. No Pakistani prime minister has ever completed a full five-year term in office. Also, no prime minister in Pakistan's history has ever been ousted through a no-confidence motion, and Khan is the third premier to face the challenge. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Israeli forces shot and killed three Palestinian militants in the occupied early on Saturday, an operation that fuelled persisting fears of a flare-up of violence between and the Palestinians in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Tensions have soared in recent days after Palestinian assailants killed 11 Israelis in separate attacks across the country. Israeli forces have stepped up security and launched arrest raids in the West Bank, killing two Palestinians during a gun battle on Thursday. Another Palestinian was killed on Thursday, after stabbing and wounding an Israeli on a bus in the . The Israeli police said the three militants were members of a cell that was involved in recent attacks against Israeli forces and were planning another attack that was thwarted during early Saturday's join operation with the military and intelligence. Live videos by witnesses on social media showed a crowed of Palestinian people inspecting the scene of the clashes near Jenin city after the Israeli troops withdrew. The street was covered with blood stains and the men chanted slogans calling for revenge. TV reported that the Israeli forces seized the bodies of the dead militants. Earlier, after a Palestinian was killed in Hebron city during clashes that broke out after Friday prayers. The Health Ministry said Ahmed al-Atrash, 29, was killed in Hebron on Friday. The Israeli military said its forces shot a Palestinian who threw a firebomb at them. Several hundred Jewish settlers live under heavy military protection in the heart of Hebron, a city of more than 200,000 Palestinians and home to a major holy site sacred to Jews and Muslims. The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said dozens of Palestinians were wounded in weekly demonstrations elsewhere in the West Bank, where protesters often throw rocks and firebombs at Israeli troops, who fire tear gas, rubber-coated bullets and sometimes live rounds. At the Al-Aqsa mosque in east Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam, authorities said more than 30,000 people attended Friday prayers on the eve of Ramadan, which begins this weekend. There were no reports of protests or violence. The hilltop on which the mosque is located is the holiest site for Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount, and it has been a frequent flashpoint in the century-old conflict. Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders have held a flurry of talks in recent weeks, and has made a series of goodwill gestures, all aimed at calming tensions ahead of Ramadan. They hope to avoid a repeat of last year, when protests and clashes in Jerusalem during Ramadan ignited an 11-day Gaza war and Jewish-Arab violence in Israel's mixed cities. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) U.S. cancels ICBM test amid conflict in Ukraine Xinhua) 08:11, April 02, 2022 Photo taken on Feb. 19, 2020 shows the Pentagon seen from an airplane over Washington D.C., the United States. (Xinhua/Liu Jie) The U.S. Air Force said the reason for the decision was the same as when the Air Force announced the delay of the test on March 2, which was to avoid misinterpretation or miscommunication with Russia during Moscow's military operation in Ukraine. WASHINGTON, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The United States has canceled a planned test-launch of its Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in a bid to lower the nuclear tensions with Russia amid the ongoing military conflict in Ukraine, the U.S. Air Force told Xinhua on Friday. The U.S. Air Force's press desk confirmed the cancellation in a phone call with Xinhua, saying the reason for the decision was the same as when the Air Force announced the delay of the test on March 2, which was to avoid misinterpretation or miscommunication with Russia during Moscow's military operation in Ukraine. "The Department of the Air Force recently cancelled the routinely planned test flight of an LGM-30G Minuteman III missile scheduled for March 2022. The launch had been previously delayed due to an overabundance of caution to avoid misinterpretation or miscommunication during the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and was cancelled for the same reason," Ann Stefanek, the spokesperson for the Air Force, later said in a statement sent to Xinhua via email. "Our next planned test flight is later this year. The Department is confident in the readiness of the strategic forces of the United States," Stefanek added. Russian President Vladimir Putin in February ordered his country's nuclear forces to be put on high alert, prompting Washington to call for de-escalation in what could otherwise be a potential nuclear crisis. (Web editor: Peng yukai, Liang Jun) Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies Co, was named as rotating chairwoman of the Chinese tech heavyweight, as the company overhauls its corporate managing committee for future development. Meng, who made her first public appearance on Monday after returning to China from Canada last year, replaced Guo Ping as one of the three rotating chairpersons of the company, according to the company's website on Friday. As per Huawei, the rotating chairperson is the top leader of the company during her or his duty period, which rotates every six months. Meng, who is the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, maintains her role as CFO of Huawei. Sri Lanka's former president Maithripala Sirisena's Freedom Party has called on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to form an all-party government to tide over the worst in the island nation and said that it may leave the alliance if its request was ignored. is currently experiencing its worst in history. With long lines for fuel, cooking gas, essentials in short supply and long hours of power cuts the public has been suffering for weeks. Party's general secretary and a state minister Dayasiri Jayasekera said that the Central Committee decided on Friday to urge for the formation of a government representing all parties in Parliament. The Freedom Party (SLFP) with 14 Members of Parliament is the largest group within the Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) ruling coalition. Sirisena is SLPP chair but he is not a minister. We have entrusted the party leaders to take a decision as to whether the SLFP would leave the government if the government ignored our request to form an all-party government, Jayasekera said. The SLPP coalition, an alliance of 11 parties, has been in trouble recently. Two of the 11 party leaders were sacked as Cabinet ministers while another Cabinet member has joined them in criticising the government's handling of the . On Thursday night, a large demonstration opposite the private residence of Rajapaksa led to mass scale arrests. They held placards calling Gota go home', blaming him for the hardships. In view of the protests, the President declared a nationwide public emergency with immediate effect from April 1. Rajapaksa has defended his government's actions, saying the foreign exchange crisis was not his making and the economic downturn was largely pandemic driven where the island's tourism revenue and inward remittances waning. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The Sri Lankan government on Saturday imposed a 36-hour curfew as a nationwide public emergency has been enforced ahead of a planned anti-government rally over the worst in the island nation that has hit the common man badly. The island wide curfew has been imposed with effect from 6 pm Saturday to 6 am Monday (April 4), the information department said. President Gotabaya has given the directive under the Public Security Ordinance regulations, it said. The move came as the island nation braced for country-wide protests on Sunday against the government's poor handling of the ongoing where people currently endure long hours of power outages and scarcity of essentials. The imposition of curfew would prevent citizens from holding protests. President issued a special gazette notification late on Friday night, declaring a public emergency in with immediate effect from April 1. In the gazette, the President states: Whereas I am of the opinion that by reason of a public emergency in it is expedient to do so in the interests of public security, the protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community. Commenting on the emergency, independent think-tank Centre for Policy Alternatives said that regulations may impose restrictions on certain fundamental rights guaranteed by the constitution one of them would be among others: the rights to freedom of expression, assembly, association, movement, occupation, religion, culture and language. Lawyers commented that the regulations gave the police sweeping powers to arrest anyone for unlawful assembly. The regulations must be approved in Parliament every 30 days from their imposition. The declaration came at the same time as the court ordered bail to a section of the protesters arrested for the demonstration opposite Rajapaksa's private residence on Thursday. Lawyer Nuwan Bopage, who was among around 500 lawyers gathered at the Colombo suburban Gangodawila magistrate's court to give free counsel, said that out of the 54 arrested, as many as 21 were given bail. Six were remanded until April 4. The rest of the 27 are in hospitals with severe assault injuries. This was a very significant ruling. The court asked the police to file evidence of each of their involvement in acts of violence. They could not do so, Bopage said. The government blamed the residence incidents on an extreme group connected to the Opposition political parties. The protesters said that participants had no political motivation and were only looking for solutions from the government for the hardships heaped on the public. Several people were injured and vehicles were set on fire as the agitation turned violent. Police fired tear gas and water cannons at the protesters after they pulled down a steel barricade placed near the president's residence. Following the incident, several people were arrested and a curfew briefly imposed in most parts of Colombo city. A statement issued by the presidential media division on Friday said an extremist group was behind the unrest near President Rajapaksa's residence in Mirihana. The police said that five policemen were injured, while a police bus, a jeep and two motorcycles were burnt as protesters turned violent. The demonstrators also caused damage to a police water cannon truck. A Sri Lankan man on Saturday alleged that his son, who is a social media activist, has been abducted by the police after a state of emergency amidst protests over the country's worst . Anurudda Bandara's father said his son was taken away by someone from the north Colombo police station of Modera on Friday night. According to the police, he was wanted to be questioned over his social media activities. is currently experiencing its worst economic crisis in history. With long lines for fuel, cooking gas, essentials in short supply and long hours of power cuts the public has been suffering for weeks. Meanwhile, a consignment of 40,000 metric tonnes of diesel from India reached Sri Lanka on Saturday, the fourth such assistance from New Delhi, to mitigate the spike in power cuts in the island nation, which is facing an unprecedented economic and energy crisis caused due to shortage of foreign exchange. Rajapaksa has defended his government's actions, saying the foreign exchange crisis was not his making and the economic downturn was largely pandemic driven where the island's tourism revenue and inward remittances waning. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) President Gotabaya ordered on Saturday that no one should visit public places without permission during a 36-hour curfew imposed by the government ahead of a planned anti-government rally over the worst in the island nation. issued a special gazette notification on Friday, declaring a public emergency in with effect from April 1. In another regulation following his action to impose a state of emergency which followed an order to impose a nationwide curfew, said no one should come out and visit public places during the curfew hours. I consider that it is necessary to maintain public order in the areas.direct that no person shall be on any public road, railway, public park, public recreation ground or other public ground or the seashore in such areas from 1800 hour of April 2, 2022, to 0600 hours of April 4, 2022, except under the authority of a written permit granted, he said. However, even after the curfew came into force at 6 pm on Saturday, peaceful protests continued well into the night. People were seen protesting in several Colombo suburbs despite the curfew order. In recent weeks, there has been mounting public anger against the government over its handling of the country's worst-ever . People were seen standing in long queues for fuel and cooking gas, besides facing long hours of power outages. The demands for Rajapaksa's resignation have been growing. A foreign exchange crunch in has led to a shortage of essential goods such as fuel and cooking gas. Power cuts last up to 13 hours a day. Sri Lanka is currently experiencing its worst in history. With long lines for fuel, cooking gas, essentials in short supply, and long hours of power cuts the people have been suffering for weeks. Rajapaksa has defended his government's actions, saying the foreign exchange crisis was not his making and the economic downturn was largely pandemic driven. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The on Friday welcomed the United Nations-mediated truce in Yemen, with President saying that the initiative is a long-awaited reprieve for the people of the country. I welcome the announcement today of a two-month truce in the conflict. This initiative is a long-awaited reprieve for the Yemeni people. It entails a halt to all military activities by any party inside and across its borders, the entry of fuel ships into Hudaydah port, and the renewal of commercial flights to and from Sana'a to agreed destinations, Biden said. These are important steps but they are not enough, he said. The ceasefire must be adhered to, and as I have said before, it is imperative that we end this war. After seven years of conflict, negotiators must undertake the hard and necessary work to reach political compromises that can bring about an enduring future of peace for all the people of Yemen, he noted. The US President also praised the leadership role of Saudi Arabia and Oman in bringing this initiative to fruition before the holy month of Ramadan. I am also grateful for the hard work of the Yemeni government and the confidence they have placed in UN-led mediation, he said. At the (UN) headquarters in New York, UN Secretary General Antnio Guterres commended Yemen, the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis for agreeing on the two-month truce in Yemen, including cross-border attacks. I urge all parties to make the necessary arrangements to support the successful implementation of the truce, and to operationalise cooperation mechanisms without delay, he said. The parties accepted to halt all offensive military air, ground and maritime operations inside and across its borders. They also agreed for fuel ships to enter into Hudaydah ports and commercial flights to operate in and out of Sana'a airport to predetermined destinations in the region, he said. They further agreed to meet under the auspices of my Special Envoy to open roads in Taiz and other governorates in Yemen. The truce can be renewed beyond the two-month period with the consent of the parties, he added. This truce, which has the possibility of renewal, coincides with the start of the holy month of Ramadan. It opens the door to addressing Yemen's urgent humanitarian and economic needs, and creates a genuine opportunity to restart Yemen's political process. This truce must be a first step to ending Yemen's devastating war, said the Secretary General. Welcoming the truce announcement, US Secretary of State Tony Blinken said the United States, led by the efforts of Special Envoy Tim Lenderking, has been actively involved in diplomatic efforts with the parties and UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg to facilitate this important step. We will continue to work closely with the UN to support the truce, which, if fully implemented, would halt fighting and attacks for at least 60 days and facilitate the flow of goods and people, bringing much-needed relief to millions of Yemenis as they observe the holy month of Ramadan, he said. The calls on all the parties to adhere fully to the UN truce for the sake of the Yemeni people. More than seven years of fighting has brought great suffering and destruction across the country. Yemenis are demanding peace. It is time for the parties to listen to them and seize this decisive moment, Blinken said. With the UN truce in place, the parties should turn their efforts to securing a lasting ceasefire and participating in an inclusive political process led by UN Special Envoy Grundberg, which Special Envoy Lenderking will work closely with him to support, the top American diplomat said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Talks to stop the fighting in resumed Friday, as another desperate attempt to rescue civilians from the shattered and encircled city of Mariupol failed and accused the Ukrainians of launching a helicopter attack on a fuel depot on Russian soil. The governor of Russia's Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said a fiery cross-border raid by two helicopter gunships left two people wounded, though state oil company Rosneft denied anyone was hurt. Certainly, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of the talks, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, five weeks after began sending upwards of 150,000 of its own troops across Ukraine's border. The Russian claim could not immediately be verified, and denied responsibility. For some reason they say that we did it, but in fact this does not correspond with reality, Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's national security council, said on Ukrainian television. has reported cross-border shelling from before, including an incident last week that killed a military chaplain, but not an incursion of its airspace. The Rosneft depot is about 35 kilometers (21 miles) from the Ukraine border. Meanwhile, continued withdrawing some of its troops from areas around Kyiv, three days after said it would reduce military activity near the Ukrainian capital and the northern city of Chernihiv to promote trust at the bargaining table. While Russian forces kept up their bombardment of those two zones, Ukrainian troops exploited the pullback on the ground by mounting counterattacks and retaking a number of towns and villages. Still, Ukraine and its allies warned that the Kremlin is not de-escalating but resupplying its troops and shifting them to the country's east for an intensified assault on the mostly Russian-speaking Donbas region, which includes Mariupol. The latest negotiations, which took place by video, followed a meeting Tuesday in Turkey, where Ukraine reiterated its willingness to abandon a bid to join NATO and declare itself neutral Moscow's chief demand. In return, Ukraine proposed that its security be guaranteed by several other countries. The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, said on social media that Moscow's positions on retaining control of the Crimean Peninsula seized from Ukraine in 2014 and expanding the territory in eastern Ukraine held by Russia-backed separatists are unchanged. The invasion has left thousands dead and driven more than 4 million refugees from Ukraine. On the outskirts of Kyiv, where Russian troops have withdrawn, damaged cars lined the streets of Irpin, a suburban area popular with young families, now in ruins. Emergency workers carried elderly people on stretchers over a wrecked bridge to safety. Three wooden crosses next to a residential building that was damaged in a shelling marked the graves of a mother and son and an unknown man. A resident who gave her name only as Lila said she helped hurriedly bury them on March 5, just before Russian troops moved in. They were hit with artillery and they were burned alive, she said. An Irpin resident who gave his name only as Andriy said the Russians packed up their equipment and left on Tuesday. The next day, they shelled the town for close to an hour before Ukrainian soldiers retook it. I don't think this is over, Andriy said. They will be back. To the south, the Committee for the Red Cross said it was unable to carry out an operation to bring civilians out of Mariupol by bus. It said a team had been on its way but had to turn back. City authorities said the Russians were blocking access to Mariupol. We do not see a real desire on the part of the Russians and their satellites to provide an opportunity for Mariupol residents to evacuate to territory controlled by Ukraine, Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, wrote on the Telegram messaging app. He said Russian forces are categorically not allowing any humanitarian cargo, even in small amounts, into the city. The strategic port city on the Sea of Azov has seen some of the worst suffering of the war, with weeks of heavy fighting and shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine. Around 100,000 people are believed left in the city, down from a prewar 430,000. We are running out of adjectives to describe the horrors that residents in Mariupol have suffered, Red Cross spokesperson Ewan Watson said. On Thursday, Russian forces blocked a 45-bus convoy attempting to evacuate people from Mariupol, and only around 600 people were able to leave in private cars, the Ukrainian government said. Russian forces also seized 14 tons of food and medical supplies bound for Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said. In other developments Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy's office said 86 Ukrainian service members were freed in the Zaporizhzhia region as part of a prisoner swap with Russia. The number of Russians released was not disclosed. Over the past week, the Kremlin, in a seeming shift in its war aims, said its main goal is gaining complete control of the Donbas. The Donbas is the industrial region of eastern Ukraine where Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces since 2014. The separatists have declared two areas independent republics. Mariupol's capture, in particular, would be a major prize for the Russians, giving them an unbroken land bridge to Crimea. Amid the Russian pullback on the ground and its continued bombardment, Ukraine's military said it had retaken 29 settlements in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions. Russian forces in the northeast also continued to shell Kharkiv, and in the southeast sought to seize the cities of Popasna and Rubizhne as well as Mariupol, the Ukrainian military said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Oil settled lower on Friday as members of the Energy Agency (IEA) agreed to join in the largest-ever U.S. release. Both Brent and U.S. crude benchmarks settled down around 13% in their biggest weekly falls in two years after U.S. President Joe Biden announced the release on Thursday. Brent crude futures were down 32 cents, or 0.3%, at $104.39 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell $1.01, or 1%, at $99.27. Biden announced a release of 1 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil for six months from May, which at 180 million barrels is the largest release ever from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Member countries of the Energy Agency did not agree Friday on volumes or the commitments of each country at their emergency meeting, said Hidechika Koizumi, director of the affairs division at Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. He added that additional details could be known "within next week or so."[nL9N2K200I] OPEC+, which includes the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies including Russia, on Thursday stuck with plans for an increase of 432,000 bpd to their May output target despite Western pressure to add more. U.S. energy firms last week added oil and natural gas rigs for a second week in a row but growth in the rig count remains slow as drillers continue to return cash to shareholders from high crude prices rather than boost production. "The looming flood of U.S. barrels does not change the fact that the market will struggle to find enough supply in the coming months," PVM analyst Stephen Brennock said. "The U.S. release pales in comparison to expectations that 3 million bpd of Russian oil will be shut in as sanctions bite and buyers spurn purchases." In a bearish signal for demand, China's commercial hub of Shanghai ground to a halt on Friday after the government locked down most of the city's 26 million residents, aiming to stop the spread of COVID-19. JPMorgan said in a note it had kept its price forecasts unchanged at $114 a barrel for the second quarter and $101 a barrel in the second half of this year. "Crucially, we recognize that a release of oil inventories is not a persistent source of supply, and if stranded Russian barrels average more than 1 million bpd next year, this will leave 2023 in a deep deficit, rendering our $98 a barrel price forecast for the year too low," the bank said. (Additional reporting by Shadia Nasralla in London, Sonali Paul in Melbourne and Isabel Kua in Singapore; Editing by Jason Neely, Jan Harvey and Marguerita Choy) (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin for launching a savage war, on Saturday said he was studying a possible visit to Kyiv. Speaking after his arrival in Malta, the pope delivered his most pointed and personalised denunciation yet of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Francis did not cite Putin by name, but the reference was clear when he said that some potentate had unleashed the threat of nuclear war on the world in an infantile and destructive aggression under the guise of anachronist claims of nationalistic interests. We had thought that invasions of other countries, savage street fighting and atomic threats were grim memories of a distant past, Francis told Maltese officials and diplomats on the Mediterranean island nation at the start of his weekend visit. Francis has to date avoided referring to or Putin by name. However, Saturday's personalisation of the powerful figure responsible marked a new level of outrage for the pope. Once again, some potentate, sadly caught up in anachronistic claims of nationalist interest, is provoking and fomenting conflicts, whereas ordinary people sense the need to build a future that will either be shared or not be at all, he said. The Vatican tends to not call out aggressors in hopes of keeping open options for dialogue. The Vatican, which in recent years has forged unprecedented new relations with the Putin-allied Russian Orthodox Church, had offered itself as a potential mediator but to date has been largely left on the diplomatic sidelines. Francis told reporters en route to Malta that a possible visit to Kyiv was on the table, but no dates had been set or trip confirmed. The mayor of the Ukrainian capital had invited Francis to come as a messenger of peace along with other religious figures. Francis also said that the war had pained his heart so much that he sometimes forgets about the pain in his knees. Francis has been suffering for months from a strained ligament in his right knee. The inflammation got so bad that the Vatican arranged for a tarmac elevator to get him onto and off the plane for Saturday's flight to Malta. The visit, originally scheduled for May 2020, was always supposed to focus on migration, given Malta's role at the heart of Europe's migration debate. Speaking with Malta's president by his side, Francis denounced the sordid agreements the European Union has made with Libya to turn back migrants and said Europe must show humanity in welcoming them. He called for the Mediterranean to be a theatre of solidarity, not the harbinger of a tragic shipwreck of civilisation. Francis was referring to the seven-year-old EU programme to train Libya's coast guard, which patrols the North African country's Mediterranean coast for migrant smuggling operations and brings the would-be refugees back to shore. The programme was adopted and strongly backed by Italy and other front-line Mediterranean countries to try to stem the flow of hundreds of thousands of desperate migrants who pay Libyan-based smugglers to cross the Mediterranean to Europe. Human rights groups have condemned the EU-funded programme as a violation of the migrants' rights and documented gross abuses in the detention camps where returned migrants are then held. Just this past week, Germany said its military would no longer provide training to the Libyan coast guard given its unacceptable, and in some cases illegal, treatment of migrants. Francis has condemned the Libyan detention facilities as concentration camps, but he went further on Saturday in shaming the EU for its complicity in the abuses committed. Civilised countries cannot approve for their own interest sordid agreements with criminals who enslave other human beings, he said. Unfortunately, this is happening. Today, when those who cross the Mediterranean in search of salvation are met with fear and the narrative of invasion, and safeguarding one's own security at any price seems to be the primary goal, let us help one another not to view the migrant as a threat and not to yield to the temptation of raising drawbridges and erecting walls, he said. Other people are not a virus from which we need to be protected, but persons to be accepted, he said. Malta, the European Union's smallest country with a half-million people, has long been on the front lines of the flow of migrants and refugees across the Mediterranean. It has frequently called upon its bigger European neighbours to shoulder more of the burden receiving would-be refugees. Francis has frequently echoed that call, and linked it on Saturday to the welcome the Maltese once gave the Apostle Paul, who according to the biblical account was shipwrecked off Malta in around 60CE while en route to Rome and was shown unusual kindness by the islanders. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Though Russia is the country that invaded its neighbour Ukraine, the Kremlin's version relentlessly warns social media users across Latin America that the US is the bigger problem. Never forget who is the real threat to the world, reads a headline, translated here from Spanish. The article, originally posted in late February on Twitter by RT en Espaol, is intended for an audience half a world away from the fighting in Kyiv and Mariupol. As that war rages, Russia is launching falsehoods into the feeds of Spanish-speaking social media users in nations that already have long records of distrusting the US The aim is to gain support in those countries for the Kremlin's war and stoke opposition against America's response. Though many of the claims have been discredited, they're spreading widely in Latin America and helping to make Kremlin-controlled outlets some of the top Spanish-language sources for information about the war. Russian outlet RT en Espaol is now the third most shared site on Twitter for Spanish-language information about Russia's invasion. RT's success should be concerning to anyone worried about the success of democracy, said Samuel Woolley, a University of Texas professor who researches disinformation. RT is geared toward authoritarian control and, depending on the context, nationalism and xenophobia. What we risk is Russia gaining control of an increasingly large market share of eyeballs. US-based tech companies have tried to rein in Russian outlets' ability to spread propaganda following the invasion, by banning apps linked to the outlets, demoting the content and labeling state-run media outlets. The European Union has banned RT and Russian state-owned Sputnik, Yet the content thrives on Spanish-language websites, message boards and social media pages. While Russia also creates propaganda in languages including English, Arabic, French and German, it's found particular success with Spanish-speaking users, according to recent research by Esteban Ponce de Leon, a Bogota, Colombia-based analyst with the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, a Washington think tank that receives funding from the US and other governments. Russia's discredited claims about Ukraine and the US include allegations that the invasion was necessary to confront neo-Nazis, or that the US has secretly backed biological warfare research in Ukraine. In fact, the US has long publicly provided funding for biological labs in Ukraine that research pathogens with the hope of curbing dangerous disease outbreaks. That type of disinformation can easily flow from Latin America into other countries including the US that have large Spanish-speaking communities. Sometimes it's passed between relatives who might be sharing the claims across continents with one another. It's another potential entry point for Russia, and a reminder of the sophistication of the Russians' efforts. 'There's different avenues where RT is actively engaging communities across Latin America and the United States, said Jacobo Licona, a researcher at the Democratic firm, Equis Labs. That's part of the reason RT has been so effective, they've been building this network or community ahead of time. As one of the world's most-spoken languages, Spanish is of obvious interest to any government or organisation intent on shaping global public opinion. But Russia's focus on the Spanish language goes further, reflecting the historic and strategic importance of Central and South America during the Cold War, said analyst Ponce de Leon of the Atlantic Council. For decades, the Soviet Union sought to exploit historic tensions between the US and Latin America by supporting communist factions and larger allies including Cuba. Russia has sought to portray the US as a colonizing empire, even as the has worked to strengthen its own ties to the hemisphere. RT's Spanish language service began in 2009, four years after its English language version. It has rapidly gained ground, and is now far more popular than its English counterpart. RT en Espaol has more than 16 million followers on its Facebook page, nearly triple the number of its English site. High profile names in Latin America have in some cases given RT a hand. Ex-Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa began hosting a weekly political talk show for RT in 2018, less than a year after he left office. Since then he's been convicted of corruption charges that forced him to flee Ecuador for Europe. Authorities in Ecuador have also accused him of trying to destabilize his successor's government. In March, RT en Espaol's Facebook page experienced a boost in interactions, generating roughly 75,000 likes, reactions and comments on its pages daily, according to an analysis by the Equis Institute, a Democratic research and polling firm. The bump in engagement continued even after tech company Meta said it was demoting Russian-state media pages across its platforms, which include Facebook and Instagram. On Twitter, RT and Sputnik get help from Russian diplomats and a network of other accounts that researchers say artificially boost the popularity of the posts. That has helped RT become the third-most shared site for Spanish-language information on the Ukraine war on Twitter, outperforming local news sources as well as outlets like the BBC and CNN. Ponce de Leon tracked thousands of accounts that posted or reposted content from RT and Sputnik on Twitter and found that 171 accounts were responsible for 11 per cent of the overall engagement with the posts. During one eight-day period in March, those accounts posted more than 200,000 times, or an average of 155 tweets per day for each account significantly more than a normal user. The suspect accounts helped spread the content to authentic users, Ponce de Leon said, in an effort to grow RT's already impressive audience in Latin America. Russia is seeking to maintain its popularity in Latin America, he said. RT and Sputnik already have a big audience in the region. Should we be concerned? The answer would be yes. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) As Ukrainian cities continue to be decimated under heavy bombardments and shelling, while speaking with the journalists said that a trip to Ukraine "is on the table." Replying to a question by the media if he was considering visiting Kyiv, replied after a long pause and said, "Yes, it is on the table," reported CNN News. The interaction with the media took place on board his plane to Malta on Saturday morning. He greeted more than 70 journalists on board saying, "it will be a nice trip." Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine on February 24 in response to calls from the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics for protection against intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops. The Russian Defense Ministry said the special operation, which targets Ukrainian military infrastructure, aims to "demilitarize and denazify" Ukraine. Moscow has said it has no plans to occupy Ukraine. Western nations have imposed numerous sanctions on Russia. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) A prominent Ukrainian photojournalist who went missing last month in a combat zone near the capital has been found dead. Ukraine's Prosecutor General's office said in a statement Saturday that Maks Levin was killed with two gunshots, fired allegedly by the Russian military. Levin's body was found in the Huta Mezhyhirska village on Friday. Levin, 40, worked as a photojournalist and videographer for many Ukrainian and publications. Levin has been missing since March 13, when he contacted his friend from Vyshhorod near Kyiv to report on the fighting in the region. An investigation into his death has been launched. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) China has held a national teleconference on strengthening workplace safety to implement the instructions made by President Xi Jinping after the China Eastern Airlines plane crash. Soon after the accident happened on March 21, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, ordered all-out search and rescue efforts and the proper handling of the aftermath, and dispatched senior officials to direct related work. Xi made an instruction about workplace safety on March 24, and on Thursday chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee to hear a report on handling the crash and make arrangements for the follow-up work. Noting that responsibilities were not fulfilled in some localities and sectors, Xi said Party committees and governments at all levels should put people and their lives first, stay on high alert, and never relax their vigilance in terms of workplace safety. Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, said in an instruction that the country still faces a complex and tough workplace safety situation and stressed the need to learn lessons from recent safety accidents. Work should be done to strictly punish violations in key sectors including mining, hazardous chemicals, construction and transportation, Li said. The teleconference took place to implement Xi's instructions. Liu He, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and head of the Work Safety Committee of the State Council, made a speech at the conference. Wang Yong and Zhao Kezhi, both state councilors and deputy heads of the work safety committee, attended the meeting. The meeting outlined a raft of measures to improve workplace safety and prevent major accidents, including an immediate nationwide inspection and strengthened oversight and law enforcement. Concrete actions must be taken to prevent frequent accident occurrences as soon as possible, according to the meeting. The people of Pakistan, including political leaders, were surprised when Prime Minister praised his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi's foreign policy before a crowd of thousands of supporters, The News reported on Saturday. Khan praised Modi's foreign policy while addressing a public rally in Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. "I would like to praise our neighbouring country Hindustan for its foreign policy. India's foreign policy is free and independent, and its only aim is for the betterment of its own people." "It is amusing to note that Imran Khan, who, at one point of time, used to deride as Hitler and Nazi leader at forums, has now praised his foreign policy, at a time when his government is on the verge of collapse," The News said in its report. "Modi established friendly relations with countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Oman and Jordan, which were traditional friends of . Saudi Arabia has stopped giving loans to Pakistan, and UAE has stopped raising the Kashmir issue despite prodding from . "Most of the Islamic nations have now changed their attitude towards India and the situation has come to such a pass that even opposition leaders in have now started asking their Prime Minister not to give Modi's examples. These opposition leaders allege that the world is now laughing at Pakistan because of Imran Khan's incompetence," says the report. Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla reacted to Khan's remark by saying: "India has received across the board praise from different countries for its foreign policy, and our record speaks for itself. It would be wrong to say that only one leader has praised India's foreign policy." --IANS san/ksk/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Singapore's predominantly Chinese-led multi-racial society has become more open to the idea of electing top leaders who are non-Chinese, according to a survey conducted by Channel News Asia (CNA) and the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS). However, most respondents were very uncomfortable with the idea of a new citizen from any country taking on these roles. Less than 10 per cent said they would be comfortable with a new citizen as president or prime minister, CNA reported on Saturday. New citizens are migrants settling in manpower-short which invites professionals from around the world, especially to support its flourishing economy. In the second edition of the CNA-IPS survey on race relations, which was conducted last year, a bigger proportion of respondents said they could accept a Singaporean-Malay (69.6 per cent) or Singaporean-Indian (70.5 per cent) as the prime minister. Researchers said the figures are a significant increase from the previous study in 2016, where 60.8 per cent said they were comfortable with a Malay as prime minister and 64.3 per cent with an Indian as prime minister. Almost all respondents (96.8 per cent) were ready to accept a Singaporean-Chinese as prime minister, slightly higher than the 95.6 per cent in 2016. Researchers also found that respondents from the three major races -- Chinese, Malays and Indians -- showed the highest preference for someone of their own race as prime minister. Among Chinese respondents, virtually all said they were comfortable with a Singaporean-Chinese as prime minister (98.9 per cent), while 63.9 per cent said they would accept a Malay prime minister and 65.8 per cent an Indian one. Comparatively, 92.6 per cent of Malay respondents said they would accept a Singaporean-Malay prime minister, but 87.5 per cent would be comfortable with a Chinese one and 80.4 per cent with an Indian one. Among Indian respondents, 91.9 per cent would accept a Singaporean-Indian as prime minister, but 90.3 per cent would be comfortable with a Chinese one and 80.8 per cent with a Malay one, the survey stated. Meanwhile, for the role of president, the percentage of respondents who said they could accept a non-Chinese also rose. About 82.2 per cent said they were comfortable with a Singaporean-Malay as president a jump from 65.5 per cent in the previous study and 82 per cent could accept a Singaporean-Indian up from 70.6 per cent in 2016. In the 240-page report, researchers suggested that the larger rise could be a result of President Halimah Yacob, who is a Malay, dispelling perhaps earlier prejudices that a Malay was not suitable for the highest office of the land. A growing number of people think that racism remains an important problem even while the overwhelming majority believe everyone in can become rich or successful regardless of their race, according to the survey based on responses from more than 2,000 citizens and permanent residents aged 21 years and above, with a sample that was reflective of the population in terms of their age, race, gender and housing type. However, an additional 350 or so Malay and Indian respondents were polled so that their views were properly represented. More than half of the survey's respondents (56.2 per cent) felt that racism is an important problem, which was an increase from the previous CNA-IPS survey conducted in 2016 (46.3 per cent). Despite this, a large majority of people believe that meritocracy is not contingent on race, with more than 80 per cent of respondents agreeing that everyone can become rich or successful irrespective of what race they are, which was consistent with the findings from the 2016 survey. While most respondents (88.8 per cent) said it is important for political leaders to talk openly about racism, more than half (58.6 per cent) also felt that such public discourse could cause unnecessary tension. They may feel that political leaders taking the lead in such discussions could avert some of the potential tension, said the report. It noted that Chinese respondents (54.9 per cent) were slightly more likely to feel that ethnic minorities are getting overly sensitive in discussions on race, compared to Indian (42.7 per cent) and Malay respondents (47.8 per cent). The survey also found that respondents were evenly divided on whether there is majority privilege in Singapore, with 53.9 per cent feeling that being of the majority race is an advantage. This was comparable with findings from the 2016 survey, where 52.7 per cent felt this way. Those between the age of 12 and 35 years, especially Malay and Indian respondents, were generally more likely to feel that majority privilege exists. In terms of which cultures respondents felt were more privileged, most (70.2 per cent) said they did not believe that the majority race's culture was privileged. However, ethnic minorities were more likely to feel that the converse is true. Accommodating different cultural needs is also seen as compatible with a strong Singaporean identity, with 71.6 per cent feeling that doing so has not impinged on national identity. Virtually all respondents, 92 per cent, expect the level of national unity to increase or at least stay the same in the next five years, the report said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Sri Lanka's President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has declared a state of in the country giving the security forces wide authority to arrest and detain suspects with immediate effect. Rajapaksa has issued the "Extraordinary Gazette" declaring a public after hundreds of protesters gathered in the capital and many of them tried to storm the President's residence to protest against the government for "poor management of economic policies, which has created mess in the country". The President said he believed there was a "public in Sri Lanka" that necessitated invoking the tough laws. "The Gazette has been issued considering the prevailing situation in the country and in the interests of public security, the protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community," said a statement. --IANS shs/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The UK's media watchdog has suspended the licence of Khalsa Television Limited to broadcast in the country after an investigation found its KTV channel breached broadcasting rules with Khalistani propaganda. The Office of Communications (Ofcom) announced its decision this week after serving a suspension notice to the company over a Prime Time' programme, broadcast on KTV on December 30 last year, for a breach of the Broadcasting Code with content likely to encourage or incite the commission of a crime or lead to disorder. The communications regulator said the 95-minute live discussion programme included material likely to incite violence. The presenter of the programme made a number of statements throughout the programme which, taken together, promoted violent action, including murder, as an acceptable and necessary form of action to further the Khalistani cause. This was a serious breach of our rules on incitement of crime and disorder, Ofcom said in a statement. Given the serious nature of this breach, and for the reasons set out in our suspension notice, we are today suspending Khalsa Television Limited's licence to broadcast in the with immediate effect, the statement from Thursday reads. Khalsa Television Limited now has 21 days in which to make representations to Ofcom. Following this process, it will decide whether to revoke Khalsa Television Limited's licence. KTV is a television channel broadcasting largely to the Sikh community in the under a licence held by Khalsa Television Limited. In February, the channel received Ofcom's "Preliminary View" notice and in representations objected to its translation and analysis of the programme. Ofcom said this failed to provide any substantive details of the objection and offered it another chance to respond last month. In its representations, the KTV reiterated that the programme in question did not contain an incitement or call to violent action in breach of Rule 3.1 and provided an example of what it said was Ofcom's misunderstanding of the words used by the presenter. Given the urgency and seriousness of the investigation and the time that the Licensee (KTV) had already been offered to provide its full written representations, Ofcom did not consider it appropriate to delay matters further. Ofcom noted that the Licensee would have a further opportunity to make written and oral representations should we decide to suspend its licence, the suspension notice reads. During the Suspension Period, the Licensee, KTV Ltd, must not broadcast the KTV service. Pursuant to section 13 of the 1990 Act, failure to comply with this Suspension Notice by broadcasting the KTV service during the Suspension Period would amount to a criminal offence, which is punishable by an unlimited fine, it notes. Ofcom has previously also taken similar action against the channel, including in February last year when it imposed a total fine of GBP 50,000 on the channel for broadcasting a music video and a discussion programme that was deemed an indirect call for British Sikhs to commit violence and also contained a terror reference. On its website, KTV describes itself as an exciting channel, airing a range of cultural, educational and entertaining programmes for audiences of all ages. It says it prides itself in being completely independent, impartial and honest. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declined to comment on whether he ordered an attack on a Russian fuel depot. In an interview with FOX News, Zelenskyy said he does not discuss any orders he issues as commander in chief. Earlier, the secretary of Ukraine's national security council denied allegations from Moscow that two Ukrainian helicopter gunships had struck the facility in the city of Belgorod north of the border at around dawn Friday. The regional governor in Belgorod said two workers at the depot were injured, but Russian media cited a statement from state oil company Rosneft that denied anyone was hurt. But if Moscow's claim is confirmed, it would be the war's first known attack in which Ukrainian aircraft penetrated Russian airspace. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The is adding 120 Russian and Belarusian entities to its trade blacklist for their support of the countries' armed forces amid the ongoing special operation in Ukraine, the US Commerce Department said on Friday. "In response to the Russian Federation's (Russia's) further invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the Department of Commerce is amending the Export Administration Regulations (EAR) by adding 120 entities under 120 entries to the Entity List. These 120 entities have been determined by the U.S. Government to be acting contrary to the national security interests or foreign policy of the and will be listed on the Entity List under the destinations of and Russia," the Commerce Department said in a notice in the Federal Register. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US has "clearly distanced" itself from Pakistan, former American military chief Mike Mullen said as the White House and the State Department publicly rejected claims of their involvement in Islamabads domestic politics, Dawn news reported. "It is difficult, difficult to say," said Admiral Mullen when asked to describe Washington's relations with . "I think we have clearly distanced ourselves from over the last decade and has more and more fallen under the umbrella of China," he told VOA Urdu Service in Washington. Admiral Mullen, who was chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 2007 to September 2011, was also named in the so-called Memogate controversy, which revolved around a memorandum, ostensibly seeking US support for preventing a feared military takeover in Pakistan that never happened. He noted that China was not only Islamabad's neighbour but it "has been supportive of Pakistan" as well. This closeness, he said, "suits China's global ambition" because Beijing would prefer to have a neighbour "closer to them and not close to the US". For these reasons, the US-Pakistan relationship "is going to be tense for quite some time", he added. Asked if he believed Pakistan helped the Taliban take over Kabul in August last year, Admiral Mullen said: "They did not do much to stop it for sure." He recalled that as the US army chief he had told a congressional hearing that Pakistani intelligence agencies were active in Afghanistan "and I still believe that connectivity is there. It sort of cuts both ways". The former US military chief reiterated a complaint that's often heard in Washington that Pakistan "played on both sides (the US and the Taliban)" in Afghanistan, Dawn reported. --IANS san/ksk/ (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) The US Defense Department says it is providing an additional USD 300 million in military equipment to Ukrainian forces defending the country from Russian troops. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement on Friday evening that the gear in the new package includes laser-guided rocket systems, unmanned aircraft, armoured vehicles, night vision devices and ammunition. Also included are medical supplies, field equipment and spare parts. Kirby said the new package represents the beginning of a contracting process to provide new capabilities to Ukraine, rather than delivering equipment drawn from US military stockpiles. The US has provided more than USD 1.6 billion in security assistance since Russia's invasion, Kirby said. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) For setting up 1000 MW capacity Hasdev Bango Pumped Storage Project JSW Energy announced that its subsidiary, JSW Neo Energy has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Chhattisgarh for setting up 1,000 MW capacity of Hydro Pumped Storage Project viz. Hasdev Bango Pumped Storage Project, in the State of Chhattisgarh. JSW Energy through its green growth vehicle JSW Neo Energy has been expeditiously securing key resources for Hydro PSPs in various resource rich states for projects with a targeted capacity totalling upto 10 GW. Earlier, in FY22, the Company had also signed a MoU with the Government of Maharashtra for 1,500 MW and a Letter of Intent with the Government of Rajasthan for 1,000 MW Hydro PSPs. Powered by Capital Market - Live News (This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed. Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard. Digital Editor Appealing the people of Gujarat to give the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) a chance and accusing the ruling BJP of becoming arrogant, Delhi Chief Minister and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann on Saturday conducted a roadshow in Ahmedabad. Buoyed by their party's thumping victory in Punjab, the leaders promised to "end corruption" in Gujarat, prime minister Narendra Modi's home state, where Assembly elections are due by year-end. Kejriwal, who is the AAP's convener, and Mann set out on a two-km roadshow, dubbed as "Tiranga Gaurav Yatra." They stood atop a truck converted to look like a 'rath' (chariot), flanked by Gujarat leaders Isudan Gadhvi and Gopal Italia, virtually starting the party's poll campaign. Kejriwal, who along with Mann arrived in the city in the morning on a two-day visit to Ahmedabad, said he was not here to defeat the BJP or Congress, but wanted to make the state and its people emerge a winner and end corruption. "You gave them (the BJP) 25 years, now give us one chance. You gave a chance to the in Delhi and Punjab, now give us a chance in Gujarat, and together with 6.5 crore people (of the state), we will take the state forward," Kejriwal told a cheering crowd at the conclusion of the hour-long roadshow. "BJP has been ruling the state for over 25 years and yet it has not been able to end corruption. A period of 25 years is too long," he said. After being in power for over 25 years, the BJP has become "arrogant" and does not listen to the people, the Delhi chief minister said. "Give AAP a chance. If you do not like it, change it," he added. In Delhi, he has improved the condition of schools and hospitals, ended corruption and made electricity free and available for 24 hours, he said. Mann has ended corruption in Punjab within 10 days of becoming CM, ordered that private schools shall not raise fees, and announced a recruitment drive to fill up 25,000 vacant posts, Kejriwal said. "I don't know how to do . But I know how to end corruption. We ended corruption in Delhi, where now you do not have to pay bribes in government offices. In Punjab, Bhagwant Mann ended corruption in ten days," he said. Mann said the AAP is prepared to replicate in Gujarat what it achieved in Delhi and Punjab. "AAP has emerged from a revolution, and we do not tolerate corruption. Wherever there is corruption, people are picking up the 'jhadu' (broom, the party's election symbol)....this slush of corruption and arrogance will have to be removed," he said. The Punjab chief minister also referred to the recent cases of paper leak during exams for government recruitment in Gujarat, and said that the leakage is not limited to question papers alone. The roadshow started from Khodiyar Mataji temple at Nikol, where the two leaders sought the goddess' blessings. Before that, Kejriwal and Mann visited the Sabarmati Ashram and paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi. A large number of AAP workers and supporters thronged the road holding the tricolour in hands, and walked along with the 'rath', cheering loudly amid patriotic songs being played by music systems. The roadshow is seen as a show of strength of the AAP, which is looking to provide a fresh option in Gujarat which has seen a two-cornered contest between the BJP and Congress for the last many decades. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) In a setback to senior Samajwadi Party leader and MLA Muhammad Azam Khan, has taken possession of several waqf properties from him and handed them over to Rampur's royal family. Khan is currently lodged in Sitapur jail in over 100 cases pertaining to theft, criminal intimidation, fraud and encroachment. chairman Ali Zaidi told PTI on Saturday that after the formation of the SP government in the state in the year 2012, many waqf properties 'encroached' by the then Waqf Minister Azam Khan have been returned to the original owners after due investigation. He said this decision was taken in the last meeting of the board held on March 31. Zaidi said that during his tenure, Khan had illegally encroached on seven 'alal aulad' (succession-based) waqf properties of the royal family, including the fortified mosque and an 'imambara' the house or court of imam). Azam Khan did this by directing Wasim Rizvi, the then chairman of the Shia Waqf Board, and made an outsider Wasim Khan the caretaker of these properties. Once this was done, Azam Khan demolished the Shaukat Ali Bazar built on these properties in May 2013 despite a stay order by the court. He said after the reorganization of the in November last year, an inquiry was conducted into the complaints of illegal occupation of the Waqf properties of the royal family, on the basis of which Waseem Khan was removed and Haider Ali Khan alias Hamza Miyan, the grandson of Begum Noorbano of the royal family, was made the caretaker. Significantly, the rivalry between Azam Khan and the royal family of Rampur is quite old. The attitude of Azam Khan, who started his by giving the slogan 'Nawab vs Awam (king vs subjects)', was openly against the royal family of Rampur, said Saleem Hussain, a former aide of Azam Khan in Rampur. Khan, who has been in an important position in the Samajwadi Party government, has been aggressive against the royal family of Rampur, he added. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) You are here: World Flash Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed cooperation on international issues and bilateral ties with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sochi on Wednesday. Putin noted that Russian-Turkish cooperation on the international arena has been successful, further pointing to efforts aimed at coordinating positions on Syria and Libya. He positively assessed the work of the Russian-Turkish center for monitoring the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh, adding that it served to promote stability and reconciliation in the region. The Russian leader also emphasized the successful work of the Turkish Stream gas pipeline that continues to operate amid a turbulent situation in the European gas market. Both leaders said work on the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant in the Turkish province of Mersin was being carried out according to plan. Erdogan noted progressive development with regard to military, trade, economic and political ties between the two countries and said peace in Syria is largely dependent on cooperation between Moscow and Ankara. You are here: World Flash Ukrainian and Russian forces on Friday exchanged prisoners under an agreement reached by the two countries' negotiating groups earlier this week, said Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president's office. "The exchange has just taken place. 86 Ukrainian servicemen, including 15 women, are now safe," Tymoshenko said on Telegram. The prisoner swap took place in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region, Tymoshenko said, without giving the number of captives released by Ukraine. Ukraine and Russia held their latest round of face-to-face peace talks in Turkey's Istanbul on Tuesday. Ukraine and Russia conducted their first prisoner swap last week since the start of the conflict on Feb. 24, Ukrainian authorities said. Flash UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday welcomed the agreement by the parties to the conflict in Yemen on a two-month truce, which comes into effect on Saturday. Guterres said the truce opens the door to addressing Yemen's urgent humanitarian and economic needs, and creates an opportunity to restart Yemen's political process. "This truce must be the first step to ending Yemen's devastating war," said Guterres. UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg has just announced the breakthrough in Amman, Jordan. Grundberg said the parties have agreed to halt all offensive military air, ground and maritime operations inside Yemen and across its borders. They have also agreed for fuel ships to enter into Hodeidah ports and for commercial flights to operate in and out of Sanaa airport to pre-determined destinations in the region. Grundberg said the parties have further agreed to meet under his auspices to open roads in Taiz and other governorates in Yemen. The truce can be renewed beyond the two-month period with the consent of the parties, said Grundberg. Guterres commended the Yemeni government, the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis in Yemen for the agreement, and urged all parties to make the necessary arrangements to support the successful implementation of the truce. A halt to the fighting, coupled with the entry of fuel ships, and the easing of restrictions on the movement of people and goods in, out and within the country, will contribute to building trust and creating a conducive environment to resume negotiations for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, he said. Guterres urged the parties to cooperate "in good faith and without preconditions" with Grundberg in the latter's efforts to resume an inclusive and comprehensive Yemeni political process. "The ultimate aim must be a negotiated political settlement which addresses the legitimate concerns and aspirations of all Yemenis." For more than seven years, war has devastated the lives of millions of Yemeni women, children and men, and the war has fueled one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, brought state institutions to the verge of collapse, reversed human development by two decades, and threatened regional peace and security, said Guterres. "Today must be the start of a better future for the people of Yemen," he said. Guterres cautioned that such agreements are always fragile. "So now, we must take profit of the momentum in order to make sure that this truce is fully respected and that it is renewed and, with that renewal, that a true political process is launched in Yemen." He also expressed the hope that the truce agreement in Yemen will inspire other peace deals. "I think that this demonstrates that even when things look impossible, when there is the will to compromise, peace becomes possible.... And I hope that this agreement will inspire others, in Ukraine and other parts of the world, in order to make sure that we address the dramatic conflicts that are undermining the well-being of so many people around the world." UN Undersecretary-General Martin Griffiths, who has been tasked by Guterres to pursue a humanitarian cease-fire in Ukraine, will be flying to Moscow on Sunday. And after that, he will be going to Kiev, said Guterres. The UN chief said both Russia and Ukraine have agreed to meet Griffiths to discuss a humanitarian cease-fire. Flash A fire broke out at an oil depot in the Russian city of Belgorod after two Ukrainian military helicopters attacked the fuel storage facility, Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod Region, said Friday. Hours later, spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry Olexandr Motuzyanyk said he does not confirm or deny the information about Ukraine's involvement in the fire at the oil depot in Russia's Belgorod, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported. "I will neither confirm nor deny this information," Motuzyanyk told reporters at a media briefing in Kiev. Ukraine has been carrying out a defensive operation to repel "Russian armed aggression" on the territory of Ukraine, he said. "This does not mean that Ukraine should be responsible for all miscalculations, all catastrophes, and all the events taking place in Russia," Motuzyanyk added. The fire at the oil depot occurred "as a result of an airstrike carried out by two helicopters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which entered the Russian airspace at a low altitude," Gladkov wrote on his Telegram channel earlier on Friday. All emergency services are on the scene, he said, adding that civilians are not in danger. Gladkov said that two oil depot workers had been injured in the fire. Photo: The Canadian Press First-term Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, right, and Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II meet with reporters before the pair turned in 30,000 nominating signatures to the state elections bureau to run for reelection on Thursday, March 17, 2022, in Lansing. Mich. (AP Photo/David Eggert) A prosecutor urged jurors Friday to convict four men in a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, saying they were anti-government extremists filled with rage and intent on touching off a civil war in the final weeks of the polarizing 2020 general election. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nils Kessler summed up the evidence on the 15th day of trial, tracing the group's secretly recorded words as well as testimony from agents, an extraordinary informant and two star witnesses who pleaded guilty. Defense attorneys, meanwhile, panned the government's case: One said the men were turned into "terrorists by rogue investigators, while another pleaded with jurors to put the brakes on the FBI. After listening to hours of closing arguments, the weary jury said its deliberations would start Monday. Kessler began his final remarks by saying there are boundaries when it comes to scorn for people in power. If you don't like your elected representatives, you can vote them out at the ballot box. That's what makes this country great," Kessler told the jury. What we can't do is kidnap them, kill them or blow them up. That's also what makes America great. Adam Fox, Barry Croft Jr., Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta are charged with conspiracy to kidnap. Three of them also face charges related to weapons. The men were arrested in October 2020 amid talk of raising $4,000 for an explosive that could blow up a bridge and stymie police responding to a kidnapping, according to trial evidence. Fox twice traveled to northern Michigan to scout the area; one of those trips included Croft and undercover agents. Kessler said the group's motive was to spark the boogaloo, a reference to a U.S. civil war, by kidnapping Whitmer. That's what bound these defendants together. ... They were filled with rage, the prosecutor said. They were paranoid because they knew what they were doing was illegal and were afraid of getting caught. The four men deny any scheme to abduct Whitmer from her vacation home, though they clearly were livid with the government and with restrictions imposed by the governor during the COVID-19 pandemic. Ty Garbin, who pleaded guilty and testified against the men, said the goal was to get Whitmer before the election and create enough chaos to stop Joe Biden from winning the presidency. Kessler took the jury back to events in summer and fall 2020: a national meeting of militias in Ohio, training in Wisconsin and Michigan, and a September night excursion to see the governors property on Birch Lake and inspect the bridge. The men had constructed a crude shoot house in Luther, Michigan, to replicate Whitmers home and practiced going in and out with guns, according to evidence. The investigation began when Army veteran Dan Chappel joined a militia, the Wolverine Watchmen, to maintain his firearm skills. Chappel testified that he was alarmed when he started hearing talk about attacking police and agreed to become an FBI informant. Thank God for Dan Chappel. ... He went back at great personal risk, Kessler told the jury. But jurors got a different view from the defense. Fox's attorney, Christopher Gibbons, hammered away at Chappel, who was paid roughly $50,000 by the FBI, including expenses, and talked to Fox almost daily for months, recording their conversations. Gibbons said Fox was a hapless man living in the basement of a Grand Rapids-area vacuum shop, smoking marijuana whenever possible and totally incapable of leading the wild plot. The plan was utter nonsense. It wasn't real to Adam Fox. He was LARPing, Gibbons said, using an acronym for live action role playing. Adam Fox is usually impaired. Hes just playing his game. ... A person cannot accidentally enter into a conspiracy. He accused the government of radicalization. "Inviting citizens that they think are susceptible to a theater where they are given full senses of who and what they are, and somebody rattles the chains, somebody beats the drum and gets them all worked up," Gibbons said. That's unacceptable in America," he said. That's not how it works. They don't make terrorists so we can arrest them. Croft, a trucker from Bear, Delaware, vented on social media about hanging governors for treason, and he was repeatedly recorded talking about violence and explosives. Prosecutors noted that he made four trips by car to the Midwest. His attorney, however, called it crazy talk from a stoned pirate, referring to marijuana and Croft's three-cornered hat, not a plan to attack Whitmer. I am ashamed of the behavior of the leading law enforcement agency in the United States. ... This investigation was an embarrassment," Joshua Blanchard told the jury. Lawyers for Harris and Caserta emphasized that neither man went to Elk Rapids with Croft and Fox to surveil Whitmer's home during the training weekend in Luther. Julia Kelly said Garbin and Kaleb Franks, who both testified against the group, are liars, though they pleaded guilty and are facing prison. The defense used a big screen to complement closing remarks. Some jurors smiled when attorney Michael Hills showed a cartoon bobblehead dog to highlight that Caserta supposedly nodded in agreement to the kidnapping plan but wasn't recorded as saying he was in. Whitmer, a Democrat, rarely talks publicly about the plot, though she referred to surprises during her term that seemed like something out of fiction when she filed for reelection on March 17. She has blamed former President Donald Trump for fomenting anger over coronavirus restrictions and refusing to condemn right-wing extremists like those charged in the case. Whitmer has said Trump was complicit in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Photo: Contributed Sen. Napoleon Gomez Urrutia (right) with Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador Mexican media is abuzz about the citizenship of the mining union leader who lived 12 years in exile in the Lower Mainland before going home to become a senator. Napoleon Gomez Urrutia fled north in 2006 and became a Canadian in 2014. In February 2018, he was nominated to the senate and returned to Mexico for his August 2018 swearing-in. Senators in Mexico must be Mexican-born and have no other citizenship. According to a translation of a March 31 Reforma news agency story in El Diario, Gomez Urrutia did not carry out any kind of procedure in Canada to renounce the citizenship of that country. The story quoted Gomez Urrutias March 4, 2021, testimony to the 14th District Court on Administrative Matters: "I renounced any foreign nationality before the authorities that I consider to be competent, which in the case are the Mexican ones, not the Canadian ones [...] it was not necessary to carry out procedures in Canada. To renounce Canadian citizenship, a person must deal directly with Canadian officials. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada requires a $100 payment and completed application with proof one is or will become a citizen of a country other than Canada, will not live in Canada, be at least 18 years old and is not a security threat. The application form is available online and, for those not living in Canada or the U.S., must be submitted to a Canadian embassy, high commission or consulate. An email query to Gomez Urrutias office did not elicit a reply before deadline. Questions about Gomez Urrutias citizenship status erupted more than two years ago after he was photographed at Vancouver International Airport. Gomez Urrutia and his wife, Oralia Casso, flew first class on a Jan. 2, 2020, Aeromexico flight from Mexico City to Vancouver and presented dark blue-covered Canadian passports. Mexicos are dark green. Gomez Urrutia was head of the National Union of Mine, Metal, Steel and Allied Workers of the Mexican Republic, better known as Los Mineros, when he fled with his family to Vancouver in 2006. He blamed mining company Grupo Mexico and the Mexican government for industrial homicide after an explosion at a coal mine earlier that year in Coahuila killed 65 workers. He was charged for allegedly embezzling USD$55 million from a union trust fund that had been dissolved in 2005. Gomez denied the allegations. In 2014, a Mexican appeal court deemed the charges unconstitutional and cancelled an arrest warrant. Gomez Urrutia continued to run Los Mineros from afar and enjoyed the support of Unifor and the United Steelworkers. Elections BCs database shows he made seven donations to the BC NDP, from 2009 to 2017, totalling $2,680. Oxford-educated Gomez Urrutia succeeded his father as the unions leader in 2000, but never worked in a mine. In 2018, Gomez Urrutia triumphantly returned to Mexico when he was appointed a senator under that countrys mixed member proportional representation system after the election of new president Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. At the time, Gomez Urrutia claimed he had renounced his Canadian citizenship. When he started his six-year term, Gomez said he wanted to reconstruct Mexico and fight corruption. Photo: Mike Wakefield, North Shore News The company originally contracted to build the North Shores massive new sewage plant has filed a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against Metro Vancouver, alleging its contract with the regional government was wrongfully terminated. In a lawsuit filed in B.C. Supreme Court Thursday (March 31), Acciona is seeking more than $250 million for unpaid costs related to the project, as well as lost profits and lost opportunity as a result of diminished reputation caused by Metro ending its contract. In the 98-page document, Acciona alleges the design of the project was subject to numerous significant changes by Metro, and that it was not physically possible to build the project Metro wanted on the site selected. Metro delayed approving changes, Acciona alleges The company alleges it was Metros delay of or withholding of approvals on necessary changes that resulted in delays to the project. Serious soil conditions on the site that resulted in increased costs and delays also werent known until after the company signed the project agreement, the company alleges. Acciona was selected by Metro to design and build the new North Shore Wastewater Treatment plan serving North and West Vancouver in April 2017 for a contract price of just over $504 million. But the project soon ran into trouble, with Acciona concluding it wasnt possible to build the plant Metro had specified on the site it had selected without numerous and significant changes, according to the lawsuit. By 2020, the regional government and the company had agreed to changes and amended the price of the project to over $621 million, as well as setting a new target date for completion of September 2023. By mid-2021, however, it was clear it would still be impossible to meet those deadlines without further significant changes to the project, Acciona alleges. Metro, however, refused to agree to further changes, including those needed to address numerous conflicts and errors in Metros specifications, according to the lawsuit. The government interfered extensively with Accionas performance by consistently refusing to review and approve changes to the plants design in a timely way, according to the company. Metro will defend itself in court, says Dobrovolny In response to the lawsuit, Jerry Dobrovolny, Metro Vancouvers chief administrative officer, issued a statement saying the regional government will defend itself against Accionas claims, including the unfounded allegations of misconduct. Metro Vancouver is confident that its decision to terminate [the contract] was justified, Dobrovolny added. Metro Vancouver continued to act reasonably and uphold the terms of the contract, including making all payments due in a timely fashion. However, Acciona Wastewater Solutions LP missed key construction milestones, said Dobrovolny. Dobrovolny said it became apparent in 2021 that Acciona would be unable to meet its obligations under its contract with Metro Vancouver, including completing the design and construction of the North Shore Wastewater Treatment Plant by the key dates they committed to in the contract. They also asked for a further increase in budget which would almost double the original contract price. Metro terminated the contract in January 2022, and Acciona finished withdrawing from the site on McKeen Avenue in the past month. In February, Metro Vancouver hired a new contractor, PCL Constructors Westcoast Inc., at a cost of $40 million, to develop a new plan to complete the project, including a revised project budget and schedule. That isnt expected to be completed until this fall. Numerous problems discovered after contract signed - Acciona In its lawsuit, Acciona has alleged there were numerous problems discovered after it signed the project agreement. Among those was a discovery of more severe risk of liquefaction of soils on the site, resulting in the need to double the amount of reinforcing steel for major structures. That meant, however, that all of the equipment required for the plant would no longer fit into the buildings on the site, the lawsuit alleges. Acciona stated in its lawsuit that Metro chose the former BC Rail site for the plant despite its space constraints. At just under three hectares, it is significantly smaller than sites usually selected for projects of a comparable scale, the company states in its lawsuit. Treatment plans changed from secondary to tertiary Metro also changed the technology going into the treatment plant partway through, from secondary to tertiary treatment, requiring more space. The company also discovered hazardous soils on the site, containing petroleum hydrocarbon and chloride ions that had not been disclosed, the lawsuit alleges. In a statement, Acciona stated that Metros own administration of the project was a major cause of most of the problems, and changing contractors mid-project will cost taxpayers more, and take longer to complete the project. The company added, Acciona had been forced to turn to the courts to recover the payments clearly owing to it, and to protect its interests. In reflecting on physician-assisted suicide, the first lesson for our lawmakers is that any killing motivated by a distorted sense of mercyno matter how many reasonable and honeyed words endorse itleads to killing that has nothing at all to do with the best interests of those killed. Archbishop of Philadelphia Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. CAP. See if this story sounds familiar: A happily married couple she is a pianist; he a rising scientist have their love suddenly tested by a decline in the wife's health. Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, she falls victim to a steady loss of muscle control and paralysis. The desperate husband uses all his professional skills to save her. But ultimately he must watch her deteriorate in hideous pain. The wife worries that she will soon no longer be a person anymore just a lump of flesh and a torture for her husband. She begs her husband to kill her before that happens. And eventually, worn down, the reluctant husband releases his wife from her misery with poison. The husband is indicted for murder. But the understanding judge and jury soon agree that, given the circumstances, the husband is not a killer, and the law needs to be reformed. Meanwhile, in impassioned public comments, the husband attacks the proponents of outmoded beliefs and antiquated laws who inflict unnecessary anguish on the terminally ill, who suffer without hope and whose death would be deliverance for them. The story fits comfortably with today's medical headlines. It could easily be a 20/20 segment or a page from Jack Kevorkian's latest trial. But it comes from another era. Produced in 1941, it's the plot line of I Accuse, one of the Third Reich's most effective propaganda films. I Accuse was created for one reason only: to advance the Nazi campaign of euthanasia for the mentally and physically handicapped, antisocial elements, and the terminally ill. And it worked. It was a big box-office success. It's also the classic example of how compassion can be manipulated to justify mass killing first in the name of mercy, then in the name of cost and utility. Obviously, America in 1997 is not Germany in 1941. Americans have a practical sense of justice that favors the weak and the little guy. But if we want to keep it that way, we shouldn't assume that merely knowing about a past tragedy prevents us from repeating it. We need to learn from history. And in reflecting on physician-assisted suicide, the first lesson for our lawmakers is that any killing motivated by a distorted sense of mercy no matter how many reasonable and honeyed words endorse it leads to killing that has nothing at all to do with the best interests of those killed. Let's examine a few simple facts First, every one of us fears the image of a dying patient stripped of dignity and trapped in a suffering body. But today, no one needs to suffer excruciating pain in a terminal illness. Modern pain-suppression drugs can ensure the comfort of persons even in the final stages of dying. Hospice care, focused on ensuring a natural death with comfort and dignity, is increasingly available. It's true that some doctors underprescribe pain medication or seek to artificially prolong life beyond reasonable hope of recovery. But that is an issue of training. Patients have the right to decline extraordinary means of treatment. They also have a right to be free of mind-numbing pain. Both these goals can be accomplished without killing them. Second, terminally ill persons seeking doctor-assisted suicide usually struggle with depression, guilt, anger, and a loss of meaning. They need to be reassured that their lives and their suffering have purpose. They don't need to be helped toward the exit. We should also remember that in helping the terminally ill to kill themselves, we're colluding not only in their dehumanization, but our own. Moreover, the notion that suffering is always evil and should be avoided at all costs is a very peculiar idea. Six thousand years of Judeo-Christian wisdom show that suffering can be and often is redemptive, both for the person who suffers and for the family and friends of the one in need. In any case, it is very odd to try to eliminate suffering by killing those who suffer. Third, the Hippocratic Oath has very good reasons for binding physicians to do no harm. Doctors wield enormous power over their patients. And that power quickly corrupts the profession unless it is rigorously held in check. That is one of the reasons the American Medical Association has rightly, and so strongly, opposed physician-assisted suicide. The alternative is immensely dangerous. The doctors who killed their patients in Nazi Germany may be written off as the product of a special and terrible time. But what about the doctors in the Netherlands right now, today who admit to killing patients without their approval? Physician-assisted suicide among the Dutch has been quietly tolerated for some time. But no one was prepared for the number of Dutch doctors who have taken it beyond that, proactively dispatching the terminally ill without their knowledge. The point is: The logic behind doctor-assisted suicide naturally expands. Can anyone honestly argue that physician-assisted suicide will limit itself to voluntary candidates in an era of ruthless medical cost-efficiency? And do we really want a society where patients aren't sure they can trust their physicians? One final point: While the Supreme Court upheld state bans against physician-assisted suicide in Washington and New York earlier last summer, the debate is far from over. Missing from too much of today's discussion of doctor-assisted suicide is the presence of God. Yet God, in the view of the great majority of Americans, is the author of life and its only true owner. Life is God's gift, and he alone is its Lord. However wounded or attenuated it may seem, life is precious. Every life is sacred, from conception to natural death. We rarely understand life. We certainly don't own it. But if this sad century has taught us anything, it's that we have no right to dispose of it however good the alibi. Euthanasia in the Netherlands has gone from requiring terminal illness to no physical illness at all, from physical suffering to depression only, from conscious patients to unconscious, from those who can consent to those who cannot, and from being a measure of last resort to one of early intervention. [1] when two significant events occurred. A government commission reported that the ban on active euthanasia should remain, and a doctor, after admitting killing her sick mother who wanted to die, was found guilty, and given a suspended sentence. Evidence was tendered that she had only done what was already commonly, though unofficially, done by many doctors. The court announced several conditions which, in its view, would justify the active killing of a patient. In 1981 and 1983, two courts reached similar conclusions. A State Commission on Euthanasia decided in 1982, [2] that a doctor who terminates the life of a patient at the latters expressed and serious desire no longer should be punishable, providing that a number of conditions have been met, even though Article 293 of the Penal Code provided, as it still does, that taking the life of another person, even at that persons express and serious request, is a serious offence against human life, punishable by up to 12 years imprisonment. The guidelines when carrying out euthanasia were formally published by both the government and the Royal Dutch Medical Association (KNMG) in 1984 and in 1987. [3] They required that the request be voluntary, well-considered and durable, that there be unacceptable suffering and that a second doctor be consulted. For many years, all these provisions have been known to be often abused. For example, regarding a well-considered request, a study by van der Wal in 1990 [4] showed that the interval between the first request and euthanasia was no more than a day in 13% of cases, no more than a week in another 35% and had been as short as a few hours. Since 1984, the courts have created increasingly liberal grounds for exempting doctors from prosecution after euthanasia, accepting psychological distress as a reason and no longer requiring terminal illness. To justify what was admittedly an offence, the courts decided that it was lawful for a doctor, faced with the alternative of leaving the patient in pain or giving relief by killing, to take the compassionate option, by taking life. The doctor is said to be acting under a higher duty or force majeure. Many unsatisfactory court determinations followed. In 1985, a doctor was charged with being implicated in about 20 deaths in a nursing home, without the knowledge or consent of the victims. He was found guilty and sentenced to a year in prison but, following an outcry against the severity of the sentence, the verdict was overturned on a technicality. He was then awarded US$150,000 damages by a civil court. [5] In 1987, nurses killed three unconscious patients in an intensive care unit by injecting them with drugs. They admitted their guilt and were charged with murder, but discharged because of poor communication between the nurses and doctors over euthanasia policy. [6] Courts accepted that some common practices outside the law could now be used to justify their legal recognition. The objective criteria normally required by criminal law were replaced by conformity with changing medical standards, and by subjective criteria which could not be tested at law. Prominent among those is unbearable and hopeless suffering, a criterion that has been shown by Dutch lawyers to be incapable of any consistent interpretation. [7] The same reasons are invoked in the Netherlands as elsewhere to justify euthanasia, chiefly respect for self-determination, but only voluntary euthanasia is openly discussed. While some regard Dutch euthanasia as the flowering of patient autonomy, others regard it as the domination of patients by doctors who have gained unprecedented power over patients lives. Public opinion polls are also used to justify policy, though the same polls that gain 70% support for voluntary euthanasia in the community encounter 90% opposition, when conducted in nursing homes. [8] Official support for non-voluntary euthanasia is readily found. The State Commission on Euthanasia in 1987 recommended that non-voluntary euthanasia should not be an offence, if carried out in the context of careful medical practice, though that was not defined. In 1988, a KNMG working party condoned euthanasia for deformed infants, in some instances thinking it ought to be compulsory. In 1991, a KNMG committee condoned the killing of patients in persistent coma. [9] THE REMMELINK REPORT AND THE VAN DER MAAS SURVEY After years of uncertainty and argument, from within and without, about its euthanasia practices, the Dutch resolved in 1990 to set up a Commission, chaired by Attorney General Remmelink. It conducted an inquiry over a twelve month period and, in 1991, issued the Remmelink Report.9 The statistical Survey on which the Report was based was carried out by the Central Bureau of Statistics and published in English in 1992, under the name of Dr van der Maas. [10] Though the Commissioners were surprised at some of the findings, especially non-voluntary killing, they at once excused such practices in their Report, but the statistics cannot be denied. By adopting the narrow definition of euthanasia as active termination of life upon the patients request, the Dutch reported there were 2,300 instances of euthanasia in the year of the survey, or 1.8% of all deaths. When, however, to these are added instances of killing patients without request and intentionally shortening the lives of both conscious and unconscious patients, the figures are dramatically altered. They now become: 2,300 instances of euthanasia on request; 400 of assisted suicide; 1,000 of life-ending actions without specific request; 8,750 patients in whom life-sustaining treatment was withdrawn or withheld without request, partly with the purpose (4,750) or with the explicit purpose (4,000) of shortening life; 8,100 cases of morphine overdose partly with the purpose (6,750) or with the explicit purpose (1,350) of shortening life; 5,800 cases of withdrawing or withholding treatment on explicit request, partly with the purpose (4,292) or with the explicit purpose (1,508) of shortening life. [11] Thus, there were up to 23,350 instances of doctors intending, by act or omission, to shorten life, lifting the incidence of euthanasia to over 20% of all deaths in the year. Because of lack of precision in some of the above categories, it is not possible to be certain about the exact incidence of the intentional taking of life without consent, that is, of non-voluntary euthanasia, but there can be no doubt that it was substantial. Although the Report stated that the 1,000 instances of life-ending actions without request were carried out on incompetent patients in their death agony, on the doctors testimony at interview detailed in the Survey, 14% of those patients were competent and 11% were partly competent. According to the death certificate study, 36% of them were competent. [12] In the preamble to its Guidelines for Euthanasia in 1987, the KNMG had stated: if there is no request from the patient, then proceeding with the termination of his life is juridically a matter of murder or killing, and not of euthanasia. By their own Societys definition then, Dutch doctors were then carrying out medical murder, and have continued to do so. As the Report also noted, to these totals should be added unspecified numbers of handicapped babies, sick children, psychiatric patients and AIDS patients, whose lives were also terminated by doctors, but for whom there are no data. It is estimated that some 25% of deaths in AIDS patients in the Netherlands are now due to euthanasia. The guidelines for careful practice were found to be frequently disregarded. 27% of respondents admitted they had killed patients without any request, and 72% reported that after euthanasia, they falsified the death certificate to make it appear that death was due to natural causes. On none of those occasions, therefore, was there any information about what, if any, guidelines had been observed. It is reasonable to conclude that this was because guidelines had been ignored, in whole or in part. What has happened since 1991? It may have been expected that uncovering these facts would bring calls for radical reform of some of these practices, chiefly failure to report euthanasia, falsification of death certificates and widespread neglect of the guidelines, and for the total prohibition of life-taking without request. There ensued a period of official inactivity because some of the findings were so unexpected, and because euthanasia was well established and supported by the community. Euthanasia activists lobbied to have euthanasia formally legalised, without success. In particular, taking life without consent presented a semantic problem because it was not euthanasia according to the official definition. To meet this difficulty, the authorities abandoned their previous frankness of 1987 in favour of an innocuous-sounding acronym, LAWER, life-terminating acts without explicit request. [13] The topic could now be openly discussed as though it were morally, emotionally and socially neutral, and was soon to become a medical alternative acceptable to doctors and the community. In 1993, authors from the Department of Public Health at the Erasmus University could write: But is it not true that once one accepts euthanasia and assisted suicide, the principle of universalizability forces one to accept termination of life without explicit request, at least in some circumstances, as well? In our view, the answer to this question must be affirmative. [14] In February 1993, new regulations about medical reporting of euthanasia were issued, [15] but they have had little impact, either on reporting or on the practices themselves. The new rules required the reporting of both voluntary and non-voluntary euthanasia (NVE) on the same form. This had the effect of confirming in many doctors the view that both were equally acceptable to the authorities. Indeed, in 1993 the Secretary of Health, referring to these practices, said For a physician, the considerations in these two cases are not essentially different; from the moral point of view the two actions are not of entirely different kind. [16] In 1995, the health authorities reviewed the effects of these 1993 changes in the reporting rules. [17] They said the changes were to encourage physicians to report and to promote adherence to them, but they did not say they would be enforced, so that reform would be achieved. The reporting rate, which had been a mere 18% in 1990, was found in 1995 to be only 41%, still less than half, indicating a continuing large pool of euthanasia practice about which nothing whatever is officially known, and about which little is intended to be done. For that review, a number of doctors who had not reported cases of euthanasia were interviewed with a guarantee of indemnity, to try to open a window on these hidden practices. 70 doctors had not reported their last case of NVE and 36% said they would never report such a case, whatever the law might require. Only 44% had required a written patient request, only 11% had consulted with a colleague and only 57% had provided a written report after voluntary euthanasia. The incidence of NVE among those who had reported their practices was .09%, while among those who had not reported it was 19%, a staggering difference of 200 times. Despite this, the authors concluded that substantial progress in the oversight of physician-assisted death has been achieved, and that there were no major differences between reported and unreported cases, in terms of...whether there was an explicit request.... Visiting Australia in 1996, the then Dutch Minister of Health said that some doctors did not report their cases because they were afraid of prosecution. [18] One may gauge their real level of concern when one reads, in the 1995 paper, of the fate of 20 doctors who were investigated for non-reporting 9 were acquitted, 2 were discharged, 3 were found guilty but not punished and 6 were given suspended sentences of one week to six months. None were prosecuted. Official moves are now being made to set up local committees of inquiry to receive reports of euthanasia, in order to exclude the law, and for automatic exemption from further oversight when the doctor reports having followed the guidelines. Of course, those who do not report their actions will also not be prosecuted, no matter what they have done. In an official review in 1996 of developments since the Remmelink Report, [19] it was concluded that euthanasia seems to have increased in incidence since 1990, and the ending of life without the patients explicit request seems to have decreased slightly. The latter is discussed with the cool statistical detachment that befits a practice about which the authors have no concerns, confirming that it has become just another option for doctors. In 1993, a Dutch court established a new milestone by extending toleration for euthanasia to suicidal patients who are not physically ill. A psychiatrist had assisted a woman to die, because she was depressed following the breakdown of her marriage and the loss of a son. He did not treat her depression because she refused treatment, and he did not consult other doctors. He was originally found guilty of murder, but this finding was overturned on appeal. [20] Because a sustained wish for death is almost always associated with profound psychological disturbance, it is now accepted that every person who requests euthanasia should be referred to a psychiatrist. Surprisingly, a survey of 552 psychiatrists in the Netherlands, published in 1997, revealed that only one third of them had ever been asked by another doctor to see a patient for that reason. [21] In 1995, two separate Dutch courts upheld the actions of doctors who had deliberately ended the lives of handicapped neonates with lethal injections, so providing the first legal endorsement of NVE. In one case, the judge said In the decision of active ending of life, Dr Kadjik had acted with scientific responsible insight and in accordance with the medical ethic and accepted norms and in consideration of due care resulting therefrom; he is entitled to an appeal of force majeure. [22] Euthanasia in the Netherlands has gone from requiring terminal illness to no physical illness at all, from physical suffering to depression only, from conscious patients to unconscious, from those who can consent to those who cannot, and from being a measure of last resort to one of early intervention. Although respect for patient autonomy is the main ethical argument in favour of euthanasia, power has passed almost exclusively into doctors hands. Patient autonomy has been subverted by the unprecedented rights given by the courts to doctors to decide the fate of patients. Euthanasia was widely developed in defiance of the statute law, though with apparent community approval, to be later rationalised by court determinations. This was followed by even more objectionable medical practices, again outside the official guidelines, with ethics and common law trying to catch up. Instead of principle being enunciated to inform both the law and ethical medical practice, principle has been taken captive by widespread abuse of them both. Two important messages emerge. First, in legalising euthanasia, one has to contend with what has been described as the tendency of a principle to expand itself to the limit of its logic, and second, attempting to make law in the absence of a full understanding of its consequences is highly dangerous. It has recently been announced (August 1999) that voluntary euthanasia will soon be legalised in the Netherlands. It is too soon to know what the structure of that law may be, but events there since 1973 give little hope to suppose that the law would pass scrutiny for safety, by the standards of British or Australian criminal law. The Dutch government issued its draft for such a law in 1998, and while the final bill as presented in parliament may differ from that early draft, it provides the best clue to the governments thinking. Here are the first four sections of the 1998 draft: A. The Penal Code Article 293 will read as follows: He who intentionally takes anothers life at his explicit and serious request, is to be punished with a prison term of, at the most, twelve years or a fine of the fifth category. He who intentionally incites another to suicide, is to be punished if the suicide follows, with a prison term of, at most, three years or a fine of the fourth category. He who intentionally assists another with suicide or offers him/her the means thereto if the suicide follows, is to be punished with a prison term of, at most, three years or a fine of the fourth category. The first and the third section do not apply if the termination of life, or the assisted suicide, or the offering of the means thereto is done at the patients explicit and repeated request on account of the hopeless emergency situation in which he finds himself, by a medical doctor who meets the requirements of carefulness and who informs the coroner accordingly as to what is proscribed in Article 7, Section. The wording of the fourth section is so loose that it changes nothing about the circumstances of Dutch euthanasia over the past twenty years, namely that Dutch doctors have gained virtually total control over the practice of euthanasia, when it will happen and to whom it will happen. The government will have caved in to the powerful medical lobby to confirm them in their position of dominance. The only change that MAY eventuate could be the incidence of honest reporting, but even the making of specific regulations about that in 1993 in the past brought little change for the better. ENDNOTES You are here: World Flash Negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are continuing in an online format, the head of Russia's delegation at talks with Ukraine Vladimir Medinsky said Friday. "We are continuing negotiations in a videoconference format. Our positions on Crimea and Donbass remain unchanged," Medinsky wrote in a Telegram post. Also on Friday, Ukraine's government-run Ukrinform news agency confirmed that Ukraine and Russia have started the next round of peace talks via video, citing a member of the Ukrainian delegation Mykhailo Podolyak. On Thursday, another Ukrainian negotiator, David Arakhamia, said that at the fresh talks, the Ukrainian and Russian delegations will intensify efforts to work out an agreement needed for a meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian President Vladimir Putin. Russia and Ukraine held their latest round of face-to-face peace talks in Turkey's Istanbul on Tuesday, which lasted for about three hours. Private Forensic Scientist Jay Jarvis testified Friday morning rejecting prosecutors claim that Jeremy Clark was shot from the drivers seat of a white Dodge Charger where Adrian Nixon was sitting. Instead, the defense witness, who mostly worked with firearms and residues, said there is no way that could be possible. There was no evidence of gunshot residue (GSR) or stippling on the victim, said Mr. Jarvis. If he was shot at a close range, there would be evidence of that. He said when he looked at the totality of the evidence, it does not support the driver being the shooter. Mr. Jarvis said the shooter had to have been outside the vehicle because GSR rarely travels more than four to five feet. For context, there were four gunshot shells found at the crime scene but five shots were fired according to the victims autopsy. The amount of particles (10) found in the car was an awful small amount for five shots, said Mr. Jarvis. I would expect a cloud of particles all over the car if the shot was fired from inside. Mr. Jarvis testified further on how the investigation should have been conducted. He said particles should have been labeled and shown where they were found. He also briefly mentioned that particles should have been stored separately. He concluded his testimony by saying the most likely scenario was that the shooter stood near the car hood on one of the sides. Prosecutor Cameron Williams asked about his pay on the case and who normally hires him in an apparent attempt to show possible biases. But when asked about a witness, who allegedly said the shot came from inside the vehicle, Mr. Jarvis said he trusts the evidence more than a witness statement. I dont put a lot of faith in witness statements because sometimes they get it wrong, said Mr. Jarvis. And obviously they were wrong because the evidence doesnt support what they said. Mr. Williams repeatedly put pressure on Mr. Jarvis to agree that there is a possibility that the driver could have shot the victim. Judge Don Poole even had to remind Mr. Williams a few times to stop arguing with the witness. But Mr. Jarvis stayed true to his professional opinion throughout cross examination. Ill reiterate it for you again, said Mr. Jarvis to Mr. Williams. There is absolutely no possibility, based on the evidence, that he was shot from the driver's seat and Im sorry that doesnt support your scenario. Mr. Williams later referred to his statement advising jurors to be careful of people who give absolutes. But following Mr Jarvis testimony, the defense rested their case and prosecutors kicked off closing arguments. They highlighted Nixons alleged actions immediately after the shooting. Evidence shows Nixon shot him and fled the scene, said Mr. Williams. He goes to the police 12 hours later because he knows they dont have evidence because he got rid of it. Mr. Williams said Nixon went missing for 12 hours to change clothes and clean himself up and his girlfriend cleaned the Dodge. Defense attorney Bill Speek, however, said its normal that Nixons girlfriend washed her car because she was leaving to go out of town for her birthday. He also said Nixon had a reason to flee the scene because he was in a dangerous situation. The white Dodge Challenger is not on trial here, said attorney Speek. The state makes the inference that Nixons girlfriend is the best cleaner that ever was, but the fact is that she just went to a three-hour car wash. Prosecutor Williams told jurors even smart people do dumb things, referring to Nixons education at Notre Dame private Catholic school. He encouraged the jury to look at the evidence both factual and circumstantial. Attorney Speek nonetheless, told jurors to remember that the government has the highest burden of proof while the defense just has to prove reasonable doubt. Never put the burden on the defendant of proving his innocence when its the governments job to prove the guilt, said the attorney. The prosecutors are running into testimony issues with witnesses and science issues with experts. Inference of guilt is not proof of guilt, so even if you do agree with the states theory, its not enough to convict someone of murder. The jury began deliberations Friday afternoon in the case in which Nixon is charged with first-degree murder. LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN -- The Covenant baseball team hit a season-high four home runs and starting pitcher Bryce Bollinger struck out a career-high eight as the Scots took game one of a three-game series over Brevard, 14-10, on Friday afternoon. Covenant (10-13, 2-5 USA South) scored 11 runs on 12 hits, including three homers, through the first three innings, as Bollinger retired the first 10 Brevard batters in order. Bollinger (5-1) only allowed three hits and three earned runs in his career-high seven innings pitched, as he would not allow Brevard a hit or a base runner until the fourth inning. Meanwhile, the Scots offense struck early and often against Brevard starter Matthew Scavotto. An RBI single from Kenny Mills and a wild pitch allowed Covenant to take a quick 2-0 lead in the first. An RBI single from Kenny Mills and a wild pitch allowed Covenant to take a quick 2-0 lead in the first. In the bottom of the second, Trevor Grapenthin and Zeke Gilbert both doubled, followed by a home run from Mills, adding four runs to the board for Covenant as the Scots took a 6-0 lead. The homer was Mills' fourth of the year. The hits kept coming for the Scots, as they would tack on another five runs in the third. During the rally, Covenant produced six hits, including doubles from Chase McBryar and Gilbert. Grapenthin and Ken Burke also both launched homers, scoring a total of four runs and helping the Scots widen the gap to 11-0. It was Grapenthin's second homer of the season, while Burke hit his third. The bats then began to come alive for Brevard (14-10, 3-4 USA South) in the top of the fourth when the Tornados recorded their first hits and runs of the day. Frankie Vasquez hit a three-run homer to bring the Tornados within 11-4. That was all Bollinger would allow, however, as the right-hander threw 112 pitches (66 strikes) in his seven innings of work. Covenant added two runs in the fifth on a Tyler Cox two-run double. In the eighth, Cox hit a no-doubt solo home run to left field, his third of the year, to cap the scoring for the Scots. The Scots produced 15 hits, including five doubles and four home runs. Gilbert, Grapenthin, Cox, McKaleb Harlemon, and Andrew Brock all tallied two hits apiece. Cox had three RBIs, while Grapenthin had two. Mills finished 3-of-5 with four RBIs. Gilbert extended his hitting streak to 14 games, while Mills ran his hit streak to 11. Vasquez was also 3-for-5 with four RBIs. Scavotto (3-3) received the loss after giving up nine hits and nine earned runs in two innings pitched. Covenant will finish up the conference series with Brevard tomorrow with a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann was critical after the Biden Administration announced it would end Title 42, Trump-era border protections. He said, Todays announcement from the Administration that it would terminate Title 42 is yet another overtly political action from the CDC, at the behest of the Biden Administration, as President Biden pursues his campaign promise to destroy all forms of border security and create an open southern border. Every day, communities across Tennessee and our nation are dealing with surging fentanyl overdoses, crime, and chaos because of President Bidens open border policies. This Administration has shown no regard for lawful immigration, the men and women of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) who are tasked with securing our border, or Americans nationwide who suffer because of open border policies. "The situation at the border will soon become out-of-control because of President Bidens wrong-headed policies, and it will be law-abiding legal immigrants and Americans who will pay the price. A 52-year-old Wisconsin man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for three bank robberies, including one in Chattanooga. He got three more years on a revocation for a prior bank robbery. Todd Templeton, of Stoughton, Wis., was sentenced on Friday by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley. Templeton pleaded guilty to the charges on Nov. 3, 2021. Prosecutors said on Feb. 24, 2021, Templeton robbed the Associated Bank on King Street in Stoughton. He approached a teller, lifted his shirt to display a black handgun tucked into his waistband, and demanded money telling them Dont press any buttons. On Feb. 26, 2021, the Dane County Sheriffs Office responded to a residence in the town of Dunn after Templeton crashed a stolen snowmobile and was warming his hands on the gas grill of the complainants porch. He admitted to drinking alcohol and using cocaine and was admitted to the hospital due to cold exposure injuries on his hands and feet. On March 1, 2021, Templeton left the hospital against medical advice and stole a family members truck. On the morning of March 3, 2021, Templeton robbed the Associated Bank on Cottage Grove Road in Madison. He gave the teller a note stating that he was armed and demanded money. On March 11, 2021, Templeton robbed the SunTrust Bank on East Third Street in Chattanooga. He approached a banker, pulled a handgun from his waistband, and said I want you to empty the vault, this is a robbery. He was later apprehended by FBI task force agents in Cleveland, Tn. Templeton claimed that he used a BB gun, which he had discarded. At the time of these offenses, Templeton was on supervised release after serving approximately 11 years in federal prison for a 2007 bank robbery conviction. In that case Templeton entered a bank in Baraboo, approached a teller and said, Open the drawer and give me the money or youll be shot. Three days later, he entered a bank in Janesville, exposed a black handgun in his waistband, and demanded money. After his initial term of supervised release was revoked in 2020, he was released from federal prison on Jan. 27, 2021, and began a second term of federal supervision. At sentencing, Judge Conley said that these were very serious offenses and noted the effects on the victims, specifically threats against their lives and displaying a handgun even if it was a BB gun as Templeton claimed. Judge Conley said that statistics relating to lowered criminal risk with age did not apply to Templeton, and the specific evidence here was to the contrary: that Templeton has escalated his behavior and went right back to committing bank robberies when released from prison. Judge Conley stated that in between periods of serial incarceration, Templeton has been unsuccessful on community supervision with numerous violations including drug use, failure to follow rules, and absconding, therefore a significant period of incarceration was necessary to protect the public. In addition to imposing 10 years prison on the 2021 robberies, Judge Conley revoked Templetons supervised release in the 2007 case and sentenced him to an additional three years in prison, for a total of 13 years. Templeton was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term and pay restitution. The charges against Templeton were the result of investigations conducted by the Stoughton and Madison Police Departments, Chattanooga Police Department, Dane County Sheriffs Office, and Federal Bureau of Investigation. The U.S. Attorneys Office in the Eastern District of Tennessee assisted in this case. The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey Stephan. This case has been brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the U.S. Justice Departments program to reduce violent crime. The PSN approach emphasizes coordination between state and federal prosecutors and all levels of law enforcement to address gun crime, especially felons illegally possessing firearms and ammunition and violent and drug crimes that involve the use of firearms. A woman in an apartment on East Brainerd Road called police and said a bullet had traveled through a wall into her bedroom. Police observed the bedroom, collected the fragment of the bullet and investigated the room for the trajectory of the bullet. The bullet came through her closet wall and in through her bedroom wall. The woman was not injured from the incident and police told her they would speak with her neighbor to see if it came from next door. Police spoke with the man next door and asked if he had heard any firearms go off. He said yes and police told him they observed a bullet possibly coming from his apartment and asked if they could check the apartment for anything that would lead to believe the trajectory of the bullet came from inside his apartment and into the womans apartment. The man gave police verbal consent to search the apartment and he led police to his firearm. Police asked the man what had transpired and he said he was cleaning his firearm (9mm Smith & Wesson Shield) and it accidentally went off, which fired into the womans apartment. When police recovered the firearm, it was loaded with one in the chamber and a fully loaded mag. Neither the woman or her neighbor was harmed in this incident and the neighbor was apologetic. Police recovered the mans firearm and inserted it into Property for safekeeping. The woman did not want to press any charges against her neighbor. * * * Officers were dispatched to West 21st Street to a suspicious vehicle call. They spoke with the driver who said he had been parked in front of the hotel he is staying at with his female friend for about 15 minutes. He was in the process of dropping her off at her car. There were no apparent violations. * * * A woman on Holiday Hills Circle told police her mother has dementia and left their home through her bedroom window sometime after 1 a.m. Police found her mother in the parking lot of 6441 Bonny Oaks Dr. and brought her home. * * * A man was sleeping in the third-floor hallway of the Motel 6 at 2440 Williams St. He was run on info channel and came back with negative warrants. The front desk employee did not wish to press charges and the man was released. * * * A man on North Hickory Street called police and wanted information about the eviction process. * * * A man on Rogers Road said he was a tenant there and a man who was visiting his girlfriend got into an argument with him. He said he wanted the man to leave the property. Police asked the other man to leave and he did so without incident. * * * A man on Williams Street told police sometime after midnight, someone broke out the right front window of his 2006 Toyota Land Cruiser and stole numerous items. He said everything in his vehicle was tossed about. He will make a list of everything taken and call back once he has it prepared. * * * A man at Patten Towers at 1 East 11th St. told police he wanted to make a police report in reference to an acquaintance. The man said his acquaintance will make threatening comments towards him when he passes by the hallway or whenever he sees him. The man asked police to speak with the other man about the matter. Police responded to the apartment where the other man stays and spoke with him about the matter. He told police this has been an ongoing occurrence between them. He said the man always threatens to call police on him and says he will have him put in jail. Police asked both men to stay away from each other to prevent any further disorders. Both said they would stay away from each other. * * * A woman at the Baymont at 7017 Shallowford Road told police her 2017 Hyundai Sonata was parked to the left side of the motel. She said her trunk latch is broken so her trunk is tied down with a piece of rope which someone cut to gain entry. She said a witness who does not want to be involved told her it was a young white male about 5'11" with tattoos all over who got in her trunk and stole her property. She said the witness told her he walked to the Waffle House nearby and got in a car driven by someone else. She had no other information about the suspect. * * * A woman on Maromede Lane told police she had been several different places throughout the day. After she got home, she found that her vehicle had been damaged. There is damage to the left front fender, the left rear fender and taillight. She does not know who may have hit her vehicle, or where it was when it got hit. * * * A man on Tunnel Boulevard told police his vehicle had been stolen. He said it was parked on the curb and last saw the vehicle around 9 p.m. the previous night. The man said when he noticed it gone his neighbor told him when she got home at 5 a.m. the vehicle was not there. The man said there were no keys with the vehicle. Police entered the vehicle into NCIC. * * * A woman on Shallowford Road told police there was a man in her closet, which was not big enough to fit an average person. Police looked throughout the womans apartment and did not find anyone. Police said she was very frantic and was not making much sense. Police left the scene after the woman said a friend was going to come sit with her. A Criminal Court jury deliberated on Friday afternoon and deep into the night before finding Adrian Nixon not guilty of the murder of Jeremy "Blue" Clark. The panel was hung up on the misdemeanor charge of reckless endangerment and was to return on Monday for more talks on that charge. Nixon has been in jail since his arrest shortly after the incident at J.J.'s Lounge in East Chattanooga on July 29, 2016. He was released from jail after the not-guilty murder verdict. The victim was shot five times, including in the head and through the heart. Nixon claimed that "Blue" had come up to his girlfriend's white Dodge Challenger when someone came up from behind and began shooting through the car he was driving. Nothing was brought out in the trial about any animosity between Nixon and Clark. Nixon said he shook Clark's hand inside the club and had no beef with him. He said it would have been "stupid" for him to drive up and carry out the shooting at the bar where many people knew him and the car he drove. A forensic scientist called by the defense said there would have been powder burns on the victim if the driver of the car had been the shooter. The medical examiner said it was unlikely the shooting could have happened the way Nixon said, and detective Taylor Walker told him during his voluntary interview that his account "doesn't make any sense." The detective said during the 12 hours between the shooting and the interview that Nixon got rid of the gun, cleaned up and had his girlfriend thoroughly wash the car. The defense said the girl washed the car because she was leaving on a trip. . There was only 14 seconds of video available inside the bar, but there was outside video showing the Challenger pull up and then, a short time later, people begin to scatter. "Blue" was also seen walking over toward the car.. The shooting scene was just outside the range of the camera facing that way.. The bar had an eight-camera system. Defense attorneys were Bill Speek and Jonathan Turner. Judge Don Poole is presiding over the case. A Bradley County deputy shot and killed a motorist at a traffic stop just before midnight on Friday. The Bradley County Sheriff's Office said, "At approximately 11:55 p.m., a Bradley County Sheriffs Office Deputy conducting a vehicle stop near Charleston, Tn. was involved in a shooting. "One occupant of the vehicle was shot during the incident by the Bradley County deputy and succumbed to their injuries at the location of the vehicle stop. "Sheriff Steve Lawson notified the District Attorney Generals Office of the Tenth Judicial District and requested that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation conduct an independent investigation of the incident per protocol. "Any additional questions related to this incident should be directed to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation until they have completed their review." The Rhea County Rural Fair kicked off its 15th season Friday night at an event to honor past president Harold Fisher restarted the fair in 2008 after several years that interest in the fair was lost. It originally was held in Spring City every year at the fairgrounds by the old Calloway School. Rhea County has now grown into an AA Fair. The Friday meeting coincided with what would have been Mr. Fisher's 74th birthday. Mr. Fisher restarted the fair in Evensville by the Rhea County High School after the county had bought a tract of land to place the new Rhea County Health Department on. The road leading into the grounds was named Harold Robbins Lane after Mr. Robbins who served as University of Tennessee Agriculture Extension Agent for the county since 1967. Fisher restarted the fair in Evensville by the Rhea County High School after the county had bought a tract of land to place the new Rhea County Health Department on. The road leading into the grounds was named Harold Robbins Lane after Mr. Robbins who served as University of Tennessee Agriculture Extension Agent for the county since 1967. Since 2008, Mr. Fisher with the help of several people including his daughter Brittany Dean, have grown the fair into what it is today. They also have a started a Drive through Light Show during December when cars can drive through and view all of the Christmas lights that have been set up. Not only can you drive through you can also get a wagon ride around. They also accepted donations of new toys for the annual Rhea County Sheriffs Department Toy Drive. Rhea County is a member of the Tennessee Association of Fairs. At the 2022 January conference which was the 100th annual convention, Rhea County placed first in Free Standing Fair Display, second in Tabletop Display, first in Creative Fair Idea (other than agriculture), second in Creative Fair Idea (agriculture) and Most Outstanding Entry for the Rhea County Fair Chicken Coop Display. These awards were chosen from the more than 50 regional and county fairs across the state of Tennessee. This trend has continued with the fair since 2010 when they won their first award for Most Improved Fair. 2012 saw the fair obtaining the AA division runner up only to top it in 2013 by winning the 2013 AA division Champion Fair. The fair garnered the Champion of Champions for all Divisions in 2017. In all, the Rhea County Fair has won 35 first place awards, 46 second place awards and 25 third place awards since 2008. They have also paid out $71,600 in prize money to the exhibitors at the local fair. Mr. Fishers daughter, Brittany Fisher Dean currently serves as secretary for the Fairs Executive Committee. She said, My dad was fond of saying How these things are accomplished is you have passion for whatever your are doing. Leave things better than we found them Everything we do, do it with our children and youth in mind. Vice President Billy Horton echoed the same sentiments saying, Were growing. We are showing this by expanding the Agricultural part of the fair and with all the new construction that we are doing. The Fair Association is currently working on a 24 x 60 addition to the existing concession stand to give it a full kitchen and storage space to use. Fair President Don Massengale said that they hoped to get the building finished by May 1, just in time for the May 7th Truck Pull. We have just got the trusses for the roof and hope to get them up as soon as we can. We have had some issues with getting building supplies, but we are moving right along, said Mr. Massengale. Flash Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Azerbaijani counterpart, Ilham Aliyev, exchanged on Saturday congratulatory messages to celebrate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. In his message, Xi pointed out that China and Azerbaijan are partners of traditional friendly cooperation. Over the past 30 years, Xi noted, China-Azerbaijan relations have maintained a sound and steady momentum of development, saying that their political mutual trust has been deepening, cooperation in various fields is moving forward with substantial progress, and their collaboration in global and regional affairs is growing increasingly close. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Xi said, the two nations have stood together and helped each other, a demonstration of their traditional friendship. Xi stressed that he attaches great importance to the development of China-Azerbaijan relations, saying that he is ready to work with President Aliyev to take the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to push for more accomplishments in bilateral ties and in cooperation in various areas for the benefit of both countries and their people. In his message, Aliyev said that Azerbaijan-China relations have continued to develop on the basis of mutual trust. The two sides have carried out high-level mutually beneficial cooperation in politics, economy and trade and other areas, and multilateral cooperation has also achieved fruitful results. He also said that the Azerbaijani side supports the Belt and Road Initiative, adding he believes that the traditional friendly Azerbaijan-China relations will continue to deepen and benefit the people in both countries. I write to show my support for Jim Exum as the next Circuit Court judge. I have litigated dozens of civil rights cases over the past two decades where I sought redress for citizens abused by government officials. During those years I have encountered defense counsel from many parts of Tennessee and Georgia. Among those attorneys who stand out at the top of their game is Jim Exum. I found Jim to be the epitome of an ethical and congenial opponent. While giving me fits in my prosecution of civil rights lawsuits, Jim acted and continues to act as a gentleman and a colleague. He is always well prepared, displays an impressive grasp of the law, has an excellent work ethic, and he knows how to respond to difficult litigants with Jobian patience. These are qualities necessary for anyone to hold the very important office of Judge. I am happy to know him as a worthy opponent and a fellow attorney, and I support him. I hope you will too. Robin Ruben Flores Attorney-at-Law * * * Well stated, attorney Flores. From a citizen perspective, I view Jim Exum as a person with community spirit in actions, not words. Exum is never seeking credit for his good deeds and work. There are a lot of candidates hyper inflating their credentials and experience, not Exum. Seems to me when you lay attorney credentials on the table, it is mostly equal. What separates judicial candidates for me is experience and their actions. Jim Exum is extraordinarily experienced and has shown he will take on the hard cases, and return calls for help. Exum has been a constant presence in the local courts, and has a spirit for justice. He has aspired to serve in a judgeship awaiting the longer judicial terms, and has earned the position. I mean that with all sincerity, Jim Exum has earned this judgeship opportunity. Lets give him the job. I believe that a tempered representative is the best for Lady Justice. It is so sweet seeing their young family on the go, lots of love there. Please vote for Jim Exum for Circuit Court Judge. April Eidson One of The Doors most famous classic rock songs is People Are Strange. The Doors Ray Manzarek recalled Jim Morrison saw something one time when he got up early in the morning. Subsequently, he wrote People Are Strange. The Doors | Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Jim Morrison spent time at Andy Warhols Factory in New York City Manzarek was a member of The Doors. During an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, Manzarek discussed a time Morrison spent a night with Andy Warhol at Warhols New York City studio, The Factory. I dont know if he even fell asleep or anything, Manzarek said. He got up about five oclock, five-thirty in the morning, looked around, everybodys passed out. Manzarek explained what happened next. [Morrison] heads outside the Factory, he added. Were staying midtown, hes downtown at Andy Warhols Factory, starts walking back. Andy Warhol | Jack Mitchell/Getty Images RELATED: Doors Keyboardist Ray Manzarek Said if Anyone Could Stage Their Own Death, It Would be Jim Morrison A New York City subway inspired Jim Morrison to write The Doors People Are Strange Manzarek said Morrison had a positive view of New York City. He said, You know, the sun was just starting to come up it was New York City and it was nice,' he recalled. It was late spring or something, maybe early fall. He said, New York is great its like empty, its deserted; theres nobody around.' Manzarek discussed what Morrison saw that morning. Little by little, out of the subways people started coming up there, coming up and up and up, he said. It was like creatures were crawling out from underground. By the time he got to midtown the city was packed. Manzarek explained People Are Strange is about the people coming out of the New York subway as Jim Morrison was walking back from Andy Warhols Factory to our hotel in midtown Manhattan. RELATED: Jim Morrison: How Much Was The Doors Legend Worth When He Died? How listeners reacted to The Doors People Are Strange in the United States and the United Kingdom In the United States, People Are Strange became a modest hit. The song peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. It stayed on the chart for nine weeks. People Are Strange appeared on the album Strange Days. Strange Days hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200, staying on the chart for 63 weeks. On the other hand, People Are Strange was not popular in the United Kingdom. According to The Official Charts Company, the song did not chart there. Strange Days did not chart there either. Regardless of how People Are Strange performed in the U.K., the song had an impact on pop culture. People Are Strange appears in trailers for the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Morbius starring Jared Leto. Stina Nordenstam, The Death South, and Echo & the Bunnymen each covered the track. People Are Strange is a classic track and it wouldnt be the same without a New York City subway. RELATED: The Office: 1 Cast Member Alludes to Doing Cocaine With The Doors Jim Morrison Meryl Streep is always willing to go as far as she feels is necessary for a role. However, sometimes her commitment even frightens the cast and crews around her. Perhaps this is one of the main reasons why shes frequently called one of the greatest actors to ever live. Streep once stepped up on the set of Out of Africa and fended off a lion when her stunt double got cold feet. Meryl Streep plays Karen in Out of Africa L-R: Robert Redford as Denys, Meryl Streep as Karen Blixen, and Klaus Maria Brandauer as Bror | Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images Out of Africa follows a dairy farmer named Karen Blixen (Streep). She travels to Africa to meet up with her husband, Bror (Klaus Maria Brandauer), who deceivingly spends all of their money on a coffee plantation. Karen discovers Brors unfaithful behavior but soon falls for a hunter named Denys (Robert Redford). Karen ultimately realizes that she actually prefers the simplistic lifestyle that Africa allows her compared to her upper-class background. However, not everything goes quite as perfectly as she hoped. Karen realizes that she will have to choose between her love and her personal growth that could provide her with a potentially better individual future. Meryl Streep fended off a lion with a whip when her stunt double was too scared Erin Carlsons Queen Meryl talks about Streeps experience filming Out of Africa. She had a major moment of courage that inspired her to take action for the shot. Streep took the place of her stunt double during the scene where she must fend off a lion raiding her campsite. Unfortunately, her stunt double just couldnt muster up the courage to go through with it. That girl was really scared, you know, and she had the sense to be scared, Meryl recalled. I didnt. I was out there with all I had. So, Meryl picked up the whip and was ready to do the scene. Streep continued: Well, that lion wouldnt do anything to get excited, so Sydney untied the lion while I was whipping itand didnt tell me because he wanted the shot. It was the last shot of the film before we got to go home. I could have killed him. Director Sydney Pollack denied letting the lion off the leash However, Pollack remembers the events happening a bit differently. He doesnt deny that she ultimately stepped up to complete the scene with the lion. However, he denied telling the trainer to let the lion off of its leash. Pollack blamed it on Streeps creative memory while filming Out of Africa. Queen Meryl explains that the director brought at least six trained lions and lionesses to work on the film. He also brought on a crew to keep on the ready with fire extinguishers in case things took a turn for the worse. However, Pollack wanted to contain a rogue lion and never harm it. Nevertheless, Streep ultimately earned an Oscar nomination for her performance in Out of Africa. That very same creativity is one of the many reasons why shes able to deliver such phenomenal performances that audiences cant stop buzzing about. RELATED: Meryl Streep Believes Her Cleavage In Her Padded Bra Helped Her Win an Oscar-Nominated Role The Bachelor stars Clayton Echard and Susie Evans are letting fans in on all the fun they had post-filming. And in an Instagram video montage, Susie revealed how the happy couple spent the last four months together. (L-R) Susie Evans and Clayton Echard | Craig Sjodin via Getty Images Susie Evans shares a sweet video of her with Clayton Echard after filming The Bachelor In a March 16 Instagram post, Susie revealed how she and Clayton spent the last few months. The video shows the couple kissing, dancing around the house in their pajamas, eating pizza, and cuddling in bed. After the Fantasy Suites, Susie broke things off with Clayton. But on Nick Vialls The Viall Files podcast, she revealed that she reached out to Clayton as soon as she got back from Iceland. I got my phone back, called my parents, and DMd Clayton in the airport, Susie recalled. The two reconnected and then spent hours talking every day. After a few weeks, Susie and Clayton knew they were meant to be together. On After the Final Rose, Clayton revealed that the two started dating. And he said that their time together after filming made their relationship even stronger. I spent the last four months with her, Clayton said on the March 15 episode. She just impresses me more and more every day. And she continues to give me reason after reason why following my heart was the best decision I could have ever made. And I could not be more in love with this woman. Susie reveals the things she and Clayton enjoy doing most as a couple Fans saw Susie and Clayton get to know each other on The Bachelor. All of their dates on the show were competitive, well planned, staged, filmed, and edited. But now that filming is over, the two are getting to enjoy time as a real couple. We have a lot of fun together, Susie told People. We do enjoy cooking, we cook a lot. And honestly, I feel like, in different ways, we both poke at each other the entire time, and just mess with each other, she added. I do think thats one thing people didnt see so much on the show. We just goof the whole time. Clayton's Lady in Red. If you missed last night's finale, Stream on Hulu! pic.twitter.com/t31toa5T4o The Bachelor (@BachelorABC) March 16, 2022 While the two are happy and in love, they arent talking about engagement plans just yet. We havent set a timeline for ourselves, Susie admitted. We havent talked about an engagement, but were having fun getting to know each other and enjoying this time. The Bachelor stars are moving to Susies hometown of Virginia Beach After The Bachelor, Clayton is moving to Susies hometown, Virginia Beach. When talking to US Weekly, Susie revealed that the couple is hoping to start building a life together there. My work is there, and I had a beautiful life before coming on the show and its just great that I get to make an addition to it, the reality star said. And Clayton before the show, he was ready to uproot and figure out [whats] next for him and hes totally on board to come to Virginia Beach. So, were gonna give it a shot. Theres never any guarantee in life, but with all that being said, I am incredibly happy to be with her, Clayton added. Im so excited to be able to just go get dinner, to go hiking, do all these things with her, travel. RELATED: The Bachelor: Jesse Palmer Says the On-Set Psychologist Is a Massive Priority Especially Now The Hulu series The Girl from Plainville follows the story of Michelle Carter, who was tried for involuntary manslaughter involving the death of Conrad Roy III. In the series, Detective Scott Gordon discovers the messed up texts between Carter and Roy. He digs deeper into their conversations, searching for a way to bring criminal charges against Carter. Was there a real Detective Gordon involved in investigating Roys death? Kelly AuCoin as Detective Scott Gordon in The Girl from Plainville | Steve Dietl/Hulu Episodes 1-3 of The Girl from Plainville are currently streaming on Hulu Hulu dropped the first three episodes of The Girl from Plainville on March 29. The show begins to tell the story of Michelle Carter and Conrad Roy III, who met on a Florida trip and exchanged phone numbers. Both Carter and Roy had mental health problems. Roy himself attempted suicide multiple times before his death. As the series continues, Detective Scott Gordon uncovers thousands of texts between Carter and Roy. In some of these texts, Carter encouraged Roy to commit suicide. Gordon pushes for involuntary manslaughter charges against Carter, but everyone involved knows that getting a conviction wont be an easy thing to do. Hey #Billions fans, come see what its like to see Dollar Bill from the other side of the law. First 3 episodes of The #GirlFromPlainville streaming now on @hulu @PlainvilleHulu pic.twitter.com/ibFCRiimcI Kelly AuCoin (@KellyAuCoin77) March 30, 2022 While at a fundraiser in Roys honor, Gordon learns from Carters friends that she told them Roy was missing days before his death. Roy was in fact in contact with Carter the whole time. Is Detective Scott Gordon a real person? Detective Scott Gordon was a real detective with the Fairhaven Police Department. He was also the lead detective investigating Roys death. According to NBC News, Gordon did look through Roys phone for clues, just like in The Girl from Plainville. The detective discovered that Roy deleted all of his texts, except for a string of messages with Michelle Carter. It was one of those things where you keep reading and it just keeps getting worse, he told NBC News. And thats what has kind of put everything in motion. According to The Cinemaholic, Gordon has had a long and successful career in law enforcement. Before joining the Fairhaven Police Department, he started working as a police officer in the town of Acushnet in 1999. In February of 2020, Gordon received a promotion to the rank of sergeant. Did Michelle Carter go to prison? The real Carter did in fact go to trial for her involvement in the death of Roy. According to Esquire, she was convicted of involuntary manslaughter and, after an appeals process, given a 15-month prison sentence. Carter was released early, after spending just under a year in prison. The Girl from Plainville will no doubt show this part of Carters story. The trailer for the series shows Carter in court. She can also be seen walking with her attorney, Joseph Cataldo, while the press flashes their cameras at her. So far in the first three episodes of the series, Carter has yet to be indicted, though many seem to notice that something strange is going on. RELATED: The Girl From Plainville: 5 Things to Know About the True Story That Inspired the Hulu Series Determining the molecular weight of polymers or plastics is one of your routines? Then this application notebook will be of great help to you. It gives you numerous application examples of how to analyze a large variety of polymers at ambient or high temperature using GPC/SEC. In this GPC application notebook, experts from Tosoh will vividly show you on 58 pages how to use gel permeation chromatography (GPC) to analyze typical plastics and polymers efficiently with as little solvent consumption as possible. GPC can determine several important parameters of plastics and polymers. These include the average molecular weights Mn, Mw and Mz as well as the most basic property of a polymer, its molecular weight distribution (MWD). These parameters are important because they affect many of the characteristic physical properties of polymers. Differences in these parameters can lead to significantly different polymer performance characteristics. The GPC application notebook shows you how to analyze various polymer classes efficiently, how to save solvents and increase sample throughput, which GPC columns are best suited for your applications and what to consider when performing high-temperature analysis of polymers. Download your free copy of the GPC application notebook now and expand your practical know-how of polymer analysis. The GPC application notebook shows you: How to analyze various polymer classes efficiently How to save solvents and increase your sample throughput Which GPC columns are best suited for your applications What to consider when performing high-temperature analysis of polymers Download your free copy of the GPC application notebook now and expand your practical know-how of polymer analysis. The Minnesota state flag is seen as displayed in the State Capitol building rotunda on Thursday, March 24, 2022, in St. Paul, Minn. Minnesota lawmakers are resurrecting an effort to redesign the state's flag and seal, which proponents say are indistinct compared with other U.S. states and feature imagery that is offensive to Native Americans. Pastor Artur Pawlowski released from solitary confinement after 51 days in prison for 'inciting mischief' A prominent Canadian pastor who has emerged as an outspoken critic of his governments response to the coronavirus pandemic has been released from prison after nearly two months in custody. Pastor Artur Pawlowski of Street Church and the Cave of Adallum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, was released from prison Wednesday after 51 days of being moved between a cell and solitary confinement. Pawlowski was arrested last month for allegedly inciting mischief by addressing a crowd of truckers gathered at the Canada-United States border to protest the mandate requiring truck drivers who transport goods between the two countries to either get the vaccine or quarantine for several days upon re-entry into the country. Critics of the Canadian government, including Rebel News Ezra Levant, described Pawlowskis arrest as an attempt to stop him from expressing himself politically to these truckers. Rebel News also created a website, SaveArtur.com, to raise money for the pastors legal bills. The gathering of truckers, known as the Freedom Convoy, became a target of immense criticism from both the Canadian government and the private sector. The crowdfunding platform GoFundMe pulled a fundraiser created to raise money to cover the cost of the truckers expenses, purportedly following multiple discussions with local law enforcement and police reports of violence and other unlawful activity. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau defamed the truckers, who represented a wide swath of ethnicities and religions, as proponents of antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-black racism, homophobia, and transphobia. Officials in the Canadian capital of Ottawa seized fuel from truckers and those seeking to provide fuel for the truckers to stay warm inside their cabins amid freezing temperatures, citing a belief that access to fuel was enabling the truckers to persist in causing mischief. Rebel News reporter Adam Soos posted a video of Pawlowski leaving the Calgary Remand Centre on his Twitter account Wednesday. Pawlowski embraced his wife Marzena and son, Nathaniel, before Nathaniel Pawlowski drove his parents back home. Pawlowski, sitting in the passengers seat of the car, reached across his son to wave at the camera. Artur is out. Full story coming soon at https://t.co/kwmn3j9Pxo. pic.twitter.com/2fSe0wmhar Adam Soos ? (@ATSoos) March 30, 2022 Ahead of Pawlowskis release, Soos reported that all those gathered to greet Artur upon his release have been instructed to leave immediately under threat Artur would be arrested again should anyone speak with him before he leaves the Calgary Remand Centre grounds. Prior to officials at the Calgary Remand Centre demanding that the crowd disperse, an image captured by Soos showed a group of supporters, led by Pawlowskis wife and son, standing in line hoping to greet the pastor. All those gathered to great Artur upon his release have been instructed to leave immediately under threat that Artur would be arrested again should anyone speak with him before he leaves the Calgary Remand Centre grounds. Artur will head straight home.https://t.co/kwmn3j9Pxopic.twitter.com/eEKjrftjJQ Adam Soos ? (@ATSoos) March 30, 2022 Eagerly anticipating the release of pastor, father and husband Artur Pawlowski.https://t.co/kwmn3j9Pxopic.twitter.com/fjOQYUAZZe Adam Soos ? (@ATSoos) March 30, 2022 In an interview with Soos, Pawlowskis attorney Sarah Miller said that a judge agreed to release the pastor from custody on bail conditions that she characterized as quite strict. Miller explained that while this is not the full-blown celebratory type situation that we would hope for because he is under very strict conditions, she concluded that being under strict conditions at home with his family is a far better cry than spending time behind bars. The Calgary Herald reported that Pawlowskis bail conditions include a nightly curfew of 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., with exceptions that include Street Church services, and that he not attend any protests. Should Pawlowski violate the terms of his bail, his wife and son could be forced to pay $20,000 and $4,000, respectively. While Pawlowski was granted bail for his role in purportedly creating mischief stemming from his appearance at the border blockade, he was ordered to remain in prison for additional days on other charges. Specifically, the charges that kept Pawlowski in prison included allegations that he twice breached court orders to abide by COVID-19 public health measures and caused a disturbance at a Shoppers Drug Mart. Pawlowski had to put up a $25,000 cash deposit in order to secure his release, while his wife and son had to provide payments of $10,000 and $2,000, respectively. Miller told Rebel News that Pawlowski has quite a few criminal trials coming up, adding, hes facing up to $100,000 for attending a gathering in front of city hall. The news outlet also noted that the pastor spent much of his time behind bars in solitary confinement. Pawlowski first gained notoriety after documenting his tense exchanges with local law enforcement officials seeking to enforce coronavirus worship restrictions in videos that went viral. The videos, published last spring, featured the Polish immigrant to Canada likening the public health officials to Nazis and the Gestapo as they repeatedly entered the Cave of Adallum Church during Passover services and confronted him weeks later during a church service. In a previous interview with The Christian Post, Pawlowski accused the local government of abiding by a double standard regarding the enforcement of coronavirus worship restrictions because while they targeted his church for holding in-person worship services, the mosques were fully operational and no one harassed them, no one interfered with them. He also contended that government officials had developed a personal vendetta against him. Perry Stone under investigation by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, report claims Two years after being accused of sexual misconduct by several women, televangelist and Bible teacher Perry Stone is under investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, according to a report. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) has a list of at least nine alleged victims and has interviewed at least five people, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reports. The newspaper adds that a TBI spokesperson confirmed by email that the agency is investigating the Cleveland, Tennessee-based televangelist at the request of the district attorney general, Steve Crump, who has to decide if charges need to be pressed after the results of the investigation. Citing multiple sources connected to Stone and his Perry Stone Ministries, the newspaper claimed in an earlier report that the Federal Bureau of Investigation began looking into sexual misconduct claims against the minister last November. More than a dozen people connected or formerly connected to Stones ministry told the Chattanooga publication at the time that they were worried about what appeared to be a lack of accountability in the ministry. Claims of inappropriate conduct involving groping, unwanted kissing and showing women he was aroused were first made in 2020. Some expressed outrage that the board of directors at Voice of Evangelism, Stones international evangelistic outreach, did not involve law enforcement or fully investigate claims of misconduct against the televangelist. Stone has sought to explain that the victims misinterpreted his social behavior which he described as normal in Italian culture. I am not a perfect man, he said earlier, according to the newspaper. People have taken me hugging and kissing them on the cheek wrong. I quit that. Im Italian. My whole family holds hands, rubs backs. I didnt know you can look at somebody and say, Hey, how you doing? and they can take it wrong. He has also said that secular media cannot be trusted. Over 32 years I have been involved with television. ... Im involved with media, I know how media works, Stone said in a YouTube video, titled The Truth Behind Todays Media, last December. Its not always about whats true or not, its about the advertising dollars, he continued, explaining the relationship between the media and advertising and the need to make money. Information can be twisted by the god of this world so easily. So when youre dealing with a Christian system who wants to be honest ... secular individuals, it has been proven, they will give a false scenario and then you know, two, three years down the road come back and apologize for it and I dont want to go into collusions and all that, he said. During a special service last November, when he tried to explain why some people were no longer with his ministry, an unidentified woman interrupted his address to suggest it was because he is a nasty perv. Why dont you tell them the real reason why they left? Because you kept touching them, she said before she was removed by security. Russians know death unlike any other people The number of Russian combat deaths in Ukraine is striking, perhaps already exceeding the total dead in 10 years of war in Afghanistan from 1979-89. A NATO official has estimated that 7,000-15,000 Russians have been killed in Ukraine and that there are up to 40,000 casualties. This has prompted many observers to hope that this could signal the end of Russias assault. After all, why would Russians persist when theyre getting their tails kicked on the battlefield? Sorry, but heres the sad reality: The Russians always persist when theyre getting their tails kicked on the battlefield, whether by the Kaiser or Hitler or retreating from the Mujahedin. Its a way of life for them; or a way of death. They know death unlike any other people. The Russians always endure massive casualties, and yet their inept military commanders and malicious dictators never cease shoving them into the meat grinder, whether the trenches of World War I, their mass annihilation during World War II, or any other examples of vast fields of deaths that Russians have experienced for over a hundred years. In World War I, no country suffered like Russia. The total dead for all sides in WWI was roughly 10-20 million. Russia lost more than any other nation, a minimum of three million. For a sense of comparison, America lost about 117,000 men. Thats a drop in the bucket compared to Russias staggering losses. What was Russias reward for this colossal sacrifice? Thats where the story is even sadder. Though they were on the side of America and the allies, Czar Nicholas II abdicated the throne in March 1917, and his troops were pulled out by the Bolsheviks. Instead, Russians got Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin. Nice reward, eh? As for World War II, the numbers are off the charts. The total dead for all countries was 70-85 million, with the Soviet Union accounting for the largest portion of that, courtesy of Hitlers betrayal of Stalin and merciless rampage into the USSR. The standard accepted figure for the USSR is 27 million dead, though recent research suggests it may be far higher. By comparison, the United States and United Kingdom each lost about 400,000. So, combine U.S. and U.K. deaths, multiply them by 30, and then you begin approaching the number of Soviet deaths. Think about that. Could it get any worse for the Russian people? Oh, yes. Do not underestimate the killing capacity of humanitys most lethal ideology: communism. Alas, theres a unique set of gruesome categories for Russians, namely, the internal death unleashed by Marxism-Leninism: the 1917-21 Russian Civil War, the shocking numbers purged or starved or otherwise liquidated, and the very worst of them all, a quiet killer no one in the West talks about the unparalleled number of abortions. As for the civil war between the Bolsheviks and Mensheviks, historian W. Bruce Lincoln in his book, Red Victory: A History of the Russian Civil War, estimates that it destroyed seven million Russian men, women, and children. That slaughter followed all the fatalities of World War I. As for deaths under communism, no one knows the exact numbers, depending on which groups of corpses are factored in. The Black Book of Communism, the seminal work published by Harvard University Press, cited 20 million deaths, but many accounts of the Bolshevik butchers bill exceed 33 million. Lee Edwards, founder of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, citing the epic work on democide by the late political scientist R. J. Rummel, as well as the research of the likes of Robert Conquest, Alexander Solzhenitsyn and others, estimates that Soviet governments were responsible for the death of 61 million of their own from 1917-87. Alexander Yakovlev, who was one of Mikhail Gorbachevs chief reformers, and who in the 1990s was given the official task of counting the skulls, says Stalin alone annihilated 60 to 70 million people. He shared those numbers in his 2002 book, A Century of Violence in Soviet Russia, published by Yale University Press. Shocking, shocking, shocking. But brace yourself. Then theres abortion, for which the figures are beyond belief. Communists were hell-bent on abortion. In November 1920, the Bolsheviks made good on Vladimir Lenins June 1913 promise (printed in Pravda) for an unconditional annulment of all laws against abortions. In stunningly short order, abortions skyrocketed. Remarkably, by 1934 Moscow women were having three abortions for every live birth shocking ratios that American women, in the worst throes of Roe v. Wade, never approached. In the deadliest years after Roe, America saw annual abortions in the range of 1-2 million. Incredibly, by the 1970s, according to official Soviet Health Ministry statistics, the USSR was averaging 7-8 million abortions per year, eradicating whole future generations of children. Only recently, under Putin, who faced a projected population plunge from 140 million Russians in 2000 to 104 million by 2050 (according to World Health Organization projections), did Russia put restrictions on abortion. Putins restrictions were the first since Stalin outright banned abortion in 1936, alarmed that his country was aborting itself to death. Nikita Khrushchev lifted the ban in 1955, and the abortion mills ramped up again at full capacity. It is no exaggeration to say that hundreds of millions of children may have been snuffed out in the womb. There may have been close to 100 million abortions in the Soviet Union in the 1970s alone. Amid all of this blood, blood, blood, Ive actually left out quite a bit. I didnt even mention specific episodes of brutality such as Holodomor i.e., Stalins famine inflicted upon the people of Ukraine, which involved another 5-10 million deaths via starvation. Overall, this is a sickening picture. Russia is a culture of death. The Russian people have been through a hell unlike any other since 1914. No country compares to this level of violence. None. Do you hate the Russians? I once asked a native Pole, Jan Winiecki. He spoke at Grove City College in March 2000. Professor Winiecki laid out in a compelling lecture what the Soviet Union had done to Poland for 50 years, beginning with the Hitler-Stalin Pact that launched the mutual Nazi-Soviet invasions in September 1939 (hence launching World War II) and on through the collapse of communism in the fall of 1989. Ive never forgotten Winieckis answer: Oh, no! Not at all! I weep for the Russian people. Winiecki hastened to add: There is no other people in the world who have suffered as much death. I feel only pity for Russians. So should we. Their leaders often dont. Pope John Paul II, a Pole who witnessed a chunk of that death, said that every human being is unique, precious and unrepeatable, each made in the image of God with sanctity and dignity. Many a Russian despot has not shared that view. And the death could get much worse, especially if we add Russian losses not only in World Wars I and II but, yes, quite possibly a World War III. To that end, I fear that Russias current losses in Ukraine only make that prospect more likely. Im actually more concerned about Putins behavior under a scenario in which his troops seem destined for a crushing defeat. The more desperate, the worse Putin may react. Yes, I can easily see him using WMDs. Joe Biden suggested that Putin using WMDs (chemical weapons) might be the thing that would draw America in. The Russians always get their tails kicked on the battlefield. This is no surprise. The concern is always just how brutal their despots are willing to behave in response. With Putin, we shall see. Im not optimistic. This article first appeared in The American Spectator and The Institute for Faith & Freedom. US military forces cannot fight on 2 fronts The current war in Ukraine and Russias threatening actions toward NATO countries coupled with a rising China in Asia highlights a strategic pickle for the United States the need to be able to deter or potentially fight two major adversaries in two very different regions of the world at the same time with the military it has on hand. While the U.S. is unlikely to face two significant competitors at the same time, the possibility is not zero. The current situation in Ukraine, with Russian President Vladimir Putin launching missiles landing close to Poland, and Chinese President Xi Jinpings ideological commitments to bring Taiwan into China, provides an excellent opportunity for an opportunist nation to attempt a hostile act while the rest of the world is distracted. The U.S. is a global power with interests and responsibilities throughout the world. It must be capable of protecting Americans abroad, allies and the freedom to use international sea, air, space and cyberspace. This is no easy task and the U.S. military today is not positioned to take it on. It is too small and too old to fight on numerous fronts. Force drawdowns since the end of the Cold War and 20 years of fighting in the Middle East have left the U.S. military a shell of its former self. This should worry everyone especially because China and Russia spend a significant portion of their economic output on their defense budgets, with the purpose of challenging American military superiority. The Chinese government is rapidly expanding its military forces. Perhaps the most visible example of this is its ship-building program. At the end of 2020, the size of Chinas navy was approximately 360. Compare that to a U.S. Navy fleet of 297 ships. Chinas military forces must be modernized by 2035, according to Xi. By 2049, he claims, they should be a world-class military power capable of fighting and winning wars. Chinas breakthroughs in its hard-power capabilities are likely to lead to a significant shift in the global balance of military power. As for Russia, its military capabilities are on display on the world stage. The U.S. military has an overall advantage over the Russian military, but Russia has select advantages over the U.S. when it comes to certain capabilities. For example, the U.S. Army has approximately 6,000 tanks while Russia has around 12,000. Russian tactical nuclear capabilities outnumber the U.S. by 10-to-1. One cannot forget about the threat that Iran and North Korea also pose to U.S. national security, with their missile arsenals and nuclear programs. It is vital for the U.S. to be able to project strength globally to provide reassurance for its allies and deter its adversaries. While the quality of the U.S. military force is currently unrivaled, its size is at a historic low, and this limits its ability to respond to the multiple threats the country faces globally. It simply does not have enough forces. This is a concern, particularly when the U.S. needs to surge to a conflict without jeopardizing the posture of U.S. forces in another important region. For example, if the United States were to engage Russia in a direct confrontation, it will be forced to deploy military equipment and personnel from all over the world to the Eastern European front. By doing so, the U.S. would be forced to draw forces from other regions of the world, such as the West Pacific, where our presence is critical in deterring China. The Heritage Foundations annual assessment of U.S. military power, the 2022 Index of U.S. Military Strength, assesses that the U.S. military is only moderately capable of securing its vital national security interests, and would struggle greatly if called upon to deal with more than one competitor at a time. Low levels of capacity are particularly concerning because numbers really matter in war. The index estimates that a joint force capable of dealing with multiple fronts simultaneously would need to consist of: The Army having 50 brigade combat teams, compared to its current number of 31. The Navy having at least 400 ships, compared to the 297 vessels it currently has. Since President Ronald Reagans military buildup to deter the Soviets in what would be the final years of the Cold War, the overall trend in numbers has clearly been consistently toward a smaller force. Besides force size, some of the militarys equipment is extremely outdated, and many of its platforms entered service more than 30 years ago. The services, like the Army and Navy, are aging faster than they are modernizing. As a result, it will be easier for major competitors to reach technological parity with the U.S. military. To recap, the U.S. requires a force capable of managing two conflicts because it would provide enough forces to: 1. deter an opportunistic adversary from starting a conflict while the U.S. is engaged and 2. provide the U.S. with a sufficient number of forces to handle battle losses without requiring America to denude the rest of the world to focus on one conflict. The good news is that there appears to be bipartisan acknowledgment of the need to project power on two fronts. Its difficult. Its expensive. But it is also essential, and I believe that were entering a period where that is what will be demanded of the United States and this generation of Americans, said Kurt Campbell, the White House Indo-Pacific policy coordinator, about the U.S. remaining engaged in the Indo-Pacific in the midst of the crisis in Ukraine. But it remains to be seen whether Congress and the Biden administration address the need to field a military force sufficiently sized to address global threats and U.S. national interests. The defense budget must be sufficient to modernize and expand the force. It will take time for the military to reach the level of strength required to deter and potentially fight on multiple fronts. The problem will not be fixed overnight. Thats why its important for Congress to act quickly to adequately resource the U.S. military. Originally published at The Daily Signal. Matt Chandler says Christianity is only religion that handles suffering honestly: 'God's at work in the mess' Village Church Pastor Matt Chandler told his congregation that, for Christians, suffering is normal and stressed that only Christianity not the secular world or other religions handles suffering, trials and pain honestly. Christianity doesnt pretend that suffering is not real. It doesnt pretend that its fair. It doesnt pretend that its not really there. It doesnt do that. Nor does it pretend that it doesnt have meaning, the 47-year-old pastor said in a March 20 sermon titled What Well Face. The pastor told those gathered at the churchs Flower Mound, Texas, campus that Gods at work in the mess. He said God strengthens and refines and calls into Himself, and grants life with and empowers through not the good times, but through the difficult times that expose our idols, shows us as weak and makes us desperate for His presence. Chandler said suffering is not abnormal because humans have been experiencing trials throughout history. But amid this reality, Jesus is good, he said, citing 1 Peter 3:18-22. Jesus pathway of suffering is the path to glory. Its not a life of ease and comfort thats the path to glory. We see in the suffering of Jesus Christ that once and for all He broke the back of sin. Jesus Christ went to the cross, Chandler said, and absorbed Gods wrath toward all of humanitys sin. He hands to you His righteousness so that when God sees you, when the just Judge of the universe sees you, He sees the righteousness of Christ, which is why He delights in you and rejoices in you and celebrates you if you put your faith in His saving work, Chandler said. He doesnt come with new law. He doesnt come with a new set of rules, he added, referring to John 3:17, which says Jesus will return not to condemn but to save. Jesus has saved humans from sin and death, Chandler noted. I dont know where I would be if He didnt get me. ... I know what happens to us if God didnt intervene, the pastor elaborated. When he looks at his wife, his children, his relationship with his church congregants and how God has healed him, Chandler realizes God is good even amid suffering. Like King David, He lifted me out of the muck and mire, and He set my feet on a rock. Hes good. And Ive had brain cancer and a difficult marriage and all sorts of other issues and Hes good, Chandler said. For nothing else, but He saved me. He rescued me, opened my eyes, he continued. Earlier in his sermon, Chandler shared how Christians can exist and thrive as they face the kind of suffering resulting from living in a world that is hostile to their faith. We are a nuisance. We can kind of feel that, he posited. The predominant culture kind of sees us as a hurdle to get to the utopia that they have in view, our sexual ethic, our belief about marriage. ... If you guys would just get over your archaic backward, historically abusive trauma-causing nonsense, we could get to the utopia of where were trying to go. Chandler emphasized that Christians should submit to God's moral law to reveal His wisdom, beauty, and glory through suffering. On top of that, he said Christians should live a life of boldness. How are we to live? You live lives of beauty. Gods moral law matters. We pursue goodness. We live lives of beauty. We let the Word of God conform our lives into something that will be beautiful to those who will be saved and will be indicting and rage-causing for those who will not, Chandler said. The Explicit Gospel author warned parents that it is vital to not only point their children to Jesus as they go through trials, but its also essential to refrain from enabling their children as they face struggles. What service do we do to our children when we coddle their disappointments? he asked. Im not talking about comforting. Please comfort them. Life is brutal. Youre mom and dad. Youre meant to comfort them. But if you save them and treat them like candles, you are setting them up. If all were perpetually doing is saving them from disappointment, youre treating them like a candle. ... Thats on us to teach them fortitude; to let them own some of the pain that comes from dumb mistakes, to not constantly rescue, he stressed. Chandler told the congregation that they are stronger than they believe they are. You are not that candle easily extinguished in the wind, the pastor said. Youre a bonfire. The wind makes you stronger, makes you burn hotter, it makes you brighter. So dont always shield yourself from the wind. Your growth as a person, it happens not in comfort but at the edge of your growth, where it feels stressful and painful. And thats when youre growing as a person. Massachusetts city accused of stonewalling church's private school over religious beliefs Officials in a Massachusetts city have denied allegations that a local school committee rejected an application for the launch of a private Christian school due to the beliefs of the predominantly Hispanic church sponsoring the institution. Vida Real Church of Somerville, located around five miles from Boston, had asked local officials in 2021 to approve the creation of a private school for kindergarten to eighth grade, which would be known as Real Life Learning Center. A letter of complaint sent Wednesday to Superintendent Mary E. Skipper and Mayor Katjana Ballantyne alleges that the Somerville School Committee rejected the application by the church to create a private school because officials disliked the churchs beliefs. The letter was sent on behalf of the church by the conservative legal nonprofit First Liberty Institute and the Massachusetts Family Institute. Despite Vida Reals expressed desire to open RLLC as quickly as possible, the Committee has repeatedly stonewalled Vida Reals efforts to provide private, religious education for its community for over five months now, wrote Ryan Gardner of First Liberty and Andrew Beckwith of the Massachusetts Family Institute. Even more concerning, the Committee has expressed hostility towards Vida Reals religious beliefs, and multiple Committee members have stated that RLLCs desire to create a curriculum consistent with its religious beliefs is grounds for denying its private school application. According to the letter, the committee repeatedly asked for information about the proposed schools curriculum and allegedly mocked some of their beliefs during meetings. The complaint letter argued that the church satisfied all relevant criteria for obtaining Committee approval and that rejecting the application violated both state law and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The Committee must grant RLLCs application so that RLLC can open in time for the Fall 2022 semester, the complaint states. If Vida Real does not receive approval for RLLC from the Committee by April 18, 2022, or if the Committee denies RLLCs application, Vida Real will pursue all available legal options. The Christian Post reached out to Somerville Public Schools for comment. A spokesperson emailed a statement from Superintendent Mary Skipper and School Committee Chair Andre Green. Skipper and Green disagree with the characterizations in that letter of the Committees communications with the RLLC to date and of the appropriateness and lawfulness of the Committees review of the RLLC application. The Committee has not yet reached a determination about the RLLC application, and all inquiries from the Committee have been for the purpose of evaluating whether RLLC meets the legal standards for approval, they stated. We note that if a private school is approved, the Committee does not engage in ongoing oversight or monitoring of that school; as such, the Committee considers a thorough review process, including a critical evaluation of whether an applicant has proposed and is capable of actually implementing a program that meets state requirements, to be essential to the Committees statutory obligations. Skipper and Green added that the school district does not discriminate on the basis of religion or any other protected class. They assured the committees review of the RLLC application has been and will continue to be fair, thorough, and consistent with the Committees legal authority. The Committee will complete its review of the RLLC application in a timely manner and issue a determination on the merits of the application, they concluded. However, Massachusetts Family Institute President Beckwith contends that its illegal and unconstitutional for city officials to question the religious beliefs of Vida Real. This is blatant religious discrimination, Beckwith contends. Its time for Somerville officials to stop treating Vida Real unfairly and allow it to pursue the opening of a school. The complaint letter argues that the school committee didnt promptly review materials sent in the application and took no action and did not communicate with Vida Real regarding its application for over a month. In November 2021, the committee told the church that the application was deficient and had to be resubmitted even though no formal process existed regarding such applications, the complaint adds. [T]he Committee never provided any guidance regarding the form in which the application should be submitted. Seeking to expeditiously cure the Committees stated issues with RLLCs application, Vida Real again submitted RLLCs application and related materials in November 2021, the letter reads. The letter accused the committee of taking no action for several weeks before inviting an official with the church to speak with committee members in early January 2022. After the official spoke with committee members, the letter claims that another month elapsed before the committee took additional action on the schools application. The complaint letter states that on Feb. 11, the committee contacted Vida Real and submitted 35 questions from its Educational Programs Subcommittee for Vida Real to respond to at a Feb. 28 meeting. These questions not only sought duplicative information that RLLC had already provided with its application but also inquired about information that is irrelevant to RLLCs application and is improper for governmental inquiry, including questions about RLLCs religious beliefs, the letter adds. Despite the improper and, in fact, illegal nature of many of these questions, Vida Real worked diligently to prepare responses for each of the Committees burdensome list of questions. At the Feb. 28 meeting, the letter claims that members of the subcommittee expressed hostility to Vida Reals religious beliefs. Subcommittee members are accused of questioning whether RLLC could adequately provide health education because of its decision to teach on matters of human sexuality in accordance with its religious beliefs. They also allegedly questioned whether the school should be allowed to teach creationism. Subcommittee members also allegedly voiced disapproval of the schools reliance on Christian authors for its curriculum. Additionally, the Subcommittee wrongfully accused Vida Real of submitting an incomplete application that did not include RLLCs handbook even though such materials had already been provided to the Committee multiple times, which the Committee negligently overlooked, the letter continues. The Subcommittee ended its meeting in the middle of deliberations without a final decision, which the Subcommittee informed Vida Real would result in an additional delay of a month before any further action would be taken on RLLCs application. Later that night, the letter reports that the subcommittee presented a report on the schools application in which it stated that RLLC does not meet the criteria and falls short in every subject, particularly science, social studies, and [social emotional learning]. The reports alleged reasons for the Subcommittees conclusion were riddled with factual errors, irrelevant considerations, and disparaging remarks regarding Vida Reals religious beliefs, the letter complains. According to the letter, the subcommittee took issue with there being no accommodations for students enrolled in special education or plans to address students not making academic progress. The committees report also claimed the application offered no details on assessments or how school staff would be supported. It also questioned how the application process will result in a diverse set of applicants and if the facilities are appropriate for younger students. The schools position on homosexuality and creationism make it difficult to see how a thorough science and health curriculum is possible, the subcommittees report stated, according to the complaint letter. The schools approach to student services and counseling appears to devalue evidence-based psychology and its emphasis on approaches rooted in the belief that mental illness is caused by sin and demons is unscientific and harmful. After the subcommittee presented the report, the committee voted unanimously to accept the Subcommittees report without any members raising any objections to the disparaging statements contained in the report regarding Vida Reals religious beliefs, the letter reads. In another meeting three weeks later, committee member Sara Dion was accused of making several comments expressing overt hostility against Vida Real based solely upon its religious beliefs and derided creationism as being factually incorrect. Dion had allegedly argued that denying RLLCs application was the morally right thing to do and that the committee should do what it could to prevent RLLC from opening. She even went as far as to state that spending money on costly litigation to prevent or delay RLLCs opening was well worth it, the complaint letter alleges. [Committee member] Sarah Phillips did not object to any of Ms. Dions comments and stated that her 'heart wants to deny [RLLCs] application as well despite her belief that such a denial would not hold up in court. Indeed, Ms. Phillips essentially conceded that the ACE curriculum proposed to be used by RLLC satisfied Massachusetts law because it is presently used by at least four private schools in Massachusetts. Despite this, Ms. Phillips proceeded to second and vote in favor of a motion by Ms. Dion to recommend that the Committee deny RLLCs application. The entire committee will consider the recommendation to deny RLLCs application in April. Wednesdays letter is not the first time that First Liberty Institute and the Massachusetts Family Institute have communicated with city officials in Somerville. In June 2020, during a time of widespread pandemic gathering restrictions, churches objected to then-Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatones order banning worship gatherings of more than 10 people despite state-level restrictions allowing in-door worship at 40% building capacity. The organization sent a letter to the city on behalf of churches that planned to hold worship services with safety protocols in place despite the mayors order. At the time, Jeremy Dys of First Liberty argued in a statement that the citys restrictions would prevent even Jesus and the twelve disciples from lawfully gathering in Somerville. Most Christian parents are worried about their kids' spiritual health: poll An overwhelming majority of American parents are concerned about their childrens spiritual well-being, with concerns highest among practicing Christians, according to a poll released by Barna. On Wednesday, Barna released the results of a survey that asked 513 parents of children younger than 18 about their level of concern regarding their childrens spiritual development and their childrens relationships with their peers. Conducted April 23 through May 5, 2021, the survey asked parents how concerned are you about your child/childrens spiritual development? A majority of respondents (73%) indicated that they were either somewhat or very concerned with their children's spiritual development. Conversely, only 27% of parents said they were not very or not at all concerned about their childrens spiritual development. The survey broke the respondents down into three categories: practicing Christian parents, Christian parents, and non-Christian parents. It classified Christians who have attended a worship service within the past month and strongly agree their faith is important to their life as practicing Christians. A majority of practicing Christian parents (51%) reported feeling very concerned about their childrens spiritual development, followed by 33% who were somewhat concerned, 9% who were not very concerned and 7% who were not at all concerned. Similarly, 80% of Christian parents were either very or somewhat concerned about their childrens spiritual development, while only 20% were either not very or not at all worried. Non-Christian parents had the lowest level of concern about their childrens spiritual health among the three groups, with 27% telling pollsters that they were very concerned about their childrens spiritual development and an additional 31% identifying themselves as somewhat concerned. The remainder of non-Christian parents were either not very (18%) or not at all (25%) concerned about their childrens spiritual development. Practicing Christians also had the highest level of concern about their children staying true to their faith among the three groups surveyed. A solid majority of practicing Christians (58%) asserted that they were very concerned about whether their children would stay true to their spiritual faith, while an additional 28% were somewhat concerned. The share of practicing Christian parents characterizing themselves as not very or not at all concerned was measured at 8% and 6%, respectively. A plurality of self-identified Christian parents (43%) reported feeling very concerned about their children staying true to their faith, followed by 33% who were somewhat concerned, 16% who were not very concerned and 8% who were not at all concerned. A plurality of non-Christian parents (32%) maintained that they were not at all concerned about their children abandoning their faith, followed by 29% who listed themselves as somewhat concerned, 26% very concerned and 13% not at all concerned. Among U.S. parents as a whole, 38% described themselves as very concerned about the possibility of their children abandoning the faith, while an additional 32% said they were somewhat concerned. The share of U.S. parents who were not very or not at all concerned about their children were each measured at 15%. The survey also asked parents about their level of concern surrounding their childrens ability to make meaningful relationships with other children. A plurality of U.S. parents (48%) said that they were very concerned about their childrens ability to form meaningful relationships with their peers and an additional 35% identified themselves as somewhat concerned. The remaining parents were either not very (11%) or not at all (5%) concerned about their childrens ability to form interpersonal relationships with others in their age group. Concerns about their childrens ability to develop relationships with their peers united all parents, regardless of their faith background. The share of parents who felt very concerned about their childrens ability to make friends was measured at 50% among practicing Christians, 43% among self-identified Christians and 54% among non-Christians. Those who were somewhat concerned about their children making friends included 35% of practicing Christian parents, 37% of Christian parents and 34% of non-Christian parents. Eleven percent of practicing Christians said they were not very concerned about their childrens social lives, along with 13% of self-identified Christians and 9% of non-Christian parents. Seven percent of self-identified Christians were not at all concerned about their childrens ability to make friends, as were 4% of practicing Christians and 3% of non-Christians. TikTok pastor declares Jesus isnt the only way to salvation Jesus isnt the only way to salvation, insists TikTok pastor Brandan Robertson, whos progressive preaching on the Chinese-owned and video-focused social networking service has reached millions. Aided by animated head movement and a fast-paced tone captured by webcam, Robertsons concise video messages clock in at under a minute. More than 187,000 accounts follow him on the TikTok platform; his individual videos total more than 4.4 million likes. Last June he was featured in Rolling Stones annual Hot List for his LGBT advocacy. Its a lot for a message that intentionally contains little. If God is infinite, eternal and indescribable and uncontainable, no religion can contain God. Indeed no words can contain God, Robertsons declares as someone whos always on a journey in a March 24 video. A graduate of Moody Bible Institute and onetime parishioner of the Anglican Church in North Americas Chicago-based Greenhouse church planting movement, Robertson illustrates a well-worn trajectory for evangelicals who squish on sexual ethics, ultimately jettisoning from their beliefs an orthodoxy that first became optional and now is proscribed. Much of Robertsons content originates from progressive Christian theologians active across the past century. Those messages were largely relegated to declining Mainline Protestant seminaries, their once-stately campuses sapped of evangelistic vigor by universalism and their missionary fervor diverted to a preoccupation with social activism. Writings of Progressive Christian theologians like Walter Brueggeman, Marcus Borg and John Shelby Spong have lost much of their following in recent decades, but Robertson, an ordained pastor with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and a graduate of the liberal United Methodist affiliated Iliff School of Theology saw an opening to repackage their scriptural interpretations into short, rapidly paced clips that lend themselves to browsing and sharing. Robertsons tutelage as a self-styled public theologian seems light years from evangelical Christianity: Jesus isnt the only way to salvation. Hell doesnt exist. He doesnt know what happened after the crucifixion. Robertson offers a reductionist message effectively whittled down to the golden rule: Christs command to Love your neighbor as yourself supersedes Gods call to personal holiness and Jesus repeated warnings about the reality of hell and the devil. I dont believe in hell, yet I choose to follow Jesus because I know it blesses my life and the world around me, Robertson shared March 15 in a TikTok video. In some cases, however, Robertsons message could only proceed out of an American evangelicalism centered upon individual relationship with God, one that ejects centuries of Christian life rooted in corporate worship and anchored to the Apostles, Nicene and Athanasian creeds. Asked by a viewer if he needs to go to church, believe a creed, or partake in a sacrament to be saved, Robertson replied in a March 17 video that the answer is very deep, the answer is no. Robertson also has his detractors, with which he invites disagreement and further online engagement. I dont know Brandan well at all. But years ago, he was insistent of his evangelical bona fides alongside his support for gay marriage. It always leads to whats below, tweeted Andrew T. Walker of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a fellow at the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). You cannot sever ethics and remain theologically orthodox. We think we can, but theyre packaged together. I dont know Brandan well at all. But years ago, he was insistent of his evangelical bona fides alongside his support for gay marriage. It always leads to whats below. You cannot sever ethics and remain theologically orthodox. We think we can, but theyre packaged together. https://t.co/6Kle1LQhgD Andrew T. Walker (@andrewtwalk) March 28, 2022 My IRD colleague Chelsen Vicari followed Robertsons evolution beginning in 2014. In 2015, she watched Robertson tout the Evangelical title as he advocated for same-sex marriage. Later, he defined himself as Christianish, and by 2018 was calling himself a gay Renegade Reverend rethinking sin as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Today Robertson claims the title Christian agnostic, and publicly affirms practices that significantly deviate from what the church has historically understood to be appropriate. Your relationships are holy, Robertson told those who are in an open or polyamorous relationship at his then-congregation of Missiongathering Christian Church, affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in San Diego, California in 2018. They are beautiful and they are welcomed and celebrated in this space. For most people, sex before marriage is a healthy expression of the gift of sexuality and is not sinful or morally wrong, Robertson later told Huffington Post the same year. Much of that may seem passe by now, Robertson tracing his path from, but no longer rooted in, historic Christianity. I dont know the absolute truth about the nature of reality or our universe, Robertson shared on a recent video. God is bigger than our boxes or ideas. Originally published at Juicy Ecumenism. Jeff Walton is Communications Manager for the Institute on Religion & Democracy and directs the Anglican program. He graduated in 2001 from Seattle Pacific University and is a member of Restoration Anglican Church in Arlington, VA. World Vision helps evacuees from war-torn Ukraine as hundreds take shelter in Romanian office building A Romanian office building has been converted into space to house 450 refugees a night as the Romanian Orthodox Church and an international humanitarian organization respond to the mass exodus of Ukrainians from their homes as Russian troops ravage the country. Edgar Sandoval, the CEO of World Vision, was recently in Romania to assess the organization's efforts to minister to Ukrainians who were forced to flee their homes amid Russia's invasion of their country and shared what he witnessed in an interview with The Christian Post. Despite the challenges that come with providing food, clothing and shelter for hundreds or even thousands of refugees, Sandoval praised the generosity of the Romanian community, recalling that during a visit to the Romanian city of Iasi, he saw this office building that had been completely refurbished into a shelter and everything inside the shelter had been provided by the community. He told CP that the shelter included everything from beds, mattresses, sheets, blankets, pillows [and] toys provided by the generosity of the community. That office space could host 450 refugees per night, but then they also need to continue to pay for the electricity as well as showers and this is where World Vision comes in, he said. Weve been partnering alongside them by providing the utilities, hygiene kits, laundry and shower facilities. The exodus of people continues to just increase and so this has become the fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II, Sandoval said of the challenges Europe is facing to help the millions of Ukrainians seeking refuge in neighboring countries. An estimated over 3 million people have already fled Ukraine to bordering countries, he added. I was at two border points, one with Moldova and one with Ukraine. And what I saw was just strings of people coming through, some of them walking, some of them with nothing but the clothes on their back, some with a suitcase. Sandoval said that one day at the border crossing in the town of Siret, 15,000 people came through. He lamented that the situation continues to get worse as the conflict increases. He contrasted the refugee crisis in Eastern Europe with those he had experienced in the past. In the current crisis, those fleeing Ukraine are in transit because they want their final destination to be in Western Europe. They stop in Romania on the way, he added, because its so cold and they need a place where they can safely stay for a couple of nights. They need food, they need showers [and] warm clothing," he said. "The vast majority of the people crossing are women and young children, and very young children at that. Sandoval discussed World Visions efforts to create child-friendly spaces that amount to a little daycare setting in a shelter where there are toys and activities where kids can be kids again as we try to mitigate any sort of psychosocial effects that the conflict may have on them. In his conversations with refugees, Sandoval has learned that many have friends and family in Western Europe, which explains why they see the region as their ultimate destination. He shared a conversation he'd had with a father who has a 16-year-old son with special needs. They were staying at the office building that had been converted into a shelter. The mans sister works as a maid in Italy, and she had come to Romania to help them find their way there. While Sandoval predicts that most Ukrainian refugees will move on to Western Europe after a stop in Romania, he's awaiting more clarity on how many refugees will actually stay in Romania. He spoke of a plan being developed to make sure that children can continue their education and obtain all the support services to the families who choose to remain in the Eastern European country. Sandoval said the Romanian Orthodox Church is one of World Visions partners on the ground working to provide information and [meet] the needs of these refugees. Specifically, the Romanian Orthodox Church is coordinating medical supply donations for Ukrainian hospitals. The World Vision CEO told CP that the demographic makeup of the refugees has changed over time. He suggested that the people who left Ukraine at the beginning of the Ukraine-Russia conflict had more means because they were leaving in their own cars. More recently, most refugees are coming with nothing but the clothes on their backs. World Vision has plans to expand its response to the Ukraine-Russia conflict into other Eastern European countries. We are in the process of evaluating partners in Moldova and also in Poland as we expect the longer this conflict continues, the more people well expect will want to find refuge and cross the border," Sandoval said. "So were evaluating what may be needed to support refugees in Moldova, to support them in Poland, and then well need to continue our operation and strengthen our operation in Romania. World Vision has raised over $8 million for the Ukraine crisis so far. Having seen the difference that the donations from the U.S. are making for the refugees, Sandoval asked American Christians to continue praying for this conflict and to donate because the needs are increasing and we want to be able to be there for the people of Ukraine at the time of their greatest need. home World Pastor, 3 others killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Nigeria: reports Suspected Fulani herdsmen shot to death four people, including a pastor and two women in two separate attacks in Benue State on Tuesday, according to Nigerian media reports. Pastor John Ajav of the Pentecostal network Deeper Life Church was killed in Waku village while he was on his way to a church program Tuesday morning, Vanguard reported. Additionally, three farmers were said to have been killed on the same day while they were working on their farms in the Nyiev Council Ward area. All the killings reportedly occurred in the Guma local government area. Confirming the attacks, Tivlumun Nyitse, the chief of staff to Benue Gov. Samuel Ortom, who is from the area where the incidents occurred, wrote on his Facebook page that it was a very sad day. We lost Pastor John Torbee Ajav this morning to some Fulani marauders who shot him on his way to Gbajimba to attend a religious function, he wrote, according to Vanguard and the daily newspaper The Punch. The late John was a pastor with the Deeper Life Bible Church, Umenger. May the Lord receive his soul with mercy. The Christian Post reached out to Deeper Life Christian Ministry for comment on Ajavs reported killing. A response is pending. The killings come as there has been an increase in attacks by suspected Fulani radicals against farming communities in Nigerias Middle Belt states in recent years that have reportedly led to thousands of deaths. The herdsmen involved in Tuesdays attack in Benue reportedly came from neighboring Nasarawa state. These terrorists have continued to attack and kill our people for no reason whatsoever, Caleb Abah, the Chairman of Guma local government area, was quoted as saying. On March 17, heavily armed Fulani herdsmen attacked Agunu Dutse village in Kachia County in Kaduna state shortly after midnight, abducting at least 46 Christians and their children, Morning Star News reported. In a separate attack two days later, more than 100 herdsmen and Islamist terrorists killed 32 civilians in Kagoro town in Kaura County. Weapons are being made available to militants in Nigeria by way of war-torn Libya. And in the countrys northeast region, the terrorist groups Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province have killed thousands and displaced millions in recent years. The U.S.-based persecution watchdog group International Christian Concern warns that the Nigerian government continues to deny any religious motivation behind the attacks. The Nigerian government, led by President Muhammadu Buhari, who comes from a Fulani background, attributes the violence in the Middle Belt states to decades-old farmer-herder clashes. However, Christian human rights advocates have accused the government of overlooking religious elements and not doing enough to protect Nigerian citizens. Last year, the U.S. State Department removed Nigeria from its list of countries of particular concern for tolerating or engaging in egregious violations of religious liberty after it was placed on the list in 2020 by the Trump administration. The removal of Nigeria from the list drew backlash from some human rights activists. Many have raised concerns about what they perceive as the governments inaction in holding terrorists accountable for the rising number of murders and kidnappings, which some groups warn have reached the level of genocide. ICC identified Nigeria as one of its 2021 Persecutors of the Year. Nigeria is one of the deadliest places on Earth for Christians, as 50,000 to 70,000 have been killed since 2000, the ICC Persecutor of the Year report states. Open Doors USA, which monitors persecution in over 60 countries, reported that at least 4,650 Christians were killed between Oct. 1, 2020, and Sept. 30, 2021. That is an increase from 3,530 the previous year. Additionally, more than 2,500 Christians were kidnapped, up from 990 a year earlier. Originally posted on The Christian Post. Shanghai starts 2nd phase of closed-off management against COVID-19 Xinhua) 08:17, April 02, 2022 A medical worker takes a swab sample from a woman for nucleic acid test in Changning District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. Shanghai has launched a nucleic acid testing campaign in areas west of the Huangpu River from Friday amid the second phase of the city's closed-off management. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) SHANGHAI, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. The megacity in east China on Monday began its two-phase enforcement of temporary closed-off management to track possible infections and curb the spread of the virus. Mass nucleic acid testing in areas including those on the east of the Huangpu River started Monday. Shanghai has also tightened its virus control measures and encouraged its residents not to leave the city unless necessary. From Saturday, people leaving the city will have to either show a negative nucleic acid test result within 48 hours together with a negative antigen testing result within 24 hours, or present a negative nucleic acid test within 24 hours. Shanghai reported 358 confirmed locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 4,144 asymptomatic carriers on Thursday, Wu Jinglei, director of the Shanghai municipal health commission, told a press conference on Friday. Community workers guide local residents to do nucleic acid test in Changning District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. Shanghai has launched a nucleic acid testing campaign in areas west of the Huangpu River from Friday amid the second phase of the city's closed-off management. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) Community workers inform residents to come for nucleic acid test in Changning District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. Shanghai has launched a nucleic acid testing campaign in areas west of the Huangpu River from Friday amid the second phase of the city's closed-off management. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) A medical worker takes a swab sample from a woman for nucleic acid test in Putuo District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Chen Fei) Volunteers guide residents to do nucleic acid test in Putuo District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Chen Fei) A medical worker takes a swab sample from a little girl for nucleic acid test in Minhang District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Ren Long) Medical staff take swab samples from residents for nucleic acid test in Putuo District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Chen Fei) Aerial photo taken on the early morning of April 1, 2022 shows areas west of the Huangpu River in east China's Shanghai. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Photo by Yang Fan/Xinhua) A medical worker takes a swab sample from a boy for nucleic acid test in Songjiang District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Liu Ying) Residents queue to do nucleic acid test at a community in Hongkou District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Photo by Yang Fan/Xinhua) A staff member registers information of a resident to do nucleic acid test at a residential community in Minhang District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Ren Long) Medical staff take swab samples from residents for nucleic acid test at a residential community in Songjiang District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Liu Ying) A volunteer works at a nucleic acid testing site within a residential community in Songjiang District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Liu Ying) A medical worker takes a swab sample from a resident for nucleic acid test in Changning District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. Shanghai has launched a nucleic acid testing campaign in areas west of the Huangpu River from Friday amid the second phase of the city's closed-off management. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) Community workers guide local residents to do nucleic acid test in Changning District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. Shanghai has launched a nucleic acid testing campaign in areas west of the Huangpu River from Friday amid the second phase of the city's closed-off management. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) A community worker helps local residents register information before nucleic acid test in Changning District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. Shanghai has launched a nucleic acid testing campaign in areas west of the Huangpu River from Friday amid the second phase of the city's closed-off management. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) Community workers inform residents to come for nucleic acid test in Changning District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. Shanghai has launched a nucleic acid testing campaign in areas west of the Huangpu River from Friday amid the second phase of the city's closed-off management. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) A medical worker takes a swab sample from a woman for nucleic acid test in Changning District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. Shanghai has launched a nucleic acid testing campaign in areas west of the Huangpu River from Friday amid the second phase of the city's closed-off management. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) A medical worker takes a swab sample from a senior citizen for nucleic acid test in Changning District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. Shanghai has launched a nucleic acid testing campaign in areas west of the Huangpu River from Friday amid the second phase of the city's closed-off management. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) A medical worker takes a swab sample from a man for nucleic acid test in Changning District of east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. Shanghai has launched a nucleic acid testing campaign in areas west of the Huangpu River from Friday amid the second phase of the city's closed-off management. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) A community worker makes phone calls to arrange vegetables delivery at a residential community during night time in east China's Shanghai, March 31, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) Community workers pack vegetables at a residential community during night time in east China's Shanghai, March 31, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) Volunteers prepare for a nucleic acid testing campaign at a residential community during night time in east China's Shanghai, March 31, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) A medical worker prepares to do nucleic acid test in the night time at Minhang District of east China's Shanghai, March 31, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Liu Ying) A staff member delivers vegetables at a residential community during night time in east China's Shanghai, March 31, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) Photo taken on March 31, 2022 shows a big screen displaying "I Love Shanghai" in Chinese at the Bund in east China's Shanghai. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang) Local residents come to a hospital to do nucleic acid test in the night time at Minhang District of east China's Shanghai, March 31, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Liu Ying) Staff process pepper at a vegetable warehouse in the early morning in east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Ding Ting) A nurse checks on the location of an ambulance online at Ruijin Hospital in east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Yuan Quan) Photo taken on March 31, 2022 shows the night view of the Bund in east China's Shanghai. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Chen Fei) A man rides a motorcycle is seen on Jiujiang Road during night time in east China's Shanghai, March 31, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Chen Fei) Staff process broccoli at a vegetable warehouse in the early morning in east China's Shanghai, April 1, 2022. The second phase of closed-off management in Shanghai has come into force in areas west of the Huangpu River on Friday amid a recent spike in COVID-19 infections, according to local authorities. As scheduled, nucleic acid testing will be held from Friday to April 5 for around 16 million people, and 12 districts will be put under temporary closed-off management. (Xinhua/Ding Ting) (Web editor: Peng yukai, Liang Jun) home World World Vision helps evacuees from war-torn Ukraine as hundreds take shelter in Romanian office building A Romanian office building has been converted into space to house 450 refugees a night as the Romanian Orthodox Church and an international humanitarian organization respond to the mass exodus of Ukrainians from their homes as Russian troops ravage the country. Edgar Sandoval, the CEO of World Vision, was recently in Romania to assess the organization's efforts to minister to Ukrainians who were forced to flee their homes amid Russia's invasion of their country and shared what he witnessed in an interview with The Christian Post. Despite the challenges that come with providing food, clothing and shelter for hundreds or even thousands of refugees, Sandoval praised the generosity of the Romanian community, recalling that during a visit to the Romanian city of Iasi, he saw this office building that had been completely refurbished into a shelter and everything inside the shelter had been provided by the community. He told CP that the shelter included everything from beds, mattresses, sheets, blankets, pillows [and] toys provided by the generosity of the community. That office space could host 450 refugees per night, but then they also need to continue to pay for the electricity as well as showers and this is where World Vision comes in, he said. Weve been partnering alongside them by providing the utilities, hygiene kits, laundry and shower facilities. The exodus of people continues to just increase and so this has become the fastest-growing refugee crisis since World War II, Sandoval said of the challenges Europe is facing to help the millions of Ukrainians seeking refuge in neighboring countries. An estimated over 3 million people have already fled Ukraine to bordering countries, he added. I was at two border points, one with Moldova and one with Ukraine. And what I saw was just strings of people coming through, some of them walking, some of them with nothing but the clothes on their back, some with a suitcase. Sandoval said that one day at the border crossing in the town of Siret, 15,000 people came through. He lamented that the situation continues to get worse as the conflict increases. He contrasted the refugee crisis in Eastern Europe with those he had experienced in the past. In the current crisis, those fleeing Ukraine are in transit because they want their final destination to be in Western Europe. They stop in Romania on the way, he added, because its so cold and they need a place where they can safely stay for a couple of nights. They need food, they need showers [and] warm clothing," he said. "The vast majority of the people crossing are women and young children, and very young children at that. Sandoval discussed World Visions efforts to create child-friendly spaces that amount to a little daycare setting in a shelter where there are toys and activities where kids can be kids again as we try to mitigate any sort of psychosocial effects that the conflict may have on them. In his conversations with refugees, Sandoval has learned that many have friends and family in Western Europe, which explains why they see the region as their ultimate destination. He shared a conversation he'd had with a father who has a 16-year-old son with special needs. They were staying at the office building that had been converted into a shelter. The mans sister works as a maid in Italy, and she had come to Romania to help them find their way there. While Sandoval predicts that most Ukrainian refugees will move on to Western Europe after a stop in Romania, he's awaiting more clarity on how many refugees will actually stay in Romania. He spoke of a plan being developed to make sure that children can continue their education and obtain all the support services to the families who choose to remain in the Eastern European country. Sandoval said the Romanian Orthodox Church is one of World Visions partners on the ground working to provide information and [meet] the needs of these refugees. Specifically, the Romanian Orthodox Church is coordinating medical supply donations for Ukrainian hospitals. The World Vision CEO told CP that the demographic makeup of the refugees has changed over time. He suggested that the people who left Ukraine at the beginning of the Ukraine-Russia conflict had more means because they were leaving in their own cars. More recently, most refugees are coming with nothing but the clothes on their backs. World Vision has plans to expand its response to the Ukraine-Russia conflict into other Eastern European countries. We are in the process of evaluating partners in Moldova and also in Poland as we expect the longer this conflict continues, the more people well expect will want to find refuge and cross the border," Sandoval said. "So were evaluating what may be needed to support refugees in Moldova, to support them in Poland, and then well need to continue our operation and strengthen our operation in Romania. World Vision has raised over $8 million for the Ukraine crisis so far. Having seen the difference that the donations from the U.S. are making for the refugees, Sandoval asked American Christians to continue praying for this conflict and to donate because the needs are increasing and we want to be able to be there for the people of Ukraine at the time of their greatest need. Originally published on The Christian Post. A Tesla Model 3 crashed into the roof of an ambulance in California Wednesday morning, resulting in at least three people inside the vehicle being hospitalized. KGTV in San Diego reports that the crash took place at around 9:30 a.m. in the Kearny Mesa neighborhood of the city, just outside a Kaiser Permanente hospital. The driver inside the Model 3 was pulling into a parking spot, KGTV reported, but ran the accelerator by accident. Officials told KSWB in San Diego that the driver likely went forward instead of reversing into the spot, officials said. In doing so, the driver drove past the lot, through a metal fence on an embankment and crashed into the roof of the ambulance, which was parked, KSWB reported. Three people, all of whom were inside the car, were injured, said the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department on Twitter Wednesday. The two passengers were immediately transported to the hospital; the driver initially opted against it before being transported. All were told to stay inside the car until they could be rescued, KSWB said. Fortunately, no one outside of the car was injured, the department said. But the real challenge was extricating the Tesla from the ambulance without causing a fire, KGTV reported. Because of the location of the battery on the Tesla Model 3 just below the cars seats responders were worried that towing the vehicle regularly would have set the car on fire. The car was eventually lifted off the ambulance by the departments technical rescue crew. This article was first published on NerdWallet.com. Easy account sign-ups, no monthly fees and high savings rates? Neobanks such as Chime and Current offer these features while many traditional banks dont. Neobanks are financial tech companies that usually partner with banks to offer digital-only accounts. Theyve been around for a little over a decade only, but theyre gaining traction. About 1 in 3 Americans has a relationship with a neobank, according to a 2022 annual report by the banking advisory firm Javelin Strategy & Research. However, only 26% of neobank users open an account to replace their primary bank, and 90% of that same group use one of the 20 biggest banks as their primary bank, according to senior analyst Dylan Lerner. If youre considering a neobank as a primary or additional place to manage your money, learn about its limits and risks beforehand and answer these five questions. 1. Do you mind if its not a bank? Neobanks, by and large, are not banks themselves. And they dont need to be to protect your money. Most neobanks partner with licensed banks to offer deposit accounts insured through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. FDIC insurance guarantees that you receive your money back up to $250,000 if the bank or company goes bankrupt. Many neobanks also offer debit cards that belong to the Visa or Mastercard payment network. Both have robust protections in case someone makes an unauthorized charge on a card. Tip: Double-check the neobanks partner bank. A neobank discloses this on its website or mobile app. Then, verify that the bank is real by using the FDICs BankFind tool. In rare cases, a neobank is a licensed bank such as Varo Bank and Green Dots GO2bank though their mobile-focused account offerings are more like those of other neobanks than traditional banks. 2. Can you mostly bank on a mobile app? A mobile app is the core of a neobanks experience, where youd make transfers, pay bills, view transactions, receive direct deposits and more. A neobank with a checking account or the equivalent usually mails a debit card, but being branchless means that cash and check services are limited or not available. In offering an easy, affordable banking experience, you also have to expect that comes with some sacrifices [in] functionality," Lerner says. Neobanks usually lack some traditional bank services, such as wire transfers, cashiers checks and joint accounts. A neobank wont offer physical checkbooks but might deliver checks. However, neobanks mobile check deposit services, if available, might not accept checks above certain dollar amounts. Some providers will let you add cash to an account at various retailers such as CVS and Walgreens, but for a fee. And although many neobanks offer free access to a third-party ATM network for cash withdrawals, those ATMs can be hard to spot since they dont have a neobanks branding. Tip: See how a neobank handles cash, checks or other services you may need by checking its FAQs or contacting customer support. 3. What customer support channels does it have? A neobank may offer help through a phone line or live chat service, and if so, check the hours and days of operation. For nonurgent questions, try searching a neobanks FAQs or emailing. One of the biggest jumps from a traditional bank to a neobank is the lack of branches. About 83% of U.S. households spoke to a bank teller or other staff at a branch within a year, according to a 2019 FDIC survey. The pandemic accelerated a trend toward more people using digital banking, but a branch can give a personal touch when a complicated issue arises. Tip: Check Twitter as another place where companies may respond to customers. 4. How would this neobank improve your banking? As tech companies, neobanks want to provide a better experience for an existing product bank accounts, in this case. Some neobanks may have a central mission that appeals to a specific community, such as Black Americans or people with disabilities. And most neobanks build out features traditional banks dont normally have. "[The] fintech space with its ability to be more innovative and nimble has found some niches in the types of consumer needs that bigger institutions dont address, says Marisa Walster, vice president of financial services solutions at the Financial Health Network. Neobanks such as Chime and Varo have up to two-day early direct deposit, which can ease worries about cash flow for some people. And many dont charge overdraft fees if balances go negative. Big banks have begun dropping such fees, and at least one started offering early direct deposit, years after neobanks had them. But neobanks usually dont offer all the types of loans or accounts a bank does, and the companies may change over time. Fees can get added, and some neobanks even close. For example, the German-based neobank N26 shut down its U.S. operations after two years. Tip: Consider general pros and cons of neobanks compared with traditional banks. Learn more about how to choose where to bank. 5. What do customers say about the neobank? Look for patterns about the good and the bad in user reviews. Check the average ratings of the mobile apps in the iOS or Android store as well as various review websites. Are there delays to get a hold of someone? Does the app have glitches? Take in recent reviews as helpful data points within reason since you dont know how common some scenarios might be. Research into complaints to see if other consumers have had problems and how those were resolved, says Marisabel Torres, director of California policy at the Center for Responsible Lending. A helpful resource might be the Consumer Financial Protection Bureaus complaint database for the most popular neobanks or parent companies. Tip: Be on the lookout for how a neobank resolves fraud claims. Having easy sign-up processes can result in easier identity theft attempts, according to a 2019 report by the National Consumer Law Center. And ultimately, know what to do if a neobank closes your account. Neobanks have promise in making digital banking easier, but they cant offer everything. Disclaimers from Chime: Chime says: Chime is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services provided by, and debit card issued by, The Bancorp Bank or Stride Bank, N.A.; Members FDIC. Cash withdrawal and third-party fees may apply. Early Access to direct deposit funds depends on payer. Spencer Tierney writes for NerdWallet. Email: spencer.tierney@nerdwallet.com. Twitter: @SpencerNerd. The article 5 Things to Ask Before Opening an Account at a Neobank originally appeared on NerdWallet. Seven years ago, photographer Alison Narro found bluebonnet nirvana. Sent a pin drop on Google Maps by a friend, she was told that out in Horseshoe Bay, about 45 minutes from her home in Austin, was an endless field thick with the Texas' state flower. Because Central Texas was near the end of a drought in the Colorado River watershed, certain portions of the bed around Lake Travis were exposed. On some of those beds grew bluebonnets as far as the eye could see, Narro was told. So she called her friends Dave and Bonnie Mead, who told their two children to get dressed. It was time to grab the most outrageous bluebonnet pictures they could. A time-honored Texas tradition. As they pulled into Horseshoe Bay, though, they didn't see a single blooming flower. A woman in the area told them to turn a corner, and they'd find what they were looking for. "All we see is dead stuff," Narro responded. "Just go around the corner," the woman reiterated. Alison Narro As they wound around Horseshoe Bay, they came upon a rolling field of bluebonnets, ironically made possible only by nature's cruel trick. "It was mind-blowing," Narro says. "You see small patches of bluebonnets, and they're beautiful, but this was an entire field. We were in disbelief." Alison Narro Though the field is likely back underwater for now and fields like it are a rare find it is possible to find growths of bluebonnets other than the sparse strips on the side of the highway. Narro says that's the key to any good bluebonnet photoshoot: asking friends for hotspots, driving around, and being OK with striking out a few times. "You really have to do research to make that magic happen," she says. Alison Narro Because bluebonnets grow so low to the ground and are spread out on public lands, Narro says you have to get out of your comfort zone. Even locations that are normally good can have off years due to a bad season or changing climate. And some hyped-up bluebonnet locales are overrated. "People think St. Edwards is a great spot, but it's not. It's difficult to photograph." Narro says. "If you want that lush photo with your kids, surrounded by bluebonnets, you have to become a location scout." Margaret Isensee is an architecture and landscape photographer based in San Antonio. She agrees that research is key in capturing the best bluebonnet photos. Members of various photography groups to which she belongs will mention a patch nearby, or friends will tell her that there's a good grouping of bluebonnets near their church. Sometimes she and her husband just drive around the countryside searching for a good spot. "It is kind of hit or miss," she says. "There'll be a lot one area and then there might not be any in another area. You're going to have to have patience." Isensee also says that a lot of the best bluebonnet fields are on private land. Once, during the early days of the pandemic, she and her husband parked off the side of the road on the Willow City Loop, a scenic Hill Country Drive. Not thinking anything of it, they hopped out to get some good bluebonnet shots. "And then all of a sudden we hear this yelling: 'Hey, that's our property! Get off!" Her advice is to make sure there are no "no trespassing" signs before assuming that it's fine to trample over the land to get a picture. If you do find that your bluebonnet spot is on private land, she says, there are a few workarounds. "You can take pictures from the side of the road," she says. "Or even go up to a house, just knock on the door and say, 'Excuse me, do you mind if I take some pictures? Some people may say no, but I think people will be a little bit more OK if you announce who you are." In people's haste to hop out and take photos guerilla-style, by the side of the road, Isensee offers some further caution. "If you're in a park, stay on the path. If you don't, you may damage other plants and creatures," she says. "Another thing is to watch out for holes or other things buried in the grass. Look out for wild animals, like snakes, and thorny plants. It's probably good to wear long pants and good footwear to give you protection." Alison Narro Narro is still astounded by the abundant field of bluebonnets she came upon many years ago. But because she hit the jackpot in such a major way, she doesn't do many bluebonnet photo shoots anymore. "I don't do them because of that expectation," she says, of her 2015 set. "I'll probably never see anything like that again." WASHINGTON U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, a moderate Democrat from Laredo, broke with his party to vote against a landmark marijuana legalization bill on Friday that passed in the House. Only one other Democrat voted against it. Cuellar, who is currently in a fierce runoff for his 10th term against progressive attorney Jessica Cisneros, has long infuriated progressive Democrats with his conservative positions on many social issues. The Laredo politician opposes abortion and was the lone Democrat to vote against federal abortion rights legislation last fall. Cuellars spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The bill named the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement Act removes marijuana from the list of federally controlled substances and eliminates criminal penalties for people who possess, manufacture and distribute the drug. It also prohibits the denial of federal benefits and protections to people with marijuana-related conduct or offenses. The bill would also establish a process to expunge from peoples records non-violent cannabis crimes. Many Democrats especially progressives have long argued those arrests disproportionately affect people of color and low-income communities. The 220-204 vote included all Texas representatives besides Cuellar voting along party lines. One other Democrat, U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas of New Hampshire, also voted against the bill. Three Republicans out of 209 voted with Democrats to pass the bill. The legislation has bleak odds to become law. It now heads to the evenly-divided Senate and would need significant Republican support to receive the 60 votes necessary to pass. A similar bill passed the Democratic-controlled House in Dec. 2020 but stalled in the upper chamber. Cuellar is headed into a late-May runoff election with Cisneros after he just missed the majority threshold necessary to win his March primary outright. Outside the Democratic primary, Republicans are on the offensive in South Texas and are hoping to flip several blue seats including Cuellars in the November election. "It is shameful that, in 2022, Henry Cuellar is still siding with Republicans to criminalize marijuana," Cisneros said in an emailed statement. "As an immigration attorney, I've seen firsthand how the War on Drugs and our criminal system disproportionately punishes Black and brown people in America. Ive seen how criminalization has led to torn families, deportations, and loss of jobs and housing." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who on Thursday spoke in support of the bill at her weekly press conference, said she still supports Cuellar during a visit to Austin in late March. The congressman is also embroiled in an ongoing FBI investigation after the agency raided his house in January. We cant wait to welcome you in person and online to the 2022 Texas Tribune Festival, our multiday celebration of big, bold ideas about politics, public policy and the days news all taking place just steps away from the Texas Capitol from Sept. 22-24. When tickets go on sale in May, Tribune members will save big. Donate to join or renew today. The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org. MECOSTA COUNTY Senator Joanne Emmons, who represented Mecosta County and the surrounding area in the Michigan Legislature for 16 years, died on Thursday. Emmons represented Mecosta County as part of the 23rd and 35th Senate District from 1991 to 2002, and as State Representative for the 99th District from 1987 to 1990. Senator Rick Outman, who represents the 33rd Senate District, which includes much of the same area Emmons represented, told the Pioneer that she was a good friend, a great mentor and a remarkable stateswoman. As I got to know her, we would talk a lot about politics and how you represent your people and what your priorities should be, Outman said. One thing I know about her is that the people of her district were always her number one priority in everything she did down there (in Lansing). In every decision she made, she definitely had a face in front of her mind of someone from her district and that it was relevant to them. In addition, he said, Emmons was always willing to help those who would follow in her footsteps. The reason she was so involved in helping those that followed her was because she knew how important it was to have good service to the area, he said. She took a vested interest in them because she had a stake in the claim. She wanted them to be represented well. Former Senator Judy Emmons no relation echoed those same sentiments saying Emmons was very much the stateswoman and was very valuable to her in her first election to the state House of Representatives. She went on to explain that it was her first campaign and things werent coming together as well as they could have, so Joannes husband John took some old signs from Joannes first campaign and repainted them with Judys name and spread them all around the district. It was remarkable that they would go to that much trouble, and it was quite a story back then, Judy Emmons said. People still confuse the two of us, but it has never bothered me and I never dispute it. It was no offense ever. In fact, it was quite an honor. She was just a great person to have in my corner and I tried to pattern my legislative career after her. Outman and Judy Emmons both agreed that knowing Joanne Emmons was of great benefit to their own work in the legislature. It was always fun to talk to her because she had such a vast knowledge of everything that happened before and that is important to someone like me in the day and age of term limits, Outman said. I dont always know why some laws were put in place, what the ramifications were or what the impetus for them was. She could walk me through that and tell me why things happened the way they did." Judy Emmons added, The thing about her is the invaluable history that she had of why certain legislation was passed and how it came to be, the deals that were made up to that point to get the votes. That is so valuable when you have term limits. The information she could share and the perspective she gave was really invaluable to us." Emmons' work on boards and committees In addition to her legislative career, Emmons served a numerous boards and committees including: Mecosta County Republican Committee; The 10th District Republican Executive Committee; Big Rapids Industrial Development Corporation; Michigan Township Board of Directors; Michigan Municipal Treasurer's Association Board; Central Michigan Mental Health Board; West Michigan Health Systems Mental Health Planning Commission; Area Agency on Aging Advisory Board; West Michigan Health Systems areawide review commission; and Lutheran Child and Family Services Board of Directors. See More Collapse "She was always good with advice and insight on the issues that were facing the townships and counties and she knew the people in local government," she continued. "She was the go-to person for any insights and her memory was fantastic. Longtime family friend, Pat Currie said the late Emmons was pioneer as a woman in Big Rapids, citing her work with the Big Rapids Township and St. Peters Church and School, as well as her overwhelming victory in the House and Senate elections. She was very much involved with the Big Rapids Township in making what it is today, Currie said. Then she ran for state representative and was the underdog and wound up winning with overwhelming support from Mecosta County. She was just a wonderful lady, and we were grateful and honored to be her friend, he added. She was very loyal to the Big Rapids community and has done so much for Mecosta County. Judy Emmons said, for her, the late Emmons' passing is a great personal loss, as well as a loss for Mecosta County and the entire area she served. "She was a great public servant in the very best sense of the word. It is a privilege to honor somebody who has had such a significant impact," she said. Outman added, She was a wonderful lady, and she is going to be missed by so many people in the community and certainly I am going to be one of them that misses her greatly. In a statement issued from his office, Congressman John Moolenaar said he was deeply saddened by the passing of Emmons and joined her family and friends in mourning the loss. "She was a dedicated public servant for almost three decades and our state is better off today because of her leadership and commitment to public service," Moolenaar said. "She provided outstanding assistance to her constituents, and she was a faithful steward of taxpayer dollars, while always fighting to defend the lives of the unborn." Emmons' accomplishments Emmons served as the Big Rapids Township treasurer for ten years, from 1976 to 1986, prior to running for state representative, and during her tenure in the Michigan Legislature, she was instrumental in procuring grant funding for the township in establishing the Big Rapids Township Industrial Park at Roben-Hood Airport, according to former Big Rapids Township clerk Vivian Smith. She was a good representative for a lot of years, Pat Currie said. She always had her ears to peoples voices and concerns. She was very well respected in Lansing and got a lot of things done that were important to the economics of Michigan. Upon leaving the Senate at the end of her term a resolution in her honor was adopted stating the Senator Joanne Emmons is bringing to close a distinguished chapter in her life of unselfish public service. The resolution recognized her for her outstanding leadership, hard work and commitment. She has devoted herself to community involvement throughout her life. She channeled her talents and energies through a host of positions in local government, numerous civic and community organizations and community boards. Her understanding of public policy and the intricacies of the legislative process propelled her to a leadership post as the Senate majority floor leader where she has been most effective, it went on to say. Emmons was born in Big Rapids and attended Mecosta High School, graduating in 1952. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Home Economics from Michigan State University and taught home economics at Mecosta High School from 1956 to 1958. She was active in St. Peters Lutheran Church, the Mecosta County Farm Bureau, the Mecosta County Right to Life and the Michigan Association of Extension Homemakers. I have known her (Joanne) my whole life. She did a tremendous job for us in Mecosta County and the rest of her district. Her heart was always here in Mecosta County, said longtime resident of Big Rapids and Emmons family friend, John Currie. SPRINGFIELD State Rep. Amy Elik, R-Fosterburg, has filed legislation to suspend a lawmakers pension if they are convicted or charged with corruption by federal investigators. Under current law, (former House Speaker Mike) Madigan will collect a taxpayer-paid pension until a guilty verdict is reached," she said. "This means Madigan could go on to collect his elected official pension for several years before its taken away. "Corrupt lawmakers should not receive a taxpayer-funded pension if they defrauded the taxpayers while serving themselves in state government," she said. "Suspending pension payments while awaiting the resolution of a case will send a strong message to corrupt politicians that if you break the law, the consequences will be costly. Since 2019, five lawmakers have been indicted for corruption while serving in the House or Senate. HB 5737 filed by Elik states any benefit or annuity payments to a lawmaker shall be suspended if the politician is indicted or charged by information with a felony and the board of the retirement system or pension fund determines that the felony relates to or arises out of or in connection with his or her service as a member or participant of the retirement system or pension fund. Current law requires the retirement system board to take action to remove a pension benefit paid to corrupt public officials upon a guilty verdict or plea. Eliks bill would remove a loophole that allows politicians to continue receiving their pension payments while awaiting the outcome of their case. This ensures that corrupt politicians wont be incentivized to delay their case in order to collect the taxpayer-funded pension. Former Illinois Governors Rod Blagojevich and George Ryan lost their taxpayer-funded pension following their corruption convictions, however, they received payments while awaiting their guilty verdict," Elik said. "My bill will take away the pension while awaiting the outcome of the case so that no perks are offered to a politician when they are found guilty in a court of law for corruption. Emily Holeva, 31, has reacquainted herself with the hometown she grew up in. After working in Louisiana, Mozambique and New York City, Holeva has realized there is a lot to love (and sometimes hate) in her hometown that has changed from what she knew. Holeva was born in Midland in 1991 and graduated from Midland High School in 2009. She graduated early from Texas Tech University with a political science degree. After college, she moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for two years to work for an oil and gas company, CB&I, in its legal department. I had a really good boss who said, I need you to go be something more, you cant just be an admin for the rest of your life, Holeva said. While at a work dinner in Houston she met the companys country manager for Mozambique. That meeting opened the door for her to work internationally. He joked with me and asked if I wanted to go work in Africa, she said. I said sure. Then two weeks later I got a letter that said I was accepted onto the government affairs team for our Mozambique project. There was a lot of culture shock, including the fact that Portuguese is the official language and it is a predominantly Muslim country, but she loved the differences. She worked with the government and local tribes, informing them about the project. Out of precaution due to the political climate -- not long after she arrived -- the company moved employees back to Houston in 2015. I studied abroad in Rome during college and I feel like leaving Midland to experience the world and other cultures is so important for our little bubble out here, she said. I love our bubble but sometimes we need to see what else is out there. Both those experiences (Mozambique and Rome) have been the biggest life lessons and learning curves for me personally. Not long after returning back to the US, Holeva got the chance to work on Hurricane Sandy relief project in New York City at the same company. She said the process of providing relief was interesting to witness. The company then went through an acquisition, and the department she worked in was dissolved. Everything was up in the air again so I decided to move back to Midland not planning on staying, she said. I thought I would come back for a month or two and figure out my next move then leave. She ended up staying in Midland and re-immersing herself into the community. I left before the boom of 2014 and so I left kind of in a bust, it was right after the housing crisis so Midland was smaller and slower, Holeva said. When I came back the town was booming, oil was good, people were prospering, there were new restaurants and stores. I was like what happened to my town? In a good way. Holeva added that Midland as a kid versus Midland as an adult is a weird line to dance across. When were kids, we think Midland is just a small town, the adults are weird and we want to get out, she said. Now, I think Midland has a lot to offer but it can be very siloed with what it offers so it's on the individual to figure out where they fit in and what they enjoy. It took some time for her to distinguish herself from the 18-year-old she used to be known as and from her parents Danny and Carla Holeva, who have always been very involved in the non-profit world of Midland. Danny has been the executive director of the Arts Council of Midland for 20 years, and Carla is currently the director of Development at American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Texas. I was very much my parents' child still because when you leave at 18 thats what everyone thinks you are the next time they see you even though I was 26 when I came back, she said. It is very hard for a 26-year-old to appreciate people asking if Im Dannys daughter when Im trying to make a name for myself. She said as soon as she stopped trying to differentiate herself from her parents she was able to be different. I felt like I was trying too hard to figure out how to be different, she said. A lot of the things Im passionate about go to the non-profit side, and when I was trying to find something different, I knew my dad was in the arts nonprofits and my mom was at Basin PBS at the time so I decided to go into health care nonprofits. She started working at her alma mater, Texas Tech University at the Health Sciences Center in Midland/Odessa as a marketing and communications manager. She stayed at that job for more than two years. She has now transitioned to the corporate banking world and works for Frost Bank as the Community Development officer. Midlands non-profit sector is large and expansive and there are many nonprofits to choose from when it comes to supporting a certain mission. She said becoming really picky helped her focus on which organizations and groups to put her energy towards. Holeva is more than just her job title too. She is on many committees and boards throughout Midland from the Sibley Nature Center marketing committee to the MISD Community Advisory Committee. She is currently involved as a commissioner for the city's Planning and Zoning Commission, board member for League of Women Voters of Midland, board member for United Way of Midland, board member for Midland Teen Court, on the MISD Community Advisory Committee, member of the Executive Women of Midland, graduate of Leadership Midland and is currently enrolled in Leadership Texas. Public education has been a big issue for her the last few years. Im a product of MISD and so its one of those issues where if I hear someone slam public education in Midland its hard for me to hear, she said. I fully support public education here. I think public schools should be beacons in communities. I think we should have the best teachers. I know it is more complicated than that, but the community needs to continue supporting our schools and educators, from our superintendent Dr. Ramsey to teachers and onto custodial workers. Holeva said she has a few mentors in the community who have positively affected her time here. She has known Karmen Bryant since she was 10-years-old and she has grown from someone she admires to a friend and a soul-sister in her personal and professional life. Karmen is a confidant I turn to for anything and someone I trust and aspire to be for her authenticity, community involvement, humor but most importantly her character," Holeva said. Former city councilwoman Sharla Hotchkiss has helped mentor Holeva on what her next step is, she said. I have known Sharla since I was a teenager and when I moved back, she helped me figure out how to tackle Midland as an adult, she added. Permian Basin Regional President for Frost Bank Wesley Bownds has also been a mentor to Holeva. Wesley Bownds' mentorship is a unique example of different generations coming together to solve community problems, she said. I also consider Wesley to be my friend and someone I turn to both professionally and personally when faced with a hurdle. I met Wesley when I moved back to Midland and hes been a breath of fresh air for me even though weve both been in the community forever. A lot of people think Midland has an identity issue, but Holeva thinks differently. I think Midlands identity is a mix of a hometown vibe and the good quirks that come from big city influence, she said. To come to Midland and appreciate it, people have to know they will experience big artist concerts while also being able to go to Grahams Pharmacy to eat and see your neighbors, people you go to church with and people you work with. She does think Midland sometimes has an authenticity crisis, she added. Midland is a mover and shaker, she said. A big business, a small business, what's the next type of place. I think sometimes we lose sight of being our true selves because instead we read rooms and try to socially climb instead of being ourselves, finding our pace and ultimately finding our spot and group that we need. She has witnessed a clash between the new guard and the old guard within Midland. The older generation and younger generation in Midland are kind of at odds with each other right now, Holeva said. There is this very traditional way of doing things which have worked but now that Midland has changed so much and there are groups like Midland AF that are stirring the pot and its a change but a good change. She hopes Midland will continue to open up the old ways to allow new expectations to come in and that the older generation can reach out to the younger generation to help us and merge with how things have been done. Midland is a great place for something new whether it's a restaurant, business or idea. Her advice to other millenials in Midland is to keep pushing buttons. Because I even find myself taking the easy road because its the way its always been, she said. Its refreshing to kind of ruffle the feathers. Just keep pushing buttons, keep asking for new things and forge your own path. The following are being sought on arrest warrants, according to various sheriffs departments. The addresses listed are the last known addresses provided by the warrants and may be outdated. Amanda J. Swartz, 33, of 216 W. Progress Ave., Ashland, is being sought on a warrant accusing her of failing to appear in court on a domestic battery charge. She is a white female standing 5 foot 4 and weighing 135 pounds. She has brown hair and brown eyes. Dustin L. Chamberlain, 31, of 6130 McQueen Road, Franklin, is being sought on a warrant accusing him of failing to appear in court on a charge of driving while license is revoked. He is a white male standing 5 foot 7 and weighing 140 pounds. He has gray hair and blue eyes. Morgan County Jacksonville Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS Abby R. Jouett, 25, of 145 White Hall-Hillview Road, White Hall, was booked into the Morgan County jail at 3:52 p.m. Thursday on charges of battery, domestic battery and criminal damage to property. Adam M. Besterfeldt, 43, of 370 W. Tanner St., Waverly, was arrested at 9:14 p.m. Thursday in the 200 block of East Morton Avenue on a Sangamon County warrant accusing him of violating probation. THEFTS, BURGLARIES Police are investigating a report that a man gave money to someone claiming to be a representative of the owner of a mobile home for rent but was not. About $270 worth of items were stolen from a building in the 1700 block of West Morton Avenue, according to a report filed at 12:18 p.m. Thursday. ACCIDENTS Jeffrey D. Welch, 44, of Pittsfield was cited on a charge of failing to yield after the car he was driving and one being driven by Kevin J. Williams, 41, of Jacksonville collided at 12:01 p.m. Friday at West Morton Avenue and Libby Lane. Claude D. Morris, 40, of Jacksonville was cited on charges of operating an uninsured vehicle and a violation of the Child Passenger Protection Act after the car he was driving went off the road in the 800 block of South East Street and hit an electrical utility pole about 6:20 p.m. Thursday. The driver told police he experienced mechanical issues. A boy was cited about 3:14 p.m. Thursday after being accused of creating a disturbance and hitting an aide in a classroom at Jacksonville Middle School, 664 Lincoln Ave. VANDALISM A car was damaged between noon and 12:30 p.m. Thursday while it was parked in the 800 block of Hoagland Boulevard. OTHER REPORTS A cart filled with stolen items was left in front of a business in the 1900 block of West Morton Avenue, according to a report filed at 1:09 p.m. Thursday. South Jacksonville Police ARRESTS, CITATIONS David J. Escalona, 43, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was booked into the Morgan County jail at 7:16 p.m. Thursday on a charge of resisting a peace officer and on a warrant accusing him of failing to appear in court on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia. Compiled by David C.L. Bauer This year marks the 75th anniversary of the most famous flying saucer event of all, the Roswell, New Mexico, incident of 1947. But a half-century before, alien spacecraft were reported across Illinois particularly in this area. This spring 125 years ago, central Illinois was riveted by a string of spaceship sightings, many of which remain unexplained. The incidents were part of a nationwide phenomenon, as flying craft were reported from the Midwest to the West Coast. Among the most noteworthy sightings in Illinois was an incident involving three men on a farm one mile north of Nilwood at 2:30 p.m. April 13, 1897. There, the Macoupin County Enquirer reported the landing of a cigar or boat-shaped object with oars running from the bottom and a picnic canopy on top. This odd-looking craft sat down in a field for 15-20 minutes, then flew off in a northerly direction. The ship was also spotted around 6 p.m. in nearby Green Ridge, two miles south of Girard. That sighting had an added twist, as the Enquirer wrote that a man stepped forth, apparently from the craft itself, and began to do some repairing on the strange machine for about 10 minutes. The work of this stranger seemed to do the trick, as the craft was then seen two hours later in Sherman, north of Springfield. At 8:45, the craft was spotted over Williamsville, still heading north. Apparently, the craft could fly with incredible speed, or there were more than one of them. Around 9 p.m., the ship was witnessed over Edwardsville, and also seen circling about St. Louis, over 100 miles south of the Springfield area, where it was sighted just minutes earlier. The craft, or one just like it, supposedly returned the next day. At 8:30 p.m. April 14, the ship was spotted by hundreds of people at White Hall, flying at a speed that was very great, probably 150 mph. It was the continuation of an area-wide trend. On the evening of April 10, all the police officers on duty, the firemen, and hundreds of citizens in Jacksonville were left in awe as the ship flew over the city. The following night in Springfield, the foreman of the Sangamon County Jail watched with another man for 30 minutes, witnessing a craft with a radiating light not unlike a locomotive headlight. In a separate incident in the capital city, a newspaper editor and other civic leaders viewed the craft from the top of the Odd Fellows hall, and were predisposed to the theory that it was a star of unusual brilliancy until the element of motion impressed itself upon their minds and a debate erupted on what they were seeing. Some responded jocularly to the craft, including a passenger train on the Wabash line near Quincy, which reportedly raced for 15 minutes with the alleged airship which had only two lights, one white, the other red. Similar reports came from Hillsboro, where the airship was seen in the western heavens by a number of respectable citizens. Other sightings in Illinois were received from Carlyle, Nashville, Moline, Rock Island, Lincoln, Mount Vernon and Elburn. No stranger to UFOs Certainly, Illinois is no stranger to UFO sightings. Since 1950, the Land of Lincoln ranks ninth in the highest number of sightings of unidentified flying objects, the most of any Midwestern state. There are plenty of believers in UFOs. In 2012, a National Geographic survey revealed that 36% of Americans believe in UFOs, with only 17% disputing such a notion. The rest a whopping 47% was undecided. The following year, a Huffington Post survey found that 48% of American adults were open to the idea that alien spacecraft are observing our planet, with 35% disagreeing. But believers and non-believers can agree on one thing. Some 80% of Americans think the U.S. government has concealed information on UFOs from the public. That belief is in light of the most famous UFO study of all time, Project Blue Book, a sweeping effort at Wright-Patterson Air Force Baase in Dayton, Ohio, between 1947 and 1969. The study recorded 12,618 reports of UFOs during that time, most of which were easily explained. A total of 701, however, are still listed as unidentified. In January 2015, some 136,000 pages of declassified records from Project Blue Book were placed online. That fueled the speculation, though a century before, thousands of Americans were looking to the skies, and wondering what they had just seen. Roswell's impact The alleged crash of an alien spacecraft near Roswell, New Mexico, on July 7, 1947, captured the imagination of conspiracy theorists and launched a phenomenon on UFOs, a term that was first coined in 1953. Reports of flying saucers and other spacecraft, however, are traced by some researchers to Biblical days. Though the 1897 wave made headlines, flight was not a new concept to humanity. The Wright Brothers' flight of 1903 was only six years away, and countless inventors had tried to launch aircraft with various power sources. Balloons had been in the public consciousness for decades, and had been used with some success in Civil War operations. In Germany, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin concocted a rigid airship in 1874 and by July 1900, his ideas had resulted in the first flight of the airships that bore his name and evolved into a global sensation, with the beloved Graf Zeppelin and the infamous Hindenburg. The 1897 wave was a national event. Sightings were reported in Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska, where at least 200 reports were received. In Kansas on March 28, around a thousand residents of Topeka reported a red light in the sky west of the city. Similar reports were received in the areas around the Kansas capital. Between April 13 and April 17, 38 sightings were reported across 23 counties in Texas, most notably in Aurora, where a UFO allegedly crashed into a windmill on April 17. There, an alien body was reportedly taken from the wreckage and buried in a local cemetery. The Aurora incident has become one of the most famous in UFO history and the subject of intense speculation, though many have dismissed the event as a hoax. UFOs were also seen over California, beginning with a slow-moving craft at an altitude of 1,000 feet over Sacramento in late 1896. Feeding news Not surprisingly, the sightings had filled newspapers for months, ranging from spectacular to skeptical. In central Illinois, the Macoupin County Enquirer was among the latter. The papers coverage of the Nilwood sighting was described under the headline That Elusive Air Ship which had spawned the query about town yesterday ... have you seen the airship? The Enquirer, though, declared that some syndicate is creating this excitement by sending up balloons shaped like ships with lights attached as part of a big publicity stunt. These imposters were secretly sent up from different points so in a month of so, the newspapers of the country will come out with glaring headlines: Air Ship Discovered! Startling Expose of a Mammoth Advertising Scheme of the Podunk Corn Cure Co. ... on the New Sensational Method. Then, claimed the Enquirer, the Podunk Corn salve will be sold in every large city and little hamlet. The following week, the Enquirer hammered the point home in a followup titled The Faithful Duped. This article told of a few young fellows relying on the credulity of the people [who] had sent up several toy balloons, causing the faithful who for many evenings had searched the heavens for a glimpse of the airship to have their dreams sadly shattered. Clearly, the Enquirer had washed its hands of the craze. But a report from Springfield offered a practical answer, even for the time. A local paper reported that, 3 miles west of the city, two men on April 14 watched in the heavens, a mysterious object with a large light that descended to land 200 feet from where they were standing. Their abject fear was abated by the appearance of a long bearded man who explained that his air ship reached [there] from Quincy in 30 minutes and kindly explained the several requisites necessary for a craft of this kind to take flight. He was joined inside the craft by another man and also the scientists wife. The craft had a frame of aluminum, covered with canvas and carried an ordinary locomotive headlight for night flying, since the pilot could be easily seen in day time, which accounts for his night travels. This explanation reflects an incident in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas on May 6, when two law enforcement officers trailed a bright light in the skies until, as one modern account reports, they were startled when a man with a beard approached, holding a lantern, and announced that he and two companions were traveling the country in an airship. It was also in line with the Green Ridge sighting, where the man had repaired the mysterious craft. In addition, the sightings in the Topeka area mentioned a huge headlight, possibly like the one in the Springfield report. Certainly, the airship seemed to be ahead of its time, as the Wrights only managed to stay up for 12 seconds and 120 feet in their initial try, six years later. Whatever became of the mad scientist of the airship is not known, but it seems the UFO wave of 1897 may have an earthly explanation. Or, maybe not. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. U.S. Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776 When it comes to American politics, self-evident truths are very hard to come by these days. For instance, I was horrified at what I saw unfold on TV at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. It seemed to me to be a full-blown seditious riot with 5 deaths and scores of injuries (including at least 138 law enforcement officers!). Thus, you can imagine my surprise on Feb. 4, 2022 when the Republican National Committee, after having a year to reflect, declared that what I saw on Jan. 6 was ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse. Sadly, it is not only the Republicans who have stretched the boundaries of legitimate political discourse. President Joe Biden, who ran for office on the theme of bringing our country together, also engages in divisive rhetoric. On March 3, 2021, he accused Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbot and Republican Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves of Neanderthal thinking because they had lifted COVID mask mandates! Like Biden, I did not agree with their decisions. However, this kind of negative characterization of duly elected public officials is unlikely to bridge the very wide cultural-political gap that now exists between Democrats and the millions of God-fearing Republicans who voted for these two governors. According to a 2018 Pew Research study, 90% of Americans believe in some kind of higher power, with 56% professing belief in God as described in the Bible and another 33% saying they believe in another type of higher power or spiritual force. It is amazing to me that a country with so many believers in God seems to elect leaders who distort self-evident truths or resort to negative characterizations so easily. As Americans, we need to pause and reflect on what our relationship to our higher power has to do with our tolerance for the apparent lack of self-restraint echoed in our elected leaders divisive statements. Beginning this weekend, more than 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide will begin a 29- or 30-day month of pausing and doing this type of reflection on a personal, individual level. According to the Quran (which Muslims believe to be the actual word of God in Arabic), God says: O ye who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it was proscribed for those before you, that ye may (learn) self-restraint. (Quran 2:183, A Yusf Ali translation) So, as we Muslims enter 29 or 30 days of dawn-to-sunset fasting, extra prayers and extra good deeds, we call upon ourselves and other people of faith to let politicians know that our faith does matter when it comes to truth-telling and civil discourse from our governmental leadership. Jimmy E. Jones is executive vice president of The Islamic Seminary of America and Professor Emeritus at Manhattanville College. ZZ Top pulled into the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium Wednesday evening for a rocking performance. The band has been together for over five decades and sold over 30 million records across 15 studio albums. The loss of long-time bassist Dusty Hill in 2021 did not stop the band as his spot o Primeste notificari pe email Contractare si Achizitie Bunuri Anunturi de Angajare Granturi - Finantari Burse de studiu Stagii Profesionale Oportunitati de voluntariat Toate Articolele Australian Prime Minister Morrison revealed that he had declined to meet with the new Chinese Ambassador to Australia, H.E. Xiao Qian. In terms of formal diplomatic protocol, this is correct as it is not appropriate for the Head of State to meet with the Ambassador. It is appropriate for the Foreign Minister to meet with the Ambassador and this meeting did take place. However, both the Morrison government and experts were quick to caution that the meeting should not be regarded as a thaw in the relationship. From a broader perspective, the Prime Ministers reluctance to meet with or engage with the Ambassador is symptomatic of Australias unwillingness to help thaw the current sour Australia-China relations. The Australian Government proclaims that it is open to Minister-to-Minister conversations and meetings, but it constantly sets pre-conditions for those meetings to take place. These pre-conditions are based on an inaccurate interpretation of a 2020 event. By 2020, the Australia-China relations were already not smooth. Deputy Head of Mission, Wang Xining explained that an Embassy official was offered an opportunity to explain why our relationship is not in good shape, so she tried to enumerate certain points that your government and my government dont agree upon. Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison attends a press conference in Canberra, Australia, Jun. 26, 2020. (Photo/Xinhua) This was an untitled background briefing paper, but when it was reported in the Australian media it was presented as if this was a formal list of 14 demands made by China as a condition for resuming official Australia-China relations. This was an entirely false conclusion, but this was consistently reported in the Australian media and promoted by Australian politicians. The issue was further exaggerated as an attack on Australian sovereignty. This inaccurate assessment of Chinas concerns has been a major barrier to the resumption of discussions between China and Australia. Australia demands that China withdraw these so-called 14 demands as a pre-condition to any new discussions. China does not see the need to do so because these were just an untitled briefing paper with no formal official status. This mischaracterisation is the primary cause of the stalemate in Australia-China relations. Ambassador Xiao Qian has attempted to reach out and help thaw the frosty relationship. Unfortunately, the Australian leadership has not been amenable to these approaches to thaw the relationship. The current Australian Government is facing an election in a few weeks, so they have an interest in promoting security issues as a way of winning the election. This means they are frightened of any suggestion that they are not standing up to China. The domestic political agenda cannot be discounted when assessing Australias desire to help normalise Australia-China relations. This strong man approach was further consolidated with the leaking of a proposed draft agreement between the Solomon Islands and China. The reaction from Australia was predictable because Australia always views the South-West Pacific as its Pacific Family. Australia does much work in the region, but a great deal of the work is seen as self-serving. As the Solomon Islands Prime Minister pointed out, Australian aid is usually implemented by Australian companies. Additionally, the neutrally independent Pacific Family does not appreciate the political pressure applied to them to reject Chinese proposals. A woman is seen near the Sydney Opera House in Sydney, Australia, Aug. 26, 2021. (Photo/Xinhua) Most recently, this has included pressure to stop vital undersea internet cables being supplied by Huawei, the Chinese tech giant, and the Australian interference in telecommunication services for the region. It has also included applying pressure to the Government of Papua New Guinea to approve the construction of a joint US-Australia naval base on Manus Island. A decade ago, Australia inflected deep cuts to aid to this Pacific Family, and despite recent boosts in assistance, the level of support is not the same as it was a decade ago. This, coupled with Australias rejection of genuine concerns over the impact of climate change, has left the region open to working with others who can assist. Australia has a smug opinion of its status in the Pacific Family, so the Solomon Islands announcement of cooperation with China came as a surprise. Bill Shorten from the opposition Labor Party described this as a major foreign policy blunder. Declining to meet the Chinese Ambassador and the reaction to the situation in the Solomon Islands are both part of an accelerating election campaign in Australia. These reactions also reflect an unwillingness to step back from Australias small-scale confrontation with China. Perhaps when the heat of the election campaign is over, a new government of Australia may adopt a more considered approach to the relationship. The article reflects the views of the author and not necessarily those of China Focus. BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Offshore construction of a wind farm is complicated. It is often described as a "moon landing" mission. That is even more so in the Mediterranean, one of the world's busiest waterways. Yet the Italians' determination coupled with Chinese expertise are starting to turn the Southern European nation's dream for clean electricity into reality. WIND OF COOPERATION A massive wind turbine installation vessel is on standby 24 hours a day off Taranto port in southern Italy, where engineers are about to witness the birth of the Mediterranean's first offshore wind farm. When fully operational, Beleolico could power 18,500 households. With Chinese expertise, the construction of the wind farm is nearing completion. It is ready to tell a story of how the tie-up of Chinese renewable technology and Europe's ambitious green targets can make a difference. And when the wind blows across turbine rotor blades off the Puglia coast -- the "heel" of Italy's boot -- the wind farm can generate zero-emissions electricity to power tens of thousands of local families. Italy is not the only European country that is working with China to generate power through wind. In a dense mountain forest in western Croatia, the country's largest wind farm, built by a Chinese company, has begun operation. It promotes greener, local growth and could persuade more environmentally-oriented young people to stay behind and develop their hometowns. That wind of renewable energy cooperation is impressively valuable and essential as the headwinds of protectionism and confrontation are swirling hard. That is why leaders of China and the European Union (EU) have stressed once again their shared commitment to promoting common development and jointly tackling such planetary challenges as climate change at their Friday's virtual gathering via video. SHARED GREEN FUTURE These wind farm cooperation projects are possible thanks mostly to the common pursuit by China and the EU in green development, a key component of "Xiconomics" put forward by Chinese President Xi Jinping and guiding China's high-quality growth. Following Xi's economic thought, China has built the world's largest wind and solar power capacity, with an increase in new installation outpacing any other country in the world. In 2021, China sold more than 3.5 million new energy vehicles, ranking first globally for the seventh consecutive year. While China is delivering on its promise of carbon neutrality set for mid-century, the country is synergizing its development strategy with that of the EU to generate new driving forces in an already dynamic partnership. About 800 km away from Taranto port, China's Shanghai Electric Power Company Limited is using its expertise in wind, solar and hydrogen power on Malta's Gozo Island, which could become the EU's first carbon-neutral island. Horst Loechel, a professor at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, stressed the importance of green cooperation between China and the EU. This "template for cooperation" in green energy is of great significance for the world, said the professor. "We shall see more and more joint efforts in technology invention, adoption, and commercialization," said Xiong Yu, a professor at the Surrey Business School in Britain, while talking about the prospects of China-EU green cooperation. "The collaboration will be from strength to strength and can obviously impact the world," he said, adding that "it will greatly improve the trust and partnerships in many other areas between the two regions." PARTNERSHIP OF GLOBAL SIGNIFICANCE Eight years ago, during a visit to the EU headquarters in Brussels, President Xi proposed that the two sides foster a partnership for peace, growth, reform and civilization. During a meeting with President Charles Michel of the European Council and President Ursula von der Leyen of the European Commission via video link on Friday, Xi urged greater synergy between their development strategies and complementarity between China's new development philosophy and paradigm and the EU's trade policy for open strategic autonomy. The new development philosophy, featuring innovative, coordinated, green, open and shared development, was put forward by Xi in 2015 and has since piloted China's growth and strengthened its trade links with other countries. China-EU trade has no doubt reaped from such a vision. In 2021, bilateral trade between China and the EU was worth over 800 billion U.S. dollars, a new all-time high, up 33 percent from eight years ago. Two-way investment last year exceeded 270 billion U.S. dollars. The EU became China's second-largest trading partner last year. In the first two months of 2022, it overtook the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to grab the top spot, indicating the huge potential for the two-way trade. And across the Eurasian continent, freight trains transporting merchandise between China and Europe see constant growth, supporting global supply chains despite disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine conflict. "China and the EU should act as two big markets promoting shared development and deepen economic globalization through open cooperation," Xi said, adding that China welcomes the EU's support for and participation in the Global Development Initiative that aims for balanced, coordinated and inclusive growth worldwide. "China and Europe are close trading partners," said Timo Vuori, director of International Trade and Trade Policy, the Confederation of Finnish Industries. It is vital for them to "continue to develop bilateral cooperation in trade, investments, and climate change. For example, there is potential for industrial digitalization and a green economy including sustainable manufacturing and renewable energy," Vuori said. For professor Xiong in Britain, China-EU ties are of global significance. "China and EU collaboration can greatly benefit each other and create unique value and opportunities for the whole human society." RIYADH, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry welcomed on Saturday a two-month truce in Yemen announced by the United Nations, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg announced on Friday the two-month truce, which will become effective at 7 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) on Saturday, through which all forms of military operations inside Yemen and on the Saudi-Yemeni borders shall be halted. In appreciation of the efforts exerted by the UN special envoy, the Saudi ministry said the truce comes in the context of a Saudi initiative, first announced in March 2021, to reach a comprehensive political solution to the Yemeni crisis. The Yemeni Houthi rebels have also expressed welcome to the UN-backed truce, which comes just days after the Houthis announced a unilateral three-day cease-fire with the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Under the truce, the warring sides have agreed to allow fuel ships to enter ports in the Hodeidah region and commercial flights to operate from the airport in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa for humanitarian purposes. The nationwide truce, which coincides with the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, is probably the first of its kind in the Yemeni civil war since late 2014. It is worth noting that the Yemeni peace talks, backed by the United Nations and the Gulf Cooperation Council, started in Riyadh with a closed-door meeting on Tuesday and are expected to continue until April 7. Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of Sanaa. The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million, and pushed the country to the brink of starvation, according to the United Nations. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate FAIRFIELD A committee set to create a new district map is split on next steps with Republicans wanting to hold off and Democrats saying waiting will create confusion at the polls and cost the town thousands of dollars. A four-person committee from the Representative Town Meeting has mostly finished up drawing up the new districts, something the state requires after recently completing its own redistricting. Pamela Iacono and Karen McCormack, the Republicans on the committee, said they should wait to see what happens with the current charter review and whether those changes affect the number of districts that make up the RTM. This way, the map would not have to be redrawn again after possible charter changes are voted on in November. They also said it would allow people to keep the same polling location. The move prompted the Democratic Town Committee to issue a press release, calling the Republican members decision not to approve the new district lines a violation of the town charter and an affront to voting rights. The DTC claimed the lack of a new map would cause chaos at the polls, voter suppression, a lack of turnout and unnecessary additional costs. What (the Democrats) put out is patently false, said Iacono, who also served on the last redistricting committee. Its completely misleading. By not adopting a new redistricting map ahead of the August primaries, it absolutely does not cause voter suppression. New districts Connecticut recently completed its own redistricting for the state legislature following the 2020 census. It now requires municipalities to submit their redistricting maps by March 2023. In Fairfield, the map is first drawn up in an RTM committee, which is made up of two Democrats and two Republicans. If approved, it would go to the entire RTM for a vote. We, by law, do not have to turn in our redistricting map until March of 2023, Iacono said. Why would the state allow a March 2023 deadline if they thought it would cause voter suppression for the primaries? If left as is, Fairfield would have 17 voting districts in the upcoming August primary, something Democrats said would cause confusion. The 17 voting districts came about because Fairfield has both a town ordinance in place establishing voting districts and the states redistricting plan creates state legislative districts, said Matthew Waggner, Fairfields Democratic registrar of voters. Whenever a state legislative district crosses a locally approved voting district, a new district is created by operation of law, he said. About 25 percent of Fairfield residents have been moved to a new state rep district by the state redistricting plan. Waggner said he has recommended approving the new map and resolving the questions surrounding the RTM at a later date. He noted the committee voted at its first meeting to adopt a 10-district plan and have a legally valid plan that they developed collaboratively over several working meetings. Charter revision Iacono, who is also a member of the Charter Revision Commission, said the commission was discussing a nine-district RTM at the last meeting. Rather than waste everyones time she and McCormack went to the next redistricting meeting and said they wanted to take a pause as charter reform plays out. The Charter Revision Commission is bound to turn over its recommendations to the Board of Selectmen in May, Iacono said, noting the BOS then has the option of accepting the recommendations and putting them on Novembers ballot. The most important action to me is the one taken by the voters, she said. Why should I rush a 10-district map if I have an opportunity to hear from the voters about what number of districts they want? Karen Wackerman, one of the redistricting committees two Democrats, said the group always knew charter revision was taking place. She said a lot of time was spent on the map and it makes more sense to finish their work now considering voters will have to approve any changes to the charter. It could have been done by now, she said. It doesnt make logical sense to me to not finish the work we were doing when were so far along. I dont know if its voter suppression. I think thats not an unreasonable conclusion. Wackerman said she is fine with making a new map if the charter revision makes it necessary, adding it should not stop this draft from getting approved first. Upcoming elections Waggner said he and Republican Registrar of Voters Steve Elworthy are required to find a suitable polling place in each districts borders, and if none is available, provide for a polling place in a neighboring district. If everything remains, that could be 17 different sites. There will certainly be some changes for voters, he said, adding a number of these new districts have well established polling places in them. How many and which locations are something Mr. Elworthy and I will have to decide on soon. Waggner also said not approving the redistricting map will increase the cost associated with Augusts primary and Novembers general election because they will need more voting locations. This could cost about $60,000. He said the Board of Finance is considering cutting the extra funding he budgeted in for that possibility, and he has written them advising against doing so. Wackerman said not approving the map would result in two or three districts voting in one location. She claimed people would get confused and vote in the wrong place or leave. Theres no reason for it, she said. Iacono said the 17 districts just means there would be split districts, meaning there would be different lines for people who have the same polling location but are technically in different state assembly districts. She noted that already happened in the Fairfield Woods Middle School polling location. She said it remains to be seen if it will cost the town more money. Iacono pointed to the last time, when Fairfield ended up with 21 voting districts in 2012 after the state redistricted and elections were held. Right now, those voter lines are 17 districts, she said. Thats less than 21. How is that going to cause a problem? Iacono said it is disruptive to tell people their voting location has moved, and she and McCormack thought doing so twice would be something worth avoiding. She said they could save people trouble if they hold off on voting on the new map until after they see if it has to be adjusted for charter revision. The angriest voter is the one who shows up at a poll and finds out hes at the wrong place, she said. joshua.labella@hearstmediact.com After years of delay on a state retirement plan for businesses and nonprofits, Connecticut is finally bringing a program forward to benefit as many as 600,000 workers who lack access to employer-sponsored plans. Under a law passed in 2016, Connecticut employers will be required to offer a retirement plan if they have at least five employees earning $5,000 or more annually, whether through the private sector or the new MyCTSavings plan. Those failing to do so could face penalties, which the new Connecticut Retirement Security Authority has yet to establish. State Comptroller Natalie Braswell estimates as many as 30,000 businesses in Connecticut will have to add a retirement plan to comply with the law. There is no fee for employers. Those with 100 or more employees have until June 30 to sign up, while deadlines for smaller companies have not yet been set. Employers choosing MyCTSavings will see their workers enrolled automatically, with 3 percent of each paycheck set aside for savings in a Roth Individual Retirement Account, up to $6,000 annually or $7,000 for those 50 or older. Contributions are taxed at the time they are deducted, allowing retirees to withdraw savings in the future without any additional tax obligation. This makes it easy, this makes it simple, this makes it automatic its a payroll deduction, Gov. Ned Lamont said Thursday during a press conference in Hartford. Over 30 years, with 5, 6 or 7 percent appreciation, that compounds youll have a pretty good nest egg to go alongside your Social Security. Workers can opt out at the time of enrollment or any point afterward, and can adjust their contributions to fit their budget and retirement outlook. Participants have the option of rolling accumulated savings into other retirement plans, including when they switch jobs or move elsewhere. To sign up for MyCTSavings, employers must provide bank account numbers and information on payroll processing firms handling paycheck administration for their workers. The Connecticut Retirement Security Authority has begun notifying employers by postal mail and email of the requirements. At the time of the original proposal in 2016, several employer groups opposed the legislation, including the Connecticut Business & Industry Association and a separate coalition of some 85 trade associations and chambers of commerce. The groups argued the private sector already had plenty of options for small businesses to add retirements plans. Advocates countered that thousands of those businesses choose not to establish plans, contributing to a retirement crisis for their workers that spills into the state budget as older citizens seek help for basic needs. Some will ask why is the state involved in this whats the public policy interest, said Rep. Jason Rojas, D-East Hartford, majority leader in the Connecticut House of Representatives. We know that when people retire and dont have adequate savings to live out their life post-work, the state is going to bear a cost in that either in additional medical costs, or housing costs or social services. Despite the urgency, progress stalled for several years before Kevin Lembo pushed through MyCTSavings in his final stretch as state comptroller before stepping down in December for health reasons. Braswell, who was appointed as Lembos replacement, said federal law prevents the state from offering a 401(k) stock savings plan under the MyCTSavings umbrella. The Connecticut Retirement Security Board originally hired BNY Mellon to administer the program. In January, BNY Mellon sold off its Sumday retirement plan administration division to New York City-based Vestwell, which since its 2016 launch, has picked up administration of similar retirement savings plans in Maryland, Oregon and Washington. Braswell said BNY Mellon remains involved in the Connecticut plan. Under a pilot program last fall with a handful of Connecticut employers, 40 chose to remain enrolled in MyCTSavings, with a dozen opting out. It has been a very easy process not difficult at all, said Axel Collazo, assistant manager for Tollands Ace Transportation, which participated in the pilot. I have about seven or eight employees who are part of the program, and they are happy with the program. According to a Pew Trusts survey, many employees who opted out of the Illinois plan cited an inability to save for current expenses on their income. This program is going to have an impact on women more than anyone, said Nora Duncan, state director of AARP. Over one in four women age 65 and up rely solely on Social Security. For information, a MyCTSavings call center is operating weekdays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and can be reached at 833-811-7435. Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman TEHRAN, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Saturday welcomed a UN initiative to suspend military operations for two months in Yemen, according to the ministry's website. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh expressed hope that the peace initiative can be a prelude to completely lifting the siege on the Yemeni people and the establishment of a permanent cease-fire to find a political solution to the crisis. "We hope that on the eve of (the Muslim) holy month of Ramadan, by prioritizing humanitarian issues and by continuing the cease-fire, we will see the improvement of humanitarian conditions and the full exchange of prisoners and detainees between the parties involved in the conflict," Khatibzadeh said in a statement. On Friday, UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg announced a two-month truce in Yemen, which is scheduled to come into force on April 2. "The aim of this truce is to give Yemenis a necessary break from violence, relief from the humanitarian suffering, and most importantly hope that an end to this conflict is possible," the UN envoy said in a statement. Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of the capital Sanaa. The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million, and pushed the country to the brink of starvation, according to the United Nations. NEW MILFORD A group of residents is proposing a town-wide initiative involving organic regenerative farming called the Greenwave Movement. Regenerative farming, which has become a global movement, is a holistic land management practice that seeks to rehabilitate and enhance farms by focusing on soil health, water management and reduction of harmful chemicals. The goal of the movement is for all of New Milfords food to be locally grown, on local farms, as opposed to being imported. To put its plan into place, the Greenwave Movement, which is being spearheaded by residents Joe Quaranta, a farmer, Connecticut licensed arborist and forest practitioner; and Ashley Russo, a functional nutrition counselor, is proposing using $150,000 of the towns American Rescue Plan Act funds. We are looking to have a 100-mile circumference (of locally grown food) around the epicenter of New Milford, Quaranta said. He said residents should be consuming food that was grown within the past 24 to 48 hours. We dont want to be eating food that had a three- or four-week travel time, Quaranta said. All the nutritional value is gone by then. To implement its proposal, the Greenwave Movement is proposing the creation of a town committee to develop an application process to administer funding as well as educational programs based around healthy agricultural practices. In presenting their proposal, Russo and Quaranta pointed to the towns 2021-2031 Plan of Conservation and Development, which addresses the need to preserve and protect farmland. Funding breakdown As part of the the Greenwave Movements $150,000 funding request to the town, its proposing using $15,000 for agricultural education. Wed ultimately like to see (town-owned) Sullivan Farm opened up to the public so that we can give classes and provide hands-on educational opportunities for our residents, he said. We would use Sullivan Farm as a showcase to show our community how these practices work and what their benefits are. Additionally, the movement is proposing $105,000 be put toward farmer financial assistance. So, any type of farmer, if they see value in the education and the showcases that we have at the town farm, can apply to sequester some of those funds to implement these things on their farm, Quaranta said. Also, $30,000 would be put toward supplying locally grown, fresh healthy food for seniors and families in need through the towns voucher system. You can use this voucher at any one of our participating farms in New Milford so we can guarantee that our most vulnerable population has the same access that anyone else would have to this quality food, Quaranta said. Town Council member Alex Thomas said the Greenwave Movement initiative is of global importance. Food supplies and healthy water are not choices, but necessities, Thomas said. Joe's plan is a great start and proposes a committee to collect data and manage outcomes. Town Council member Hilary Ram, who was part of Sustainable CT for New Milford, said she also agrees a subcommittee that supports and advocates for farmers is needed in town. She added she would like to see Sullivan Farm be a big part of the movement. Certainly we want to be teaching our children the newest and best farming methods for health and longevity, she said. Jeremy Schultz, owner of Clatter Valley Farm in New Milford, told Hearst Connecticut Media he has some concerns with the initiative. He said he's wary of any regulations around farming practices that may come about as a result of this initiative. A lot of this stuff is not proven over time. And they're based on assumptions that industrial or commercial agriculture aren't changing, when in fact that's not true, said Schultz, a board member of the northeast region branch of the Certified Crop Advisers program. He said regenerative and sustainable are fluid terms. They're not tried and true, concrete practices, he said. He said if the initiative would mandate practices for people in the community, hes against it. I do not want to be told how to farm, he said. Regulation, in my opinion, can have a smothering effect on innovation. At the meeting, Town Council member Tom Esposito said the initiative, as well as using American Rescue Plan Act funds for it, should not be an immediate decision for the town. This is going to take some time to implement and research, and is not just going to be implemented if the $150,000 is approved, Esposito said. I just think this conversation of what's come up with this last bit of money for ARPA right now It's just not appropriate. Let's put together this committee, as many of us agreed in prior statements. And let's just move this thing forward and put Ashley on that committee so she can use her knowledge and try to influence it. Needs assessment The town will conduct a needs assessment for the initiative, in regard to the major needs for New Milford farmers, said New Milford Mayor Pete Bass at the most recent Town Council meeting. I think the key audiences that we need to be looking at as we begin to build out the needs assessment is our current farmers whether they be large-scale, multi-year experienced farmers or the small-scale, new-to-industry farmer. I think everybody needs a seat at the table, Bass said. Bass added the town also needs to hear from agricultural experts on this topic such as leaders from key agricultural land trust environmental organizations, and social service, nonprofit organizations related to food insecurity. He pointed to researching organizations such as the College of Agriculture & Natural Resources, the Northwest Hills Council of Governments Regional Food Hub and the Northwest Connecticut Farming Association of Connecticut. The initiative is a very noble thing that we're looking to do, but itll require deeper conversation, Bass said. It's something that we need to really look at, he added. It's very complex. There's a lot of partners and I think that we can not only partner with but learn from, if we're going to go on this endeavor to really make this a world class type of thing. NEW HAVEN Federal investigators probing a $40 million embezzlement scheme at Yale School of Medicine discovered an administrator used thousands of orders to circumvent a $10,000 purchasing cap so she could buy electronics that she later sold, court documents show. Jamie Petrone, 42, of Naugatuck, appeared Monday in federal court where she admitted to wire fraud charges stemming from scheme, officials said. Petrone, who was director of finance and administration for the schools Department of Emergency Medicine, has accepted responsibility for her actions, her attorney, Frank Ricco, said. In announcing the guilty plea, federal authorities said the prestigious medical school lost more than $40 million in computers and electronics that Petrone used to purchase luxury cars, fund real estate improvements and pay for travel. Court documents show that an anonymous tip alerted Yale officials to the scheme. The person reported a suspiciously large amount of computers being ordered by Petrone, who was also seen loading some of the electronics into her personal car, according to court documents. While a full extent of the scheme was not highlighted in arrest documents, federal authorities used a series of laptop and tablet purchases to show how Petrone diverted those items to another business to make money, records show. Since 2018, Petrone drafted thousands of purchase orders, each less than $10,000, which was the amount at which additional management approvals wouldve been required, according to court records. The amount of the purchases is estimated by investigators to be in the tens of millions of dollars. Since January 2021, court records show, Petrone arranged for Yales purchase of about 8,000 iPads and Surface Pro tablets. Court records indicate that between May 27, 2021, and Aug. 19, 2021, Petrone ordered about $2.1 million in computer equipment on behalf of Yale. She placed an additional order on Aug. 24, 2021, for equipment that investigators said totaled $144,000. On May 26, 2021, Petrone asked her assistant to prepare documentation for an order of 100 Microsoft Surface Pro tablet computers, which she claimed were for a new study to be launched during Memorial Day weekend. Her assistant prepared 12 purchase orders for eight Surface Pros, totaling over $9,000, and one purchase order for four Surface Pros, totaling over $4,500, documents showed. Documents said that many of the devices Petrone purchased with Yale money were sold and shipped to a purported business in New York. Emails revealed transactions between Petrone and various entities that purchased the items, court documents showed. When investigators traced the tracking numbers on the packages, they determined they were shipped from Orange on June 3, 2021, and delivered to a Williston Park address in New York on June 4, 2021. In one of Petrones emails, she attached bank statements from a business located at her residential address in Naugatuck, documents showed. State records list the status of the business as dissolved due to failure to file annual reports. Bank statements from February through May of last year show hundreds of thousands of dollars in incoming wire transfers to Petrone from entities that purchased the computer equipment, according to the court documents. In early June 2021, documents showed, Petrone applied for a PayPal business loan and was asked to submit four months of bank statements. Courts records show Petrone sent bank statements to PayPal using her Yale email address, which law enforcement reviewed. Yale officials notified law enforcement on Aug. 25, 2021 after they received an anonymous tip about the apparent embezzlement scheme, documents showed. Court documents indicate the tip was received by word of mouth sometime over the last year. Its unclear when exactly Yale officials were alerted, but court documents indicated the university was not able to mount a concerted investigative effort until about July 1, 2021, for various reasons. Those reasons were not detailed in the court documents. Yale officials did not respond Tuesday to questions about the tip and the schools investigation. In a statement, Karen Peart, director of university media relations at Yale, said the school alerted authorities to evidence of suspected criminal behavior last year and fully cooperated throughout the investigation. Unrelated to the anonymous tip, court documents show, Petrone was questioned in June 2020 about a budget variance and a high volume of computer equipment purchases for her department. The documents do not state who questioned Petrone. During that inquiry, court records show, Petrone said her department was updating its equipment and was working with Yale New Haven Health on a new program. During the week of Aug. 16, 2021, Yale auditors inquired with a high-ranking Yale School of Medicine official, who court records indicate had no knowledge of the program Petrone referenced. Yale auditors reviewed purchase orders and Petrones school emails, among other things, and reported their findings to law enforcement, court documents show. Investigators said in court records that Petrone used the funds obtained through the scheme to pay for home improvements for her Connecticut residence and to buy about $25,000 in jewelry. On Aug. 31, 2021, law enforcement executed a federal seizure warrant on her account, seizing $560,421.14. Investigators also seized a 2014 Mercedes-Benz G550, a 2017 Land Rover/Range Rover, a 2015 Cadillac Escalade Premium, a 2020 Mercedes-Benz E450A, a 2015 Cadillac Escalade and a 2018 Dodge Charger, federal prosecutors said. Officials said three properties in Connecticut were also liquidated. Petrone, who is free on a $1 million bond, is scheduled to be sentenced June 29. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate KILLINGWORTH The developer who had the high bid to buy the Deer Lake Boy Scout camp said she has no problem with the Scouts extending their deadline to May 1 to consider a better offer. In fact, she hopes a higher offer does come in. Margaret Streicker, CEO of Fortitude Capital LLC, urged the state or a third party to step in and beat her $4.6 million offer to buy the 255-acre camp on Paper Mill Road. We mutually agreed that could be extended, Streicker said. Streicker is taking it slow regarding her plans for the property, she said, and currently is talking with groups concerned for the site. She noted she recently met with Killingworth First Selectman Nancy Gorski. Deer Lake is a very special place to lot of people and, as such, it deserves the time and consideration, and having the opportunity to hear from all of the various stakeholders in the community, Streicker said Thursday. So were certainly not rushing anything, she said. We intend to be slow and deliberate and make sure we do something that future generations will enjoy, she said. I have had the opportunity to speak with the first selectwoman of Killingworth two days ago and we had a wonderful conversation. And I have spoken to a number of other constituents in the community, Streicker said. To dispel concerns of parents of day campers, she said, Ive already agreed to lease the summer camp to Pathfinders for the next three summers. Streicker, who also sits on the board of directors of the Connecticut Yankee Council, said she had recused herself from all council meetings and any discussions about the matter, in order to avoid any conflict of interest. Conservationists, residents, local and state and federal officials have opposed the sale of the camp to a private developer, wanting to keep it as priceless green space. Streicker said the property appeals to her because Deer Lake is a wonderful opportunity to acquire a very large parcel of land, its picturesque, its bucolic, theres so many wonderful things about it. The bidding on the property has turned into a lengthy process with deadlines moved at the last minute in the past few months. The Boy Scouts have had three offers; the most recent bid was submitted hours before the March 31 deadline. A local Scouting organization, Pathfinders, made an offer of an undisclosed amount March 30. The Boy Scouts accepted Streickers bid in February and rejected the bid of $2.4 million from the Trust for Public Land. The council then extended the deadline to March 31 to accept a superior offer. With just hours left until the that deadline, state Attorney General William Tong interceded and the Boy Scouts of America agreed to postpone consideration of proposals until May 1, according to Tongs office. The attorney generals office is reviewing legal questions raised regarding the sale of the camp, according to the office. Streicker said she had no problems with the attorney generals announcement of the deadline extension. However, she added, I encourage the attorney general, Sen. (Richard) Blumenthal and Gov. (Ned) Lamont to put their money where their mouth is and actually raise the offer to the Boy Scouts, regarding their public statements on the sale of Deer Lake. I have no problems, but there is a commercial transaction here and they have been suggesting to the press that the Boy Scouts owe it to the community to sell it for far less than it is value and thats simply not so, Streicker said. Were entering a transaction and that is what it is, she said. And should the state come in and choose to buy the land within the time frame [of] the Boy Scouts again this has nothing to do with me, I dont control their time line should they come in and make a superior offer. Alls fair in love and war. By all means, please do, she said. And I would celebrate that, Streicker said. I look forward to that fantastic opportunity which in theory is a win for the Boy Scouts and a win for future generations from one perspective. There are many perspectives. Right now she is gathering information. Im in my fact-finding phase, she said. As someone who appreciates the difficult politics here as someone whos run for Connecticuts U.S. congressional seat, I can say that I am trying to understand what all the various positions are and trying to come up with a plan that is beneficial to all if possible. Understanding that theres still financial obligations. ... And I also recognize that other people werent stepping up in the right way, she said. Again, I look forward to Sen. Blumenthal putting his money where this mouth is to all of these various politicians who have stepped themselves into this conversation. Streicker advocates the state buy the parcel. The state, should they so choose, has the resources so they can spend it to make an appropriate investment in the future of land conservancy, said Streicker. Blumenthal, D-Conn., disagreed with Streicker comments regarding the sale. Politics have nothing to do with it its a matter of whats right or what people of Connecticut, particularly generations of young people who will have their own children and should have an opportunity to repeat those wonderful memories of camping, hiking, fishing all of the great stuff the Boy Scouts have championed, he said. Blumenthal said he would fight to unlock federal funds that will help preserve this land, this preserve, this unique, precious resource for generations of outdoors lovers to come. We have a profoundly significant opportunity to sustain this pristine resource for the community with the value that goes beyond its commercial price, Blumenthal said. ... So we will fight as long and hard as possible to make available federal funds from the department of Interior if were given the chance to do it, Blumenthal said. Streicker, a Republican, ran for the 3rd District U.S. House seat held by Democrat U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro in the last election did not rule out running for public office in Connecticut again. Streicker has residences in New York, and Milford. When asked whether she would consider running for the 3rd District seat again, she said anythings possible. When asked whether she would run for any other public office in Connecticut, she answered again that anything is possible. The Boy Scouts is selling Deer Like because of declining enrollment, Scout officials have said. The Boy Scouts of America declared bankruptcy in 2021 and in March this year have offered $2.7 billion to settle a claim with tens of thousands of sex abuse survivors, according to Reuters. The Connecticut Yankee Council paid a portion with a combination of land and cash from its endowment to fulfill its share of the national organizations settlement, according to Scouting officials. CAIRO, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry on Saturday called on France, which holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, to "provide economic and political support to Egypt" to deal with the repercussions of the Ukraine crisis, according to a statement of Egypt's Foreign Ministry. Sameh Shoukry made the remarks during a phone conversation with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian, during which they discussed bilateral relations and economic cooperation amid the global impacts of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ahmed Hafez said in the statement. The conversation came just days after French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire paid a visit to Cairo, during which he affirmed his country's full support for Egypt and its willingness to provide the Middle Eastern country with wheat supplies during the crisis. Egypt is the world's largest wheat importer and buys the majority of its wheat from Russia and Ukraine. Earlier on Saturday, Shoukry made a phone call to German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, during which they discussed ways to boost bilateral ties and strengthen Egypt's economic resilience to the repercussions of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ANSONIA The Bella Vista housing complex is still undergoing construction, but developer Joseph Gega is already happy to show off the first finished apartments, which he expects to draw more people into the city. They have the ability to come live in our community with better amenities (and) better return on their money in Ansonia, Gega said. On a recent tour of the units, Gega walked around the empty apartments on the fourth floor, which are now nearly complete and fitted with new Frigidaire appliances still wrapped in plastic. Although the apartments were first proposed in 2013, the city signed over the various properties that make up the project to Gega and his team at Shaw Growth Ventures in 2020. Nearly 100 units will be available for rent once the project is finished in the fall. But Gega said hes aiming to start opening the apartments much sooner than that. There is 91 units in phase one. Well be opening in phase one probably by next week depends on fire department and zoning department on the certificate of occupancy, he said. Economic Development Director Sheila OMalley said the city is glad the new apartments are getting closer to completion. Were really thrilled about the market rate apartments going online. The whole idea is to bring people downtown to increase the downtown activity. New residents will mean a shift in the way downtown has been in the past, OMalley said. Gega said the second phase of the $10 million project will take some time due to required remediation work, and said he is working on obtaining a grant to help facilitate that. He said the apartments, which range from studios to two bedrooms, are going to be more affordable than nearby towns. But he noted the units will have various amenities from a lounge and coffee shop on the first floor to garbage pick up, a gym and a picnic deck. Rentals start at $1,300 a month. He said the units have been built using quality materials, including granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances. Its market rate, but its affordable, said OMalley. Thats a distinction between the Shelton apartments that are being offered. Its working class, its middle class people who can live downtown, take the train to their job. So it was super exciting. Its the next step in a transformation that we believe is long overdue. The units have high ceilings with hanging light fixtures and exposed brick. The outlets by the kitchen counter tops come with USB outlets for electronic devices. Residents will also be provided with a key fob for opening doors for added security. Gega said security is important to him and to renters. Each unit has a state of the art security system thats very important to us. Any community we ever built (in) security is priority not because we build in a market where crime is an issue, but everybody deserves their privacy, he said. The addition of new units was received positively by David Morgan, CEO of TEAM, a nonprofit human services agency in the city. I think it is a wonderful addition to the menu of options for housing in Ansonia as we continue to see growth, Morgan said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate BRIDGEPORT The new Newfield branch library was not supposed to open on the 100th anniversary of its predecessor, which, after years of being closed, was incorporated into the modern buildings design. That fortuitous timing, however, is the silver lining to a few years worth of delays. The original Newfield location along Central Avenue opened to serve the East End on April 22, 1922, according to new Branch Manager Nykia Eaddy. So, she noted this week during a tour, Well have our soft opening just 100 years shy. A formal celebration with dignitaries and speeches is planned for some time in June. But, aside from a few additional finishing touches, as of this Saturday the $7.6 million state-of-the-art site is operational. Built by Ashlar Construction, whose owner, Anthony Stewart, hails from the East End, the branch is nestled next to Stewarts also-delayed Honey Locust Square commercial development, where steel beams are finally going vertical. Combined the two long-promised projects are intended to inject new economic vitality into that end of the Stratford Avenue commercial corridor. But construction delays, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and cost escalations thoroughly disrupted a timeline that, according to Assistant City Librarian John Soltis, would have seen the new Newfield site operational just before the COVID-19 global health crisis struck Connecticut in early 2020. Stewart in an interview earlier this week said he has been eager for the public to have access to the beautiful building. He had been hoping to obtain a certificate of occupancy from City Hall this time last year, but, as previously reported, that process dragged on into late summer. Very excited about it, Stewart said about this weekends opening. I want the neighborhood to be part of it and see it because its just sitting there. What visitors will find is an attractive, welcoming hub for accessing books, technology and various programs, with high ceilings, numerous large windows, and a mixture of wood, tiled and carpeted floors. Besides the adult reading room, located in the renovated 4,000-square-foot original Newfield structure, there are spacious areas for children, teenagers and for use by community groups in the modern wings. What we wanted to have and accomplished is a first-rate, full service library, Soltis said. That is a major step up from what the East End had. After the aged Newfield building was shuttered, the neighborhood had to settle for a smaller library at 1230 Stratford Ave. in a shopping plaza that was eventually torn down for Honey Locust Square. It was a storefront that was better than nothing, but not by much, Soltis said. As work on Honey Locust Square began, that neighborhood library was moved to a temporary rented site at 1277 Stratford Ave., which was then prematurely closed in fall 2018 because of a leaky roof and other structural issues. Besides the incorporation of the first Newfield branch and the hiring of Stewart, the new building along Central Avenue celebrates the East End neighborhood and its history in other ways. Adorning one wall is another piece of East End history an original quilt from Gees Bend, Ala., which Eaddy said was made by Allie Pettway and donated to the library by her granddaughter, Tammie Pettway. The Pettways are a well-known local family. Many people who were from that area (Gees Bend) came to Bridgeport. The quilts have become world famous, Soltis said. A lot of Bridgeporters all over the city but also in this neighborhood have family down there. Eaddy also has strong ties to the East End. She was born in the northern section of Bridgeport but raised pretty much in the East End and West End. She also spent a portion of her 20 year career with the Bridgeport library system at Newfields 1230 Stratford Ave. branch site as an assistant. And, she noted, her mother worked in the original Newfield building. So Im extra proud at this moment, Eaddy said. The Newfield branch will be open Mondays and Tuesdays, 10 a.m. until 6 p.m., Wednesdays and Thursdays, noon until 8 p.m., and Fridays and Saturdays, 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. BRIDGEPORT Three people were arrested after a large amount of drugs, guns and ammunition were seized by police conducting an undercover investigation on Wednesday. Shakeil Williams, 30, of Bridgeport, was charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession with intent to sell and operation of a drug factory. His bond was set at $100,000. Jonathan J. Bonaparte, 34, of Derby, was charged with eight counts of criminal possession of a firearm and ammunition, possession of narcotics, two counts of possession with intent to sell, illegal possession of an assault weapon, operation of a drug factory, eight counts of illegal possession of high-capacity magazines, unlawful storage of a loaded firearm, two counts of violating the Deadly Weapon Offender Registry, failure to change address with the Deadly Offender Registry and risk of injury to a minor. His bonds totaled $650,000. According to police, the Bridgeport Narcotics and Vice Division were conducting an undercover investigation in the central locality of Bridgeport on Wednesday. There they witnessed Williams and Bonaparte engaged in an activity consistent with the trafficking of street level narcotics. The two men then left in separate cars. Williams vehicle was stopped by police at the intersection of Wells Street and North Avenue where officers found he was in possession crack cocaine and heroin. After securing a search warrant for his residence, police found more crack cocaine, along with MDMA and crystal meth. Bonapartes vehicle was simultaneously stopped on Charles Street near the intersection of Madison Avenue. Police said he could not present proper paperwork to operate the vehicle, and noticed a bag of Fentanyl inside. Officers then searched him and found two boxes of ammunition, as well as additional narcotics including heroin, crack cocaine, and cocaine. Investigators then acquired a search warrant for Bonapartes residence in Derby. Bonaparte was already listed on Connecticuts Deadly Weapon Offender Registry. At his home officers found four handguns, one shotgun and one assault rifle, along with eight high-capacity magazines including one drum magazine. A arrest warrant was then acquired for Shomequa Allen, 28, who lived with Bonaparte and their two-year-old child. During their search of the residence, police said they found the many weapons and narcotics to be easily accessible for their young child. On Friday, Allen was charged with risk of injury to a minor, and her bond was set at $25,000. In total, police said the investigation led to the seizure of 32.6 grams of crack cocaine, 25.6 grams of cocaine, 26.31 grams of Fentanyl, two grams of crystal meth, 233 ecstasy pills, eight high-capacity magazines, four handguns, one shotgun and one assault rifle. UN chief welcomes Yemen truce agreement Xinhua) 08:33, April 02, 2022 UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks to reporters about the truce agreement in Yemen, at the UN Headquarters in New York, on April 1, 2022. Guterres on Friday welcomed the agreement by the parties to the conflict in Yemen on a two-month truce, which comes into effect on Saturday. (Loey Felipe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua) UNITED NATIONS, April 1 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday welcomed the agreement by the parties to the conflict in Yemen on a two-month truce, which comes into effect on Saturday. Guterres said the truce opens the door to addressing Yemen's urgent humanitarian and economic needs, and creates an opportunity to restart Yemen's political process. "This truce must be the first step to ending Yemen's devastating war," said Guterres. UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg has just announced the breakthrough in Amman, Jordan. Grundberg said the parties have agreed to halt all offensive military air, ground and maritime operations inside Yemen and across its borders. They have also agreed for fuel ships to enter into Hodeidah ports and for commercial flights to operate in and out of Sanaa airport to pre-determined destinations in the region. Grundberg said the parties have further agreed to meet under his auspices to open roads in Taiz and other governorates in Yemen. The truce can be renewed beyond the two-month period with the consent of the parties, said Grundberg. Guterres commended the Yemeni government, the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis in Yemen for the agreement, and urged all parties to make the necessary arrangements to support the successful implementation of the truce. A halt to the fighting, coupled with the entry of fuel ships, and the easing of restrictions on the movement of people and goods in, out and within the country, will contribute to building trust and creating a conducive environment to resume negotiations for a peaceful settlement of the conflict, he said. Guterres urged the parties to cooperate "in good faith and without preconditions" with Grundberg in the latter's efforts to resume an inclusive and comprehensive Yemeni political process. "The ultimate aim must be a negotiated political settlement which addresses the legitimate concerns and aspirations of all Yemenis." For more than seven years, war has devastated the lives of millions of Yemeni women, children and men, and the war has fueled one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, brought state institutions to the verge of collapse, reversed human development by two decades, and threatened regional peace and security, said Guterres. "Today must be the start of a better future for the people of Yemen," he said. Guterres cautioned that such agreements are always fragile. "So now, we must take profit of the momentum in order to make sure that this truce is fully respected and that it is renewed and, with that renewal, that a true political process is launched in Yemen." He also expressed the hope that the truce agreement in Yemen will inspire other peace deals. "I think that this demonstrates that even when things look impossible, when there is the will to compromise, peace becomes possible.... And I hope that this agreement will inspire others, in Ukraine and other parts of the world, in order to make sure that we address the dramatic conflicts that are undermining the well-being of so many people around the world." UN Undersecretary-General Martin Griffiths, who has been tasked by Guterres to pursue a humanitarian cease-fire in Ukraine, will be flying to Moscow on Sunday. And after that, he will be going to Kiev, said Guterres. The UN chief said both Russia and Ukraine have agreed to meet Griffiths to discuss a humanitarian cease-fire. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks to reporters about the truce agreement in Yemen, at the UN Headquarters in New York, on April 1, 2022. Guterres on Friday welcomed the agreement by the parties to the conflict in Yemen on a two-month truce, which comes into effect on Saturday. (Loey Felipe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua) (Web editor: Peng yukai, Liang Jun) PHNOM PENH, April 2 (Xinhua) -- World Health Organization (WHO) representative to Cambodia Li Ailan said on Saturday that the COVID-19 pandemic in the country is not over yet, though the number of new infections has once again declined to two digits. The Southeast Asian nation registered 32 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, and all were confirmed to be the Omicron variant, with no new fatalities, the health ministry said, adding that to date, the country had recorded 135,714 cases with 131,940 recoveries and 3,054 deaths. "The pandemic is not over yet. The Omicron variant is still here with us in Cambodia," Li wrote on social media. "COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination remain one of the most effective tools to help us save lives, protect health, especially for the vulnerable, and keep Cambodia reopening safely and sustainably," she said. The Heath ministry's secretary of state and spokeswoman Or Vandine said Saturday that the COVAX Facility on Friday decided to increase its COVID-19 vaccine support to Cambodia from 20 percent to 30 percent of the kingdom's total population. Cambodia has administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccines to 14.8 million people, or 92.5 percent of its 16 million population, she said. Most of the vaccines used in the country's inoculation drive are China's Sinovac and Sinopharm. With its high vaccination rates, Cambodia has fully resumed its socio-economic activities and reopened its borders to fully vaccinated travelers without quarantine since November last year. CANBERRA, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government reached an agreement on a trade agreement with India on Saturday. The Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI ECTA) was hailed by Prime Minister Scott Morrison as a major economic boon. The deal will remove tariffs on 85 percent of Australian exports to India, rising to 91 percent within 10 years. India was Australia's seventh-largest trading partner in 2020, with two-way trade valued at 24.3 billion Australian dollars (18.2 billion U.S. dollars). The federal government previously said it plans for India to be a top-three trade market by 2035. Morrison said in a statement that the agreement would create "enormous trade diversification opportunities for Australian producers and service providers." However, major agricultural exports including dairy and beef were excluded from the interim agreement, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The media statement suggested that both countries continue to work towards a full Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement. Last week Keir Starmer was asked a simple question. 'Can a woman have a penis?' interviewer Nick Ferrari enquired on LBC radio. This is what followed. Starmer: 'Uh, Nick, I'm not uh I I don't think we can conduct this debate with you know' Ferrari: ' sorry, have I offended you?' Starmer: 'No, no, no, it's just no, no, I just' Ferrari: '... a woman can have a penis?' Starmer: 'I don't think that um discussing this issue in this way helps anyone in the long run.' Finally, Starmer retreated to the safety of the usual boilerplate: discussions on legal reform, a vague commitment to the protection of women, and an even vaguer condemnation of 'intolerance' by people unnamed. But by then the damage was done. Labour's leader is correct when he says the debate surrounding those men and women who wish to self-identify as a different gender must be conducted with respect and compassion. But it also needs to be conducted with honesty 'He's made a lot of the backbenchers angry,' one Labour MP told me. 'The women in the party aren't happy. He's not consulting with them on this. He's got all these young blokes from London in his office, advising him. And it's also rubbish politics. People in the Red Wall aren't going to buy this.' Actually, Starmer's stammering equivocation might be taken as a sign of progress. Last September he was willing to condemn unreservedly anyone who asserted only women can have a cervix. 'It shouldn't have been said,' he chided, in comments aimed at one of his own MPs, Rosie Duffield. Labour's leader is correct when he says the debate surrounding those men and women who wish to self-identify as a different gender must be conducted with respect and compassion. But it also needs to be conducted with honesty. Which means recognising Sir Keir doesn't really want a dignified debate over trans rights. What he really wants to do is brush the whole thing under the carpet and talk about the NHS and fuel bills instead. He can't. And one of the reasons he can't is Boris Johnson isn't going to let him. A fortnight ago, the Prime Minister went out of his way to tell the House of Commons he believed 'when it comes to distinguishing between a man and a woman, the basic facts of biology remain overwhelmingly important'. Last week, at a dinner with Tory MPs, he opened his speech by saying: 'Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Or, as Keir Starmer would put it, people who are assigned female or male at birth.' This crass attempt at humour rebounded hours later, when Conservative Jamie Wallis became the first MP to come out as transgender. But Boris's joke, which was widely reported and which he and his advisers knew would be widely reported revealed a clear strategy. The Tories believe trans rights is an area where Labour are dangerously exposed to public opinion. And with local elections only weeks away they intend to exploit it. In response, Starmer plans to do what his party always does when confronted with a difficult political issue. Deflect, obfuscate and when all else fails stick their heads in the sand and pray it goes away. The deflection, which he deployed last week, comes straight from Labour's long-discredited playbook on immigration and race. 'I do find that too many people retreat into or hold a position which is intolerant of others,' Starmer claimed. But that's offensive rubbish, and he knows it's offensive rubbish. Who are these bigots? The trans lobby's favourite hate-figure J. K. Rowling? Starmer's own backbenchers? Some of those most outspoken at the failure to confront the intellectual and moral inconsistencies at the heart of the trans debate are people who have spent their lives aligning themselves with the same progressive, liberal causes Sir Keir holds so dear. Is he seriously going to try to frame them as the rightful heirs of Nick Griffin and his BNP knuckle-draggers? I suspect even Starmer recognises that represents a deflection too far. Which is why he's started to embrace obfuscation. Over the past few days, Sir Keir has tentatively begun to talk about his commitment to 'safe spaces for women'. But when pressed on what this means in practice, the former barrister becomes mysteriously coy. Which represents something of a departure for a Labour leader. Over the past three decades his party has been in the vanguard of pressing for reserved and protected spaces for women. All women shortlists. Single-sex wards. Expansion of accommodation and support facilities for the victims of domestic and other violent abuse. Against that backdrop, platitudes about supporting safe spaces in principle are as cowardly as they are meaningless. What Starmer needs to explain clearly and unequivocally is who he believes should actually have access to these secure enclaves. And recognise that if biological men can utilise them, then they're no longer safe spaces at all. Again, I suspect he recognises the unsustainability of his position. Hence the attraction of the third approach outright denial. When challenged by Nick Ferrari, Starmer attempted to insinuate there was something prurient and superficial about the line of questioning. That the debate on trans rights was too important to be debased with questions relating to anatomy. But these aren't superficial questions. It's difficult to think of a more profound and fundamental issue than how we define a man, or how we define a woman. And the part that more than 200,000 years of human biology plays in that debate can't just be wished away because it no longer aligns with fashionable North London dinner-party opinion. For years, self-styled progressives have been haranguing us all with a consistent mantra. From Covid to global warming, they have appealed no, ordered every one of us to 'follow the science'. As the pandemic raged, Sir Keir demanded that Boris follow the science slavishly. Yet when it comes to the debate about trans rights, we are all suddenly told we are morally obliged to cast the science aside, and become biological flat-earthers. Starmer and his allies claim his stance is motivated by a defence of the basic rights of what he calls 'the most marginalised and abused of many, many communities'. But to do so is to superficialise the argument in precisely the way he condemns in others. However Sir Keir would like to frame it, the reality is the trans debate is not about a fight for rights, but a collision of rights. Which is why his evasion and sophistry simply will not stand. Yes, Boris and the Conservatives are going to try to exploit the issue for their own narrow political purposes. But that's because they think they are on the right side of the argument. And they're correct to think that. Out in the country, Keir Starmer's hesitancy and confusion are not shared. The vast majority of people are instinctively compassionate towards those who seek to self-identify. But they are also clear on the right of girls and women to participate freely and fairly in competitive sport. They are clear on a woman's right to secure changing rooms and other protected spaces. And they are very clear on the basics of human biology. Similar clarity is now required from the man who aspires to be their Prime Minister. Because he is trying to play politics too. Once again, Starmer is attempting to work the angles presenting one facade to the more radical elements within his party and movement, while attempting to show a different face to the public. That won't wash any more. Sir Keir has to level with people, not least people in the trans community. He needs to be clear that the only moral and politically sustainable position is one in which the rights of those who wish to self-identify are protected and guaranteed, so long as they don't undermine the rights of others. Where they do, there will have to be a process of give and take on both sides. And that means there will be some areas where the trans community will need to extend the same respect, tolerance and understanding it asks for itself. Can a woman have a penis? No. And it's time for Labour's leader to say so. A few weeks ago, the accounting team at the hotel group I run told me about a curious instruction they had received from the Government. From this month, and for an entire year and perhaps longer, every payslip issued was to include a special message. Officials explained that they wanted to ensure our staff understood that an increase in National Insurance contributions paid by workers and companies was helping to fund public services. My accounting team was told the message should read: 1.25% uplift in NICs funds NHS, health & social care. Officials explained that they wanted to ensure our staff understood that an increase in National Insurance contributions paid by workers and companies was helping to fund public services, writes Sir Rocco Forte (pictured) They had been left under the clear impression by HMRC that this was some sort of legal requirement. I couldnt believe my ears. Were we operating in Britain or Communist China? It is outrageous that the Government should be telling employers to act as its propaganda merchants over what so many see as an unjustifiable tax rise. I told the team that such a message would be added to my companys payslips over my dead body. We certainly will not be complying, and I hope other employers will join us in boycotting it. The Institute of Directors says its an effort to justify a deeply unpopular and regressive tax on jobs. Sir Edward Troup, who used to run HMRC, has even questioned whether the demand is within the taxmans legal powers. Fundamentally, the National Insurance rise that comes into effect on Wednesday is the wrong move if we want to expand the economy, and represents yet another depressing attack on business. For both companies and their staff, it is not a 1.25 per cent uplift as the Government wants employers to describe it. Yes, the headline rate will increase from 13.8 per cent to 15.05 per cent of someones salary for the employer, and from 12 per cent to 13.25 per cent for the employee. But actually that means the amount being paid to HMRC in pounds and pence will increase by more than ten per cent. In other words, the taxman is asking employers to help disguise a hefty tax raid as a trifling increase to our bills. This is at a time when employers are trying to recover from the devastation of Covid, and as families face a cost of living crunch. The measures announced in the Spring Statement will shield some lower earners from the worst effects of the National Insurance rise. But they went nowhere near far enough and have reversed only a sixth of the tax rises Mr Sunak has implemented in his tenure According to a recent poll, 89 per cent of employers said they did not want the Government to increase National Insurance rates this month. Only seven per cent were happy for Chancellor Rishi Sunak to go ahead. Many senior Tories, including Cabinet Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg and the chairman of the Treasury Select Committee, Mel Stride, have called for the rise to be scrapped. Whats more, everyone knows the tax rise will not solve the problems in social care, as Ministers have claimed, but will instead go into the bottomless pit of an unreformed National Health Service. It is a completely anti- Conservative policy and counter to the idea of the low-tax, small-state approach we would expect from a Tory Government. Indeed, Mr Sunak has managed to raise taxes more in two years than Gordon Brown did in ten. The measures announced in the Spring Statement will shield some lower earners from the worst effects of the National Insurance rise. But they went nowhere near far enough and have reversed only a sixth of the tax rises Mr Sunak has implemented in his tenure. Take the plan to raise the headline corporation tax rate from 19 to 25 per cent from 2023. This is undoing all the good work done by the previous Conservative Chancellor George Osborne, who cut corporation tax at every Budget. The capital gains tax haul, meanwhile, has jumped 35 per cent from 10.8 billion to a record 14.6 billion in the past year following a rise in tax on entrepreneurs selling businesses. Last year, Mr Sunak also froze the thresholds on income tax, dragging more people into the higher-rate tax net, and froze the lifetime allowance on pension saving. Meanwhile, the retail trade has been devastated by a move to axe VAT rebates on purchases made in this country by foreign tourists, many of whom are now flocking to Paris. Overall, the tax burden on British people and businesses will rise to 36.3 per cent of our total economic output by 2027. Thats the highest rate since the 1940s and compares with 33 per cent in 2020 when Mr Sunak became Chancellor. This is all at a time of great danger for the economy. Families are facing a cost-of-living crisis, and the big rises in oil and gas prices have in the past tended to trigger stagflation when prices soar and economic output collapses at the same time. What we need is lower taxation as part of a concerted strategy to stimulate growth. As someone who has supported the Government, I find its attitude to business bewildering. Alongside Mr Sunak, for instance, we have Michael Gove attacking the housebuilding industry as a cartel, when draconian planning laws are the real impediment to solving the lack of affordable homes. Slowly but surely, the Government is abandoning its support of free enterprise in favour of what are essentially Socialist policies. If Ministers do not change tack soon, the Conservative Party will haemorrhage votes to rivals on the Right just as it did over Brexit. Incredibly, polls undertaken since the Spring Statement suggest people are now more likely to trust Labour to manage tax and public spending than the Tories. It is not the right time to change Prime Ministers, as some have suggested, but the Government needs a fundamental rethink over its direction. What irks me as a longtime Conservative voter, and as a supporter of the Prime Ministers leadership campaign, is the Governments un-Conservative behaviour. The curtailment of our civil liberties and damage to business we saw in the pandemic was just the start. I struggle to articulate a single Conservative policy being followed by this Government. It was elected to deliver Brexit, which did not mean just cutting ties with Europe but rather seizing the opportunities of our new position. Instead of reducing regulation it is increasing it; instead of reducing taxes it has raised them. Ministers are imposing a huge burden on the taxpayer in the shape of energy levies in a mad rush to go green without taking into account the overall cost and our energy security. With its environmental zealotry, the Government is becoming ever more intrusive as it dictates everything from how we heat our homes to what cars we drive. Its time would be better spent on reforming the NHS, which has managed to cope with Covid but that is no thanks to its leadership. The people on the front line, the doctors and nurses and ambulance drivers are the heroes. I compare them to the troops in the trenches in the First World War, sent over the top by incompetent generals to be slaughtered. DURING all this, the system has failed millions of patients waiting for routine care. Waiting lists in England have soared from 4.4 million to 5.8 million. The levels of health spending are consuming ever vaster quantities of national resources as the NHS continues to ask for more taxpayer money, which it is inevitably given. Yet nothing changes. It is these issues not lockdown parties in Downing Street which will cause me and millions of others to seek someone else to vote for the next time a local or national election beckons. To win back our trust, its time for the Conservative Party to be Conservative again. Ignorant, arrogant, complacent, timid and most of all greedy. The charge sheet against countries and people that for 30 years ignored abundant warnings about Russias dangerous designs on its neighbours is damning. And history will surely judge harshly those who ignored the monstrous threat that Putin poses to our democracy. The guilty men coined to describe those who indulged Nazi Germany in the 1930s range from hard-Left activists such as George Galloway to patriotic types like Nigel Farage with a nostalgic fondness for no-nonsense strongmen. Lenin would have called both lots useful idiots. A swathe of our professional elite is in the dock too: for years they enjoyed lucrative life on the caviar express, a gravy train run by thugs and gangsters. And many others are guilty for apathy and naivety. History will surely judge harshly those who ignored the monstrous threat that Putin poses to our democracy Vladimir Putins onslaught on neighbouring Ukraine came as a shock a bewildering upheaval in the largely peaceful world we took for granted in Europe. But to claim surprise is to admit inattention. Again and again we have ignored stark warnings about the dangers facing us, our allies, and our values. We naively took our freedom and security for granted. Instead of heeding the messages, we belittled the messengers. The price of complacency for us is uncertainty, high prices for food and fuel, and the cost of greater defence spending. Ukrainians are paying for it too with their lives. Why didnt we listen? One reason was that we knew so little of the countries that emerged from the Soviet empires collapse in 1989-91. Ignorance begets arrogance. Our priority was to keep the good guys in power first Mikhail Gorbachev, then Boris Yeltsin. We broke our rules, allowing blatant election-rigging and wild profiteering, all to keep out hardliners. Our indulgent, meddling approach to Russia was both wrong and dangerous. For it was clear even in the 1990s that evil was afoot. The collapse of the Communist system masked the survival of an imperialist approach with far deeper roots, going back to the Tsarist empire. Modern Russia despises neighbouring countries. Their sovereignty is constrained, their independence an aberration. Putins war in Ukraine rests on the mistaken belief that it is a Western puppet state run by drug-addled Nazis. In 1994, Estonias President Lennart Meri, himself a childhood survivor of deportation to Siberia, gave a blistering, prescient warning at a conference in Hamburg. He lambasted Russias bullying approach to its neighbours and the Wests naivety and cynicism. The leader of the Russian delegation stood up and walked out in protest. His name was Vladimir Putin. Nobody knew then that five years later he would be Russias leader. That should have been a wake-up call. A former KGB man running Russia should be as alarming as an ex-Gestapo officer running Germany. Putins ascent to power came amid mass murder. Apartment-block bombings in which more than 300 innocent Russians died created a climate of panic. Putins popularity, based on a ruthless response to supposed terrorist atrocities, rocketed. But the bombings were staged by the authorities. Those who tried to investigate them died. I was a foreign correspondent in Moscow in those years. It was clear that Putin was a monstrous thug surrounded by crooks. His rule spelled repression at home and aggression abroad. But I came under huge pressure from the hurrah chorus foreign bankers, lawyers, and accountants minting money in Russia. They did not want hostile news stories to spoil their party. In my 2008 book, The New Cold War, I highlighted the poisoning of the fugitive Russian official Alexander Litvinenko in the heart of London (the use of polonium, a potent radioactive substance, endangered hundreds more). I described Russias 2007 cyber-attack on Estonia, a stalwart British ally. I listed the many uses of energy as a weapon. I outlined the danger of the Putin regimes manipulative use of history, and its bullying approach to neighbouring countries. Indeed, I warned of a looming war in Georgia which took place barely four months after the book appeared. My central message was that Russias embrace of globalisation had increased its ability to threaten us. Trade and investment have geopolitical effects. They can be used to exert influence and buy power. If only we had diversified away from Russian gas then, we would not be in such a pickle. Instead we hugely increased our dependency. The book was a best-seller, translated into 20 languages. My friends in Eastern Europe were thrilled: finally, an influential Western voice was echoing their concerns. But the reaction from so-called experts in London, Washington and other Western capitals was derisive. Scaremongering, said a colleague. Incoherent, said another. How could a country as weak as Russia possibly pose a threat to the far bigger and richer countries of Nato and the European Union? In vain I tried to explain that Putins great asset is willpower. He is willing to accept pain, tell lies and take risks. We are not. He relishes confrontation. We shun it. The longer we dither, the worse the outcome. And so it has proved. Already the Hitlerian destruction of Ukraine is under way. And worse is to come. Natos credibility is hanging by a thread. If Putin wins, our security is shattered. If he loses, he will escalate, quite conceivably using nuclear blackmail. I take no pride or joy in my vindication. I am glad that the depravity of Putin and his henchmen is logged in historys hall of infamy. I hope that future generations may learn the lesson of appeasement. But our education has come at an appallingly high price. In recent weeks I have received touching private apologies from former critics, acknowledging their errors. Nigel Farage, to his credit, says publicly that he was wrong to admire Putin. But the real moral reckoning is still to come. On the Left, the self-proclaimed champions of the underdog should see Putin as the true face of the imperialism they profess to loathe. They should stop nit-picking about Ukraines tiny far Right. They should shed the lazy moral equivalence that justifies Putins aggression by blaming Nato and EU enlargement. Surely they should see that Putins aggression explains why countries of the former Soviet empire have been so desperate to join Western organisations? Inside, they enjoy a measure of safety. Outside, they are prey to the wolves. Old-fashioned conservatives should drop their lazy isolationism, dismissing conflicts on the European continent as great-power friction of no interest to us in Britain. Countries like Germany, whose irresponsible, sanctimonious pacifism masked unparalleled greed over Russian business, must bear a huge share of the blame. For its part, the Tory party should look with horror at its dependence on donations that stem ultimately from fortunes made in Russia. That money, and the grotesquely glitzy socialising that it lubricates, is toxic in its origins and its effects. So too should figures like George Osborne and Peter Mandelson for accepting hospitality on Oleg Deripaskas yacht. That this Russian tycoons robust business practices earned him a visa ban from the United States did not trouble these pillars of our establishment. Our pinstriped classes should be disgraced for their role as enablers, allowing some of the worst people in the world to launder reputations and riches through our financial and legal system. The libel lawyers who have so vindictively and ruthlessly tried to silence brave investigative journalists and campaigners should hang their heads in disgrace. Those besuited traitors should be donating to Ukrainian humanitarian and military fundraisers every penny made from serving the Russian elites 30-year looting spree. Ukrainians, outgunned, hungry and alone, are fighting and dying for freedom theirs and ours. I have diagnosed a new syndrome: cockapoo overload. Is it just me, or has the number of these dinky bundles of fluff romping around increased dramatically? No doubt many of my social circle (where cockapoos are now ubiquitous) suspect I have a hard-bitten prejudice against dogs. But they are completely wrong. I am very fond of dogs. Not all dogs but then I don't love all humans. There are some dogs that strike me as unattractive, demanding and frankly bad-mannered, but most are adorable. I totally understand the appeal of their companionship, constancy and unquestioning devotion. In many respects, they are like the children you wish you had: much less trouble and much more reliable. Yet suddenly everybody has a dog, and not only a dog but a dog that runs their life. I have diagnosed a new syndrome: cockapoo overload. Is it just me, or has the number of these dinky bundles of fluff romping around increased dramatically? (stock image) The other day I was amazed to see that even John Pawson, the superstar minimalist architect who does not allow a cushion or visible plug socket in his house, cuddling up to a messy puppy on his austere sofa. But we don't own one and that makes us a rare species. Not having a dog in these times reminds me of my early 30s, when I hadn't yet had a child. When I visited friends, they would start apologising for the noise and chaos of their children in a way that was both unnecessary and patronising. They clearly felt sorry for me not being in the same position. Now it's the same with dogs. Except that it's worse, because whereas people used to attempt to get their children to behave, now they merely smile indulgently and explain that their dog is clawing at my leg because 'he's excited to meet you'. That's as may be, and I will no doubt make such a discovery, since I do plan on getting a dog one day when I'm ready to hand over control of life, trudge round a muddy park first thing in the morning and spend a fortune on doggy daycare. But that's not quite yet (stock image) Then follows an elaborate explanation of the newly discovered appeal of dog ownership. As two relatively new dog owners told me the other day: 'When you get a dog, you are going to realise how much of your life has been wasted not having one.' That's as may be, and I will no doubt make such a discovery, since I do plan on getting a dog one day when I'm ready to hand over control of life, trudge round a muddy park first thing in the morning and spend a fortune on doggy daycare. But that's not quite yet. A new hairstyle has hit my specs appeal One of the unintended consequences of changing your hairstyle is the problem of your specs no longer suiting you. For someone who has an awful lot of spectacles reading glasses, short-distance glasses, prescription and non-prescription sunglasses the cost of replacing them all would be similar to shelling out for a short holiday. So I won't be doing that. But I've been surprised by the drastic effect that a fringe and a few inches lopped off has had. My beloved aviator-style glasses, which have stood me in good stead for decades, suddenly look most peculiar, while oversized sunnies make me a dead ringer for Ant in the Ant And Bee books of my childhood. Anyone who remembers them will know it's not a good look. Now it's ALWAYS brown in town Last week, I gave a talk at a conference for business owners. The subject was: Should You Dress For Success? I shared the odd thing I've picked up over the years, but I learnt something too. I had expected that in the crowd there would be fewer men wearing suits than a few years ago, and I was right. Last week, I gave a talk at a conference for business owners. The subject was: Should You Dress For Success? (stock image) The formal business suit was scarcer than a hummingbird in Trafalgar Square. But I hadn't caught up with the brown shoe thing. When did brown shoes become so popular? I still remember the old adage 'never trust a man in brown shoes', and though that's nonsense, most men wore black shoes at work. When I shared this with the driver ferrying me back to town, he said that he never wore brown shoes and always wore a suit and not so long ago would wear a chauffeur's cap as well. How times change. Slow death of the useful high street Our high street is on the turn. During various lockdowns it was a fantastic resource, with so much we needed available a few yards away, including a bookshop, a dry cleaner, a post office and an optician, along with food stores and a chemist. Now costs are soaring and many of the shops that sold something useful are being priced out and replaced by stores nobody needs. The dry cleaner is close to my heart, but they tell me the cost of hangers has risen 250 per cent due to supply chain issues from China, and their rent has been doubled. The shift from formal work clothes has damaged business and they think they will have to close. Please, please don't let them be replaced by another estate agent. Our high street is on the turn. During various lockdowns it was a fantastic resource, with so much we needed available a few yards away, including a bookshop, a dry cleaner, a post office and an optician, along with food stores and a chemist (stock image) We will miss these kings of fine dining Many of my most memorable meals over the past few decades have been in establishments run by Jeremy King and Chris Corbin, who have just lost the battle for ownership of their restaurants to Thailand's Minor Hotels Group. It scarcely bears thinking about. Corbin & King's Le Caprice was an essential 1980s hangout. The Ivy under their ownership was the go-to for the theatrical great and good. They had to sell both. Undeterred, the pair opened The Wolseley in Piccadilly and turned it into one of the great London dining spots of recent years. Many of my most memorable meals over the past few decades have been in establishments run by Jeremy King (left) and Chris Corbin (right), who have just lost the battle for ownership of their restaurants to Thailand's Minor Hotels Group They also ran brasseries like our local Soutine, where the staff pour me extra-large glasses of house white and serve the most delicious tarte tatin. Birthdays, celebrations, business meetings Jeremy and Chris always delivered. If they are no longer in control, I fear their much loved restaurants will change for the worse. Great restaurateurs are individuals, not chains, and none has been greater than this pair. A young mum has revealed her devastation over losing her soulmate who tragically drowned in front of her and their baby daughter after going for 'one last paddle' in a surfing competition. Jamie Civil, 35, died after competing on Aramoana Beach near Dunedin in New Zealand on March 26. He was regarded as one of the country's top wave riders. Tragedy struck when he entered the surf for an extra session after competing in the event, while his partner Courtney Morgan and their six-month-old daughter Lenni watched on. Courtney Morgan has been left devastated over the death of her partner Jamie Civil, 35, after a surfing competition in New Zealand's south. Jamie is pictured holding their daughter, Lenni Courtney said by the time lifeguards and doctors got to Jamie, he couldn't be saved The semi-professional surfer was regarded as one of New Zealand's best and was know for his love of huge waves Jamie was held underwater by the big surf, and by the time lifeguards and doctors got to him he couldn't be saved. Courtney has been posting pictures of the family on Instagram in memory of the times they shared following his death. She told FEMAIL Jamie's death has been a 'heavy load'. 'He was so special to us and his beauty should be shared, especially for our darling daughter,' she said. Courtney also revealed the proud dad couldn't wait to get Lenni on a surfboard. In one post, Courtney shared a picture of the trio on the beach and described their love as 'perfect'. 'I love you so much and I know you love us too, you made sure we knew it everyday,' she wrote. 'I was the happiest I've ever experienced in my life, with you and you were the same, we were perfect. The ultimate love. I will always love you, my darling heart.' Jamie, pictured with Lenni, has been described as having incredible talent while also remaining humble Jamie, Courtney and Lenni loved their beach lifestyle In another she said 'everything always made sense' when she was with Jamie. The waves were 'huge' on the day he died but the surfer was known for braving dangerous conditions and would often go in when no-one else dared. 'These were the conditions he lived for, was talented and experienced with and thrived in, making the tragedy so much harder for people to process,' a spokesperson for the local surfing community said. Other surfers have posted their own tributes to the 'legend' barrel-rider. 'I ran into Jamie a few times on my trips down south and was always blown away by his freakish tube riding skills and humble attitude,' one surfer said. While another thanked the 'legend' for all of his help over the years, labelling him 'one of the greats'. Courtney said 'everything always made sense' when she was with Jamie 'Last time I saw you were so happy surrounded by your beautiful family, could see you were embracing dad life and loving every minute,' another friend said. The community of Dunedin is reeling from the loss but also working to get behind Courtney and her daughter. Jamie was the sole wage-earner in the home which means Courtney will need to head back to work earlier than expected. New mum Courtney now needs to go back to work sooner than expected after Jamie's death A Give A Little page has been set up to take away the financial burden of paying for funeral expenses and to give the new mum some breathing room. The money will be used to help fund her modest living expenses until Courtney can get a job to provide for their young daughter. The Christmas of 2015 was supposed to be an exciting time for Lucy Sharp who was to enjoy one last stress-free holiday before starting high school. But on December 21 the 13-year-old student's world was shaken as she was diagnosed with life-threatening blood cancer Hodgkin's lymphoma. Lucy Sharp, from Auckland, New Zealand, told FEMAIL the only telltale symptom she experienced was a lump on the left side of her neck - which doctors initially thought was caused by a potential infection from a cat scratch. When recalling the diagnosis, Lucy, now 19, said: 'It was such a blur and I don't think I realised what was happening at the time.' While the cancer was caught early and treatment began two days after the prognosis, the ambitious teenager relapsed one year later in March 2017. Scroll down for video Lucy Sharp (pictured) was diagnosed with life-threatening hodgkin's lymphoma on December 21, 2015 at the age of 13 Lucy, from Auckland, New Zealand, told Daily Mail Australia the only telltale symptom she experienced was a lump on the left side of her neck which was the size of a $1 coin Recalling when she received the life-changing news, Lucy said: 'It was a normal day, we had gone into the hospital to get the results from my biopsy. 'I was with my mum and younger brother; I remember sitting in the hallway when this random doctor rushed into the room and then calls us in quickly. When the physician delivered the news that Lucy had cancer, it shocked the whole family. 'My mum burst into tears but I didn't understand the situation and what it meant for me,' she said. When the physician delivered the news that Lucy had cancer, it shocked the whole family. 'My mum burst into tears but I didn't understand the situation and what it meant for me,' she said The sinister lump on her neck was the size of a $1 coin and she didn't experience any pain when it was touched A biopsy determined the lump to be cancerous and a 'port' was inserted into the side of Lucy's ribcage for treatment the following day. The sinister lump on her neck was the size of a $1 coin and she didn't experience any pain when it was touched. On December 23 Lucy had her first round of chemotherapy which continued for two months until February 2016. 'I was really lucky the treatment got rid of the cancer quickly, but then I relapsed a year later,' she said. The first round of treatments Lucy experienced mild symptoms that didn't effect her health significantly, but the second time the side effects were far more severe. 'I lost my hair, I felt nauseous all the time and didn't have much energy; I'd have chemo then feel sick for two days,' she said. A biopsy determined the lump to be cancerous and a 'port' was inserted into the side of Lucy's ribcage for treatment. On December 23 Lucy had her first round of chemotherapy Based on statistics and medical research, the cause of the cancer is unknown and is rare in children but common among teenagers aged 15 or older. Lucy also doesn't have any family history of cancer. After she relapsed in 2017 she would often need to take days off of school to go to chemotherapy. Lucy said one of the 'hardest aspects' of living with cancer as a teenager was losing her hair and coping with how others treated her. 'I went to an all girls high school so I often heard rumours spread about me,' she said. 'The cancer itself never really effected my mental health in the moment, or even a year later, it was only a year or two ago from now that I started to comprehend what I went through.' Lucy said one of the 'hardest aspects' of living with cancer as a teenager was losing her hair and coping with how others treated her What is Hodgkin's Lymphoma? Hodgkin lymphoma is a rare form of cancer that starts in a type of white blood cells called lymphocytes. The disease begins in a lymph node, usually in the neck, then spreads through the lymphatic system from one group of lymph nodes to another. Hodgkin lymphoma represents roughly 0.5 percent of all cancers diagnosed in Australia. About 11 percent of all lymphomas are types of Hodgkin lymphoma, while the remainder are non-Hodgkin. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma may arise in lymph nodes anywhere in the body, whereas Hodgkin lymphoma typically begins in the upper body, such as the neck, chest or armpits. Hodgkin lymphoma is often diagnosed at an early stage and is therefore considered one of the most treatable cancers. Approximately 600 people in Australia are diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma every year, most commonly younger people aged 15 29 and older people over the age of 65. It is more common in men than women. Source: Lymphoma Australia Advertisement Lucy's doctor 'instantly knew' the cancer was back after glancing at her neck during a routine checkup. 'The doctor knew I had relapsed after I walked in the door, my neck just must've looked a bit different that day,' she said. Lucy had six surgeries in total and the second time round experienced a sense of deja vu. To get her through not but two grueling cancer treatments, Lucy often relied on a pair of bright pink socks covered in elephants to brighten her day. 'After treatment or surgery, I'd look down at my feet and smile seeing the socks,' she said. The socks ultimately acted as a distraction from the medical proceedings and brought a smile to her face. To get her through not but two gruelling cancer treatments, Lucy often relied on a pair of bright pink socks covered in elephants to brighten her day. Now celebrating her fifth year cancer-free, Lucy continues to support other patients through her not-for-profit organisation Socks For Smiles. Every year for Christmas the organisation sell fun socks to sick kids and with all proceeds going towards those in need. The small gesture will likely make a huge impact to teenagers currently battling similar diseases as Lucy once did. For more information on Hodgkin's lymphoma and other types of blood cancer, please visit Lymphoma Australia or the Australian Cancer Council. A woman who lived nearly a decade with a 'cool streak' under her thumbnail has revealed that the brown stripe turned out to be a rare form of cancer. Maria Sylvia, 25, from Virginia, first saw the mark when she was 16 years old and was led to believe it was a mole under her nail bed. Nine years later, she was diagnosed with subungual melanoma, a type of skin cancer that occurs under the nails. She shared her shocking story in a now-viral TikTok that has been viewed more than 19 million times in just two weeks. 'Me: Having this for 10 years, thinking it was a cool streak in my nail,' she captioned a picture of her thumb in the clip. 'It's cancer.' Scroll down for video Maria Sylvia, 25, from Virginia, revealed in an now-viral TikTok video that the 'cool streak' she had under her thumbnail for nearly a decade was cancer Sylvia was diagnosed with subungual melanoma, a rare type of skin cancer that occurs under the nails Sylvia shared a photo from December 2012, when she first noticed the streak, pointing out that it was fainter and she didn't think much of it Tens of thousands of viewers commented on her post, prompting her to share a series of follow-ups detailing her biopsy and diagnosis. Sylvia shared a photo from December 2012, when she first noticed the streak, pointing out that it was fainter and she didn't think much of it. She believes it got darker over the course of a year, though she admitted she doesn't really remember because it was so long ago. 'I had seen doctors. I was in and out of doctors' [offices] all the time. I was an athlete, so I was getting physicals every year,' she said. 'No one really noticed it until one time a doctor did notice it. 'This was probably circa 2014, and they were like, "Oh, that's odd, but you don't really fit the demographics, so if it just grows any bigger go and see a doctor." So, of course, by then, I am pretty sure that it already grew to its fullest extent.' Sylvia credited a friend with pushing her to get a biopsy done, saying she found out in late January that she had subungual melanoma Surgeons removed Sylvia's entire nail bed and the top of her thumb down to the bone and tendon on March 11, two months after her diagnosis Sylvia's test results showed that the cancer did not spread, and she considers herself lucky that she got it checked out when she did After it was confirmed that she didn't need to have her thumb amputated or require any further treatment, she had a skin graft on March 25 Sylvia noted that she 'didn't really have any issue' with the mark under her nail, which contributed to her delayed diagnosis. 'I didn't have any pain with it, so I just figured it was a mole because that's what they told me, that it was most likely a mole in my nailbed,' she said. Sylvia credited a friend with pushing her to get a biopsy done, saying she found out in late January that she had subungual melanoma. Only 0.07% to 3.5% of melanoma cases are subungual melanoma, according to WebMD. They are most often found in the thumb and the big toe, though they can be seen in other toes and fingers. Subungual melanoma can spread to other parts of the body and cause death. Sylvia shared photos of her thumb after her surgery and skin graft on Twitter Sylvia's skin graft was taken from her elbow during her most recent surgery Sylvia's arm was wrapped to ensure her thumb didn't move while it was healing Sylvia is still considered 'high risk' for skin cancer and will need checkups every three months for the next two years and then every six months for the remaining three years The oncologist who diagnosed Sylvia's subungual melanoma told her it was at stage 0, or in situ, meaning it had not grown deeper than the top layer of the skin. 'I was informed that this cancer can stay in situ (also known as stage 0) for 10-13 years before hitting stage 1,' she told Newsweek. 'I felt relief that I got it looked at when I did, but I knew there was more to come for getting rid of this cancer.' WHAT IS SUBUNGUAL MELANOMA? Subungual melanoma is a rare type of skin cancer that occurs in the skin under the nails. They are seen in only 0.07% to 3.5% melanoma cases in the world. In 75% to 90% of reported cases, they are found in the thumb and the big toe. However, they can be seen in other toes and fingers. The exact cause is unknown, but this type of melanoma differs from others because it doesn't have any connection to sun exposure. Subungual melanomas typically look like a brown-black discoloration in the nail bed. The discoloration can form a thin line or streak, or it can be irregularly shaped. Subungual melanoma can be painful and can be spread to other parts of the body and cause death. Source: WebMD Advertisement On March 11, surgeons at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, removed Sylvia's entire nail bed and the top of her thumb down to the bone and tendon. She shared photos of her thumb four days after the surgery on Twitter. Sylvia's test results showed that the cancer did not spread. She didn't need to have her thumb amputated or require any further treatment. However, she explained she is 'now deemed at high risk for having skin cancer' and will have to see her oncologist and dermatologist every three months for the next two years and then every six months for the remaining three years. On March 25, she received a skin graft, which she also shared photos of on Twitter. Sylvia's viral TikTok video caused panic for some viewers who had similar marks under their nails. While she noted that they were likely moles, she encouraged everyone to get checked out to be on the safe side. 'I think some people are afraid to confront the possibility of having cancer and facing their mortality,' she told Newsweek. 'The biggest thing I have urged is to put your mind at ease and follow through with seeing someone. 'If this is caught early, it is very curable, and having a wonky thumb for a month or two is better than not having one at all.' She added that she is 'very grateful' to her friend who had urged her to get a biopsy after reading an article with pictures of subungual melanoma cases. 'The best thing from this video going viral is that hopefully others will do the same if they observe a nail streak on someone they encounter,' she said. Princes Charles and William won't allow Prince Andrew to be involved in The Firm's future events, a royal expert has claimed. The Duke of York, 62, took centre stage at Prince Philip's memorial this week escorting the Queen to the front row of Westminster Abbey leaving the royal family 'dismayed'. It had been expected that the Dean of Westminster would take the Queen to her seat, with Andrew behind. But the shamed royal instead walked her right in front of live cameras. The prince has been forced to step back from public life over his association with the paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Earlier this month he paid millions to Virginia Giuffre, who had accused him of rape. He has consistently denied her allegations. Princes Charles and William won't allow Prince Andrew to be involved in The Firm's future events, a royal expert has claimed. The Duke of York, 62, took centre stage at Prince Philip's memorial this week escorting the Queen to the front row of Westminster Abbey leaving the royal family ' dismayed '. Insiders have claimed he'll use the opportunity as a springboard to support his mother at a Platinum Jubilee service at St Paul's Cathedral in June and is not bothered if 'public opinion is against him', However, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams has now suggested there is 'no way' William and Charles will accept Andrew's part in the celebrations. He told the Mirror: 'In terms of royal events, I don't expect we will see Prince Andrew appear in the near future - if ever again. 'He won't play any kind of a role in the Queen's Platinum Jubilee, of that I think we can be quite sure. 'Prince Charles and William will be totally apposed to it, it's a non-starter.' Earlier this week the Daily Mail revealed that senior royals had 'reluctantly' accepted Andrew would travel with the Queen to London because they live so close to each other. However, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams has now suggested there is 'no way' William and Charles will accept Andrew's part in the celebrations (pictured together) But they had hoped 'common sense' would prevail and that Andrew would not seek to play a prominent role in his first public appearance since he struck the out-of-court settlement with Epstein victim Mrs Giuffre, 38. A family source said that senior royals including Prince Charles and the Duke of Cambridge were 'dismayed' by events and that Andrew's decision to put himself 'front and centre' of the service had caused 'consternation', However, experts have also suggested walk with Andrew was the Queen's way of signalling it's 'ok' and that Her Majesty is 'very clearly stating that he has a role at family occasions'. Vanity Fair royal editor Katie Nichol said the Queen 'deliberately chose to have Andrew play such a prominent role' to show the public 'she still makes decisions'. Buckingham Palace told bankers a mysterious 750,000 gift to Prince Andrew was for his daughter Princess Beatrice's wedding. Pictured: Princess Beatrice and Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi at their wedding 'This was the Queen's way of showing two things; one, that the buck stops with her, and she makes the decisions, and secondly that she believes he's innocent. She made the point very, very clearly. 'But Charles and William were very aware of the perspective, of the optics of this 'Unfortunately, this picture [of Prince Andrew escorting the Queen] has overtaken what should have been a memorial to a great man.' The reports come as Prince Andrew has become embroiled in another scandal as Buckingham Palace told bankers a mysterious 750,000 gift to The Duke was for his daughter Princess Beatrice's wedding. The Daily Mail has obtained details of an astonishing phone call to his private secretary at the time deepening the riddle over the money. The Duchess of York and Princess Eugenie have also been named in the High Court as having received large amounts of cash. The extraordinary case involves an alleged fraudster who set up a scheme described in legal documents as 'apparent money laundering'. The Mail revealed yesterday how 77-year-old Turkish millionairess Nebahat Isbilen claims to have been scammed out of her fortune by businessman Selman Turk. She is suing him in the High Court over 40million she says is missing. She claims 1.1million of her money ended up with Andrew. He has repaid 750,000 but has not explained why it was paid into his account at royal bank Coutts in November 2019 in the first place Mrs Isbilen alleges she was tricked into giving the duke the money by Mr Turk, who she says falsely told her the payment was because Andrew had helped her obtain a passport. Now the Mail can reveal that the duke's former private secretary Amanda Thirsk gave the wedding explanation for the payment. Beatrice married Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in a private ceremony in Windsor in July 2020. A civil servant has revealed how he managed to travel more than 1,200 miles from London on a train in just 24 hours. Jo Kibble, who works for Ealing Council, wanted to see what the furthest point he could get from St Pancras in 24 hours, ending up in the southern Italian station of Bovo Marina. Six months ago the travel enthusiast did the same challenge instead by bus and ended up 260 miles from his London starting point in Morecambe, Lancashire - with much more impressive results the second time. Taking to Twitter he shared the step-by-step of his journey, with the 24-hours starting as soon as the first train departed London. He left St Pancras at 7.01am on Wednesday and arrived at Bova Marina - the southern most station in Italy - at 8am the next day. As Italy is an hour ahead of the UK - the total journey time was 23 hours and 59 minutes. Jo Kibble, who works for Ealing Council, wanted to see what the furthest point he could get from St Pancras (pictured) in 24 hours, ending up in the southern Italian station of Bovo Marina. He left St Pancras at 7.01am on Wednesday and arrived at Bova Marina - the southern most station in Italy - at 8am the next day. As Italy is an hour ahead of the UK - the total journey time was 23 hours and 59 minutes Jo, who describes himself as 'a timetables nerd' said he studied and researched the options for going east or south through Europe before planning the trip. He explained: 'Six months ago, I set out to find out how far I could get in 24 hours by bus from London #bus24. Today - the obvious sequel: #train24. What is the furthest point I can get from St Pancras in 24 hours? I think I know on paper, but there's some tight connections ahead 'Same ground rules as before: I'm finding the furthest station, as the crow flies, you can get to in 24 hours not necessarily the longest journey. With rail timetables in post-Covid flux, the answer could be different next week. And yes, obviously Turtle is coming along,' he added referring to his toy turtle. The first leg of his journey was 07.01 from St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord. Once there, he walked to Gare d'Est, where he got on the train to Strasbourg on the French-German border. 'The eastern high speed line out of Paris can probably claim to be Europe's fastest railway, as the world train speed record was set along here in 2007 (575km/h). We're going a bit more sedately through the Champagne region today,' he explained in a series of tweets. Taking to Twitter, Jo shared the step-by-step of his journey, with the 24-hours starting as soon as the first train departs. Above he shoed the final train times - although his last train was 5 minutes late With just 10 minutes to change trains, he then travelled from Strasbourg to Basel, in northwestern Switzerland. 'Strasbourg, bang on time. It was a tight connection, so this is exactly what I needed. Except of course the onward train is 10 minutes late. Could do with that not growing too much,' Jo added. Once in Basel, Jo said that he loved 'the station hall' 'with its big landscape paintings of the Alpine joys it is a gateway to' but added there was 'not much time to pause and enjoy today'. From Basel, he went to Zurich, also in Switzerland, where he changed trains again and travelled to Milan in northern Italy. 'These lovely new trains are called 'Giruno', which means 'buzzard' in Switzerland's fourth language, Romansch. We are a remarkable 22 carriages long, though we will dump half at the border,' he explained as he bordered the train in Basel. Once in Milan, he added: 'To be clear, St Pancras is a great station. Grand Central is a great station. Milano Centrale is The Great Station. Of no clear architectural style, and politically dubious, but it is a temple to travel'. He left St Pancras at 7.01am on Wednesday and arrived at Bova Marina - the southern most station in Italy - at 8am the next day. As Italy is an hour ahead of the UK - the total journey time was 23 hours and 59 minutes. He is pictured in Italy From Milan he travelled to Rome, arriving at 10.40pm, nearly 16 hours after he first set off. In Rome, he hopped on the sleeper train to Villa San Giovanni in Calabria. Despite admitting he 'hadnt expected much in the way of facilities on this train' he was served a 'little breakfast in bed, including a very decent espresso', as he speed along the Tyrrhenian coastline. In Villa San Giovanni, he could have travelled to Sicily on Europe's last remaining train-ferry but instead opted to keep travelling through mainland Italy. 'This is the point where I am going to disappoint a lot of people in my timeline. Despite appearances, I am not staying on the train to use Europes last train ferry, but getting off at the last mainland stop, Villa San Giovanni, to go further on this side of the straits,' he added. The total cost of the journey - before food and drink - was 330, including an Interrail pass 'Put simply, when you are up against the clock, being shunted on and off a ferry and sailing slowly across the Straits of Messina is inefficient time use. My 24hrs would be more than up by the time we got to the other side'. From Villa San Giovanni he travelled to Reggio di Calabria before a quick change to Bova Marina, in Calabria, 1220miles from St Pancras. 'Did it! 6 minutes late, 45 seconds to spare. Bova Marina, in Calabria, 1964.6km from St Pancras, 23hrs,59min,15sec. I think that is the furthest you can make it,' he said. 'It would be hard to find a more Italian scene than the forecourt of Bova Marina station. Fountain, tabacchi, pasticceria/bar, pink church with illuminated Madonna, some random old men hanging around chatting. I love it. Now - to the sea,' he wrote. Adding a philanthropic edge to the journey, he pledged to donate 20p per kilometre travelled to the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) in support of people living in Ukraine which came to a total of 393 - which he rounded up to an even 400. Speaking to the Independent about his journey, Jo explained: 'I have been starved of international travel for two years, and Europe is opening up again. Last year I sated my wanderlust by seeing how far I could get by bus from London in 24 hours, so the trains seemed an obvious follow up,' 'I also noticed it was the 50th birthday of the Interrail pass, which I have many happy memories of using in my youth, so it was fun to get one again.' 'I had to do a lot of spreadsheets, timetable wrangling and map measuring to come up with the eventual answer. And some back-up plans if the trains played up!' In total, he travelled through nine different European trains and five different countries UK, France, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. The total cost of the journey - before food and drink - was 330, including an Interrail pass, Thee Queen Mother 'would have approved of Kate Middleton' because she is 'the real deal,' a royal expert has claimed. Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond says The Duchess of Cambridge, 40, is 'shaping up to be to be the perfect future Queen'. Speaking to OK! Jennie explained how The Queen Mother, who died aged 101 in 2002, would have approved of her great-grandson's wife as she is 'gracious, elegant, committed and dutiful'. She explained: 'Everyone who spoke to the Queen Mother would say that she gave you the time of day. I say the same about Kate. Thee Queen Mother 'would have approved of Kate Middleton' because she is 'the real deal,' a royal expert has claimed. Kate is pictured in the Bahamas in March Jennie Bond explained how The Queen Mother (pictured in 1990), who died aged 101 in 2002, would have approved of her great-grandson's wife as she is 'gracious, elegant, committed and dutiful'. 'She gives the impression of being fully engaged and committed to any conversation or engagement, and the Queen Mother was notorious for that. She was so notorious for it, in fact, that she was late for everything!' Jennie added that Kate and William are similar and that they 'connect with young people in a way that's vital for the success and future of the crown' and have 'nailed monarchy cool'. Jennie's comments come as The Duchess of Cambridge was praised as 'confident' yet 'assertive' during her recent Caribbean tour with Prince William, with experts saying as she 'emerged as a future Queen' with as 'much talent for firm, calm leadership as the current one'. William and Kate's charm offensive mark the Queen 's Platinum Jubilee has been beset with controversy and helped reignite for republican calls in Jamaica for complete independence from Britain. The Duchess of Cambridge was 'confident' yet 'assertive' during her Caribbean tour, as she 'emerged as a future Queen' with as 'much talent for firm, calm leadership as the current one', a body language expert has claimed However throughout the tour, body language expert Judi James said the mother-of-three had appeared as a Queen-in-waiting. Judi explained: 'William and Kate's professional and emotional double-act has probably never looked stronger than it does on this tour and it is a testament to both of them that Kate's signals of power and signs of leadership have been revealed openly and with what looks like a welcome response from her husband.' Speaking to FEMAIL, the expert explained how the Duchess has taken the lead on the international trip, proving herself to be 'much more than a mere consort' to the Duke, 39. Judi explained Kate was delightful in her interactions with children on the tour showing herself as a Queen in waiting Judi explained: 'It would be hard to over-emphasise the version of Kate we have been seeing during this royal tour and how vital her impact is going to be on the dynamic of the Firm in the future. 'The 'Waitey Katie' tag has taken a long time to shrug off, as have the suggestions that Kate is bland and rather passive. 'Kate has been a slow mover in terms of royal profile and positioning, adopting a cautious, 'steady as she goes' approach to her role, avoiding change and drama, rather than rocking the royal boat but the body language of both Kate and William on this tour appears to show how they both finally recognise that she can now be launched as her fun, daring, extrovert and even seriously flirtatious self. 'Like everything about Kate, the signs have been relatively subtle but here's what we are now being informed via non-verbal signals about the woman who will one day be Queen.' Advertisement She swapped Royalty for riches but Autumn Phillips has, until now, kept her romance with a wealthy property tycoon out of the spotlight. Our exclusive pictures are the first to show the former wife of Peter Phillips, the Queen's eldest grandchild, with her new love Donal Mulryan, an Irish construction company boss who boasts that he has been behind more than 5 billion of property schemes. The couple, who have been dating since last year, were photographed with Savannah, 11, and Isla, 10, her two daughters with Peter, on a Mother's Day outing to the Cirencester horse trials. Autumn appeared elegant yet casual in a smart green jacket, black skinny jeans and brown checked flat cap for the outing, while Donal wrapped up in a brown puffer jacket. Beneath the jacket he appeared to be smartly dressed in a blue shirt with chino trousers. Autumn's eldest daughter Savannah was comfortable in a black puffer jacket, leggings and a cool red cap, while Isla opted for ripped jeans, a silver cap and a fluorescent pink hoodie. Our exclusive pictures are the first to show Autumn, the former wife of Peter Phillips (the Queen's eldest grandchild), with her new love Donal Mulryan, an Irish construction company boss. The couple, who have been dating since last year, were photographed with Isla and Savannah, her two daughters with Peter, on a Mother's Day outing to the Cirencester horse trials. Also pictured, right, is Mia, one of Zara Tindall's children The couple watched the girls' aunt, Zara, compete on her gelding Class Affair. In his 30-year career, 52-year-old London-based property magnate Donal (above with Autumn) has built 6 million sq ft of hotel, residential and commercial property in the UK Autumn (above with Donal) continues to live on Princess Anne's Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire five minutes from Cirencester Park which hosted the horse trials so she can co-parent 11-year-old Savannah and ten-year-old Isla with Peter During the event, the foursome watched the girls' aunt, Zara Tindall, compete on her gelding Class Affair. They were joined by Zara's husband Mike and his three children, Mia, Lena and Lucas, who played happily while their mother competed. 'It looked like a happy family day out,' said an onlooker. 'Autumn and Donal were very relaxed about being seen together and totally focused on enjoying a couple of hours watching the horses and letting the children enjoy themselves.' The former wife of Peter Phillips , the Queen 's eldest grandchild, was snapped for the first time with her new love Donal Mulryan, an Irish construction company boss who boasts that he has been behind more than 5 billion of property schemes, on a Mother's Day outing to the Cirencester horse trials The couple, who have been dating since last year, were photographed with Savannah, 11, and Isla, 10, her two daughters with Peter, with the images, as well as Autumn's niece Mia Tindall, eight (pictured) Autumn appeared in high spirits during the outing with Donal, and could be seen sharing a laugh with her boyfriend and daughters while watching Zara compete. Meanwhile she playfully tugged on Donal's hair, while he appeared to be enjoying a bottle of beer. Autumn and Philip's children also appeared relaxed and familial with Donal - with Isla riding his shoulders during the event and resting her phone atop his head. Body language expert Judi James gave insight, saying: 'Donals relationship intentions look clear from his body language here. As he pays Autumn flattering and rather intense eye-attention to illustrate what looks like his attraction and affection for her he also suggest hes more than filling the role of relaxed step-dad to her daughters, wearing one on his shoulders while the other smiles happily beside him. 'The trio look so comfortable and bonded here that it almost looks as though it is Donal who is the dad introducing his girls to their future step-mum. The way Autumns younger daughter sits resting her phone on Donals head as her legs dangle over his torso suggests this kind of fun behaviour is the norm between them and the way Donal wraps his arms around her feet and clasps his hands comfortably across his belly while gazing at Autumn shows he is more than used to playing with Autumns daughters while still showing Autumn some warm attention. In step-parent terms it looks like a perfect display, with Donal actually taking care of the children here while still only having eyes for their mother. Autumn and Philip's children also appeared relaxed and familial with Donal - with Isla apparently chatting to her mother's boyfriend alongside her cousin Lena Tindall (right) During the outing, Donal could be seen chatting with Autumn's former brother-in-law Mike Tindall and his daughter Lena (pictured) Mike's youngest daughter Lena could be seen pushing her father's cap down into his face, while he looked after one-year-old Lucas in a pram The body language expert revealed how Autumn appeared a 'little less relaxed' about her PDAs with Donal, with 'her hat brim pulled over her eyes' (pictured) Pointing to Autumn's hand clasped to her torso, the body language expert said the royal appeared 'less relaxed' with her boyfriend (pictured) The body language expert said the images revealed how Donal, Autumn and her girls looked like 'a relaxed and happily bonded family unit' (left, the couple with Mia and Savannah, and right, Autumn with her niece Mia) The couple, who are believed to have known each other for 15 years, walked along side-by-side holding hands during the outing 'With her hat brim pulled over her eyes and her rather tight hand clasp in front of her own torso, Autumn looks a little less relaxed about the PDA with Donal. She does of course look smitten, smiling happily and bending her knees to lean back in a way of reacting that presumably flatters his as he speaks to her, but her response to his intense gaze is to look away as she laughs. 'There is a very active signal of her affection later though, when we can see her reaching up to playfully and tenderly touch his hair in a more intimate tie-sign gesture. 'The key message from these poses though is that Donal, Autumn and her girls look like a relaxed and happily bonded family unit. Autumns body language with Peter Philips has looked totally amicable in public too, suggesting that, along with both Autumn and Peters low-drama and discreet displays, this might be an as amicable-looking divorce and re-partnering as Peters mother Anne managed with her ex Mark Philips.' Mulryan is close friends with Prince Albert of Monaco, having lived in the principality with his socialite wife Louise before they split several years ago. In his 30-year career, the 52-year-old London-based property magnate has built 6 million sq ft of hotel, residential and commercial property in the UK. Princess Anne's son Peter, 44, and Montreal-born Autumn, 43, announced in February 2020 that they were planning to divorce after 12 years of marriage Autumn continues to live on Princess Anne's Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire five minutes from Cirencester Park which hosted the horse trials so she can co-parent 11-year-old Savannah and ten-year-old Isla with Peter He has known Autumn for more than 15 years, and their relationship was first reported last July. A close friend of Autumn confirmed the relationship last year, saying: Autumn and Donal have been friends for more than 15 years. They are both single people. Donal has been separated from his wife for two years and is in the process of divorce. Donal, who has worked in the property industry for 25 years, also set up West Properties - which focuses on high-end development projects - in 2002 and real estate investment firm Rockwell in 2015. The friends said: Donal can certainly treat her like a princess.' Montreal-born Autumn Kelly was a management consultant when she met Phillips at the 2003 Canadian Grand Prix. Mulryan, who boasts that he has been behind more than 5 billion of property schemes, is close friends with Prince Albert of Monaco, having lived in the principality with his socialite wife Louise before they split several years ago (pictured: Donal and Louise) At the time, he was working for the Williams Formula 1 team. She is said not to have known until six weeks later, when she saw him on television, that he was the Queens grandson. She then moved to Britain and married Phillips in 2008 in a ceremony at St Georges Chapel, Windsor, that caused controversy because the couple sold the photographic rights to Hello! magazine for a reported 500,000. However, they began living apart after their estrangement in 2019. However Princess Anne's son Peter, 44, and Montreal-born Autumn, 43, announced in February 2020 that they were planning to divorce after 12 years of marriage. The split was formally settled last June. Autumn continues to live on Princess Anne's Gatcombe Park estate in Gloucestershire five minutes from Cirencester Park which hosted the horse trials so she can co-parent 11-year-old Savannah and ten-year-old Isla with Peter. The breakdown of Autumn and Peter's marriage was considered as particularly painful for the Queen, who enjoys a close relationship with her grandson's wife. The Queen's grandson reportedly introduced his new partner to the Queen following a shooting party which was held at Windsor in January Last year a spokesman for Mr Phillips confirmed Ms Wallace had accompanied him to the joint christening of Zara and Mike Tindall's son Last year an unnamed friend of the couple told the Sun: 'Autumn is a favourite of the Queen and I'm sure Her Majesty will be very upset by this as well. It's the last thing she needs after all her recent troubles and you get the feeling that the Royal Family is falling apart a little bit.' Peter has enjoyed a decidedly more low-key life than his cousins Prince William and Prince Harry that started with his mother Princess Anne's decision not to give him and his younger sister Zara, now married to Mike Tindall, any royal titles. In March last year, it was reported that Peter had driven to Aberdeenshire from Gloucestershire to see mother-of-two Lindsay Wallace, 40, a close friend of his sister Zara who knows them both from their 40,000-a-year boarding school. Furious locals called the police when Peter appeared at Wallace's 475,000 home in the village of St Cyrus near Montrose. Lindsay has also separated from her spouse, but it is not known when the pair started seeing each other. The royal said the trip to Scotland was made as a marketing consultant for company XF Medical, set up last June to provide rapid Covid tests and antibody tests for businesses. Peter has denied they are a couple. Peter is reportedly 'besotted' with Lindsay, who he has known for 'quite some time' having been three years above her at private boarding school. Peter, who has enjoyed a decidedly more low-key life than his cousins Prince William and Prince Harry, was joined by his daughters Savannah and Isla at Prince Philip's memorial last week It is understood Ms Wallace and Mr Phillips grew close after spending time together following the breakdown of both of their marriages. The couple appear to be serious - with a spokesman for Mr Phillips confirming last year Ms Wallace had accompanied him to the joint christening of Zara and Mike Tindall's son, Lucas, and Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank's son in August. And in January, it was reported Peter had introduced his girlfriend to his grandmother. The father-of-two reportedly introduced his new partner Lindsay to Her Majesty following a shooting party which was held at Windsor. A source told The Sun: 'It was a very warm meeting and the Queen was clearly delighted to meet someone who makes Peter so happy.' They added: 'It may still be early days but Peter wanted his grandmother to see he was happy. 'It is a clear sign that Lindsay has now been firmly welcomed into The Firm and a major first step if they were to ever choose to get married.' A row has broken out over new laws designed to provide people with Downs syndrome better access to healthcare, housing and education. Campaigners including parents of children with the condition have criticised the legislation, which was approved on Friday, branding it discriminatory. The parliamentary Bill, spearheaded by Tory MP Dr Liam Fox, received its final reading in the House of Lords and will now go forward for Royal Assent to become The Down Syndrome Act. It will essentially ringfence the 47,000 people in the UK with Downs as a group that warrants special provisions, distinct from other learning disabilities. Harry Cartmill, right, from Birmingham has Down's syndrome. His mother Ramandeep Kaur, not pictured, said he is concerned the new law will provide advantages for his son that will not be available for his son's friend Joey Unwin, 25, pictured left, who has a different set of learning difficulties Yet in a strongly worded statement issued to The Mail on Sunday, campaigner Rosa Monckton, whose daughter has Downs syndrome, warns that a Bill just for people with Downs syndrome, which excludes everyone else with a learning disability, is another form of discrimination. She adds: This is precisely why when I started the charity, Team Domenica, which is named after my daughter, I was clear that it should be for all young adults with learning disabilities, not just those with Downs syndrome. Former International Trade Secretary Dr Fox defended the Bill, saying: Its there to ensure that people with Downs syndrome get what they are entitled to, because for too many that doesnt happen. The authors of the Bill say that people with Downs face specific challenges. These include increased risk from respiratory infections such as Covid, congenital heart problems which affect about half of all children born with the condition and a greater risk of early death than people with other learning disabilities. But critics argue that any change to the law should protect the rights of all people with learning disabilities, not just those with Downs. Carol Boys, chief executive of the Downs Syndrome Association, said: We are concerned about creating hierarchies of people with learning disabilities. We would have liked to see the Bill widened to include other people with learning disabilities. They also question whether it will provide effective support. Dr Liam Fox, pictured, has steered The Down's Syndrome bill through parliament. It is currently waiting for Royal assent. Some disability campaigners have said the ring fencing of people with Down's syndrome discriminates against others who have different learning disabilities Mrs Monckton says: I dont doubt it has good intentions, but the Bill consists merely of guidance, telling statutory bodies to have due regard of what steps they should take. There is no guarantee of provision. Legislation already exists providing for the needs of all those with learning disabilities, but councils all too frequently fail to meet those statutory requirements. That is the real problem which needs addressing. Other parents of children with learning disabilities echoed her fears. Ramandeep Kaur, 47, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham, whose teenage son Harry has Downs, says: I worry that Harry is now going to be put on a pedestal. His friend Joey has several learning disabilities, but doesnt have Downs syndrome. It would be incredibly unfair if Harry suddenly got preferential treatment. Joeys father Stephen Unwin, 62, from London, agrees: I know families with children with Downs syndrome and we are all worried this Bill will create a double standard in how people with learning disabilities are cared for. Joey, 25, is unable to talk and sufferers from epilepsy, which became more severe in his teenage years when his father battled with his local authorities to provide a place at a special secondary school. Joey now lives in a home with dedicated care workers, but evidence still has to be provided to a review board every year to make sure he keeps his place. Although Stephen says his sons needs are met for the time being, he worries that this might not be the case if his condition were to deteriorate. He recalls just how difficult it was to move Joey into special accommodation when his epilepsy became a serious problem, saying: I had to shock the local authority into action by telling them, if you dont put him somewhere with round-the-clock care, he might suffer a seizure when theres no one around to help, and hell die. Stephen fears that offering special support to people with Downs syndrome will shrink the Governments budget for other learning disabilities, potentially putting his sons health at risk. Much like Joey, Harrys biggest problem is difficulty speaking, and he has been seeing a speech therapist his entire life. The 14-year-old also goes to a school for children with special needs. While Harry currently receives the care he requires, this is thanks to constant vigilance from Ramandeep. The bill passed the House of Lords on Friday and is now awaiting Royal assent A couple of years ago, the local authority reduced Harrys access to speech therapy from weekly to just once a month, and his mother had to explain that without more support, his speech simply wouldnt develop. Despite this, she feels her son should not get preferential treatment over his friends with other learning disabilities. She says: Although Harry doesnt know about the Bill, I think he would be really upset if he realised that he was getting support that his friends who dont have Downs syndrome arent getting. He sees no difference between himself and his friends. However, Dr Fox believes that rather than excluding people with other learning disabilities, the new law will open the door to all people with learning difficulties receiving the support they are entitled to. He adds: I hope [the Bill] will provide a mechanism by which we can scrutinise services and how theyre delivered... and improve the lot of everybody. During its time in the Commons, the Bill received cross-party support and has been backed by 90 disability organisations across the country, including one of the largest, Mencap. People with Downs syndrome are all individuals, but they have such specific health and learning needs and its vital that these are recognised, said Rachael Ross, from Hinton Daubney, near Portsmouth, whose son Max, 17, has the disability. She and her husband Ken are part of the National Down Syndrome Policy Group, authors of the Bill. It makes the point that the life expectancy of people with Downs has improved dramatically over the past 50 years, increasing from 13 years in the 1960s to 58 today. This means many outlive their parents and are therefore reliant on public authorities to support them in the absence of family members. The legislation will now be open to public consultation to hammer out the details. Dr Fox says: Provision is patchy. In some parts of the country medical care will be better than in others. In that sense, its about ensuring everybody is levelled up and gets the best. Sleep paralysis could be far more common than previously thought. The condition in which sufferers are conscious but unable to move or speak as they fall asleep and wake up ranked third, behind insomnia and sleep apnoea, among Google searches for help with sleep problems compiled from 60 countries. It had been thought that only eight per cent of the UK population were affected. Experts believe it can be caused by irregular sleep and stress. Last year, a number of British sleep experts warned that the pandemic was triggering a rise in those suffering with the condition. A number of British sleep experts warned that the pandemic was triggering a rise in those suffering insomnia Kidney patients lack home care Almost half of cancer patients dont access vital support services such as psychological therapy and free taxis to hospital appointments, because they dont know about them, a survey has found. To help remedy this the Richard Dimbleby Cancer Fund, who carried out the survey, has provuides a free, simple to use, online directory of cancer support services, at cancercaremap.org. Fund chairman Jonathan Dimbleby said: After cancer treatment, you almost always need support. NHS doctors will use artificial intelligence to spot the early signs of bowel cancer in a UK trial. More than 2,000 people will undergo a colonoscopy in the trial at nine hospitals, where a camera inserted in the bowel helps doctors to spot pre-cancerous tissue called polyps. But these images will then undergo further scrutiny from the sophisticated computer program to check what may have been missed. Early studies have shown that the technology, designed by medical device-maker Medtronic, misses far fewer polyps than the human eye. Finding polyps is crucial to preventing the spread of bowel cancer, which kills more than 16,000 Britons a year. NHS doctors will use artificial intelligence to spot the early signs of bowel cancer in a UK trial Thousands of Britons with kidney failure are being denied the chance to have lifesaving treatment at home, according to a report. About 68,000 people suffer kidney failure, which leaves the body unable to remove waste products from blood. They rely on dialysis, either in hospital or at home, which is a device that cleans the blood, taking about fours hours a time, three times a week. In some parts of the UK just one patient in 25 is offered dialysis at home, compared with a third of patients in other areas, according to NHS data. The locations were not revealed. Patient advocate Maddy Warren, who co-wrote the report for medical company Quanta Dialysis, says: Relying on hospital dialysis can prevent people from getting a job, seeing family and enjoying life. Sarah-Jane Kirkaldy never expected the treatment for her illness would be worse than the disease itself or that a simple test could have saved her from its life-threatening side effects. The 47-year-old IT manager from Wokingham was diagnosed with the painful bowel condition Crohns disease in 2007, and struggled to find any relief with standard medication. Then, in 2009, her gastroenterologist suggested a daily dose of the immune-suppressing drug azathioprine to control inflammation in her guts. A couple of weeks after I started taking it I was in my car, on the motorway, and started to feel drunk, says Sarah-Jane. I felt dreadful, as if I was really spaced out and bleary-eyed. I knew something wasnt right, but put it down to being tired. The simple test, which involves taking either a blood sample or a swab from the mouth, tells doctors if the drug will work and whether the patient will develop side effects, based on their genes Roughly one million prescriptions for azathioprine are written every year, but in about one in ten patients it causes a potentially fatal side effect when the drug kills off the bodys infection-fighting white blood cells and blood pressure falls dangerously low, known as septic shock. The next day, Sarah-Jane had a call from her GP and was told to stop taking the pills. She says: The blood tests Id been having since starting treatment showed my white blood cell count had plummeted and I was in desperate need of a blood transfusion. She was admitted to the Royal Berkshire Hospital, where she stayed for two weeks and received three blood transfusions. Two weeks after she was discharged, Sarah-Jane woke one morning to find her skin covered in dark dots. She says: I had rapid heart palpitations, a rocketing temperature and the spaced-out feeling was back again. I called the doctor, who ordered me to go straight to A&E. She had developed pneumonia and sepsis the early stage of sceptic shock where patches of skin look blue and bruised and her white blood cells had dropped to dangerously low levels. She adds: My mother gasped in horror when she saw a flash of my skin through the hospital gown I was purple all over. Sarah-Jane spent two days in intensive care and a further two weeks on a ward until transfusions eventually stabilised her condition. Last year Sarah-Jane took part in a trial that confirmed she was vulnerable to terrible side effects from azathioprine. Dr Tariq Ahmad, a consultant gastroenterologist at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, enrolled her in a study aiming to spot genetic vulnerability to side effects from drugs. He explained there was a fault in my DNA that meant my body couldnt process the drug, says Sarah-Jane. If a test [to find the fault] was available to everyone before theyre given the drug, it would be fantastic. Now experts are calling for exactly this. In a report published by the British Pharmacological Society and the Royal College of Physicians, doctors from 26 medical specialities called for DNA tests to be available to every patient before they take a high-risk drug. Scientists can examine a patient's DNA to see if they are likely to suffer an adverse reaction to common treatments The simple test, which involves taking either a blood sample or a swab from the mouth, tells doctors if the drug will work and whether the patient will develop side effects, based on their genes. Professor Sir Munir Pirmohamed, NHS chair of pharmacogenetics at the University of Liverpool and co-author of the report, told The Mail on Sunday that the results could be analysed in 20 minutes at a cost of just 140 per patient. Research shows that there are 40 genes that are most crucial in determining how people react to drugs, says Prof Pirmohamed. One test allows us to spot the telltale problems with these genes. A staggering one million people in England are admitted to hospital each year due to adverse drug reactions, according to experts at the University of Liverpool. But genetic tests to determine risk are available only in specific circumstances. Since 2020, NHS cancer patients prescribed the chemotherapy drug capecitabine have been offered a test for a genetic variation found in up to eight per cent of people which stops the liver being able to expel excess amounts of the drug. Patients with HIV who are prescribed the antiretroviral drug abacavir are also screened for a gene that puts them at risk of potentially fatal allergic reaction. But between 40 and 50 of the most commonly taken medicines, from antibiotics to antidepressants, can have disastrous consequences for someone with a particular genetic make-up, says the report. The problem can lie with enzymes in the liver that process a medication before it gets to work in the body. Specific genes carry instructions for making these enzymes. But genetic variations mean that some people make too much of the enzyme, others too little. The result it that some people use up too much of a drug, while others cannot process it at all. Experts say many of these people have potentially risky variations in genes CYP2D6 and CYP2C19, which govern the way the body handles many common medications. Toxic effects of the painkiller codeine have been linked to CYP2D6 with those with a mutation processing an unusually large amount of the drug, leading to side effects such as dangerously shallow breathing. Problems with blood-thinning drug clopidogrel are linked to mutations of CYP2D6 and CYP2C19. The medication is given to heart-attack patients, but studies estimate as many as one in five may have the genetic fault that means it has little to no effect. It is suggested that a test to spot the mutation could prevent roughly 100,000 strokes each year. Patients with mutations in another gene, called mt-RNR1, who are given the antibiotic gentamicin to treat bacterial infections, for example, can suffer liver damage, hearing loss and balance problems. Routine screening for the genetic fault could avert about 180 cases of deafness every year in the UK alone, according to a report in the British Medical Journal. Experts say DNA tests may also help patients with genetic resistance to painkillers and those with anxiety and depression half of whom fail to respond to antidepressants. Prof Pirmohamed believes his goal genetic tests for every patient may become a reality soon. He says: Theres a Bill making its way through the US Congress that is likely to make it law for doctors to offer these tests. We are usually five to ten years behind the US when it comes to implementing technology like this. Why not be proactive for a change, and do it before everyone else? Gordon Ramsay's Future Food Stars BBC 1, Thursday Rating: Open House: The Great British Sex Experiment Channel 4, Friday Rating: Gordon Ramsays latest reality competition show, Gordon Ramsays Future Food Stars, opens with him jumping from a helicopter into the sea and swimming to the Cornwall beach where the 12 contestants have gathered. If anyone knows why, theyre not saying. My only hope is that the BBC doesnt insist all cookery shows now begin like this, as Id fear for Mary Berry, I truly would. The basic concept here is not dissimilar to The Apprentice, as it is exactly The Apprentice with added stag-do elements. Gordon Ramsay's (above, with contestants) new reality show is not dissimilar to The Apprentice with added stag-do elements The contestants are all food entrepreneurs vegan bakers, chutney-makers, that kind of thing and, as Ramsay explains, while dripping all over the place, at the end of the series he will be investing 150,000 OF MY OWN MONEY in one of them. So lets get cooking. No, lets not. Hold up. Put down that frying pan. Desist with that knife. Untie that apron. Lets see them all jump off a cliff into the sea first. There is, at least, an explanation here. Its: I want to see what you are really made of. And: If Im going to take a leap of faith in you, then you have to do the same for me, literally. The cliff is high, the rocks are jagged beneath, and personally? If someone is going to sell me a taco, for example, Id need to be totally sure theyve got this. Wouldnt you? The contestants were then divided into three teams, and each had to run a food shack on Newquay beach. The winners, they were told, would be the ones who made the most profit and, at the end, one person would be going home. (In my minds eye I can see Alan Sugar bristling with fury. This is my show!) There are, of course, squabbles. Someone throws a tantrum about mushrooms. Taco dressing ends up all over the floor. Ramsay chastises one team for not having tasted their dish, which may be more of a prerequisite for decent cooking than jumping from a high cliff, but I dont know. Actually, the biggest take-away from this opening episode was that you can now charge 8 for a toastie. And to think Ive been giving them away in this house for as long as anyone can remember. Im not sure Ill get away with 8, but maybe 5? The contestants then gather at one of Ramsays restaurants, where he grills them and the winners are revealed. It is The Apprentice, but I preferred it to The Apprentice as the contestants arent yet crazed. No one has yet said Everything I touch turns to sold or has vowed to give 120 per cent. Theyre actually people you might know. Meanwhile, Ive no idea what next weeks challenge will involve, but if it doesnt include a parachute jump I will be sorely disappointed. Would you buy noodles from anyone who hadnt parachute-jumped? Thought not. Open House: The Great Sex Experiment is couched as science, although its not like the science we did at school. If it had been, we might have shown more interest. This experiment wants to find out if its possible to open up your relationship without harming it, and whether we can thrive without monogamy. There is no mention of the periodic table. There isnt a Bunsen burner in sight. Instead, its a matter of threesomes and group sex. Because its that kind of science. First up in Open House: The Great Sex Experiment were Mady and Nathan (above), sweethearts from Wales who wanted to include another woman in their relationship The deal is that couples travel to a retreat where the other guests are sexually liberated singles who they can invite to spend the night with them. (But only in the interests of science.) There is also a relationship expert on hand, Dr Lori Beth, who says things like Jealousy is a very common emotion, which is strange, as Id never heard of it. She also introduces games involving whipped cream, so Im guessing shes more fun to be around than your own doctor. (Although I cant say for sure, obviously.) First up were Mady and Nathan, sweethearts from Wales who wanted to include another woman in their relationship. If they had a reason beyond fulfilling a sexual fantasy, I did not pick up on it. I was minded to ask if theyd missed lunch. That can do it. Whenever I feel like a threesome, its usually that. Their first night with Precious was not wholly successful. I felt like a spare part, sulked Nathan the next day. The second night, with Grace, was better. Its all filmed. Its dark, but you can see. And hear. But its educative, remember. And science, albeit of the kind that seems to involve a ton of alcohol. Next were Danielle and John, married for 16 years and with four children. No one said: Dont do this to your kids, just go home. They were after an orgy sorry, I think they were testing boundaries or something but Dr Lori Beth said that because they had trust issues, theyd just have to kiss other people first, scientifically. I dont know what other experts were to hand but I hope there was one to help them look people in the eye now the show is going out. Otherwise, how is that done? How? A Vaughan Williams Anthology Naxos, out Friday Rating: This year marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Ralph Vaughan Williams. He was a slow starter he was almost 30 before his first totally memorable piece emerged: the enchanting song Linden Lea, to words by the Dorset poet William Barnes. He had endless hang-ups about technical stuff, especially his ability to orchestrate, and destroyed much of his early music. It wasnt until 1908 and a trip to Paris to study with Ravel, plus constant attention from his friend Gustav Holst, that he got the self-confidence necessary to produce some extraordinary masterpieces. Ralph Vaughan Williams (above) was a slow starter he was almost 30 before his first totally memorable piece emerged But even that took time. A Sea Symphony was begun in 1903 but not completed until 1909. The stunningly beautiful Fantasia On A Theme By Thomas Tallis was first performed in 1910, but he was still fiddling around with it nine years later. So, too, The Lark Ascending from 1914 to 1920. All of these are to be found in this excellent set. In later life he lived to be 85, composing to the very end he became prolific. Perhaps too much so. Listening to the more than 30 pieces in this anthology reminds me of what was said about Beethoven: consistency of achievement is the hallmark of mediocrity. Thomas Beecham, a great admirer of the Tallis Variations, once cruelly observed what a shame it was that Vaughan Williams didnt see fit to include a theme by Tallis in all his music. Listening to some of this stuff, its hard not to sympathise. But there are also things here worthy of more attention than they get. For instance, his early Norfolk Rhapsody No 1, Toward The Unknown Region for chorus and orchestra, and his string quartets and quintet. These recordings, set down between 1993 and 2015, all sound good, and there isnt a dud performance among them. If you agree with me that 2022 is the year to dig deeper into Vaughan Williams, warts and all, this anthology is a fine way to do it. Ed Sheeran Royal Albert Hall, London Touring until July 1 Rating: Father John Misty Chloe And The Next 20th Century Out Friday Rating: The Albert Hall is not the only famous London stage to welcome Ed Sheeran lately. Hes also been in the High Court, defending his 2017 hit Shape Of You against allegations of plagiarism. The case has been quite an eye-opener. Weve discovered that Shape Of You makes 5 million a year, and Sheeran considers it a failure if a song takes more than two hours to write. So, 25 million for two hours graft? Do put your son in the studio, Mrs Worthington. With a stadium tour about to start, Sheeran could have skipped this benefit for Teenage Cancer Trust. Top marks for altruism, then but not, alas, for artistry. Rather than bring the band that will be on the tour, Ed Sheeran (above) performs alone with his acoustic guitar, laying down basic looped beats Rather than bring the band that will be on the tour, he performs alone with his acoustic guitar, laying down basic looped beats. Once this was refreshing; now it feels as if the loops have been with us for about ten years. A slick video just leaves the music looking amateurish. Only his latest hits, Bad Habits and Shivers, are Sheeran at his effortless best. Father John Misty (Josh Tillman) is back with his fifth album and its an instant classic. He gives the great tradition of bittersweet pop a twist, setting tart contemporary lyrics to the sound of a more innocent age the 1940s. Father John Misty (Josh Tillman, above) gives the great tradition of bittersweet pop a twist in his latest album: Chloe And The Next 20th Century The sweeping strings, swinging horns and swooning melodies make you want to head straight for the nearest supper club and say Play Misty for me. In the magical Kiss Me (I Loved You), Tillman has written his masterpiece. A Life Of Picasso Vol IV: The Minotaur Years John Richardson Jonathan Cape 35 Rating: Anyone planning on writing a very long book in late middle age is embarking on a race against time. John Richardson started work on his Life Of Pablo Picasso in 1980, when he was 56. The first volume which ended with Picasso aged 25 was finally published in 1991, when Richardson himself was 67. Volume II appeared in 1996, and Volume III in 2007. By now, the total number of pages was 1,500, but Picasso had only reached his 50th birthday. Richardson, on the other hand, was 83. Picasso (above) was always manically competitive, so I (Craig Brown) imagine he would be delighted to have given his biographer the slip By 2016, Richardson was employing three assistants to help him with writing and research, but this was a race he could never win. He died, at the grand old age of 95, in 2019. Three years on, the volume he was working on has at last appeared. Half the length of the others, it comes to an end in 1943, a full 30 years before Picassos death. Picasso was always manically competitive, so I imagine he would be delighted to have given his biographer the slip, particularly as Richardson unwittingly portrays him as a monster of cruelty who delighted in the suffering of the many women he conquered, not least his mistress, Dora Maar, best known as the model for his Weeping Woman. Picassos art tended to thrive on the dark side, is his conclusion to what is now his final volume. John Richardson portrays Picasso as a monster of cruelty who delighted in the suffering of women, including mistress Dora Maar, the model for his Weeping Woman (above) He had destroyed Dora, beaten her to bits and cut her up in paint. He would tell Francoise [Gilot, another lover] that he had never loved Dora. He had sacrificed her on the altar of his art. Her tears and suffering had galvanised his work. In the previous volume, The Triumphant Years, Picasso married a Russian dancer called Olga, even though his tough old mother had tried to warn her off with the words: I dont believe any woman would be happy with my son hes available for himself but for no one else. Nearly ten years into their marriage, Picasso a habitual user of brothels began an affair with a pretty 17-year-old called Marie-Therese, who was a willing initiate into his S&M world. The women in his life were expected to read the Marquis de Sade, noted Richardson. Picasso painted many portraits of Marie-Therese but generally as a guitar, or a jug, or a fruit dish, in order to conceal their affair from his wife. In the previous volume, Picasso married a Russian dancer called Olga Khokhlova (above, with Picasso in 1917), even though his tough old mother had tried to warn her off This latest volume begins with Picasso the most celebrated painter in the world and poor Olga a wreck. Picassos extramarital affair(s) and his violence contributed to Olgas physical and mental debacle, writes Richardson. Debacle is an odd word to use in this context and reveals something of Richardsons lackadaisical attitude to the sufferings of Picassos women. He writes of Picassos loathing of Olga, a loathing represented in painting after painting, often as a hideously toothy horse being savaged by a charging bull, its innards sprawled across the canvas. Richardson calls one of these pictures a masterpiece of marital hatred. There are moments when he appears willing to connive in Picassos sadism. Did Richardson himself harbour what he might have called a tendresse for Picasso? Picassos next mistress, Dora Maar (above) first excited his attention by picking up a knife and stabbing the gaps between her fingers When writing about the paintings, he manages to see male organs everywhere. A nose is penile, a stretch of a womans neck monstrously erectile, a Roman helmet irresistibly phallic, and even a scoop of ice cream testicular. Picasso finally left Olga in the creepiest way possible. After taking her out for a romantic night at the opera, he undressed her and made love to her. The next morning she was awakened by her maid: there was a gentleman waiting in the salon who wished to speak to her. You go, Olga said to her husband, since she wasnt dressed. Certainly not, he replied, its you he wants to see. 'Ten minutes later, Olga returned from the salon looking very pale, clutching a document the visitor had given her: a summons to appear in court in order to respond to a divorce suit her husband was bringing against her. Picasso wandered off, singing Pagliacci at the top of his voice. Picassos next mistress though it was never an exclusive position was the ill-fated Dora Maar, who first excited his attention by picking up a knife and stabbing the gaps between her fingers. Every now and then she would miss by a fraction, so her hand was soon covered with blood. Picasso, we hear, was fascinated by what Richardson calls this kinky ploy. Such a clear sign of masochism aroused Picasso, though he soon tired of her depressive personality, and the more he tired of it, the more depressed she grew. Yet he kept on painting her. One painting is described by Richardson as a scary woman caged in claustrophobic space, looking as if an electric chair were about to be switched on. Picasso was more at ease with Marie-Therese. Richardson compares his many portraits of the two women, the one so spiky, so complex, so dark; the other so serene, so loving so peaceful. The book is gloriously produced, with, in this case, paintings of the two contrasting women printed opposite each other. Richardson is regularly proclaimed as one of the greatest of all biographers but, for all his expertise, I find his prose random and bitty, and his viewpoint at one and the same time too Olympian and too catty. However, his meticulous, almost day-by-day chronicling of the artists frenetic life does serve to convey his ferocious energy. The reproductions in the book are testament to Picassos uncontained genius. Richardson was a friend of Picasso and never passes up an opportunity to promote the fact. I was present when begins a typical sentence. Years later, Dora told me that begins another. Sometimes these openings give way to reminiscences that are peculiarly irrelevant. For instance, in 1937, Picasso spends weekends at a house owned by his art dealer, Ambroise Vollard. I can vouch for the charm of Vollards house, Richardson chips in. One summer in the 1950s his heirs lent it to Douglas Cooper and myself for a week or two. It was old but not ancient, and comfortably furnished. There was no longer any trace left of Picasso or Marie-Therese or anyone else Richardsons entire Life Of Picasso is a curious blend of art criticism and gossip: an innocent-seeming picture of jugs and a bottle prompts him to talk of orgies and who fancied who. Even Picassos most monumental canvas, Guernica, an outcry against the Nazi bombing of that Spanish town is, he insists, pervaded with Picassos own problems and preoccupations. He then recalls that Dora told me that she had been the inspiration for the woman on fire as well as the long-legged woman in the foreground. True or not, chit-chat like this diminishes the impact of the work, reducing an outcry against an atrocity to a centre-spread from Hello! magazine. Nonetheless, every page carries an entertaining story or a fascinating gobbet of artistic gossip. For instance, we hear that in the summer of 1937, Picasso bought a pet monkey, which he named Beretzof. He spent so much time teaching him tricks that Dora grew jealous. Things changed when, one day, Beretzof bit Picassos finger. Someone then told Picasso that King Alexander of Greece had died from a monkey bite back in 1920. Loyal to neither man nor beast, Picasso lost no time in returning Beretzof to the pet shop. Cruise operator Carnival faces a backlash from shareholders over its chief executive's bumper pay deal despite the company receiving Government support and laying off staff. Investors in the world's largest cruise company which owns lines including Princess Cruises, Seabourn and P&O Cruises are preparing to vote against its pay policy at its annual meeting on Friday. It is likely to be among the first in a wave of shareholder rebellions as Britain emerges from the pandemic. Carnival's chief executive Arnold Donald was given a package that could pay out as much as $15million (11.4million) including a $6million bonus, according to the annual report. Troubled waters: Carnival's chief executive Arnold Donald was given a package that could pay out as much as $15million (11.4million) including a $6million bonus One fund manager said she was uncomfortable with the pay arrangements after the company took 25million in Government-backed Covid loans in June 2020 and furloughed staff. Other bosses facing scrutiny over pay last night include: Alison Brittain, chief executive at Premier Inn owner Whitbread, who is set to be handed a bonus of more than 700,000 deferred from last year. The company received 370million from the taxpayer during the pandemic; Barclays' outgoing finance chief Tushar Morzaria who is facing calls for his bonus to be clawed back after an 'error' that cost the bank 450million; Sebastien de Montessus, boss at Endeavour Mining, who was awarded $10million in financial assistance as the company moved to its new London HQ. Carnival was badly affected after cruises ground to a halt in 2020. It also came under the spotlight when 3,500 passengers were stuck on its Grand Princess liner due to Covid. The company plunged into a $10.2billion loss in the year 2020. That shrank to $9.5billion last year. One of Carnival's biggest shareholders told The Mail on Sunday that she would vote against the pay plan. She added: 'I wouldn't be surprised if they got a high vote against them. They have laid off employees, they've taken money from Government and they've not paid dividends.' Institutional Shareholder Services, one of the biggest advisers to large pension funds, said it had 'material concerns' with Donald's pay package. Carnival said: 'Our required filingsdo not represent what our CEO actually received in any given year since we operate in a pay for performance model where most of his CEO pay is at risk.' However, a company filing last month suggests he earned at least $11million. Whitbread's Alison Brittain has come under fire for her deferred 729,000 bonus, which was delayed last year amid uproar from shareholders, politicians and activists. She defied calls to scrap the bonus entirely, despite huge losses and taxpayer support. Her company has claimed around 370million from taxpayers in furlough cash and business rates relief none of which has been paid back. She is in line to receive the bonus in the coming weeks on top of her 895,000 salary. She may also receive a separate bonus based on the most recent year's performance. Whitbread said the bonus is 'subject to board approval' this month and it is 'too early to comment'. Luke Hildyard, of the High Pay Centre, said: 'It's truly staggering that the Whitbread board sees nothing wrong with taking hundreds of millions of pounds of public money with one hand and then doling out a multi-million pound pay package to an already extraordinarily wealthy CEO with the other.' It comes as the FTSE 100 group kicked off a search for Brittain's replacement. It has held talks with candidates who could replace her as soon as next year. Elsewhere, Tushar Morzaria at Barclays is facing calls for his bonus to be stripped. The bank revealed last week it had exceeded its limit on selling certain investment banking products in the US. The blunder cost it 450million and forced the lender to defer a 1billion share buyback. A longstanding shareholder told the MoS that Morzaria should have his bonus clawed back. Barclays declined to comment. FTSE100 gold miner Endeavour Mining almost doubled the pay packet of its boss last year to keep him in post. President and chief executive Sebastien de Montessus whose takings for 2021 hit 17.3million was granted a $10million 'one-off award' when the firm relocated from Toronto to London. It said this was to prevent him being 'financially disadvantaged' by the relocation. Additional reporting by Calum Muirhead City grandee Allan Leighton has weighed into a row over the 'toxic' culture at Scottish beer company BrewDog. The brewer, which is considering a 1billion stock market flotation, is trying to mend fences with employees after it was accused last year of creating a 'rotten culture of fear'. But in the latest twist, Leighton, the chairman, has launched an extraordinary tirade against a Berlin-based human resources consultancy Hand & Heart that had offered to help mediate with disgruntled staff. Fury: Chairman Allan Leighton accused the agency of fuelling the fire In a letter seen by The Mail on Sunday, he accused the consultancy of making the problem worse and criticised a request by the firm for payment. Leighton said BrewDog would not be engaging the company to run a proposed 'reconciliation' programme and accused it of 'amplifying' criticism on social media. The latest stand-off threatens to derail attempts to repair relations with staff. The original complaints against the company emerged in a letter last summer from 60 former employees calling themselves Punks with Purpose. Earlier this year, co-founder James Watt threatened to take legal action against the BBC over a documentary which he said included personal attacks on his character. The company commissioned an independent review into its management culture. It committed itself to leadership training, gave staff a pay rise and introduced a whistleblowing hotline. Earlier this year, Watt told The Mail on Sunday the accusations against him had triggered a 'period of reflection on my leadership'. Leighton, who is also chairman of the Co-op and an ex-boss of Asda, said in a memo to staff that BrewDog's people director, Karen Bates, had spent a 'considerable amount of time' speaking to Hand & Heart's managing director Kate Bailey. He said the board took its proposal to help 'very seriously'. Even though it had not been formally hired, the consultancy launched an 'affected worker registration platform' online in conjunction with the Punks with Purpose group, where staff were invited to air complaints. But in a letter sent to Bailey last week, Leighton lambasted Hand & Heart, accusing it of fanning the flames. 'The unavoidable impression is that of H&H charging the company to extinguish a fire it is fuelling itself,' he wrote. He added: 'We believe it is impossible for you to be a neutral mediator in a sensitive private setting.' Leighton said: The BrewDog Affected Workers Registration Platform states that H&H is receiving zero-point-zero-cents for its work. It adds that the platform has zero connection to our for-profit activities as a company. We find it hard to reconcile these statements with your proposal made to our people director that H&H be paid a ballpark fee of 100k. 'Indeed, this appears entirely contradictory. We are concerned that you have encouraged people onto the platform under the false impression that you have zero financial interest in the administration of the reconciliation program. A source said 'Bailey has presented herself as a woke warrior but seeking financial gain from this feels hypocritical'. Stand-off: Kate Bailey of H&H described Leighton's letter as 'offensive' Bailey replied in a letter to Leighton that Hand & Heart acted 'in good faith' and added that his missive was 'filled with unfounded accusationsand frankly, is unbecoming of a leader of your stature and position in the business community'. She also described Leighton's letter as 'offensive, uninformed and inconsistent'. 'I do not work to 'save BrewDog', I work for the justice of those your workplace has impacted,' she said. 'I have a duty to respond when public accusations arise, especially the ones relating to the chief executive of late. If you're looking for fuel and fire start there.' Bailey said she would continue to gather submissions and support those affected. Last month, The Guardian newspaper reported that Watt had hired private investigators to obtain information about people who he believed were taking part in a smear campaign against him. BrewDog has enjoyed a rapid rise as the popularity of craft beer has exploded in Britain. A flotation has also long been promised for the 200,000 'equity punks' brought on board through crowdfunding rounds since the brand's launch in 2007. Watt and his co-founder Martin Dickie led a series of eye-catching stunts which helped burnish its image as an upstart rival to mainstream beer brands. These included dropping stuffed 'taxidermy cat bombs' on the City in a protest against corporate fat cat greed, and Watt and Dickie dressing up as red light district sex workers for a crowdfunding advert. Nikolay Storonsky, the founder of cash-transfer app Revolut, approached a senior Bank of England official in a rare move last week amid his company's drive to become a bank. Storonsky, 37, is understood to have attended an event led by Sam Woods, deputy governor of the Bank, and City Minister John Glen, who dialled in virtually. Revolut has yet to receive a UK banking licence partly owing to a backlog of applications at the Bank despite applying for one early last year. Drive: Revolut has yet to receive a UK banking licence partly owing to a backlog of applications at the Bank despite applying for one early last year Storonsky was making noises as far back as 2017 about applying for one, which the Bank would be responsible for granting. Two sources said Storonsky was seen talking to Woods, who is the most after governor Andrew Bailey. They suggested this reflected his ambition to secure a licence. Revolut said: 'He spoke to various attendees.' The app works with large high street banks to hold customer deposits, but a licence would allow Revolut to hold customer cash on its own balance sheet, with protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme in case it collapses. Senior leaders of Britain's upstart lenders were also at the meeting to discuss how the Bank could foster their growth. Revolut fetched a valuation of $33 billion (25.2billion) after a fundraising last year, making it the most expensive tech firm in the UK. It has amassed more than 18million customers. P&O Ferries' reputation has been dealt another blow after English Heritage put its ties with the company on hold. The British charity, which issues the famous blue plaques, told The Mail on Sunday that it was 'pausing and reviewing' its association. It has already removed details of the relationship from its website. P&O is the largest operator of ferries from Dover to Calais. But criminal and civil investigations have been launched into the company following its controversial decision to make nearly 800 employees redundant during a pre-recorded Zoom call. On hold: English Heritage has collaborated with P&O since 2018 as part of a rewards scheme for its members The company's chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite admitted to a joint hearing of the Commons' Business and Transport Committees that his firm failed to consult with trade unions before it ditched workers. English Heritage has collaborated with P&O since 2018 as part of a rewards scheme for its members. An English Heritage spokesman said: 'P&O is a Members' Reward Partner meaning English Heritage members could enjoy offers and discounts with the company but given the recent developments, we are pausing and reviewing this partnership.' The charity, which cares for more than 400 historic sites across the country, has also removed any reference to the partnership from its website. A webpage that is now missing described P&O Ferries as the 'perfect choice for a leisurely journey', and also cited the company's accreditation with Visit Britain, the brand name of the tourist board of Great Britain. In a letter sent on Friday to Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, the Insolvency Service said it would take 'prompt and appropriate action' where the law had not been upheld. Kwarteng tweeted last week that he and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps would 'continue to follow this matter closely as the investigations progress'. The Trades Union Congress general secretary Frances O'Grady said the investigation must not 'shy away from serious sanctions and big financial penalties'. 'P&O must not be allowed to get away with its scandalous and unlawful treatment of staff. Firms who behave like corporate gangsters deserve far more than a slap on the wrist,' she said. P&O Ferries was contacted for comment. You would think that a rising share price could only be good news for a company and its shareholders. But not always. In some cases shares can get so costly that it is difficult for new investors to buy in. If you wanted to buy a single share in investing guru Warren Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway, for example, you would have to fork out $500,000 (380,000) more than the average cost of a house if you bought one of the original A class shares. Even its cheaper B class shares cost more than $350 each. To counter the problem of rocketing prices, companies sometimes carry out a share split, which means slicing each share into smaller bite-size pieces. Divided: California-based giants Google and Amazon are doing a share split In a five for one share split, for example, every shareholder would receive five shares for every one they already hold. The value of their total holding would not change. So, for example, if an original share was worth 100, each of the five new shares would be worth 20. Amazon is planning a 20-for-1 share split in June. The cost of one share is currently $3,260. At this price, the new shares would cost $163. Google's parent company, Alphabet, is carrying out a similar share split in July. The cost of one share is currently $2,781. At this price, the new shares would cost $139. In the UK, investment trust Temple Bar is planning a five-for-one share split next month. Shares are currently trading at 11.60 so at this rate the new shares would cost around 2.32. What does it mean for existing investors? A share split cannot take place until it has been approved by shareholders. Even then, it can take some weeks or even months to get the go-ahead. Investors who hold shares on an online platform will not notice any difference as the value of their holdings should not change. However, anyone who holds shares directly may wonder what is going on. Jason Hollands, managing director at wealth manager Bestinvest, says: 'Investors who hold paper share certificates will receive new ones in the post and might wonder what is going on if they haven't followed the news.' Annabel Brodie-Smith, communications director at the Association of Investment Companies (AIC), says that there may be a small disruption in the availability of information while the split takes place. 'It can take data providers up to 24 hours or so to process a share split,' she says. 'There is a lot of data to get right and it can take some time.' How do shareholders benefit from the split? New investors may find that a lower price makes buying shares more affordable. But a share split can also be good news for existing shareholders. Many investors like to grow their wealth by reinvesting dividends they receive from their holdings to buy new shares. However, this is out of the question when the share price is particularly high. Joe Bauernfreund is manager of investment trust AVI Global Trust which carried out a share split in January. 2 He says: 'When investors choose to reinvest their dividends, if the unit price is high then a portion may be left not reinvested as it is not enough to buy a whole share.' James Carthew, head of investment companies at financial information group QuotedData, adds that one of the trusts he holds in his own investment portfolio Personal Assets has a high share price (just below 504). It means he does not reinvest his dividends. He adds: 'Investors might reasonably want to tick a box to say 'please reinvest my dividends' but with the share price that high it just doesn't work. I take my dividend as cash and invest it in other shares Personal Assets loses out as a result.' Does a split mean it's a good time to buy? Opinion is divided on whether a company splitting shares is a signal to buy or sell. Some believe that a share split can push up the value of a company because it broadens its appeal to a greater number of investors who were previously priced out. Investment trust Pantheon International split its shares in November last year when they reached 30. Helen Steers, senior manager, says: 'Investors should think of it as a mechanism through which the directors were able to try to broaden the appeal of the trust.' Pantheon shares are now trading at 3.21 after a ten-for-one stock split. However, other investment experts warn that investors should proceed with caution as a decision to split shares tends to come once they have already risen sharply in value. 'The danger is that share prices tend to get bloated after long upward runs, so stock splits can sometimes be a signal of a stock market top,' says Russ Mould, investment director at wealth manager AJ Bell. As always, your decision to buy should be based on your happiness with the company's strategy and financial strength or underlying investments and expertise if it is an investment trust. The unit price of an individual share should not be a signal to buy or sell. A high share price doesn't equal quality As Mould infers, a high share price can be a sign that a company has become successful. However, QuotedData's Carthew believes it should be taken with a pinch of salt. 'Prices, especially in the US, can become a bit ridiculous, especially when a company has been popular for a long time,' he says. 'Some see a high share price as a badge of honour. Berkshire Hathaway has created an overly complex share structure that penalises small investors just to maintain the vanity of having a high share price.' Carthew adds that share prices in the UK tend to be more restrained, usually in the range of about 50p to 20. 'When share prices get too big, companies tend to subdivide their shares, and when they get too small, they often consolidate them,' he says. Other ways to buy expensive shares Buying into a fund or investment trust allows you to own a small holding in companies with high share prices without forking out for a whole share. Your money is pooled with thousands of other investors to buy a portfolio of tens, hundreds or even thousands of holdings. Some share-dealing platforms now allow you to buy fractions of shares. They are more popular in the US, where high share prices are more common. However, a few, such as Freetrade and Trading 212, have entered the UK market. If you buy fractional shares, you should be able to sell them again on the same platform. You will also be entitled to a corresponding share of dividends. Not all providers that allow trading in fractional shares let you hold them in a full range of tax-efficient wrappers. For example, trading 212 does not offer a self-invested personal pension. In the wake of catastrophic flooding in northern New South Wales the conventional wisdom remains that permanently moving whole towns to a safer location is just too hard. But at least four regularly waterlogged Australian towns have been shifted to higher ground after being subjected to repeated flooding, one as recently as in the past decade. While relocating a city such as Lismore with its population of more than 28,000 might seem impractical, smaller towns have been successfully rebuilt since the middle of the 19th century. Moving Lismore would be astronomically expensive - even if done in stages as some have suggested - and require political will and community support which does not seem to be strong. Catastrophic flooding in northern New South Wales has led to the usual claims it is too hard to move whole towns permanently out of a river's rising reach. The Northern Rivers city of Lismore is pictured underwater on March 31 While relocating a city such as Lismore with its population of more than 28,000 might seem impractical, smaller towns have been successfully rebuilt since the middle of the 19th century. Lismore residents are pictured walking through flood water Many residents of the largest urban centre in the Northern Rivers region would understandably not want to leave a place they might have have called home for generations. But smaller communities routinely subject to flooding could more easily reap rewards in relocating out of a rising river's reaches to start again with less upheaval. Such a move was made by most of the citizens of Grantham in south-east Queensland after the disastrous deluge of 2011 which left 14 people dead. Bega on the south coast of NSW was moved to higher ground after flooding in 1851 and Gundagai in the state's Riverina district was shifted after a flood claimed about a third of its population the following year. In 1916 the central Queensland mining town of Clermont was moved to a a new site when flash flooding took more than 60 lives without warning. Gundagai in the New South Wales Riverina district was shifted after the Murrumbidgee River broke its banks in 1852 and a raging torrent swept through the town, An estimated 89 people from a population of 250 died Bega on the south coast of NSW was moved to higher ground after flooding in 1851 in which 17 people drowned. Floods in 1857 and 1860 damaged crops and killed cattle but did not reach the new township Australians have been building on flood-prone land since European settlement, often against government recommendations and the advice of indigenous inhabitants. The Bega Valley, on what is now called the Sapphire Coast, was settled in the 1830s by beef and dairy farmers. The town of Bega was laid out beside the Brogo River, a mile above the junction of that waterway and the Bega River, in January 1851. On May 14 that year gale force winds accompanied by driving rain flooded the town. Settlers clung to rooftops and houses began collapsing within hours. It is estimated up to 9m of water filled the streets and 17 people died. More would have been killed if it were not for local Aboriginal men rescuing residents in bark canoes. There were two more floods the following year and although no lives were lost, water stayed on the flats and new lagoons were formed. The town was then relocated to higher ground south of the Bega River. Floods in 1857 and 1860 damaged crops and killed cattle but did not reach the new township. Clermont in central Queensland was hit by flash flooding in 1916 which killed at least 64 of the mining town's population of 1,500. The settlement was moved after waters away more than 50 buildings, as well as the railway line Most of the citizens of Grantham in south-east Queensland moved to higher ground after the disastrous deluge of 2011 which left 14 people dead in or near the town. There are now 110 new houses on the higher site (above), while more than 50 remain on lower ground Gundagai was gazetted in 1838 on the right bank of Murrumbidgee River flood plain, despite warnings from the Wiradjuri people who had camped and hunted there for 50,000 years. The area was good cattle grazing country and Gundagai became a major service centre, attracting travellers with the the only crossing of the Murrumbidgee between Sydney and Melbourne. The town faced several floods including a major event in 1844 after which citizens petitioned the government for help but were told the 'big one' was behind them. On June 24, 1852 the Murrumbidgee broke its banks after weeks of heavy rain and a raging torrent swept through the town. As houses were swept away by floodwaters residents sought safety in treetops and an estimated 89 of the town's population of 250 drowned. Angry survivors of Gundagai's 1852 flood blamed government planners for being so short-sighted. A land exchange offer allowed residents to move to the slopes of Mount Parnassus out of the river's reach, where the town remains today Again, it was Aboriginal rescuers who saved at least 40 settlers from drowning. Bodies were being discovered weeks after the water receded and the Gundagai flood remains one of Australia's deadliest natural disasters in terms of loss of life. Just three buildings were left standing and angry survivors blamed NSW government planners who had allowed the town to be built for being so short-sighted. A land exchange offer allowed Gundagai's residents to move to the slopes of Mount Parnassus out of the river's reach, where the town still stands today. Another town to be built in the wrong place was Clermont, which began as a gold mining camp between the Sandy and Wolfgang Creeks, about 400km west of Rockhampton. On December 27, 1916 a cyclone in the Whitsunday Passage began dumping torrential rain on Clermont, Sapphire and Peak Downs. From 5pm the next day until 8 o'clock the following morning more than 50mm fell on Clermont and a 'wall of water' 4.5m high swept through the main street of the town. After the deadliest flooding in Queensland's recorded history Clermont was abandoned for higher ground. Buildings including the Commercial Hotel were put on log rollers and moved by steam tractor engine to a new town site further south The flash flooding killed at least 64 of Clermont's population of 1,500 and washed away more than 50 buildings, as well as the railway line. After the deadliest flooding in Queensland's recorded history Clermont was abandoned for higher ground. Buildings including the Commercial Hotel were put on log rollers and moved by steam tractor engine to a new town site further south. Australians have built on flood plains for more than 200 years Australians have been building on flood plains - and ignoring government requests not to - since the earliest days of white settlement. In 1810, New South Wales governor Lachlan Macquarie proclaimed five towns north-west of Sydney after serious flooding on the Hawkesbury-Nepean River system the previous year. Despite the establishment of Richmond, Castlereagh, Pitt Town, Wilberforce and Windsor, farmers continued to build on lower ground. Macquarie wrote to secretary of state for the colonies Earl Bathurst in 1817 complaining the recalcitrant settlers would not follow his directions. 'It is impossible not to feel extremely displeased and Indignant at their Infatuated Obstinacy in persisting to Continue to reside with their Families, Flocks, Herds, and Grain on those Spots Subject to the Floods and from whence they have often had their prosperity swept away ' Macquarie wrote. 'And what makes their Obstinacy and Indolence in this respect still more Inexcusable is, that None of them would have to Carry their Crops above two Miles at the furthest, and in general not more than one Mile to their respective Places of Residence in the Townships 'They are deaf to All my Remonstrances, and I fear they never will be prevailed on to remove from their favourite Spots and miserable Cottages on the Banks of these Rivers. 'As a last Effort, however, I Consider the recent awful Visitation of the Floods in February a fit Season for once more admonishing them, whilst Smarting under their late Losses and Calamities but I shall at least have the Consolation to reflect that I have done My Utmost to save these deluded people from Ruin and Poverty.' Parts of the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley have been severely flooded this year. Advertisement Residents who lost their homes were given land grants with the stipulation they must rebuild within 12 months. The high cost of materials due to World War I meant many of them forfeited. A century later, many of the 600 or so people who live in Grantham, 100km west of Brisbane, were making their own migration to higher ground. On January 10, 2011 flash flooding hit the Lockyer Valley as 40 to 50mm of rain fell in 30 minutes and 8m wave of water hit Grantham in what was called an inland tsunami. Flash flooding hit the Lockyer Valley on January 10, 2011 as 40 to 50mm of rain fell in 30 minutes and an 8m wave of water hit Grantham in what was called an inland tsunami. Police divers are pictured at Grantham on January 21 Twenty-one people were killed in the valley: 14 in Grantham, two each in Postmans Ridge, Spring Bluff and Murphys Creek and one in Helidon. Nearly every home on the lower ground at Grantham was damaged, 130 severely, and 29 were completely destroyed. The day after the flooding Steve Jones, then mayor of Lockyer Valley Regional Council, proposed shifting the town. In what became known as the Grantham land swap residents were able to secure a similarly sized property to their own on 378 hectares of higher grazing land bought by the council. The voluntary relocation plan proved immediately popular and by the end of the year the first participants had moved into their new homes. The move, which cost $30million, was fast-tracked by the Queensland government agreeing to remove the usual development application process. Nearly every home on the lower ground at Grantham was damaged in the 2011 flood and 29 were completely destroyed. The day after the flooding the mayor of Lockyer Valley Regional Council proposed shifting the town. A home is pictured in Grantham There are now 110 new houses on the higher site, while more than 50 remain on lower ground. None of the homes in the new estate went underwater in this year's deluge. The ongoing floods in northern NSW have raised the question of whether it would be possible to move larger flood-prone towns. Lismore lies on Wilsons River where it meets Leycester Creek, downstream of the Northern Rivers catchment - and when it pours, it can quickly bring disaster. The danger from floods is so high, it is virtually impossible to get insurance in the town. Quotes start at $18,000 a year for a small town centre shop - and that does not include contents. When Lismore was settled in the 1840s its fertile flood plains seemed ideal for growing food and the river convenient for transporting agricultural products and timber. Growing road and rail networks meant Lismore no longer needed to serve as an inland port and the river turned from asset to liability. Lismore lies on Wilsons River where it meets Leycester Creek, downstream of the Northern Rivers catchment - and when it pours, it can quickly bring disaster. Heavy rain forced the evacuation of residents in late March, weeks after record flooding The city was smashed by February's record-breaking deluge, just five years after a 'one-in-a-100-year' flood, and exhausted locals have admitted they are finally close to defeat. Entire homes, shops and businesses in Lismore were completely submerged. Many were destroyed, while some simply floated away. The latest catastrophe followed floods in 1989, 1974 and 1954. A levee installed after 1999 held back rising waters in the early 2000s - but nothing could stop the damage done by recent rains. With the big wets coming ever faster, higher and more furiously, many are questioning if it's even wise to rebuild. Urban planning expert Professor Paul Burton told Daily Mail Australia: 'Knowing what we know now, if we were starting from scratch, would we build a large town here? 'Answer? Probably not.' Lismore was smashed by February's record-breaking deluge, just five years after a 'one-in-a-100-year' flood, and exhausted locals have admitted they are finally close to defeat. Lismore is pictured on March 30 Experts warn Lismore's predicament is only going to get worse in years to come, throwing the very viability of the town's future into question. Climate scientist Professor Will Steffen warned nothing could stop global temperatures rising by 1.6C by 2050, regardless of any emission reduction programs. 'That means we'll be having considerably heavier rainfalls and more flooding,' he told Daily Mail Australia. 'Whenever you get the local conditions for rain, it's going to come down heavier.' Professor Steffen said the economic cost of continually rebuilding on a flood plain no longer made sense and the money should be invested in more permanent solutions. 'It's a very difficult thing because people are used to living where they've been living for a long time,' he said. 'But honestly, the situation is going to be really, really difficult - I'd say almost impossible - to keep living on these flood plains.' 'It's going to be costly to relocate populations and townships away from flood plains - but not doing so is going to be even costlier.' Experts warn Lismore's predicament is only going to get worse in years to come, throwing the very viability of the town's future into question. A car is pictured submerged in flood water in Lismore on March 30 Planning expert Professor Burton warned moving a population from one area to another could create new problems elsewhere. 'We sometimes think Australia is a massive place - surely you can go and live anywhere?' Professor Burton said. 'There's plenty of land, but it isn't necessarily well suited to Western living. 'You can move from a flood plain to the top of a hill - but now you're in a bushfire area. Or you can move to a field - but that's agricultural land. 'Or you can clear some forest - but that's vital ecological land and wipes out koala populations. 'Alternatively you can go to the other side of the Great Dividing Range - but then you're 10 hours away from the nearest major city with no economy to support it. 'It's very tricky. But it has to start with a ban on new developments on flood plains.' Professor Burton said the cost of trying to relocate Lismore and its population was inconceivably huge, but more could be done to at least mitigate the worst impact of future floods. 'But you can't protect the whole city and town and you can't move the whole town. It's a real conundrum. It's just not easy. 'And ultimately it's a treacherous land - Mother Nature will always get you.' An Oscar-winning producer has slammed Will Smith and Chris Rock for robbing his film, and documentary category as a whole, of its moment to shine last Sunday night at the Academy Awards. 'I think what Will did was selfish,' Summer of Soul producer Joseph Patel wrote Wednesday in a since-deleted Twitter thread, claiming Smith slapping Rock 'robbed the category of its moment.' 'It robbed the other excellent and amazing films of their moment to be acknowledged in what was a STRONG year for docs,' Patel claimed. 'And it robbed Summer of Soul and our team of our moment. Of a loud, enthusiastic cheer for a celebrated film.' Patel also accused Rock of being an 'absolute f*****g d**k' for allegedly making a racially insensitive remark when he announced Summer of Soul had won the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature. When Rock announced the award, he reportedly said the winner was 'Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and four white guys,' ignoring Patel's south Asian heritage. 'I'm angry,' Patel wrote. 'Angry at Will Smith. Angry at Chris Rock. Angry for me. Angry for Ahmir. Angry for my fellow filmmakers.' Summer of Soul producer Joseph Patel (left) has slammed Will Smith and Chris Rock for robbing his film of its moment to shine last Sunday night at the Academy Awards. Patel is pictured with fellow Summer of Soul contributors (L-R) Ahmir Thompson, David Dinerstein and Robert Fyvolent Patel claimed he didn't initially hear Rock's remark as he was 'still trying to make sense' of the on-stage attack, but was informed of it after he received his Oscar. 'What I didn't hear in that moment walking to stage but was told of afterwards is what Chris Rock said when reading our name from the winner's card The winner is ''Summer of Soul Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson and 4 white guys.'' WHAT IN THE ACTUAL F**K?????' he tweeted. 'The reason that makes me SO SO VERY ANGRY is because I was so proud to be one of a handful of South Asians to have ever won an Oscar in the history of the award.' 'So with my family and friends watching, Chris Rock lumped me in as 1 of '4 white guys. (Nevermind the disrespect to @d2films and @fyvo for not even saying their names, and the inaccuracy of us being 3 producers not 4),' Patel added, referencing the two other South Asian men who won Oscars last Sunday. In a since-deleted Twitter thread, Patel said the pair 'robbed Summer of Soul' of its moment and also accused Rock of being an 'absolute f*****g d**k' for reportedly saying the winner of the documentary category was 'Ahmir 'Questlove' Thompson and four white guys' Patel said he decided to delete his tweet thread because it had become 'unproductive' The producer claims he recorded the ceremony on his DVR, but when he got home to New York, he 'didn't have the stomach to watch it.' 'I probably never will,' Patel added. 'Thank you, Chris You absolute f*****g d**k.' Despite his frustrations, Patel did applaud Thompson for handling the seemingly uncomfortable encounter with 'grace and giving a speech from the heart.' He also detailed that he made the decision to delete his tweet thread after it went viral because it had become 'unproductive.' 'We reached the unproductive portion of the viral Twitter thread so I've deleted it,' Patel wrote. 'I said what I needed to say and feel at peace with it.' He added: 'Some of y'all are weirdos.' Despite his frustrations, Patel did applaud Thompson for handling the seemingly uncomfortable encounter with 'grace and giving a speech from the heart'. The Summer of Soul team is seen accepting its Oscar for best documentary feature While neither Rock nor Smith have publicly acknowledged Patel's rant, the King Richard actor did issue an apology to all winners of the 94th Academy Awards when he announced his resignation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences on Friday. Smith is pictured slapping Rock during last Sunday's Oscars While neither Rock nor Smith have publicly acknowledged Patel's rant, the King Richard actor did issue an apology to all winners of the 94th Academy Awards when he announced his resignation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences on Friday night. Smith, in a statement first obtained by Variety on Friday, called his actions during the ceremony 'shocking, painful and inexcusable,' adding that he would accept any additional consequences issued by the Academy's Board of Governors. 'The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris, his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance, and global audiences at home,' Smith stated. 'I betrayed the trust of the Academy. I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work. I am heartbroken.' Smith was presented with his first Academy Award after the onstage attack The actor also acknowledged that slapping Rock during the ceremony caused other award winners to be overshadowed. 'I want to put the focus back on those who deserve attention for their achievements and allow the Academy to get back to the incredible work it does to support creativity and artistry in film,' Smith said. He also shared how 'change takes time' and he is now 'committed to doing the work to ensure that I never again allow violence to overtake reason.' Smith's resignation came two days after the Academy met to initiate disciplinary proceedings against him for violations of the group's standards of conduct. The Academy announced Friday it has accepted Smith's 'immediate resignation' and will 'continue to move forward' with its disciplinary hearings. As they settle into Sydney life, Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch have added a famous $30million classic yacht to their fleet as they await arrival of their secretive $175million superyacht. The billionaire family's new 59.7 metre luxury Royal Huisman sloop, described as 'one of the most iconic sailing superyachts afloat' is believed to be worth 100million (A$175million) and include 'a beach club'. The identity of the owners of the ultra-rich 'Project 404' - also dubbed MM597 after its naval architect Malcolm McKeon - has been a closely guarded secret but recently the Murdochs were revealed as the carbon-fibre superyacht's buyers. As they settle into Sydney life, Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch have added a famous $30million classic yacht to their fleet as they await arrival of their secretive $175million superyacht (the couple are pictured at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscara Party) Having bought a $38million 'boathouse' at Point Piper, the Murdochs are expanding their fleet of luxury vessels. Their newest addition is the rebuilt 42metre 1954 motor yacht 'Istros' The luxury performance yacht will be 'one of the most iconic sailing superyachts afloat' when launched this year, McKeon said of the boat being completed in Vollenhove, The Netherlands. It is likely to be moored in Sydney, where the family have moved and recently purchased a $38million 'boat shed' at Wunulla Road, Point Piper. While no photo of the completed vessel has been shared publicly, it is believed to resemble the Perni Navi superyacht the Seahawk. The yacht's interiors have been designed by exclusive French design studio Liagre, which fits out homes and boats for the world's ultra-rich families. While no photo of the Murdoch's top-secret carbon-fibre sloop, worth an estimated $175million, has been shared publicly, it is believed to resemble the Perni Navi superyacht the Seahawk (pictured above) The billionaire family's new 59.7-metre luxury Royal Huisman sloop, described as 'one of the most iconic sailing superyachts afloat', will include room for 12 guests and 10 staff, will have an al fresco dining area, a wet bar and multiple entertaining areas Until their new cutting edge superyacht arrives, the billionaire couple have added the rebuilt 42-metre 1954 classic Istros to their fleet It has room for 12 guests and 10 staff, will have an al fresco dining area, a wet bar and multiple entertaining areas. But that's not all. According to Royal Huisman, the 'unique and truly inspiring yacht' will house 'an expansive, lavish beach club', which is a luxury open-air pool and seating. Lachlan Murdoch, CEO of Fox Corporation, co-chair of News Corp and executive chairman of Nova, is believed to be worth $3.82billion. Last week he was guest speaker at the launch of Centre for the Australian Way of Life last week. In the speech, hosted by the Institute of Public Affairs, he slammed the ABC and claimed Australian identity is under siege as 'media elites' discredit the nation's inherent sense of fairness. His model and TV presenter wife Sarah is believed to be worth more than $100million. The couple relocated to Sydney in 2021, living at their Bellevue Hill compound, Le Manoir. It was believed they would host a delayed 90th birthday celebration for family mogul Rupert this year, although the News Corp chairman and CEO has now turned 91. Lachlan and Sarah Murdoch now own properties in Sydney, Los Angeles and Colorado, as well as a $90million Gulfstream G650 private jet. He uses the private jet to regularly fly between the US and Australia for work. Rupert Murdoch (centre) is pictured with his son Lachlan (right) and daughter-in-law Sarah in Sun Valley, Idaho, USA Lachlan Murdoch arrives in Sydney in March 2022 after returning from the US on his Gulf Stream private jet (pictured). Lachlan and Sarah are proud parents to sons Kalan Alexander, 17, Aidan Patrick, 15, and daughter Aerin Elisabeth, 11 Rupert Murdoch (left) is pictured speaking with his eldest son Lachlan in Sun Valley, Idaho, USA in 2018 They also own a fleet of yachts including the Sarissa, which they paid $30million for but is now believed to be available for charter. Lachlan Murdoch is an enthusiastic sailor, having raced his 24-metre sail yacht Swan 82, Ipixuna at Hamilton Island in early 2021, and even entered the Sydney to Hobart back in 1997. Last year the couple paid $38million for a boat shed at Point Piper. The Murdoch's three children - sons Kalan Alexander, 17, Aidan Patrick, 15, and daughter Aerin Elisabeth, 11, attend a Sydney private school. It is believed Kalan could be learning to drive in a family Tesla after one was seen leaving Le Manoir with L plates, Nine newspapers reported. A report last year claimed the family moved after the US political climate shifted with Joe Biden assuming power. The pro-Republican family's children apparently experienced 'a rough' time, Nine newspapers reported. Until their new cutting edge superyacht arrives, the billionaire couple have added the rebuilt 42-metre 1954 classic Istros, once once by the Pappadakis shipping dynasty, to their fleet. The motor yacht, which also cost them $30million, is considered an iconic vessel. It won the grand prize for the best restored vessel at the Monaco Yacht Club Prada Classic Yacht Show in 2001. But it fell into disrepair and was little more than a rusting hulk when it was rescued from a Maltese port in 2015, salvaged and rebuilt. The interiors were redesigned in 'chic Scandinavian style by Van Geest Design', the Robb Report said. The Australian Federal Police have seized 416 kilograms of cocaine worth over $166 million in one of Australia's biggest cocaine busts. Police have revealed details of how they arrested four Filipino crew members after they allegedly threw the drugs overboard from a Cyprus-registered cargo carrier, Kypros Bravery, in 'deep waters' off the Yorke Peninsula on March 15. The AFP said the joint investigation found the cocaine off the peninsula on March 21 and that the enormous shipment was destined for all Australian major cities. The bust is the largest in South Australian history. Cyprus-registered cargo carrier, Kypros Bravery (pictured) is now free to continue operations after police completed investigations aboard the vessel Police estimate the value of the drugs seized (pictured) to have a street value of more than $166 million, with the accused importers facing life imprisonment 'While the alleged cocaine importation is the largest ever detected by law enforcement in South Australia, it is most certain the drugs would have been trafficked to other Australian states,' AFP Assistant Commissioner Peter Harvey said. The sailors, aged between 29 and 44, face charges of importing a border-controlled drug with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Alleged smugglers Ian Gelan Dizon, Alcris Dente Mabini, Mark Torrenueva Enriquez and Angelito Devalaque Balansag did not apply for bail and are set to front court again in April. Police arrested four Filipino men who they allege were responsible for importing the massive quantity of cocaine into the country (Pictured: an arrest of one crew member) Police say that the drugs the men allegedly were smuggling into the country were most likely destined to be distributed all over the country (Pictured: police arrest a crew member) The joint team of AFP, Border Force, South Australia Police, Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission, and Department of Home Affairs worked around the clock for four days to find the illegal cargo as part of an operation codenamed Lithgow. The search included extensive land, marine and air patrols. Assistant Commissioner Harvey said the use of cocaine in Australia - one of the highest per capita - leads to 'transnational serious organised criminals' targeting the country. The vessel was docked at Port Adelaide (pictured) when police searched and investigated it after international intelligence had suggested that the cargo ship was suspicious 'We also know drug trafficking can lead to drug wars in our streets, and often law-abiding citizens can be the collateral damage to that violence. 'Illicit drug trafficking can also bankroll other abhorrent crimes, such as human trafficking and sexual servitude.' International Intelligence had alerted Australian police to the suspicious cargo ship before it entered Australian waters and authorities were monitoring its behaviour off the coastline. The police are yet to know the exact weight or purity of the drugs (pictured) but will conduct further testing to find out On the same day of the alleged drug drop-off, the coast guard rescued a small boat that ran out of fuel near Kangaroo Island. On March 17, police searched the container ship in Port Adelaide before locating the shipment on the 18th. The police questioned all 20 members of the crew before laying charges on the four Filipino men. Police allowed the cargo vessel to continue with its work, deciding they had no further need for the ship in their investigations. The size of the drug haul is so large it is nearly equivalent to half of all the cocaine seized across Australia last year. Further testing will be done to find the exact weight and purity of the drug haul but police expect its value to be upwards of $166 million, saying that in the hands of illegal drug syndicates the street value could become a lot higher. 'There is a perception by some in the community that cocaine is a safe drug. Let me be clear it is not and just as importantly, the transnational serious organised criminals who target Australia are also undermining our national security, economy and social security system.' Assistant Commissioner Harvey said. A pregnant woman who was placed into an induced coma after a caravan fire has awoken to find out she has given birth and that her partner died trying to save her. Tomeka Willis, 20, has been in intensive care since her caravan home caught on fire and exploded in Logan Central, southeast Queensland, on March 21. Her partner Blake Whell, 22, shielded Ms Willis from the inferno before suffering burns to 95 per cent of his body and later dying in hospital. Ms Willis was placed into an induced coma before she delivered a baby boy during an emergency C section at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital. Ms Willis's mother Christine revealed the first heartbreaking question she was asked by her daughter after she awoke from her coma. A pregnant woman who was put into an induced coma after a caravan fire has awoken to find out she has given birth and that her partner died trying to save her (pictured, Tomeka Willis) Ms Willis was placed into an induced coma before she gave birth to a baby boy during an emergency C section at Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital Her partner Blake Whell, 22, shielded Ms Willis from the inferno before suffering burns to 95 per cent of his body and later dying in hospital 'She went "Mum, where's Blakey?" and she said "I know there was an explosion",' she told 9 News. 'I explained to her, "Yes baby, you were in a bad fire but you've got a beautiful baby boy that's ready to meet his mummy" and she cried at the photos I had.' Mr Whell was farewelled by devastated family and friends at his funeral on Friday. The 22-year-old's father Lloyd Bickell described his son as a 'stand-up boy'. 'He'd take the shirt off his back to help anyone,' he said. 'I feel like we will remember, through the kids, through Tomeka.' Mr Whell was hailed a 'hero' after the 22-year-old threw his body across his partner to protect her and their unborn child from the flames. It is understood the blaze was ignited by an E-Scooter prompting Mr Bickell to previously warn scooter owners to be careful. It is understood the blaze was ignited by an E-Scooter prompting Blake Whell's father Lloyd Bickell to previously warn scooter owners to be careful The Queensland Ambulance Service sent multiple crews to the Wilbur Street address following the blaze 'Any of you people out there that've got E-Scooters, you be careful with these batteries and these chargers,' Mr Bickell said. 'I've just lost my son Beware of these scooters, they're dangerous, Please, I beg ya's (sic). It's all I have to say, be careful of these E-Scooters.' The Queensland Ambulance Service sent multiple crews to the Wilbur Street address following the blaze. The service's medical director Dr Steven Rashford said the couple required 'significant' resuscitation at the scene. Neighbours who witnessed the fire said it took just minutes for the caravan to go up in flames, while others recalled hearing screams for help. A D.C.-based meteorologist called his kids in the middle of a live broadcast to warn them about an incoming tornado that was headed straight toward their Maryland home. NBC Washington's Doug Kammerer was tracking the storm so closely on Thursday that when he realized its path was headed straight for his Chevy Chase home, he pulled out his phone and gave his kids a call right then and there. 'As a matter of fact, I'm tracking this so closely now, this is going to go right over my house,' he says as he moves half off-screen to zoom in to get a street view of the storm's path. As the dad-of-two moves back into frame, he holds his phone up to his ear and says : 'Kent, you there, buddy? Hey man, I want you to get down in the basement. We got a tornado warning. I want to make sure you and Cally get downstairs as soon as you can.' Scroll down for video NBC Washington's meteorologist Doug Kammerer (pictured) was doing a live broadcast when he was released an incoming tornado was heading straight toward his Maryland home On live TV, he pulled out his phone and called his son Kent to tell him to get him and his sister Cally in the basement for '10 to 15 minutes' #Working4You When a tornado warning sounded last night, Storm Team4 Chief Meteorologist @dougkammerer was working to keep you informed and safe just like his own family. https://t.co/1iV3XQHB0q pic.twitter.com/xZZrDOWCC6 NBC4 Washington (@nbcwashington) April 1, 2022 When Kent replies: 'Right now?' Kammerer tells him to take himself and his sister to the basement and to 'get in the bedroom down there and just wait 10 to 15 minutes.' 'Do it now. Thanks, buddy,' he says before pivoting back to his live broadcast, joking that he had to 'warn my kids, because I know what my kids are doing right now, they're probably online gaming, and they're not seeing this.' Kent and Cally's mother wasn't home at the time, and Kammerer said his 'heart sank' when he realized the danger they were in. 'I had to make the call on live TV. I have never done anything like that before,' he wrote on his Facebook page. 'Kids were home alone and I knew they were not watching me on TV!' he wrote on Twitter. '[When I zoomed in I] saw that it was going very close to my house and I knew I had to warn my kids.' He later said they were safe, but it was a 'scary moment' for him. It's unclear how old his his son and daughter are. 'I was freaking out inside a bit,' Kammerer (pictured with his children in 2021) said. 'I had to make the call on live TV. I have never done anything like that before. Kids were home alone and I knew they were not watching me on TV!' The dad-of-two was praised by his employer for working to keep '[the audience] informed and safe just like his own family' The weatherman called his son Kent (pictured in 2021) and later said his kids were safe Kammerer was reported from DC while his kids (pictured in 2020) were home alone 'I was freaking out inside a bit,' he wrote. NBC Washington posted the video on its Twitter, joking that the meteorologist 'was working to keep you informed and safe just like his own family.' The weatherman informed his followers that the tornado did touch down in Fairfax County and two gas stations were damaged, but no injuries were reported. Prince George's and Montgomery were also placed under a warning until 9 p.m. on Thursday. Experts believe the storm may have formed off an Arkansas storm, according to NBC 4. Nearly 40 years ago, I was in Beijing when China discovered its first case of Aids. As soon as the authorities realised that the victim, an Argentinian-American man, was suffering from this new disease, they locked him in his hotel room. Food was left outside his door. The used dishes and cutlery were immediately destroyed. When he left, all the furnishings, carpets, curtains, everything was taken away and burned. The Chinese do not do things by halves. Quarantine, for example, means quarantine. A friend returning to Shanghai with his wife and infant recently took the risk that if they or their child contracted Covid during their three weeks' quarantine, they would be parted from the one-year-old for the duration. Fortunately, none of them fell ill. Lockdown means lockdown. Recently, the city of Xi'an, with a population of 13 million, was incarcerated for a month after Covid infections soared. Officials arranged food drop-offs, not always adequately. A pregnant woman lost her baby because she did not have a Covid pass and was refused entry to hospital. And testing means testing. When one visitor to Shanghai's Disneyland tested positive, all the other 34,000 visitors that day were held and tested. Lockdown means lockdown. Recently, the city of Xi'an, with a population of 13 million, was incarcerated for a month after Covid infections soared 'Zero tolerance' is part of the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) DNA, whether that is towards dissent, divergence or disease. This is because 'the Party leads everything', as General Secretary and President Xi Jinping likes to say. But just as all good things come from the Party, so, if you are in charge of everything, all bad things are your responsibility, too. The Party was rattled when a novel coronavirus later named SARS-CoV-2 emerged in Wuhan in late 2019 and early 2020. That December, ophthalmologist Li Wenliang at Central Hospital of Wuhan had, in what he'd intended to be a private message, warned colleagues about a mysterious new infection that resembled severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS. He encouraged them to protect themselves. Days later, he was summoned to the city's Public Security Bureau in Wuhan to sign a statement accusing him of making false claims that disturbed the public order. In February, by which time no one in China was in any doubt about the seriousness of the epidemic, 34-year-old Dr Wenliang contracted the infection from a patient and died. The death of a man who had tried to alert people to Covid triggered outrage in China The death of a man who had tried to alert people to Covid triggered outrage in China. A potential crisis threatened the authorities' reputation for competent governance, particularly because its warning and coping systems, set up after a similar virus scare in 2003, did not function properly to head off the new threat. This really mattered. Here in Britain, we might question ministers' competence in dealing with Covid. We can even vote them out at the next election. But in China, the CCP cannot be held accountable for failure. Indeed, its boast of a superior political system President Xi is forever condemning Western democracy as inferior means that failure is not an option, since it might lead the people to question the whole model of government. The Party swung into action to retrieve its bad start. Unhappy and dissenting voices were censored or silenced. Its extensive control and surveillance systems were increased. High-tech electronic tracing, monitoring apps on mobiles, CCTV and the 'grid system' a network of street-level neighbourhood committees and informers which cuts city areas into small controllable chunks went into overdrive. Draconian it may have been and still remains but it worked. However massaged Chinese statistics for Covid cases and deaths are, even if they are ten times worse than declared (149,000 cases and 4,638 deaths), given a population 20 times ours, they compare extraordinarily well with UK figures of 21.2 million cases and 165,570 deaths Draconian it may have been and still remains but it worked. However massaged Chinese statistics for Covid cases and deaths are, even if they are ten times worse than declared (149,000 cases and 4,638 deaths), given a population 20 times ours, they compare extraordinarily well with UK figures of 21.2 million cases and 165,570 deaths. Then there was the propaganda blitz. The Global Times, the Party's tabloid, talked of doctors who were CCP members 'volunteering to go to the frontline in the battle against the disease in Wuhan'. 'The first step those [CCP] members had made gave the rest of us the strength and confidence to follow their steps,' said the director of a Wuhan intensive care unit. The global press was agog with the story of how two 1,000-bed hospitals were constructed in ten days as it happens, that was a day longer than it took us in the UK to set up the first Nightingale hospital, with 4,000 beds. Perhaps we need a central propaganda department. While this propaganda campaign probably did more than anything to rouse opposition to China in Western countries, it served its purpose well: the CCP's target was primarily its own people, to convince them of its rightness to rule This was followed by an overseas propaganda campaign of breathtaking arrogance. With no hint of apology for the gift of Covid to the world on the contrary, with assertions that the origin of the virus may have been an American laboratory leak and later outbreaks may have come from frozen seafood imports or even virus carried on international mail the CCP lauded its gifts (often sales) of PPE and vaccines to the foreigners. Their incompetence in dealing with Covid was contrasted with China's effectiveness. This underlined the excellent governance system of the CCP compared with Western wallowing. While this propaganda campaign probably did more than anything to rouse opposition to China in Western countries, it served its purpose well: the CCP's target was primarily its own people, to convince them of its rightness to rule. So China watched and crowed as Europe and the U.S. suffered during the first year of the pandemic. But how different things look now as the West with high levels of vaccinated and boosted populations emerges from the crisis. Because for all the reputation of the Party for long-term planning, it has not worked out how to deal with the long-term implications of Covid. New and more infectious variants notably Omicron are gaining a hold and, as the country enters the third year of the pandemic, restrictions and lockdowns remain a fact of life New and more infectious variants notably Omicron are gaining a hold and, as the country enters the third year of the pandemic, restrictions and lockdowns remain a fact of life. Shanghai, China's most populous city, with 26 million people, is the latest to be locked down again as a two-stage plan to isolate everyone who is infected and start mass testing is implemented. It is not without cost. China's economy is already in trouble. A Hong Kong professor has calculated that at a minimum the cost of lockdowns is $46 billion (35 billion) a month, or 3.1 percent of GDP, in lost economic output, and the impact could double if more cities tighten restrictions. People are also beginning to get restive after so long under restrictions, with protests spreading rapidly. It is difficult to see how China can open up its borders in the present circumstances. What, then, has gone wrong? China's first mistake was born of sheer arrogance. Despite having secured an agreement with the U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and the German biotechnology company BioNTech in early 2020 for testing, approving, and producing their mRNA vaccines in China, the authorities chose to rely on much less effective home-grown vaccines. They hoped to develop their own mRNA vaccine in good time. That hasn't happened yet. The second big mistake China made has been its slowness in putting even those less effective vaccines into the arms of the elderly and vulnerable The second big mistake China made has been its slowness in putting even those less effective vaccines into the arms of the elderly and vulnerable. According to the National Health Commission, there are 264 million people aged 60 and above. Nearly 20 per cent have not been fully vaccinated. For 80-year-olds among the most vulnerable groups that figure rises to 50 per cent, while 80 per cent have not had boosters, so any immunity is waning. And it is not as though the CCP lacks the ability to coerce when it wants to. The combined result of less effective vaccines, a poor roll-out and successful lockdowns has been a lack of herd immunity in China. This is an immense hurdle to the nation opening up again. What has happened in Hong Kong is a worrying portend. Despite its restrictions on movement, it has had 1.16 million cases and 7,945 deaths. Its vaccination rates, mainly using Chinese vaccines (yet another example of the Hong Kong government kowtowing to Beijing), have been lower than on the mainland almost 40 per cent of the over-80s have been vaccinated. Health care is a sensitive issue in any country. As one Chinese commentator has said: 'China is not prepared for large scale deaths from diseases. We are not psychologically, socially or economically prepared' Like many Chinese cities, it has many elderly and is densely populated; unlike Chinese cities, its health system is relatively robust, yet still it has had difficulty in coping with reports of hospitals overflowing and body bags piling up. For mainland China, the epidemiologist who led the initial efforts to contain Covid in Wuhan estimates that 12-15 million people a week could contract Covid if Omicron spreads as it has in other countries. This tsunami would overwhelm a still rudimentary health care system, which is anyway beyond the 600 million Chinese who earn less than 100 a month. China has half the number of intensive care unit beds per capita compared with the UK, and only a tenth of the U.S. Health care is a sensitive issue in any country. As one Chinese commentator has said: 'China is not prepared for large scale deaths from diseases. We are not psychologically, socially or economically prepared.' If the Party cannot help its citizens in sickness, what are ordinary Chinese to conclude about the health of the political system? The CCP is petrified of protests turning into a Tiananmen type unrest. This is the dilemma for the Party. Social stability is the number one, number two and number three priority. But the current Covid policy is unsustainable. It threatens to magnify an economic malaise, which could lead to significant unemployment. And that, given a lack of a proper social security net, could lead to protest and instability. For the moment, at least, there is little that will change until after the 20th Party Congress in the autumn, when Xi Jinping is almost certain to be confirmed for a third term in his Party, military and state posts For the moment, at least, there is little that will change until after the 20th Party Congress in the autumn, when Xi Jinping is almost certain to be confirmed for a third term in his Party, military and state posts. In the meantime, the challenge will be to hold off the assault of Omicron using current tactics and suppress any unrest rigorously. Behind the scenes, the pressure will be on China's scientists to produce an effective rMNA vaccine, which will be jabbed into the arms of the vulnerable, with no truck given to anti-vaxxers. That might just allow a gradual opening up as long as the health service can cope. And, of course, the propaganda department will be working overtime. Having claimed loudly and frequently, as the Party's paper, the People's Daily, did in March, that its response to Covid showed clearly 'the comparison between rule in China and chaos in the West', it will have its work cut out explaining how it is that life in democratic countries has returned to normal, while Covid restrictions still stalk China. Inevitably, the main propaganda message will be that it is all the foreigners' fault. Recently, the chief expert of China's Centre for Disease Control claimed that 'although [Omicron] was discovered in southern Africa, countries such as the U.S. and the UK are the 'amplifiers' in spreading the virus'. Even if the CCP can get through to next year with its Covid policy intact, the likelihood is that it will require increasing repression to make it through. That, too, will chip away at its legitimacy True, but who originated the virus and allowed it to spread globally by denying its existence and permitting international travel from Wuhan, while clamping down on movement within China? Let alone by preventing a proper investigation into the origins of Covid in a city which happened to be home to the world centre of research into coronaviruses? Will the policy of delay, wait for an effective vaccine, slow opening and a propaganda blitz work? That depends as much on the mood of the virus as on the CCP. The risk is it might turn nasty and overwhelm the lockdown, tracing and testing strategy. That would be a severe blow to the Party's self-proclaimed omnipotence and omnicompetence. Even if the CCP can get through to next year with its Covid policy intact, the likelihood is that it will require increasing repression to make it through. That, too, will chip away at its legitimacy. Of one thing we can be sure, President Xi Jinping won't be throwing any parties for his staff in Zhongnanhai, the CCP equivalent of Downing Street. Nor will the Chinese police be issuing any fixed penalty notices. Xi is not a party animal, at least not in the sense which we might understand. The Chinese like to talk of black swans and grey rhinos, in translation that describes unexpected and unlikely events. But Covid is proving to be worse, a large elephant trampling on the CCP's plans. This is not what Xi Jinping wanted for the year when he intends to equal or surpass Mao in power and prestige. He must encourage the elephant to move on. But it may have other ideas. Labour MP Rosie Duffield last night threw her weight behind a major campaign to urge the public to grill local election candidates on their definition of the word woman. Women's rights groups have banded together to call on voters to question politicians over their views on the contentious topics of sex and gender identity. Now Miss Duffield, who has been accused of transphobia over her views including that transgender women should not be able to access single-sex spaces such as domestic violence refuges and prisons, welcomed the campaign, which uses the slogan 'Respect my Sex if you want my X'. She said women will not stand back 'as our words to describe ourselves and our bodies are erased'. The MP, who has previously said only women have a cervix, added: 'I think this group of women speak for many when they say that a clear biological definition of the sexes is important, partly in order to maintain vital single sex services. Labour MP Rosie Duffield is backing a sex-based rights campaign, saying local election candidates should be grilled about how they define a woman - as the trans debate in the Labour Party intensifies They draw a distinct line between gender and biological sex and all political parties and their candidates need to listen to voters who expect to be represented. 'Women vote, campaign, door-knock and donate and we will not simply stand back as our words to describe ourselves and our bodies are erased. 'Trans people deserve respect and rights which can happen alongside the respect that women have fought so hard to get over the decades.' Her comments come after a number of senior Labour figures including leader Sir Keir Starmer struggled when asked questions such as 'how do you define a woman?' and 'does a woman have a penis?' The political campaign, launched in yesterday's Daily Mail, says prospective councillors must reveal their stance on transgender issues before ballots are cast. It is being led by Maya Forstater, who co-founded the group Sex Matters and is a tax expert whose lengthy employment tribunal battle led to a landmark ruling last year that 'gender-critical' beliefs are protected by equality law and which also led to Harry Potter author JK Rowling becoming embroiled in the divisive online debate over transgender rights. Writing in yesterday's Mail, Miss Forstater said the growing campaign to protect sex-based rights 'represents the most significant women's movement since the Suffragettes'. And yesterday she tweeted: 'Women are angry about the erasure of sex. Local election candidates will need to have answers to their questions.' Campaigning alongside her are Heather Binning of the Women's Rights Network and Caroline Ffiske of Women Uniting. Soon the hashtag #RespectMySex was trending on Twitter, meaning that thousands of people were commenting on the issue. One woman wrote: 'Well done. This sort of organised political movement has been desperately needed. Fantastic breakthrough.' Another, who identifed herself as a psychologist, praised the campaign, saying: 'Brilliant!! And quite right!' Women's rights groups have banded together to call on voters to question politicians over their views on the contentious topics of sex and gender identity, using the slogan, 'Respect my Sex if you want my X'. Pictured (left to right): Caroline Ffiske of Women Uniting, Heather Binning (Women's Rights Network) and Mayra Forstater (Sex Matters) A third woman commented: 'Women have the right to be treated as full citizens. We need single sex spaces.' A further social media opinion, by Joanne Finkel, read: 'Women have fought hard for the vote, for women's rights to single sex places in work places, hospitals, prisons and sports. 'We must continue to do. Sadly too many in politics can't define 'woman' if there's votes in it they will.' Stonewall suffered a blow yesterday as the United Nations rejected the organisation's call to cut ties with the Equality and Human Rights Commission, the equalities watchdog, over its stance on trans issues. The Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions rejected the charity's complaint that the EHRC had taken a 'determinedly anti-trans stance' after it recommended that the conversion therapy ban not be extended to trans people. Few academic institutions in Britain embody the values of liberal Britain critics might use the word wokeish more than Oxford University, and Lady Margaret Hall college in particular. More than anything, LMH, as it is known, has always championed the rights of women. It was the first Oxford college, after all, to admit women when it opened back in 1879, and it remained an all-female place of learning for 100 years. Alumni include Malala Yousafzai who narrowly avoided death after being shot by the Taliban for speaking out to defend the right of girls to attend school in Afghanistan celebrated her graduation from the college last autumn. Emma Watson, the Harry Potter actress, is an associate fellow and has donated books on the themes of equality, empowerment and feminism to the library. And, until the end of the 2021 academic year, Alan Rusbridger, former editor of The Guardian, a journalist and newspaper which supposedly epitomised those aspirations, was the high-profile principal. How disturbingly ironic, then, that Lady Margaret Hall should be embroiled in a scandal that challenges the very principles it stands for. Until the end of the 2021 academic year, Alan Rusbridger was the high-profile principal The allegation, in short, is that the college silenced a female undergraduate who claimed she was raped by another student in her university room. The fact that this is said to have happened during Rusbridgers watch, someone who claims to have fought tirelessly for Press freedom, is the subplot to this breaking scandal. Both he and the college categorically deny the claims and, it has to be acknowledged, that there is at least one aspect of the students testimony, which we will come to shortly, that gives cause for concern. Nevertheless, the story, splashed across the front page of The Times yesterday, and spread across two inside pages, could not be more damaging or embarrassing. The student told how her alleged attacker, with whom she was in a relationship, entered her college bedroom while she was asleep. He had been to a college dinner, she said, and was drunk. Moments later he began kissing her, according to her account, before pinning her arms down and raping her. Violent and frightening is how she described her ordeal at the hands of her boyfriend, who was left with scratches on his face and arms which he claimed, when asked about the injuries by a friend, were the result of rough sex. It took six months before the victim found the strength to inform the authorities at Lady Margaret Hall. What she says followed, however, is perhaps the most explosive part of the story: she claimed she was warned in writing not to reveal anything about the alleged rape and was required to sign a gagging order. Breaches of the secrecy conditions, she said, such as publishing material in the Press would result in expulsion from Lady Margaret Hall. An internal inquiry eventually went ahead, carried out by the college dean, which concluded seven months later that it could not uphold her complaint. Nor was the man she accused of assaulting her who was briefly suspended from the college charged with any offence after being reported to the police. This week, though, the case reached a dramatic denouement. The girls personal injury claim against the college for negligence, breach of contract, discrimination, harassment and victimisation, was settled out of court, with Lady Margaret Hall agreeing to pay the young woman damages and cover her legal costs. Even though the college did not admit liability, it would be difficult to imagine a less desirable outcome for Lady Margaret Hall. It has emerged that the alleged attacker had previously been reported to the college authorities by a different student when she claimed he barged into her bedroom and behaved in a sexually threatening manner. He was from a gilded background, it would seem. This is alluded to in a message from the vice principal to Rusbridger, before the decision was made to suspend him, albeit temporarily, which warned that despite all his heritage it could be very damaging to us not to exclude him from [college] accommodation; and she expressed concern that his conduct had left a number of people at risk. Even though the college did not admit liability, it would be difficult to imagine a less desirable outcome for Lady Margaret Hall college (above) The repercussions of the night the student said she was raped and her subsequent battle with the college overshadowed the young womans undergraduate years. There are no words to describe what Lady Margaret Hall has done to me, nor will it ever be something that Id get over, as I have been told to do by multiple members of staff who tried to silence me and undermine me, the girl is quoted in the newspaper. The date of the alleged rape is not known, but the events in question occurred when Alan Rusbridger was principal between 2015 and 2021. His tenure was lauded in Cherwell, Oxford Universitys student newspaper, when news of his impending departure was announced just under 18 months ago. The former newspaper editor had helped transform LMH into an outward-facing college, it said. I am very proud of the work we have done, Rusbridger admitted. So do the gagging allegations which have now surfaced undermine his legacy? Rusbridger, for his part, has dismissed the coverage as one-sided and insists staff and tutors went to great efforts to support and protect the student at the centre of the controversy. The Crown Prosecution Service, remember, decided not to take her case to trial. The reason was that the girl stayed in touch with her attacker after the incident, and even sent him affectionate texts. She did so, she says, out of fear. This was a domestic violence situation, she explained. There are texts messages where I say I love him, but I sent them because I was afraid. I was afraid of what he might do, so I was always trying to stop him being angry with me. Nevertheless, in the eyes of the CPS, the affectionate text messages she sent in the aftermath of the incident undermined their chance of achieving a conviction. Yet the very fact that the backdrop to all this is Oxford University is as surprising as it is shocking. Only last year, the university attracted headlines over the news that it was considering making woke scores part of the criteria when recruiting academics. A consultation document from the universitys race equality taskforce stated the importance of embedding EDI (equality, diversity and inclusion) into all recruitment, and recommended that commitment to EDI should be essential criteria for all applicants. Indeed, Oxford is considered to be in the vanguard of so-called woke revolution and, along with Cambridge, was placed in the red category for instances of no-platforming and cancel culture in a report by think-tank Civitas. Rusbridger, rightly or wrongly, has been singled out for criticism by the female student. She accused him of mishandling the case by trying desperately to convince her not to complain because of the negative impact it would have on the alleged assailants studies, and because an inquiry would be a time- consuming and costly exercise for the college. Rusbridger offers an alternative explanation: that he queried what she hoped to achieve from another prolonged investigation [even though one did take place] after the police had already thoroughly investigated the case. At one point, the former newspaper editor offered the student a spare room in the principals house as a safe place for her to stay. But she claimed it was really awkward. He was the person who was going to decide what the college was going to do, and I was left feeling that I should be indebted to him. Rusbridger, however, says she sent a heartfelt note of thanks and a gift to him and his wife for taking her in. Physical measures were also put in place, he said, to protect her; she was given a bodyguard on one occasion as well as a panic alarm. The college drew up a written no contact agreement between her and the male student, ostensibly outlining precautionary safety arrangements. But the document also stipulated that she must not make any information about the allegations, the police investigation or Lady Margaret Hall safeguarding arrangements available to any form of public media. The young womans lawyers said this amounted to a blanket gagging clause. It was the equivalent of a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA, which have been routinely used to ensure the cover up of sexual harassment claims in the wake of the 2019 Sir Philip Green Scandal. The former Topshop billionaire was accused of employing NDAs himself to stop former employees who had accused him of sexual harassment and racism of going to the press. Again, Rusbridger, 68, denies this. It is not true to say there was a blanket gagging order issued against the female student, he said in a statement yesterday. While the police investigation was still active, she had posted under her own name to a Facebook group of 2,500 people the claim that she had been raped by her partner. He was clearly identifiable. The student was advised of the obvious risks involved in this posting: she apologised and volunteered to delete all her social media accounts. She swiftly acknowledged the support of the College over this incident which I really, really do appreciate so much. After this, LMH asked both parties to refrain from public comment while the case was active . . . both parties signed without comment or protest. So two very different versions of what happened. In the wake of the furore, Lady Margaret Hall announced a radical overhaul of the way it handles sexual misconduct allegations, and said that it would become the first Oxford College to sign a government-backed pledge for universities not to use non- disclosure agreements to silence students. At the same time, the colleges new principal, Christine Gerrard, said she recognised there is scope for improvement. All of which comes too late for the young woman who made the allegations and says that she remains terrified by her ordeal. Proposals to look again at fracking are set to be put on the back burner even though the UK's only shale gas wells have been given a year-long reprieve. Boris Johnson is under pressure to use fracking to bring down energy prices, but last night sources said the process is unlikely to feature in the Government's energy security strategy. More onshore wind could be included despite opposition from Tory MPs. Fracking involves injecting liquid at high pressure into rocks to force open cracks and extract oil or gas, but it has been blamed for earth tremors. A Whitehall source said: 'Until compelling scientific evidence states that fracking can be done safely, the moratorium will remain in place.' Boris Johnson is under pressure to use fracking to bring down energy prices, but last night sources said the process is unlikely to feature in the Government's energy security strategy. Cuadrilla had been told to plug its two wells in Lancashire by the end of June, but on Thursday the North Sea Transition Authority gave the fracking firm another year to evaluate options for the sites. The energy security strategy is set to be published next week after repeated delays over Treasury concerns about the cost of new nuclear power plants. The strategy is expected to include a target to increase the share of electricity from nuclear from 15 to 25 per cent by 2050. Sources said plans to expand onshore wind had not been ruled out. Ministers have been told they risk a backlash from MPs with rural constituencies, but Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, has proposed doubling onshore wind by 2030. This week the Prime Minister said that offshore wind has 'massive potential', but made no mention of onshore turbines. Passengers who paid hundreds of pounds extra to fly business class with British Airways had an unwelcome surprise this week when they were squeezed together in their seats just like those in economy. It comes as the airline scrambles to get customers off the ground after more than 900 flights were cancelled or delayed following an IT glitch on Wednesday. A selling point of BA's Club Europe short-haul business class cabin is the middle seat being kept free to guarantee more space. Passengers who paid hundreds of pounds extra to fly business class with British Airways had an unwelcome surprise this week when they were squeezed together in their seats just like those in economy (stock image) But passengers reportedly received a 'flatly worded' email minutes before boarding informing them the middle seat would be filled. It is unclear whether customers will receive compensation. A BA spokesman said they 'temporarily increased' numbers in the Club Europe cabin during the disruption, adding: 'Not doing this would have stopped some travellers getting to where they needed to be.' The airline last night said business class flights were now 'back to normal'. Bierton was warned he faced a whole-life term when sentenced on June 10 Lawrence Bierton, 61, faces a possible whole life jail term after murdering a pensioner while out on licence from his sentence to killing two other elderly women in 1995 A convicted double killer serving a life sentence was allowed out on licence - only to murder a third pensioner the following year. Lawrence Bierton, 61, yesterday pleaded guilty to murdering his neighbour, Pauline Quinn, in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, on November 9, 2021. Ms Quinn, a 73-year-old grandmother, died of a fractured skull that resulted from 'a number of blows' with a 'degree of force', Nottingham Crown Court heard. Bierton was arrested 30 miles away from their street the next morning. It was heard that he had been driving Pauline's car. Bierton, of Rayton Spur, Worksop, was jailed for life in May 1996 but was released from prison on 11 May 2020. He was previously found guilty of killing sisters Aileen Dudhill, 79, and Elsie Gregory, 72, at their home in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, on June 25, 1995. No further details of Mrs Quinn's murder were heard in court today, but are likely to be outlined when Bierton is sentenced on June 10. Bierton, appearing via video link from HMP Manchester, pleaded guilty to Mrs Quinn's murder and the theft of her car keys. Judge Gregory Dickinson QC, the Recorder of Nottingham, asked a probation officer on the link: 'Am I correct to assume he was living at the address either with direction or permission of those responsible for supervising his life licence?' The probation officer said she understood probation were aware of his address. Pauline Quinn, a 73-year-old grandmother, died of a fractured skull in November last year, Nottingham Crown Court heard The judge asked for a report to explain how it was Bierton came to be living next door to Mrs Quinn. Judge Dickinson said: 'It seems highly likely or inevitable the sentencing judge will want to know more about it'. Another report, from an offender management unit, was requested to deal more generally with Bierton's performance and compliance with the conditions of his parole licence. The judge said an inquest would look at other wider issues. No further details of Mrs Quinn's murder were heard in court today, but are likely to be outlined when Bierton is sentenced on June 10. Pictured: Nottingham Crown Court After the guilty plea, Detective Inspector Steve Wragg, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: 'Pauline's tragic death devastated her family and shocked her friends and neighbours in their community. 'Our thoughts and deepest condolences remain with them and I hope today's guilty pleas bring some degree of closure for them. 'I am pleased Bierton decided to plead guilty which has spared Pauline's family having to go through the emotional ordeal of a trial.' In a previous statement, Mrs Quinn's family said: 'The whole family is totally in shock. Pauline was so full of joy and we just can't believe what has happened.' A former friend of the prime suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance is '100% certain' he abucted the three-year-old girl in 2007. Christian Post, 54, believes Christian Brueckner snatched Madeleine during one of his burgling 'night crawls' while she slept in the Portuguese resort Praia da Luz. Post, a musician and IT expert, claimed Brueckner, 45, would boast to him about stealing from holiday flats and amassing a haul of around 100 passports. It was only when Post became aware of Brueckner's conviction for child sex offences that he became convinced he took Madeleine. Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year jail sentence in Germany for raping a 72-year-old woman. Post told The Mirror from his home in Cambodia: 'Now I know about his paedophile past, his rapist past. I'm 100% certain it was him. I think he found [Madeleine] by chance and just took her on the spur of the moment. A former friend of the prime suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance is '100% certain' he abucted the three-year-old girl in 2007. Christian Post, 54, believes Christian Brueckner (pictured) snatched Madeleine during one of his burgling 'night crawls' while she slept in the Portuguese resort Praia da Luz 'I think once you are a paedophile, there is a switch in your brain that cannot be turned off. 'If he saw a little girl asleep, alone in her apartment, he would definitely have taken her.' Brueckner was twice extradited from Portugal for sex crimes against children but detectives investigating the three-year-old Briton's disappearance never considered he could be involved. The serial sex attacker was first sent back to Germany in 1999 after he had spent four years on the run in the Algarve and served a two-year sentence in youth custody for sexually abusing a child. It was only when Post became aware of Brueckner's conviction for child sex offences that he became convinced he took Madeleine Post said he regrets not tipping off police about Brueckner's burglary crimes but insisted he is willing to try to help bring him to justice. Madeleine disappeared from an apartment building (above) where she was staying with her family He was sent back to Germany a second time in 2017 to serve a 15-month prison sentence for sexually abusing a child and possession of child pornography. Post added that he regrets not tipping off police about Brueckner's burglary crimes - but insisted he is willing to try to help bring him to justice. The revelation comes as Scotland Yard is set to wind up its investigation into Madeleine's disappearance, according to reports. The Sun claimed last month that funding for the Operation Grange inquiry launched four years after the Portuguese police began their unsuccessful search for the youngster in 2007 will end later this year unless new lines of inquiry emerge. A source quoted by the newspaper said: 'The end of the road for Operation Grange is now in sight. The team's work is expected to be completed by autumn. 'There are currently no plans to take the inquiry any further.' Detectives are said to be frustrated by the failure to compile sufficient evidence to prosecute Brueckner, who was named two years ago by German police as the prime suspect for Madeleine's abduction. He has denied any involvement in the disappearance of the youngster. Operation Grange, overseen by the Metropolitan Police, is estimated to have cost 13 million. The Sun said it was understood that Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate, both 54, are aware of the impending closure but have vowed to continue their search. The Operation Grange team has in recent years been pared down from 40 officers to just four detectives working under Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell. His team also liaises with Madeleine's parents, of Rothley, Leicsestershire. In June 2020, police in Britain and Germany launched a renewed appeal for witnesses after disclosing they had a new suspect, who was later revealed to be Brueckner. In May last year, Kate and Gerry McCann (pictured) restated they still believed Madeleine could be alive. A statement that month said: 'The Covid pandemic has made this year even more difficult for many reasons but thankfully the investigation to find Madeleine and her abductor has continued' German prosecutors remain convinced he was responsible for the youngster's disappearance but despite an intensive investigation have not brought any charges. Brueckner also is alleged to have admitted abducting Madeleine to a friend - and the German team of investigators, led by public prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters, said they were certain he had killed the three-year-old. It is now highly unlikely that he will be charged over her disappearance. Wolters went as far as holding a press conference where he addressed Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry over the air. He insisted: 'We are confident we have the man who took and killed your daughter. All I can do is ask for your patience.' But claims German detectives had sent multiple notes to Madeleine's family were rubbished within days. And the Met itself released a pointed statement correcting the allegations about the correspondence. It said last year: 'The Met received one letter from the BKA [Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany] on June 12, which was passed to the family. 'The letter did not state that there was evidence or proof that Madeleine is dead, the MPS continues to investigate Madeleine's disappearance as a missing person investigation. No letter has been received by the Met from the German prosecutor.' In fact in May last year, Kate and Gerry restated they still believed she could be alive. A statement that month said: 'The Covid pandemic has made this year even more difficult for many reasons but thankfully the investigation to find Madeleine and her abductor has continued. 'We hang on to the hope, however small, that we will see Madeleine again. As we have said repeatedly, we need to know what has happened to our lovely daughter, no matter what. We are very grateful to the police for their continued efforts.' Brueckner is also currently serving a prison sentence for drug trafficking and is expected to remain behind bars until 2026 after losing a bid to overturn a rape conviction. He was last year found guilty of the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old American woman in the same Portuguese resort from which Madeleine vanished and sentenced to seven years in jail, at a court in Brunswick, Lower Saxony. Brueckner was in Praia da Luz when Madeleine went missing on the night of May 3, 2007, pinpointed there by a mobile phone call. Madeleine - then aged three - disappeared from an apartment where she was staying with her family. Kate and Gerry, had been dining with friends in a nearby restaurant and periodically checking on Madeleine and her two siblings - Sean and Amelie - as they slept. Around 9pm, Gerry went to check on the children and found them sleeping. At 9.30pm, a family friend went to the apartment and heard no noise, but did not check far enough into the room to see if Madeleine was there. At 10pm, Kate went to check on the children and found Maddie was gone. The disappearance was reported immediately and a search party launched the same evening including officers from the Guarda Nacional Republicana and the Policia Judiciaria, which launched an investigation. Amaral was brought in to head that investigation and ran it for several months, infamously naming both Kate and Gerry as suspects. He was sacked shortly after launching a public attack on British detectives - accusing them of only pursuing investigative lines given to them by the McCanns. He has since published a book and appeared in a documentary called 'The Truth of the Lie' in which he repeated his claims against the McCanns. The family won a libel suit against him in 2015, and were awarded 500,000 in damages. Advertisement A British-made Starstreak missile is understood to have shot down a Russian helicopter in the weapon's first use in Ukraine - as the country's president Volodymyr Zelensky says the 'occupiers are withdrawing' from the West. The Starstreak system is a laser-guided missile that travels at more than three times the speed of sound to take down low-flying enemy jets and attack helicopters. Britain is supplying and training Ukrainian troops in the use of the high-velocity anti-air missiles as well as providing body armour, helmets and combat boots. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has repeatedly insisted the UK will provide further defensive support to Ukraine, including a new package of 6,000 more missiles. And footage now shows a Russian Mi-28N helicopter being shot out of the sky in the Luhansk region and cut in two as its tail is struck by the portable missile. The video released on Friday shows the Starstreak missile in action during its first week of use in the war, a source at the Ministry of Defence (MoD) told The Times. Meanwhile, Zelensky alleged Russian troops were retreating from Ukraine's northern region. He said: 'The occupiers are withdrawing forces in the north of our country. The withdrawal is slow but noticeable.' The United States will also work with allies to transfer Soviet-made tanks to Ukraine to bolster its defenses in the Donbas region, the New York Times reported on Friday, citing a US official. The transfers, requested by Zelensky, would begin soon, the unnamed official said. The official declined to tell the paper how many tanks would be sent or from which countries they would come. And UK defence sources revealed last night that Kremlin forces have run out of vital weapons and cannot now replenish their stocks. The MoD also gave a further update saying a fire has destroyed several oil tanks at a depot in the Russian city of Belgorod, which is close to the Ukrainian border. Zelensky has declined to comment on whether he ordered an attack on the Russian fuel depot. In an interview with FOX News, he said he does not discuss any orders he issues as commander in chief. On Thursday, explosions were reported at an ammunition depot in the surrounding area of the city. The department added: 'The probable loss of fuel and ammunition supplies from these depots will likely add additional short-term strain to Russia's already stretched logistic chains. 'Supplies to Russian forces encircling Kharkiv (60km from Belgorod) may be particularly affected.' The comments came as the president's forces drove Russia out of dozens of towns around Kyiv and the north in one of the most extraordinary days since the start of the invasion. A British-made anti-aircraft missile shot down a Russian helicopter in the weapon's first use in Ukraine, said experts The Starstreak system is a laser-guided missile that travels at more than three times the speed of sound to take down low-flying enemy jets and attack helicopters A Ukrainian soldier is seen among the ruins of a burned vehicle in Irpin, Ukraine, on Friday. It came as Ukrainian soldiers regained control in the region that is one of the conflict areas where the most intense battles have taken place A Ukrainian soldier poses for photos next to a destroyed Russian helicopter bearing the letter 'Z', the Russian invasion symbol, in the Mala Rohan village which has been recaptured by the Ukrainian army near Kharkiv, northeast Ukraine What are Starstreak missiles? The Starstreak high-velocity surface-to-air missile is designed to defend against conventional air threats like fixed wing fighter planes and helicopters. It is made in Belfast by the company Thales Air Defence. The missile has a range of more than 7km and carries a three dart payload. The Starstreak system is a shoulder-mounted missile that travels at more than three times the speed of sound to take down low-flying enemy aircraft It uses a laser beam guidance system which the manufacturer says is 'immune to all known countermeasures'. The weapon can be launched from lightweight land, sea or air platforms and can be unleashed as soon as a target is detected - there is no wait for 'lock on'. It accelerates to a speed of more than Mach 3 - approximately 2,300mph - in a 'fraction of a second'. Once hitting full speed it releases its three 'hittiles' which are then guided to the target. It is a man-portable air-defence system - known by the MANPADS acronym. The missiles are similar to the US-made Stinger which is already being used by Ukrainian forces. Advertisement Defence Secretary Ben Wallace previously said the Starstreak system a shoulder-mounted missile that travels at more than three times the speed of sound to take down low-flying enemy jets was ready to be used imminently. Mr Wallace said the first Ukrainian troops had been trained and were now deployed with Starstreak, adding that the UK was 'doing more than pretty much anyone else' to help the war-torn country. 'One of the biggest challenges is that the more you go up in sophistication of weapons systems, the more training you require to use them, which is why the real focus of effort has to be helping the Ukrainians either refurbish or locate Russian or Soviet equipment that is already in their inventory,' he told the Mail on Sunday. 'Just providing British tanks wouldn't really work.' The weapon seen in the video shared on Friday is by short-range missiles company Thales. It can be shot from a shoulder or stand and has a range of more than four miles. The missile detaches into three darts mid-air, which are guided to the target by a laser operator on the ground. The use of lasers rather than being attracted to infrared energy means flares cannot counteract the three-pronged missile. Britain has already sent thousands of anti-tank weapons to Ukraine, although Nato nations have continued to rebuff pleas from Zelensky for tanks and fighter aircraft. Mr Wallace told Sky News earlier this week: 'There will be more lethal aid going into Ukraine as a result of today. 'Ukraine needs longer-range artillery and that's because of what the Russian army has been doing, which is now digging in and starting to pound these cities with artillery. 'The best counter to that is other long-range artillery, so [Ukraine will] be looking for and getting more long-range artillery, ammunition predominantly. 'They are also looking for armoured vehicles of some types not tanks necessarily, but certainly protective vehicles, and more anti-air [weapons]. All of this will be forthcoming as a result of this conference.' More than 30 settlements have been reclaimed with Vladimir Putin's forces retreating up to 25 miles in places. But officials urged caution, saying the movement is part of Russia's 'tactics' to encircle Ukrainian troops in Donbas and split the country in two. Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said: 'Russian units are not withdrawing but repositioning.' Among the towns back under Ukrainian control last night were Hostomel, where Moscow had hoped to gain the airport to ease taking control of Kyiv, Chernihiv in the north, and Chernobyl, where Putin's forces were heading across the border to Belarus. Britain is supplying and training Ukrainian troops in the use of the high-velocity anti-air missiles as well as providing body armour, helmets and combat boots An aerial picture shows burned Russian armoured vehicles in the outskirts of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, on Friday Burned Russian armoured vehicles are seen on the outskirts of Kyiv. Since the conflict began in late February, Russia has lost an estimated 143 planes, 131 helicopters, 625 tanks and 316 artillery pieces Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky alleged Russian troops were retreating from Ukraine's northern region. He said: 'The occupiers are withdrawing forces in the north of our country. The withdrawal is slow but noticeable' The weapon seen in the video shared on Friday is by short-range missiles company Thales. It can be shot from a shoulder or stand and has a range of more than four miles. The missile system is pictured above Starstreak surface-to-air missiles are designed to defend against conventional air threats like fixed wing fighter planes and helicopters Since the conflict began in late February, Russia has lost an estimated 143 planes, 131 helicopters, 625 tanks and 316 artillery pieces. Russia has also fired at least 1,100 missiles, raising questions about how long it can maintain such an expenditure rate. Early on Saturday, Zelensky warned his people that retreating Russian forces were creating 'a complete disaster' outside the capital as they leave mines across 'the whole territory,' including around homes and corpses. He issued the warning as the humanitarian crisis in the encircled city of Mariupol deepened, with Russian forces blocking evacuation operations for the second day in a row. Meanwhile, the Kremlin accused the Ukrainians of launching a helicopter attack on a fuel depot on Russian soil. Ukraine denied responsibility for the fiery blast, but if Moscow's claim is confirmed, it would be the war's first known attack in which Ukrainian aircraft penetrated Russian airspace. 'Certainly, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of the talks,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, five weeks after Moscow began sending upwards of 150,000 of its own troops across Ukraine's border. Russia continued withdrawing some of its ground forces from areas around Kyiv after saying earlier this week it would reduce military activity near the Ukrainian capital and the northern city of Chernihiv. 'They are mining the whole territory. They are mining homes, mining equipment, even the bodies of people who were killed,' Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation. 'There are a lot of trip wires, a lot of other dangers.' The weapon can be launched from lightweight land, sea or air platforms and can be unleashed as soon as a target is detected - there is no wait for 'lock on' Britain has been supplying Ukraine with light anti-tank weapons known as NLAWs. The UK has now donated 3,615 of the weapons. A Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces member is pictured today holding an NLAW in the outskirts of Kyiv The Government had initially supplied Ukraine with 2,000 NLAWs but that number has continued to grow. An NLAW anti-tank missile is pictured being fired during a training exercise involving UK forces Defence Secretary Ben Wallace previously said the Starstreak system a shoulder-mounted missile that travels at more than three times the speed of sound to take down low-flying enemy jets was ready to be used imminently Europe has just a MONTH of gas supplies left before Putin's threat to turn off gas bites Europe has just a month of gas supplies left before Vladimir Putin's threat to turn off the pipelines if foreign buyers refuse to pay in roubles will start to bite. European leaders can continue paying in euros or dollars for another month because payments for gas delivered to Europe in April is not due until the end of the month on some contracts and on others, not until early May. The rouble soared back to its pre-war level last night, trading at 82.75 to the dollar, as it continues to recover after falling to historic lows when the West applied sanctions after President Putin sent his army into Ukraine on February 24 The revelation comes as the rouble soared back to its pre-war level last night, trading at 82.75 roubles to the dollar, following the Russian President's latest attempt to 'blackmail' states reliant on Moscow's energy in what has been seen as a bid to shore up the currency. Russia has been hit by sweeping sanctions on its economy and trade since the start of Putin's war in Ukraine, pushing the rouble to historic lows, but measures by EU governments have not targeted oil and gas contracts with Moscow because many member states are heavily reliant on the Kremlin's supplies. Europe is heavily reliant on Russia for its energy needs, with around 40% of its gas coming from the country. If Moscow decides to turn off the taps it could trigger supply shortages, factory closures and crippling energy costs across the region. Europe's continued purchase of oil and gas, which costs the EU around 266million a day, severely undermines Western sanctions on Russia as the purchases hand Moscow a wodge of foreign money with which the Kremlin can bolster the economy and currency, as well as fund the faltering war next door. But Putin's latest demands of gas payments in roubles are an attempt to force the West to evade their own sanctions on the Russian economy as buyers have to convert foreign currency into roubles, which are only available through the sanctioned central bank. European companies and governments yesterday remained adamant they would continue to settle their contracts in euros or dollars and rejected the demands as a breach of existing agreements. Advertisement Ukraine's military said it had retaken 29 settlements in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions. Still, Ukraine and its allies warned that the Kremlin is not de-escalating to promote trust at the bargaining table, as it claimed, but instead resupplying and shifting its troops to the country's east. Those movements appear to be preparation for an intensified assault on the mostly Russian-speaking Donbas region in the country's east, which includes Mariupol. Zelensky warned of difficult battles ahead as Russia redeploys troops. 'We are preparing for an even more active defense,' he said. He did not say anything about the latest round of talks, which took place Friday by video. At a round of talks earlier in the week, Ukraine said it would be willing to abandon a bid to join NATO and declare itself neutral - Moscow's chief demand - in return for security guarantees from several other countries. The invasion has left thousands dead and driven more than 4 million refugees from Ukraine. Mariupol, the shattered and besieged southern port city, has seen some of the worst suffering of the war. Its capture would be a major prize for Russian President Vladimir Putin, giving his country an unbroken land bridge to Crimea, seized from Ukraine in 2014. On Friday, the International Committee for the Red Cross said it was unable to carry out an operation to bring civilians out of Mariupol by bus. City authorities said the Russians were blocking access to the city. 'We do not see a real desire on the part of the Russians and their satellites to provide an opportunity for Mariupol residents to evacuate to territory controlled by Ukraine,' Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to Mariupol's mayor, wrote on the Telegram messaging app. He said Russian forces 'are categorically not allowing any humanitarian cargo, even in small amounts, into the city.' Around 100,000 people are believed to remain in the city, down from a prewar 430,000. Weeks of Russian bombardment and street fighting have caused severe shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine. 'We are running out of adjectives to describe the horrors that residents in Mariupol have suffered,' Red Cross spokesperson Ewan Watson said. On Thursday, Russian forces blocked a 45-bus convoy attempting to evacuate people from Mariupol and seized 14 tons of food and medical supplies bound for the city, Ukrainian authorities said. Zelensky said more than 3,000 people were able to leave Mariupol on Friday. He said he discussed the humanitarian disaster with French President Emmanuel Macron by telephone and with the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, during her visit to Kyiv. 'Europe doesn't have the right to be silent about what is happening in our Mariupol,' Zelensky said. 'The whole world should respond to this humanitarian catastrophe.' Elsewhere, at least three Russian ballistic missiles were fired late Friday at the Odesa region on the Black Sea, regional leader Maksim Marchenko said. The Ukrainian military said the Iskander missiles did not hit the critical infrastructure they targeted. Odesa is Ukraine's largest port and the headquarters of its navy. As for the fuel depot explosion, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said two Ukrainian helicopter gunships flew in extremely low and attacked the civilian oil storage facility on the outskirts of the city of Belgorod, about 25 kilometers (16 miles) from the Ukraine border. A destroyed military truck is seen on an empty street in the town of Makariv, in the Kyiv region, on Friday as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues Local residents walk past buildings damaged by shelling in the town of Makariv, in the Kyiv region of Ukraine, on April 1 A residential house destroyed by shelling is seen in the town of Makariv, Ukraine. Zelensky warned of difficult battles ahead as Russia redeploys troops. 'We are preparing for an even more active defense,' he said A dog walks along an empty street as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues. Ukraine's military said it had retaken 29 settlements in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions Flowers left on a damaged Ukrainian BMP-2 armoured personal carrier are seen in the town of Makariv, Ukraine, on Friday The regional governor said two workers at the depot were wounded, but the Rosneft state oil company denied anyone was hurt. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's national security council, said on Ukrainian television: 'For some reason they say that we did it, but in fact this does not correspond with reality.' Later, in an interview with Fox, Zelensky refused to say whether Ukraine was behind the attack. On the outskirts of Kyiv, where Russian troops have withdrawn, damaged cars lined the streets of Irpin, a suburban area popular with young families, now in ruins. Emergency workers carried elderly people on stretchers over a wrecked bridge to safety. Three wooden crosses next to a residential building that was damaged in a shelling marked the graves of a mother and son and an unknown man. A resident who gave her name only as Lila said she helped hurriedly bury them on March 5, just before Russian troops moved in. 'They were hit with artillery and they were burned alive,' she said. An Irpin resident who gave his name only as Andriy said the Russians packed up their equipment and left on Tuesday. The next day, they shelled the town for close to an hour before Ukrainian soldiers retook it. 'I don't think this is over,' Andriy said. 'They will be back.' Russia's war effort stalls as the Red Army can't get replacement weapons or spares for their crippled convoys... because they're all made in Ukraine By Mark Nicol and Andy Jehring for the Daily Mail Russia's war effort is grinding to a halt because much of the military hardware they need is made in Ukraine, it emerged last night. Kremlin forces have run out of vital weapons and cannot now replenish their stocks, UK defence sources revealed. The revelations came as President Volodymyr Zelensky's forces drove Russia out of dozens of towns around Kyiv and the north in one of the most extraordinary days since the start of the invasion. More than 30 settlements were reclaimed with Vladimir Putin's forces retreating up to 25 miles in places. But officials urged caution, saying the movement is part of Russia's 'tactics' to encircle Ukrainian troops in Donbas and split the country in two. Russia's war effort is grinding to a halt because much of the military hardware they need is made in Ukraine, it emerged as defence sources said the Kremlin could not replenish its stocks The Daily Mail can reveal that Ukraine had previously supplied Russia with cruise missiles, helicopter engine parts and fighter jet components. It also produced the fire control systems used by Russian tanks (one seen here at the bottom of a river) Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said: 'Russian units are not withdrawing but repositioning.' Among the towns back under Ukrainian control last night were Hostomel, where Moscow had hoped to gain the airport to ease taking control of Kyiv, Chernihiv in the north, and Chernobyl, where Putin's forces were heading across the border to Belarus. The Daily Mail can reveal that Ukraine had previously supplied Russia with cruise missiles, helicopter engine parts and fighter jet components. It also produced the fire control systems used by Russian tanks. Now, when these systems fail, they cannot be replaced. Russia is unable to source these items or alternatives from other countries due to international sanctions. The revelations came as President Volodymyr Zelensky's forces drove Russia out of dozens of towns around Kyiv and the north in one of the most extraordinary days since the start of the invasion Pictured: Ukrainian servicemen ride on an armoured transporter driving through a Russian position overran by Ukrainian forces outside Kyiv Starving soldiers reduced to 'eating stray dogs' Starving Russian soldiers have been eating stray dogs abandoned by their fleeing Ukrainian owners, it has been reported. The grim claim allegedly from a telephone call intercepted by Ukraine's security services is a sign of how stretched and harried the invaders' supply lines are. According to a transcript released by the Ukrainian agents, a Russian soldier was asked: 'Are you eating OK at least?' He is said to have replied: 'Not too bad. We had alabai [a Central Asian sheepdog] yesterday. We wanted some meat.' Armies should be provided with long-life ration packs, which do not need to be chilled, and typically contain boil-in-the-bag ready meals. But the Ukrainians' attacks on convoys into the country appear to be cutting off supplies, reducing the Russian army to desperate measures as they live off the land. Other reportedly intercepted calls from Putin's soldiers have revealed not only shortages of food, but also of ammunition and fuel. Russian troops are said to have been raiding supermarkets for food and alcohol, as well as looting homes for supplies. Hotelier Tetiana Schevchenko, 47, told The Times that Russian and Chechen fighters in Trostyanets, in eastern Ukraine, had been taking whatever they wanted from properties, and killing civilians who get in their way. In Odessa, on the Black Sea coast, two vets are said to be still in the city and working relentlessly to help the pets left behind. Some of the strays across the country have even supposedly been keeping alive by feeding on the corpses of dead Russians. Advertisement Since the conflict began in late February, Russia has lost an estimated 143 planes, 131 helicopters, 625 tanks and 316 artillery pieces. Russia has also fired at least 1,100 missiles, raising questions about how long it can maintain such an expenditure rate. Given Russia's reliance on Ukraine for military components, UK defence sources say Russia's war effort is in serious trouble. Last night a source said: 'Serious amounts of components for Russian weapons systems were made there [Ukraine]. That won't be happening any more. 'Russia cannot manufacture this equipment itself or import it, so it won't be getting any of these materials any time soon. The hardware expended in Ukraine came from historic stockpiles, developed when there was greater cooperation between Russia and Ukraine. 'The integration of their industrial complexes meant a severing of relations would jeopardise Russia's ability to sustain military operations. Now they're running out.' In the Soviet Union era, Ukraine produced 30 per cent of the Union's weaponry and military equipment. Weapons sales continued after the Cold War. In 2012 Ukraine was the world's fourth largest arms exporter and the Commonwealth of Independent States as the Soviet Union became was among its biggest customers. But after Russia invaded Crimea in 2014 and began the conflict in the Donbas region aided with Ukrainian equipment Kyiv drastically reduced supplies to its neighbour. Ukraine's revenues from arms exports plummeted from 1billion in 2012 to 100million in 2020.According to UK sources, Russia faces drastic shortages of 'helicopter, ship, fighter jet and cruise missile parts'. Its cruise missiles were manufactured in Ukraine's second biggest city Kharkiv, which has been bombarded by Russian artillery and aircraft. The state-run instrument-making plant at Izyum also made essential components for Russia's T-72 range of tanks. The war is also expected to curtail Russia's nuclear programme as half of the components for its ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles were sourced in Ukraine. UK intelligence reports have also indicated Russia's generals have pushed back against Kremlin attempts to deploy thousands more troops to Ukraine, rejecting them as 'not fit for purpose'. On the ground, a Ukrainian solider in Hostomel said of the Russians: 'They left like cowardly rabbits, almost without a fight. I think soon we will totally kick them out beyond the border.' The nearby town of Bucha was also reportedly liberated, leaving Russia's plans to encircle Kyiv in tatters following Ukraine's victory at Irpin earlier in the week. A Ukrainian official said: 'The enemy has exhausted its offensive potential and needs to replenish itself and regroup.' And the nuclear plant at Chernobyl was back in the hands of Ukrainians for the first time since the start of the invasion last night. Russian troops reportedly started to fall ill after digging trenches in the highly toxic zones forcing them to evacuate. Around 700 armoured vehicles around Kyiv have also headed towards Belarus. But Ukrainian officials warned there are still 'significant forces around Kyiv' which could 'still cause some damage'. They added that there is a 'high probability' that the retreating forces will be redeployed to the eastern Donbas region. A US defence official said: 'We continue to believe that this is a repositioning. We certainly haven't seen any indications that any of these troops are going back home, or that they're being taken away from the fight forever.' In an awkward moment Prime Minister Scott Morrison struggled to pronounce the name of anew Liberal candidate for a crucial seat at the next election. During a press conference in Tasmania on Saturday at which Mr Morrison talked about the new India-Australia trade deal, he stumbled over the name of Maria Kovacic, his pick as the Liberal candidate for the Federal seat of Parramatta at the next election. Ms Kovacic has been chosen to go head to head with Labor's pick, economist Dr Andrew Charlton. Asked by a reporter if he was pleased with the pre-selections his party had made, Mr Morrison responded that he 'particularly pleased' with Parramatta candidate 'Maria Vaca-m-Maria-m...' Mr Morrison then appeared to disguise the mispronunciation with a cough before apologising and making a successful attempt at saying her name. The Prime Minister said his candidate for Parramatta was the perfect opponent for Dr Charlton who was 'dropped-in' to the seat to run for the Labor party. 'She is from Western Sydney, about Western Sydney, she has always been for Western Sydney and I think she provides a contrast to Anthony Albanese for the captain's pick from the eastern suburbs of Sydney,' Mr Morrison said. 'Our pick is a very strong, effective woman with small business experience [and] with a background in community sport.' Scott Morrison was speaking about the new trade deal with India when he was asked about NSW pre-selections for the Liberal Party in a press conference outside Nutrien Ag Solutions in Western Junction, Tasmania (pictured) Maria Kovacic (pictured) will run as the Liberal candidate in Parramatta and is a local to the area Labor Party candidate Dr Charlton is an Oxford University graduate and high-profile economist who lives in Sydney's eastern suburbs in what some have called a 'tone deaf' selection for the people of Parramatta. The pre-selection issue was a sideline to the subject of the press conference as the prime minister talked up the benefits of the fresh Australia-India trade deal. He told reporters that the Indian economy is one of the biggest 'doors' in the world that has now been opened to Australians. 'There are many countries who want to do more business with India. But it's actually Australia that has been able to secure the agreement that we've been able to reach,' Mr Morrison said. Pictured: Scott Morrison inspects a wool sample during a tour of Nutrien Ag Solutions before his press conference Anthony Albanese's 'captain's pick' for Parramatta is Oxford-educated economist, Dr Andrew Charlton (pictured right) 'This agreement is an agreement that ensures that whether you're producing wool or whether you're producing crayfish or mining resource, critical minerals and rare earths. Whether you're growing berries or avocados or cherries or beans, producing alumina. 'All of this is part of the important trade agreement that we've been able to reach with India,' Mr Morrison said. The trade deal with India will be signed today by trade ministers of both countries and witnessed by both Mr Morrison and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The deal will axe tariffs in India on multiple Australian exports and allow more Indian nationals to achieve working holiday visas. The trade deal will come as a relief to Australia's wine industry who will welcome a heavily reduced tariff on their products and Australian lobster farmers who will face no tariffs following decreased export demand amidst trade tensions with China last year. An 81-year-old mother is suing her son and daughter-in-law for more than half-a-million dollars after accusing them of using her money to build a home. Gold Coast woman Thea Uthmann is demanding her son Ferdinand, 57, and his wife Kellie, 54, pay her $623,676.01 in damages, interest and legal costs. Mrs Uthmann has filed a statement of claim to Southport District Court alleging the pair withdrew money from her bank account without her permission. The elderly mother was placed into a nursing home in May 2018 and was unable to manage her finances online as she was computer illiterate. An 81-year-old mother is suing her son and daughter-in-law for more than half-a-million dollars after accusing them of using her money to build a home (pictured, Thea Uthmann) Gold Coast woman Thea Uthmann is demanding her son Ferdinand, 57, and his wife Kellie, 54, pay her $623,676.01 in damages, interest and legal costs The claim states Ferdinand was put in charge of his mother's bills and that he was provided with her PIN and account number details, Courier Mail reported. Mrs Uthmann said she was asked for money so the couple could build their home and she agreed to lend them between $300,000 and $350,000 in February 2019. Mrs Uthmann claims she asked her son whether it was necessary to draw up a contract before it was dismissed by her son. 'Come on Mum, I'm your son, trust me,' Ferdinand said, according to the statement of claim. 'We will build a house and sell it before it is completed so that whoever buys it can pick out their own fixtures and fittings and design the house themselves. 'It will only take a short time to build and we will pay you back, plus some, after we sell it.' Mrs Uthmann has filed a statement of claim to Southport District Court alleging the pair withdrew money from her bank account without her permission Mrs Uthmann said she was asked for money so the couple could build their home and she agreed to lend them between $300,000 and $350,000 in February 2019. Pictured: Kellie Uthmann Mrs Uthmann claims the pair withdrew a further $135,487.06 from her bank account 'without consent or knowledge' between February 2019 and October 2021. Another $55,900 was also allegedly withdrawn from her bank and superannuation accounts. Mrs Uthmann said her son and his partner have failed to return the $541,387.06 within a 'reasonable' time. She claims the property has also not been sold - which Ferdinand allegedly promised at the start. Ferdinand and Kellie have not yet filed a defence to the claim. A British mother trying to rescue the woman who was the surrogate for her baby has lambasted farcical pet rules that blocked her efforts. Heather and Mark Easton travelled to Ukraine in January to pick up their daughter Sophie after suffering eight years of fertility heartbreak. They returned a fortnight before the invasion and have since been trying to help surrogate Vita Lysenko, 35, her husband Andrii Shemshur, 62, their son Nazar, three, and family dog Musy find safety in the UK. Heather Easton (pictured), 32, from Rugby, Warwickshire, who coordinated the rescue of the Ukrainian woman who was the surrogate for her baby, has lambasted farcical UK pet rules that blocked her efforts. Vita Lysenko, 35, from Ukraine, finally crossed from Calais to Dover by ferry yesterday with her husband Andrii Shemshur, 62, their son Nazar, three, and family dog Musy UK told the family they could not travel with the dog without a licence, specialist transport and a space in a UK quarantine kennel. Pictured: Nazar, three, and family dog Musy Ex-nanny Mrs Easton, 32, found a sponsor who offered the Ukrainian family an apartment near her home in Rugby, Warwickshire. The refugees travelled to Calais and their visas were approved after Mrs Easton spent hours each day on the phone to the authorities. But UK authorities told the family they could not travel with the dog without a licence, specialist transport and a space in a UK quarantine kennel. Mrs Easton said they were all exhausted due to the nightmare rules. The refugees were finally able to take a ferry to Dover yesterday. HGV driver Mr Easton, 39, had flown to Paris to help the family collect their visa and drove with them to Calais to get the ferry to Dover. Mrs Easton has started a JustGiving page to raise money for Miss Lysenko and her family to help them settle in the UK. Vice President Kamala Harris avoided answering whether or not she agrees with President Joe Biden's call last weekend for a Russian regime change, giving a two-minute non-answer Friday on MSNBC. Harris, 57, dodged answering host Joy Reid's question about if the VP 'agreed' with Biden that 'Vladimir Putin should no longer be the leader of Russia.' Biden, 79, made an off-the-cuff remark in Warsaw, Poland, appearing to call for a regime change in Moscow, saying last Saturday: 'For God's sake, this man cannot remain in power.' Biden later said the shocking comments were his personal opinion and not a policy change. The unscripted remark, which the White House scrambled to walk back as the Kremlin expressed fury, came at the end of an otherwise resolute and fiery speech rallying the free world to unite in opposition to autocracy and support Ukraine. Now, the VP finds herself in the hot seat about what she thinks, telling Reid Friday: 'Listen, I think you frame the point quite accurately and well, which is Americas policy has been and will continue to be focused on the real issue at hand.' She said the humanitarian and security assistance were the 'needs of the Ukrainian people' and that Putin would face a consequence for the invasion. 'There are serious consequences for Vladimir Putin and Russian aggression as it relates to Ukraine,' she continued. The VP avoided giving a straight answer on her personal opinion of Putin's continued leadership in Russia, but instead focused on the 'impacts' the Biden administration has made toward Russia, including imposing sanctions. 'Which is why our policy from the beginning has been about ensuring that there are going to be real costs exacted against Russia in the form of severe sanctions, which are having a real impact and immediate impact, not to mention the longer term impact, which is about saying there is going to be consequence and accountability when you commit the kinds of atrocities that he is committing,' she went on, avoiding answering the question - although she eventually told Reid: 'We are not into regime change and that is not our policy.' Scroll down for video Harris, 57, dodged answering MSNBC host Joy Reid's question about the VP if she 'agreed' with Biden that 'Vladimir Putin should no longer be the leader of Russia.' She avoided giving her real opinion it, instead she highlighted her recent travels around Europe and how the US is helping Ukraine in the war MSNBC's Joy Reid (pictured) tried to evoke a response from Harris but the VP kept it professional, stating: 'We are not into regime change and that is not our policy. Period.' She continued to babble about her recent European travels, as well as Biden - whom she called an 'extraordinary leader' - and how she's been to France and Poland and more, to discuss the war with world leaders. 'I will tell you in sitting down with prime ministers and presidents, often the first thing they would say to me is thank you to the United States and this administration for bringing us together,' Harris said. She went on to talk about how the U.S. built the 'coalition for reinvigorating the relationship between the United States and its NATO allies' and its 'relationship and importance of the relationship to the EU' to Ukraine. 'Which is ultimately about one of the most important principles were fighting for, the importance of sovereignty territorial integrity,' Harris said. Reid didn't push the VP for a solid answer right away, but later circled back, asking once again: 'So no luck on getting you to weigh in on whether he should remain?' 'Listen, let me be very clear, let me be very clear," Harris replied. 'We are not into regime change and that is not our policy. Period.' Biden, 79, made an off-the-cuff remark in Warsaw, Poland, appearing to call for regime change in Moscow, stating last week: 'For God's sake this man cannot remain in power.' Biden later said the shocking comments was his personal opinion and not a policy change The two women also discussed sanctions and the longevity of them. When asked if the administration would impose such sanctions on Russia as long as Putin is in power, Harris refused to 'speculate about the future,' but said the sanctions are 'intact.' 'We will continue to upgrade them and make them so - more severe as appropriate. And as far as we are concerned, everything is on the table in that regard because we are seeing extreme atrocities. 'We are seeing maternity hospitals being bombed. We are seeing a location that was so clearly designated as being a shelter, a place of safety for children. We are seeing millions of people being displaced, potentially permanently, in a war that was instigated, unprovoked, unjustified, against a whole population of people.' France's President Emmanuel Macron, a close U.S. ally who has also spoken frequently with Putin since the invasion, warned the West last month not to 'escalate in words or actions' - or risk hampering vital humanitarian efforts, including hopes of evacuating the devastated Ukrainian city of Mariupol. His warning against an escalation in the conflict came during an interview with broadcaster France 3, in which the French leader said he is focused on trying to broker a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow, and a diplomatic end to the war. 'I wouldn't use this type of wording because I continue to hold discussions with President Putin,' Macron said on Sunday. 'We want to stop the war that Russia has launched in Ukraine without escalation - that's the objective.' Richard Haass, the Council on Foreign Relations president, also spoke out about his concerns after the president's off-the-cuff comment, saying that Biden had 'just expanded US war aims, calling for regime change.' Harris did say that humanitarian and security assistance were the 'needs of the Ukrainian people' and that Putin would face a consequence for the invasion Harris also refused to 'speculate about the future,' but said the sanction are 'intact' but wouldn't say if they would remain intact as long as Putin was in power 'However desirable it may be, it is not within our power to accomplish-plus runs risk it will increase Putin's inclination to see this as a fight to the finish, raising odds he will reject compromise, escalate, or both,' wrote Haass. 'Our interests are to end the war on terms Ukraine can accept & to discourage Russian escalation. Today's call for regime change is inconsistent with these ends,' he added. Haass went on to tell Politico that a senior Biden official, possibly even Secretary of State Antony Blinken, needs to reach out to their Russian counterpart immediately and explain that Biden's comment doesn't reflect U.S. policy. 'The fact that it was so off-script in some ways makes it worse,' because it could be read as Biden's genuine belief as opposed to his scripted words, Haass said. Biden's remark could also diminish Putin's interest in compromise and increase his temptation to escalate in Ukraine, 'because if he believes he has everything to lose then he'll believe he has nothing to lose,' Haass said. Scott Morrison has again been sensationally accused of using a political rival's Lebanese background against him when he first entered local government in 2007. Two statutory declarations, signed in 2016, claim the Prime Minister suggested to fellow party members at the time it would be 'risky' to consider rival Liberal candidate Michael Towke for the seat of Cook, in Sydney's south. He allegedly pointed to the infamous Cronulla riots from two years earlier and didn't feel Mr Towke would be elected by locals in the Shire due to his ethnicity as well as incorrect rumours swirling at the time that his opponent was Muslim. The statements follow accusations by Liberal Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells in the Senate on Tuesday that Mr Morrison was 'not fit to be prime minister' based on the alleged historical racial comments. When quizzed about the allegations on Saturday, Mr Morrison denied suggestions on three occasions that he had 'warned' voters in 2007 about Mr Towke's ethnic background or that he was a practicing Muslim. He then added 'you'll have to ask them' when asked where the accusations originated from. Scott Morrison has been accused of using a political rival's Lebanese background against him when he first ran for political office in 2007 Michael Towke signed a statutory declaration in 2016 claiming Mr Morrison was 'adamant that a candidate of Lebanese heritage could not hold the seat of Cook' - especially after the Cronulla riots from 2005 In one of the statutory declarations, party member Scott Chapman - a friend of Mr Towke - states Mr Morrison outlined his rival's ethnicity. 'Scott Morrison told me that, if Michael Towke were to be pre-selected, there would be a 'swing against the Liberal Party in Cook' because of Mr Towke's Lebanese background,' Mr Chapman said, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. Mr Towke penned the second declaration and claims Mr Morrison was 'adamant that a candidate of Lebanese heritage could not hold the seat of Cook, especially after the Cronulla riots'. Mr Morrison's spokesperson dismissed the bombshell allegations, labelling them 'baseless and false...and (they) reflect poorly on those spreading such lies with such malicious intent.' Senator Fierravanti-Wells this week described Mr Morrison as 'ruthless' and a 'bully' in an extraordinary Senate attack in Canberra given she is an elected member of the prime minister's party. Her attack was dismissed by many politicians due to her friendship with Mr Towke and the fact she will leave the upper house in June after losing her place on the Senate ticket to stay in parliament. Labor leader Anthony Albanese claimed the racial allegations pointed at Mr Morrison reflect his poor character. 'These reports join other reports from within the Prime Minister's own party,' the Opposition Leader said in a press conference on Saturday. 'Be it former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, his current Deputy Barnaby Joyce, comments that have been made by (former NSW premier) Gladys Berejiklian, or the comments this week from Concetta Fierravanti-Wells...there is a theme which comes through about the Prime Minister's character. Labor leader Anthony Albanese claimed the racial allegations pointed at Mr Morrison reflect on his character 'People can look at those comments and make their own judgements. 'There are bad relationships wherever Scott Morrison has been. He doesn't have lasting friendships and lasting loyalties.' Mr Albanese also said that in 2007 Mr Morrison only received eight votes in the Cook Liberal Party pre-selection ballot, and that it was obvious locals felt 'the other candidates would be better to represent their local community.' One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson and Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie continued the pile-on this week, describing the PM as 'unpleasant' and a 'bully'. A New York City columnist who created the notorious 'Sh***y Media Men' list detailing allegations of sexual assault, harassment and misconduct could still go to trial for defamation after a judge declined to resolve the case in her favor. Moira Donegan, 32, who created the widely circulated list in 2017 at the height of the #MeToo movement, was sued by New Orleans-based journalist Stephen Elliott after the Google spreadsheet accused him of rape, sexual harassment and 'coercion.' Elliott's lawsuit claimed the allegations are 'false' and 'unsubstantiated.' Donegan's attorney, Roberta Kaplan, sought immunity for her client under a controversial law protecting social media users who host or republish information from being held legally responsible for what others do or say online. U.S. District Court Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall on Thursday, in an order obtained by DailyMail.com, declined the request, arguing that Donegan's testimony and 'vague' recollections about the document did not 'rule out the possibility' that she encouraged others to make posts that broke the law. DeArcy Hall's ruling leaves the possibility that Donegan could stand trial for defamation, but the case could still be resolved by the judge on 'other grounds.' More than 70 men were named on the 'Sh***y Media Men' spreadsheet before it was taken offline. Elliott, who is seeking $1.5 million in damages, appears to be the only alleged victim to sue the Brooklyn-based writer. Moira Donegan, who created the notorious 'Sh***y Media Men' list, could still go to trial for defamation after a judge declined to resolve the case in her favor Elliott filed his suit against Donegan in 2017, accusing her and at least 30 other unnamed co-defendants of knowingly publishing false allegations of sexual assault and misconduct against him. His complaint alleged both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress as a result of him being included on the list. He claimed the publication caused him to 'became extremely depressed' and that he 'enrolled in therapy while actively contemplating suicide.' The journalist also claimed his professional life suffered, as well as his personal life, alleging he was met with isolation from 'employers, colleagues, business associates, friends and family members' after he was accused of 'being a rapist,' among other things. In addition to the financial compensation, Elliott wants a court order requiring the defendants to 'issue a written retraction to each and every person to whom they originally published the false and defamatory statements.' Kaplan had attempted to block Elliott's suit based on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which states: 'No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.' Donegan, in an affidavit, alleged she did not 'solicit or encourage anyone to add false statements or false misconduct allegations' to the spreadsheet. Her lawyer also argued that Donegan couldn't have encouraged any of falsehoods against Elliott because she did not know him. New Orleans-based journalist Stephen Elliott sued Donegan for defamation after he was named on her list. Donegan's attorney sought immunity for the columnist under a controversial law protecting social media users that host or republish from being held legally responsible for what others do or say online However, the judge ultimately decided that Donegan - whose Twitter bio says she is currently a gender and politics columnist at The Guardian U.S. - hadn't provided enough evidence to prove she is entitled to use the Communications Decency Act to block the suit. 'Unfortunately, Defendant offers no authority for this proposition and the court has found none,' DeArcy Hall wrote in the 17-page order. She cited Donegan's testimony and 'vague recollections' of the events surrounding the list as evidence for her ruling. 'Rather than providing facts regarding her communications with respect to the Spreadsheet, Defendant's testimony simply highlights that she does not recall what she said or wrote to others regarding the Spreadsheet,' DeArcy Hall wrote. In a 17-page order obtained by DailyMail.com, the judge argued Donegan's testimony and 'vague' recollections about the document did not 'rule out the possibility' that she encouraged others to make posts that broke the law The judge also argued that Donegan hadn't provided enough evidence to prove she is entitled to use the Communications Decency Act to block the suit 'Defendant's inability to recall the contents of her communications leaves open the possibility that Defendant did specifically encourage the posting of unlawful content.' One of Elliott's attorneys, Andrew Miltenberg, issued a statement to DailyMail.com Friday night, reading: 'Allowing this lawsuit to move forward is critical for due process and the Constitutional right for the accused to face their accusers, particularly at a time in the MeToo era when online, anonymous accusations are being made with impunity, destroying reputations and careers. 'Judge DeArcy Halls decision today shows that Section 230 is not an acceptable defense for being the ring-leader of broad-based online character assassinations. Moreover, the fact that Ms. Donegan deleted her "Sh***y Media Men" spreadsheet and the majority of her related communications - the primary evidence in this case - is revealing.' Another one of Elliott's lawyers, Nick Lewis, told Politico that DeArcy Hall's ruling as 'both a significant win for Mr. Elliott in his unflinching quest to obtain the truth and restore his reputation as well as a crucial check on the improper expansion of Section 230 to protect a co-conspirator's encouragement of an anonymous online sniping, without proof or consequence.' The attorney also reportedly claimed that granting Donegan immunity from the case based on the act would go 'well beyond the protection originally contemplated by the Act's champions in 1996.' Counsel for Donegan did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment. Elliott's attorney said Friday the judge's ruling is 'both a significant win for Mr. Elliott (pictured in Feb. 2012) in his unflinching quest to obtain the truth and restore his reputation as well as a crucial check on the improper expansion of Section 230 to protect a co-conspirator's encouragement of an anonymous online sniping, without proof or consequence' Elliott's name was added to the 'Sh***y Media Men' list as entry number 13 at first, on about October 11, 2017, he alleged, along with calling him a 'freelance writer/novelist.' His name was later moved to position 12, he claimed, 'as other individuals' entries were removed by the Defendants' Elliott's name was added to the 'Sh***y Media Men' list as entry number 13 at first, on about October 11, 2017, he alleged, along with calling him a 'freelance writer/novelist.' His name was later moved to position 12, he claimed, 'as other individuals' entries were removed by the Defendants.' The list alleged he was the perpetrator of 'rape accusations, sexual harassment [sic], coercion, unsolicited invitations to his apartment, a dude who snuck into Binders???' and it was noted that 'Multiple women allege misconduct' against him. The top of the list stated 'Men accused of physical sexual violence by multiple women are highlighted in red,' and Elliott's name was written in red. Elliott alleged that not only were the claims against him contained on the list false, but they were added by people who knew them to be false. 'The List contained false information and unsubstantiated allegations, including untrue statements alleging Plaintiff engaged in criminal sexual conduct, namely rape accusations, sexual harassment, coercion and unsolicited invitations to his apartment,' the complaint states. 'The inflammatory false statements published in the List were abusive, vulgar, intentionally misleading as well as damning to the Plaintiff's reputation and good name. The List was sent to numerous members of the parties' shared profession, the media industry to intentionally harm Plaintiff s reputation and further cause harm to Plaintiff's career.' Bruce Willis and his wife have sold $65 million in real estate over the last four years, as the beloved actor sought to simplify his life amid his deteriorating health. Willis, 67, has been diagnosed with the degenerative brain condition aphasia, his family announced on Wednesday, and is drawing the curtain on his legendary Hollywood career that spans 44 years. Supported by his wife of 13 years - Victoria's Secret model Emma Heming, 43 - Willis will now spend most of his time at their $9.8 million home in Brentwood Park, Los Angeles. It is unclear when Willis was first diagnosed with the condition, which affects speech and comprehension. Yet since 2018, the much-loved actor - worth an estimated $250 million - has been dramatically downsizing his real estate portfolio. Bruce Willis, pictured with his wife Emma Heming, in 2018 - the year they began their massive downsizing. Since then, the couple have sold $65 million-worth of property Willis is pictured with his daughter Scout, 30, in an image she posted to Instagram on Friday Willis and Heming sold this Manhattan apartment, with views of Central Park, in one week. The six-bedroom property fetched its $18 million asking price in January 2018 Willis's real estate broker said, at the time of the Manhattan sale, that it was 'time to scale back' $18 million Manhattan penthouse In January 2018, Willis put on the market his Manhattan penthouse, which was sold within a week for $18 million. 'It's time to scale back,' said their broker at the time, Ann Cutbill Lenane of Douglas Elliman. The six-bedroom, 6,000-square-foot co-op at 271 Central Park West, which they bought in 2015 for $17 million, boasted 150 feet of Central Park frontage. Split over two floors, it was previously owned by Wesley Edens, part-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks. The upper level had an expansive kitchen and dining area, while the lower level holds five large bedrooms including the master suite. The main bedroom features two walk-in closets, a dressing room with built-in vanity and a spa-like en-suite bathroom. The duplex was sold to financier Jeffrey Alan Keswin. $5 million Idaho estate Later that year, in October, Willis then sold his Idaho estate, near the historic, celebrity favorite ski resort of Sun Valley. Willis sold his 20-acre lakefront ranch near Hailey, Idaho, for $5 million in October 2018 The actor is pictured filming Paradise City, his last film. The movie reunited Willis with John Travolta for the first time since Pulp Fiction in 1994 Sun Valley has attracted the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and Ernest Hemingway - who liked the area so much he bought a house there in Ketchum. Current homeowners include Arnold Schwarzenegger, Clint Eastwood, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Hanks and Justin Timberlake. Willis, born in Germany but who grew up in New Jersey, has a long history in Idaho. The actor and his ex-wife Demi Moore moved to the town of Hailey in 1988 to raise their family away from the Hollywood spotlight. In 1994, Willis started buying up properties on Hailey's main street under the corporation name IxNay Investment Trust. In addition to his own home, the actor bought vacant lots, a pizza spot, a bar, a movie theater and a second house for Moore to display her extensive doll collection. Moore, who was married to Willis from 1987 to 1998, still owns a house in the area. She and Willis rode out the pandemic in the house with their daughters Rumer, 33; Scout, 30; and Tallulah, 28 - plus Heming and their two young daughters, Mabel, 10, and Evelyn, 7. Willis is pictured in 2008 with Heming (left), his daughter Tallulah (now 28), and ex-wife Demi Moore. Moore and Willis raised their three daughters in Idaho Willis's 20-acre lakefront ranch near Hailey was initially put up for sale in 2011 for $15 million, and then relisted in 2016 for the same price. It finally sold in October 2018 for $5 million - which was still the single biggest residential sale ever in the Hailey area. The 8,400-square-foot home was fully rebuilt by Willis in 2003, and currently features six bedrooms, a guest house and a gym. Willis also added several streams and ponds to the property, along with a heated pool that features waterslides, waterfall features and a rope swing. $27 million Turks and Caicos retreat A year later, in August 2019, Willis decided to part with his beloved Caribbean retreat in Turks and Caicos, where he and Heming married in 2009. The 13,500-square-foot property was on the COMO Parrot Cay resort, and Willis' neighbors included Donna Karan and Keith Richards. The property sold for $27 million - just short of the $27.5 million price tag on the island's most expensive piece of property, a nearby home known as Oliver's Cove that sold in 2016. Willis bought the 7.37 waterfront acres in 2000, and completed the Asian-inspired compound in 2004. Willis and Heming's former compound in Parrot Cay, Turks and Caicos. The pair married there in 2009, and sold it in 2019 for $27 million Parrot Cay is home to famous faces such as Keith Richards and Donna Karan The swimming pool at Parrot Cay, in Turks and Caicos It consists of a five-bedroom main house, a yoga pavilion and two guest casitas with three bedrooms each. The couple renewed their vows at the house shortly before putting it on the market. 'For the past 20 years, we've made so many beautiful memories on the island,' they said in a statement at the time to Architectural Digest. 'We fell in love and married there, enjoyed two babymoons on the Cay, and it was on our beach that we renewed our vows.' In October 2021, they sold their last remaining parcel of land on Parrot Cay - an empty plot that went for $6 million. $7.66 million Westchester County mansion The final property to go in the epic sell-off was Willis's mansion in Westchester County, north of New York City. Willis sold the Westchester mansion in December 2019 for $7.66 million An aerial view of the Westchester property, in an area known as Bedford Corners The 9,000-square-foot mansion in Bedford, near Mount Kisco, was sold for $7.66 million in December 2019. Sitting on 22 acres, it overlooked the Croton Reservoir; neighbors included Martha Stewart, Ralph Lauren and Catherine Zeta-Jones and Michael Douglas. Willis and Heming bought the property for $12 million in 2014, and had been splitting time between Westchester and their Manhattan apartment. Investigators have begun looking into a meeting between the CEO of Activision Blizzard and the step-son of a billionaire just days before the man, his father and another wealthy associate made millions off shares when the company was bought out by Microsoft for $68.7 billion. The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating whether Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and Alexander von Furstenberg violated insider-trading laws when they met for breakfast in January ahead of Furstenberg's decision to buy shares of the company with his father, IAC Chairman Barry Diller, and fellow media mogul David Geffen, the Wall Street Journal reported. The three men bought shares at $40 each on January 14, days before Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard for $95 a share - netting the three men $59 million in profit. Diller refuted the allegations, telling the WSJ that he and his associates knew nothing about the impending deal with Microsoft. 'We had zero knowledge of that transaction and it belies credulity to think that if we did we would have proceeded,' Diller said. 'It's equally unlikely to believe Mr. Kotick, a sophisticated professional, in a social breakfast with Mr. von Furstenberg and his wife would have told them of the pending transaction.' Federal investigators are looking into a meeting Activision CEO Bobby Kotick (pictured) had with Alexander von Furstenberg days before Furstenberg decided to buy up stocks von Furstenberg (left) purchased the stocks along with his father, IAC Chairman Barry Diller (right) and fellow media mogul David Geffen at $40 a share on January 14 Geffen (above), Furstenberg and Diller profited $59 million after Microsoft aquired Blizzard Activision days later for $68.7 billion Diller has served on the board of Coca-Cola with Kotick, whom he described as a 'long time friend.' Diller already has a net worth of $4.5 billion, while Geffen is worth about $10.3 billion and von Furstenburg is worth about $10.1 million. A spokesperson for Activision said that Kotick was simply enjoying a social brunch with his friends on the day he met with Furstenberg. 'He, of course, didnt share any information with them regarding a possible transaction with Microsoft,' the spokesperson said in a statement. Furstenberg and Geffen did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment. The three men are also under investigations for alleged insider trading by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC is also conducting a separate investigation on Kotick and other Activision heads on how they handled workplace misconduct allegations that plagued the company during its final year before being bought by Microsoft. Diller (pictured) has served on the board of Coca-Cola with Activision Chief Executive Bobby Kotick, whom he described as a 'long time friend.' He refutes that he had any inside knowledge on Microsoft's impeding purchase of Activision Blizzard when he made his purchase In September, the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched a probe into the company and two months later, Kotick, accused of mishandling the harassment complaints, had signaled he would consider stepping down if he failed to quickly fix the company culture. He has led the company for more than three decades. The video game giant announced earlier this year that it had fired 37 employees and disciplined more than 40 others since July 2021 as it deals with allegations of sexual harassment and other misconduct. Last July, California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing sued the Fortune 500 company over what it called a 'frat boy' culture. The agency says women make up just 20 percent of the workforce and get less money, fewer promotions, are fired more often and suffer from 'constant sexual harassment.' 'Male employees proudly come into work hungover, play video games for long periods of time during work while delegating their responsibilities to female employees, engage in banter about their sexual encounters, talk openly about female bodies, and joke about rape,' the lawsuit states. The suit names Blizzard President J. Allen Brack, who stepped down in August, and longtime World of Warcraft developer Alex Afrasiabi, who quietly left the company last year. The video game giant has been under the SEC's gaze for nearly a year following bombshell reports of the company's toxic workplace environment with hundreds of allegations of harassment and discrimination It alleges that Afrasiabi had a so-called 'Cosby Suite' at a hotel during corporate events. 'During a company event (an annual convention called Blizz Con [sic]) Afrasiabi would hit on female employees, telling him [sic] he wanted to marry them, attempting to kiss them, and putting his arms around them,' the complaint reads. 'This was in plain view of other male employees, including supervisors, who had to intervene and pull him off female employees. Afrasiabi was so known to engage in harassment of females that his suite was nicknamed the ''Crosby Suite'' [sic] after alleged rapist Bill Crosby [sic].' Activision Blizzard had agreed to pay $18 million to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to settle a sexual harassment investigation. Over the past year, the company has received about 700 reports of employee concerns over sexual assault or harassment or other misconduct, in some cases separate reports about the same incident, the WSJ reported. Nearly 20 percent of Activision Blizzard's 9,500 employees have signed a petition calling for Kotick to resign. An antiviral drug available in Australia can eliminate 'actively infectious' Covid-19 from the body after as little as two days of treatment and may be effective against all variants. All participants taking 800mg a day of Molnupiravir capsules (sold under the brand name Lagevrio) in a European research trial showed no sign of the virus on day three of 'starting' treatment. Prior to treatment the patients had all tested positive in PCR tests. So far it is available for limited use in Australia. An antiviral drug available in Australia can eliminate Covid-19 from the body after as little as two days of treatment and may be effective against all variants All participants taking 800mg a day of Molnupiravir capsules (sold under the brand name Lagevrio) in a European research trial showed no sign of the virus on day three of 'starting' treatment The positive news comes as Omicron BA.2 cases surge in Australia, with 20,389 recorded in New South Wales, 9,149 in Victoria and 9,435 in Queensland on Saturday. New infections have continued to climb since mid-February and new daily cases averaged over 56,000 across Australia in the last week of March. 'Results demonstrated that on day three of treatment, infectious SARS-CoV-2 was detected in zero of 92 of participants with infectious virus at baseline who received molnupiravir, compared with 21.8 per cent of participants who received placebo,' the European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases reported on April 1. The study was conducted by scientists employed by the drug's manufacturer, Merck & Co, including Dr Julie Strizki. The company announced in January that Molnupiravir was effective against Omicron BA.2 in lab trials, not long after there was concern unrelated antiviral drugs were not effective against the now-dominant strain. Merck said Molnupiravir showed 'broad activity' against coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2 and its variants of concern. The drug's effectiveness is noted as being reliant on the patient taking it within five days of symptoms showing. According to Australia's Therapeutic Good Administration (TGA), Molnupiravir is marketed under the product name Lagevrio, in 200mg capsules, by Merck Sharp & Dohme (Australia). Molnupiravir is not designed for patients with severe Covid, such as those on ventilation for the illness According to PBS consumer information the recommended dosage is four capsules every 12 hours for five days. Side effects are considered 'minor and temporary' but can include 'diarrhoea, nausea, and dizziness'. It was approved on January 20 and added to Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) on March 1 - but only for people aged over 65, or over 50 for Aboriginal or Torres Strait islander people. The drug was approved on A PBS listing for Lagevrio meaning eligible patients can access this medicine from their local community pharmacy on a prescription from their doctor. Vaccines remain 'the best protection' against COVID, according to government information in most cases. An Instagram famous bikie has been booted out of his motorcycle club over claims he was associating with a police witness. Melbourne-based bikie Toby Mitchell was kicked out of the Mongols following a unanimous vote on Friday night. An insider claimed Mitchell had angered senior Mongol figures including alleged club president Nick 'The Knife' Forbes. Mitchell was voted out over accusations he was 'running with dogs' that included a police witness in the manslaughter case against club member Lachlan Floyd. Melbourne-based bikie Toby Mitchell was kicked out of the Mongols following a unanimous vote on Friday night An insider claimed Mitchell had angered senior Mongol figures including alleged club president Nick 'The Knife' Forbes Floyd was jailed for six-and-a-half years over the fatal shooting of his ex-girlfriend's partner Stuart Townsend in February 2016. 'Mitchell was booted last night for running with dogs even after being repeatedly warned,' a senior Mongols insider was reported as saying in the Courier Mail. 'There was a 100 per cent vote against him, even from people who are loyal to him. 'He thought he was bigger than the club but we don't tolerate bad behaviour and he's gone bad. Mitchell has more than 300,000 followers on Instagram and he regularly updates his social media account with photos of gym workouts, luxury cars and encounters with celebrities including boxer Anthony Mundine and AFL legend Sam Newman. Mitchell has never been far from the headlines since being shot multiple times back in 2011. It was just a month from Christmas when Mitchell was shot six times outside a Brunswick gym while sergeant-at-arms for the Bandidos bikie gang. He spent weeks in intensive care, underwent 30 operations and lost a kidney, gall bladder and most of his liver. He was shot again in 2013 in another attempt on his life. Mitchell has more than 300,000 followers on Instagram and he regularly updates his social media account with photos of gym workouts, luxury cars and encounters with celebrities including boxer Anthony Mundine and AFL legend Sam Newman (pictured, Tammy Hembrow) Toby Mitchell in 2018 (pictured) after a previous trip to Melbourne County Court In 2017, Mitchell was arrested over a Christmas brawl which saw him deck a drunk who was silly enough to disrespect his female companion. Mitchell again received bail just before Christmas. The bikie found himself behind bars after an embarrassing video emerged showing him being knocked-out by a homeless man in October 2020. The video showed a 'street kid' dressed like a 'lumberjack' knock Mitchell on his behind after the bikie had enjoyed a boozy night out with mates. Mitchell had picked a fight with the homeless man for no apparent reason before trying to punch on with the stranger. The incident had seen Mitchell released on bail just before Christmas, but he was forbidden from mingling with other Mongols and confined to his swanky quarters between 8pm and 6am over the Christmas period. Mitchell had reportedly angered senior Mongol figures including alleged club president Nick 'The Knife' Forbes (pictured) A former National Guardsman who worked security at a private Jewish academy in Ohio was arrested for allegedly making terrorist threats about shooting students and parents. Thomas Develin, 24, who worked as a security guard at the Columbus Torah Academy, a private Jewish K-12 school, was accused on Friday of making disturbing comments about wanting to harm students on the Discord group messaging app with other National Guard members, ABC 6 reported. In court, police shared a photo Develin allegedly sent to the group on March 11 of him holding a handgun while commenting: 'I'm at a Jewish school and about to make it everyone's problem.' In a separate post, he allegedly wrote, 'The playground is about to turn into a self-defense situation' and that he wanted to 'shoot parents coming to pick up their children.' Police arrested Develin on Wednesday, and he is being held on a $1 million bond at Franklin County Jail with a hearing set for April 8. Prosecutors said Develin was fired and has been suspended from the National Guard. Scroll down for video Thomas Develin, 24, a former member of the National Guard and security officer for the private Columbus Torah Academy was arrested on Wednesday and charged with making terrorist threats against the families he was supposed to protect Prosecutors said Develin (appearing in court on Friday) sent disturbing messages to fellow National Guard members about how he wanted to shoot the Jewish students and their parents Develin was fired from the school and suspended from the National Guard. Prosecutors said a member of Develin's chat who died in the fall had his account accessed by his mother, who discovered the chatroom and alerted police about the messages Develin had allegedly made similar disparaging comments about people of color, women and law enforcement officials, ABC reported. Prosecutors said the National Guard was made aware of some of the comments the Develin was making on Discord and instructed the members to shut down the chat. Develin and the other National Guard members immediately created another chatroom on Telegram chatroom app, prosecutors said. Columbus Police were made aware of everything Develin was saying when the mother of one of the members, who died last fall, discovered the chatroom. Joel Marcovitch, president of the local JewishColumbus organization, thanked the woman for alerting police and ensuring the student's safety. 'Her actions actually helped us in what could have been a horrendous incident,' he said. The National Guard and the Columbus Torah Academy did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment. Columbus Police, who provided additional security detail at the school this week, said the incident was still under investigation. Develin is being held on a $1 million bond at Franklin County Jail with a hearing set for April 8 Joel Marcovitch, president of the local JewishColumbus organization, thanked the woman who alerted police about Develin as it helped ensure the student's safety. JewishColumbus, an organization that advocates for the local Jewish community, said Develin's posts were 'an act of anti-Semitism' targeting the Jewish families he was suppose to protect. 'For far too long Jews have been mentally and physically intimidated in spaces online, at schools, universities and in our community,' the group said in a statement. 'Virulent anti-Semitic rhetoric breeds extremism and has no place in our community.' The Anti-Defamation League echoed that this incident was yet another example of the historic violence facing Jewish communities. 'For millennia, Jews have been threatened, intimidated, and persecuted,' the organization said in a statement. 'This is yet another sobering reminder that antisemitism left unchecked breeds extremism and violence. 'Antisemitism has no place in Columbus, Ohio, or anywhere. We will continue to work tirelessly to stamp out antisemitism whenever, and wherever we see it.' Earlier this year, a man held four people hostage at a Texas synagogue for several hours in a bid to try and free a known terrorist and anti-Semite in custody. In 2018, the U.S. Jewish community saw its worst day of violence in recent years after Robert Bowers entered the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and shot and killed 11 people and injured seven others. A lawyer for controversial animal-rights activist Natasha Peterson told a court a protest in which she smeared herself in fake blood while wearing nothing but her underwear at a luxury retailer was 'not offensive'. The notorious vegan does not deny she, her boyfriend Jack Briggs, and fellow activist Arkadiusz Swiebodzinski staged the protest but rejected accusations the stunt was offensive as she appeared in court on disorderly conduct charges. The three had staged the protest at the Raine Square Louis Vuitton store in Perth on August 21 last year. Prosecutors argued in court that the words and tone Ms Peterson used during the protest, as well as her decision to enter the store in nothing but her underwear, would 'seriously offend the beliefs and practices of most people' and amounted to disorderly conduct. Vegan and animals rights activist Tash Peterson is known for her wild public protests Tash Peterson (pictured with partner Jack Higgs) says it's time to stop viewing non human animals as less superior to us and more as equals to humans The defence argued that the prosecution's definition of 'offensive' was outdated, Perth Now reported. Outside the court the activist told reporters the potential fine 'doesn't concern (her) at all.' 'I'm just using my bodily freedom to raise awareness for those who have no bodily autonomy, those who are subjected to rape, enslavement, torture, abuse and murder in the meat, dairy and egg industries as well as the leather, wool, fur and basically every animal exploitation industry that exists.' she said. Tash Peterson (pictured) staged the protest at the Raine Square Louis Vuitton store in Perth on August 21 last year Not a stranger to nudity at previous topless protests and her OnlyFans account, Ms Peterson agreed with a reporter that the issue of gender equality definitely 'ties into' the trial. Ms Peterson's lawyer argued that had a man pulled the same shirtless stunt it would not be treated the same. The trio face fines of up to $6,000 each if they're found guilty of disorderly conduct. Ms Peterson arrived at the luxury store to protest animal products in fashion with a sign that read: 'If you're not vegan, you're an animal abuser' on one side (pictured) The outspoken and controversial activist smeared her torso in fake blood before entering the store Ms Peterson's previous stunts include ripping her nipple coverings off after a police officer confronted her about taking her top off while exiting court with 'dairy is rape' scrawled across her torso. That court appearance had been for appearing at the Boatshed Markets in Perth in 2020 while naked from the waist up with her body painted in a black and white cow hide pattern with a sign reading: 'They raped me and stole my babies so you can have my meat'. Magistrate Michelle Harries has reserved her decision in the current proceeding. A Georgia mother who was stopped from reading an excerpt from a book at a school board meeting because it was 'inappropriate' has expressed her frustration at the 'irony' of the book being available in libraries. Michelle Brown attended a Cherokee County School Board meeting on March 17, demanding answers about the inclusion of Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi in the schools' libraries. 'These administrators need to be making sure that they are creating a safe environment for all children,' she told Fox News on Friday, noting that children are subjected to 'a silent trauma' after reading the material. Brown said 'the school board is deemed a machine' that has 'power over administrators, teachers and parents in the community.' She claimed the board intimidates parents into silence. Brown - who is not the parent of a high school student in the district - said other parents were 'afraid' to speak up, and said she found her silencing 'ironic.' 'If I gave a child one of these books, I'd go to jail,' she told Laura Ingraham. 'But they can get it in our school libraries. And it's not OK.' On March 17, after explaining the complicated bureaucratic process for having a book removed from shelves, Brown began reading from the award-winning novel in a bid to illustrate why it should be banned from the 42,000-student district. 'Excited now, he pushed into her as she squeezed her eyes as tightly as she could,' she read. 'Her tongue circled her lips. He pushed harder, his breath heavy and labored. She scratched his back and he cried out. She bit his ear and pulled his hair.' She added: 'There's lot more to it. It's Fifty Shades of Grey in CCSD [Cherokee County School District].' Michelle Brown, a mother from Georgia, on Friday night told why she read a segment of a library book to a school board meeting on March 17 Ingraham said that Brown had been 'cancelled' for reading the explicit scene in the book at the school board meeting Brown told Ingraham that she was being labelled a 'book banner.' She said she was simply calling for a book list, with 'books that are deemed appropriate to be in schools in the first place.' She told Ingraham she was surprised that the debate about appropriate books was being had in her deeply red constituency. Brown read an excerpt of Homegoing, an award-winning novel by 33-year-old author Yaa Gyasi that describes how the lives of two sisters dovetailed during the transatlantic slave trade 'I'm in Cherokee County, Georgia. We are one of the top Republican counties in the state,' she said. 'Slowly but surely, I began seeing some of the things that were in the curriculum.' She said it was 'becoming alarming.' Brown told Fox other parents did not want to speak up, saying: 'All of them were kind of afraid. 'They didn't want to go up against [the school board]. 'So I thought, 'Well, I'll do it, I've done it before.' 'So that's when I started emailing them and then got up to speak. I had no idea that they were going to react that way.' Brown added that 'this is not about book-banning.' She said that instead it was a question of ensuring 'obscene' material does not end up in the hands of children. Published in 2016, Homegoing tells the tale of two African half-sisters born in the mid-18th century who grow up to have vastly different lives as a consequence of the slave trade. As Brown read the segment of the book - which is not being used in classroom instruction - board member Patsy Jordan cut her off. 'Excuse me, excuse me, we have children at home. It's live streaming, and it's really not appropriate for you to read that,' Jordan said. 'Don't you find the irony in that?' Brown shouted, at one point smacking the lectern. 'You're exactly saying exactly what I'm telling you! You're giving it to our children! 'I would never give this to my children!' Michelle Brown was stopped from reading an excerpt of a book at a school board meeting in Cherokee County, Georgia last week because it's 'inappropriate' 'Excuse me, excuse me, we have children's at home. It's live streaming, and it's really not appropriate for you to read that,' said board member Patsy Jordan, bottom right CSSD told DailyMail.com that Brown only has elementary school-aged children in the district, which is located about an hour north of Atlanta. Another board member chimes in: 'I think we have gotten the gist of your information that you wanted to share with us this evening.' 'So you're cutting me off?' Brown asks at the March 17 meeting. 'So you have the last 30 seconds - our attorney has said 'Out of order,'' the board member replies. 'I suggest that nobody submits any more books,' Brown adds. 'It's not our job, it's your job to be getting these books. All this happened under your watch. 'Maybe if you spent more time reading these books instead of calculating the statistical demographics of those submitting the books, you wouldn't be grooming our children. Homegoing was written by Ghanaian-American novelist Yaa Gyasi, 33. Above, Gyasi receives the PEN/Hemingway Award for Homegoing at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston on April 2, 2017 CCSD says Brown, who stormed off to applause, does not have any high school-aged children in the district 'You're saying that we're embarrassing you? Well, you're embarrassing us and our kids. 'It's not OK! You are supposed to be giving them a safe space in school. These books? If I can't email them to you, if I can't say them, they shouldn't be in the school!' What is Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi about? Homegoing was published in 2016 by Penguin Random House. The 320-page novel was written by Ghanaian-American novelist Yaa Gyasi, 33. It tells the tale of two half-sisters born in mid-18th century Ghana who grow up to have incredibly different lives. Effia marries a British governor of Cape Coast Castle and lives in luxury, while her sister Esi is captured during a raid on her village and held in a dungeon under Effia before she is put on a slave ship. The book follows the lives of the sisters' descendants as it charts how the legacy of slavery affects them in the present. The novel won the John Leonard Award by the National Book Critics Circle in 2016. Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates selected it for the National Book Foundation's '5 under 25' award that same year. It was also chosen as one of Oprah Winfrey's 'Best Books of the Year. Writing for the New York Times, Isabel Wilkerson described the book as 'hypnotic' and called Gyasi a 'stirringly gifted young writer.' Vulture said: 'Rich. . . . Fascinating. . . . Each chapter is tightly plotted, and there are suspenseful, even spectacular climaxes.' Sources: Penguin Random House, Amazon, Goodreads Advertisement Brown walked away to applause from the audience. Homegoing was written by Ghanaian-American novelist Yaa Gyasi, 33, and published in 2016. It tells the tale of two half-sisters born in Ghana in the mid-18th century who grow up to have incredibly different lives. Effia marries a British governor of Cape Coast Castle and lives in luxury, while her sister Esi is captured during a raid on her village and held in a dungeon under Effia before she is put on a slave ship. The book then follows the lives of the two sisters' descendants as it charts how the legacy of slavery affects them in the present. A description on Goodreads, where the book has 4.47 stars, states: 'Extraordinary for its exquisite language, its implacable sorrow, its soaring beauty, and for its monumental portrait of the forces that shape families and nations, Homegoing heralds the arrival of a major new voice in contemporary fiction.' The novel won the John Leonard Award by the National Book Critics Circle in 2016. The prize is given to the best debut book in any genre. Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates selected it for the National Book Foundation's '5 under 25' award that same year. Writing for the New York Times, Isabel Wilkerson described the book as 'hypnotic' and called Gyasi a 'stirringly gifted young writer.' During the meeting, Brown said the wait time for the district to review a book stretches out until November. She also added that, as part of the removal process, anyone in the district's review committee can object to the book's removal, meaning that it stays on the shelves. She claimed the instructions told parents to 'get over the shock' of students reading profanity, including the word 'see you next Tuesday.' Brown said that an appeals committee for book removals includes a student who said Homegoing must stay in the libraries because it's in her AP class's reading list. But CCSD says the removal process does not include a student. The College Board does, however, suggest that students read Homegoing in order to pass its AP English exams. Brown spoke after a woman who identified herself as the parent of two children at CCSD. The woman spoke about her concerns about a 'recent increase in challenged books' in the district. Brown said: 'If anyone in this room gave one of these books that she's talking about to a child, you would go to prison, why are you then putting them in our libraries?' Homegoing is not being used for classroom instruction and is currently available in the media centers of four high schools, a Cherokee County School District spokeswoman told DailyMail.com. The spokeswoman said that parents can restrict their children from checking out books. 'Additionally, the speaker who is not a parent of CCSD high school students, previously had been repeatedly advised that she could file a challenge to potentially remove the book from CCSD high school media centers, but she has not filed such a challenge,' the spokeswoman said. Homegoing is the latest book to have come under fire from conservative parents and school officials who are increasingly concerned about what their children are allowed to read in schools. Earlier this year, a Tennessee school board voted unanimously to remove a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about Holocaust survivors from its eighth-grade curriculum, citing a drawing of a nude woman, eight swear words and its 'not wise or healthy' content. The McMinn County school board in Tennessee voted 10-0 to remove 'Maus' by Art Spiegelman from the eighth grade curriculum over eight swear words and nudity The graphic novel by Art Spiegelman (above) is inspired by the story of Art's parents Board member Tony Allman (left) suggested the book should at least be censored. 'Why does the educational system promote this kind of stuff, it is not wise or healthy,' he said The McMinn County Board of Education voted 10-0 to remove 'Maus' by Art Spiegelman from the curriculum on January 10, despite educators arguing that the graphic novel is an 'anchor text' in eighth-grade English language arts instruction and the centerpiece of a months-long study of the Holocaust. Published in 1991, Maus is inspired by the story of Spiegelman's parents, Vladek and Anja, who survived the Holocaust after being shipped to the Auschwitz concentration camp in Poland. The graphic novel depicts Nazis as cats and Jewish people as mice. The board heard from instructional supervisors and other school officials who defended the use of the book in class but were unanimously overruled. 'I went to school here 13 years. I learned math, English, reading and history. I never had a book with a naked picture in it, never had one with foul language. ... So, this idea that we have to have this kind of material in the class in order to teach history, I don't buy it,' said board member Mike Cochran. Spiegelman, 73, called the ban 'Orwellian' in an interview with CNBC, saying that he learned about it a day before Holocaust Remembrance Day. The family of a father of 14 who died in a pub brawl say they forgive the man who threw the fatal punch as he walked free from court after the judge ruled he acted in self-defence. Luke Jay Kenworthy, was killed after a blow to the head caused him to fall to the ground unconscious at the Sundowner Hotel Motel in Caboolture in November 2020. Last week, Joel Michael James Smith, was found not guilty of unlawful striking causing death after a rare legal decision found he acted in self-defence when Mr Kenworthy had earlier threatened to 'end him' during a verbal spat. Kyra Keelan-Kenworthy said she forgave the man who took her father Luke's life during a pub fight (pictured together) Live-streaming the four-day trial from her home in New Zealand, Mr Kenworthy's eldest daughter Kyra said she won't hold a grudge against the man who took her father's life. 'We forgive Joel, we have no hate in our hearts towards Joel. This is what dad would have wanted,' Kyra said in a victim impact statement provided to The Courier-Mail. 'Dad's death is hard to accept but I believe forgiveness is the answer.' She said she hoped to read her victim impact statement to Mr Smith so he would know what an amazing father Mr Kenworthy was. Mr Kenworthy (pictured) died after Joel Michael James Smith punched the father of 14 at a Caboolture pub in November 2020 'He taught us how to do everything outdoors like fishing and camping and hunting,' she said. 'That was dad's legacy to us. He taught us how to build a treehouse and survive. But my youngest siblings don't get that, that's what they missed out on. 'And knowing all those things my younger brothers and sisters will go without, I'd say to (Mr Smith), to please make the most of this second chance you've been given I forgive you.' It is only the second time a jury has found somebody not guilty of unlawful striking causing death since the offence was introduced to QLD's Criminal Code in 2014. The charge can carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. Last week Mr Smith was found not guilty of unlawful striking causing death - an offence which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment (pictured, Luke Kenworthy) Mr Kenworthy, was killed after a fatal punch caused him to fall to the ground unconscious at the Sundowner Hotel Motel in Caboolture in November 2020 (pictured, The Sundown Hotel Motel) Last week, Barrister Douglas Wilson argued Mr Smith had acted in self-defence and only delivered the fatal punch after repeated attempts to walk away. He said Mr Kenworthy was upset about something before he made the remark to Mr Smith claiming he would 'end him', a reference which was understood to mean ending Mr Smith's life. Witness accounts from patrons at the pub on the night of the incident said Mr Kenworthy spat on Mr Smith and followed him as tried to exit the venue. CCTV footage also captured the moment Mr Smith delivered the fatal blow to Mr Kenworthy, who fell backwards and hit his head on the concrete. Mr Smith's solicitor, Kristie Horne told told the court, at that point her client 'sadly was left with no other choice but to defend himself' when he threw the fatal punch. 'Unfortunately, subsequently he was unable to be revived,' she said. Four men have been charged after more than $250,000 worth of drugs were seized by heavily armed officers in a series of daring raids that also uncovered large sums of cash and a major haul of luxury clothes, watches, handbags and jewellery. NSW Police said more than $50,000 in cash was discovered at various properties in Sydney's south-west on Friday as part of Strike Force Turquoise. The clandestine investigation was established to investigate the large-scale supply of methylamphetamine plaguing the area. Search warrants were carried out across homes in Guildford, Milperra, Bass Hill and Merrylands. Four men have been charged (one pictured) after more than $250,000 worth of drugs were seized by heavily armed officers in a series of daring raids About $42,000 was seized at a home in Milperra and a further $10,000 was discovered at an address in Guildford At an address in Milperra, police found $42,000 in cash, cannabis, luxury clothing, jewellery, watches and handbags. A man, 31, was arrested and taken to Bankstown Police Station to face a raft of charges, including the commercial supply of a prohibited drug, two counts of possessing a prohibited drug and knowingly dealing with proceeds of crime. Police at a home in Guildford found $10,000 in cash, methylamphetamine, cannabis and numerous electronic items which forensic investigators are now examining. A 19-year-old man was also taken to Bankstown Police Station where he was charged with multiple serious offences, including the commercial supply of a prohibited drug. When police kicked down the door of a residence in Bass Hill, they discovered cocaine, Oxycodone and cannabis as well as prescription medication, vials of steroids and cash. A man, 23, was arrested at the scene and taken to Granville Police Station where he was also charged with multiple drug offences. All three men were refused bail. A large amount of methylamphetamine (ice) was located at homes in Guildford and Merrylands Three of the men were refused bail (one pictured), with the quartet to all appear before the courts Meanwhile, at an address in Merrylands, officers found methylamphetamine, the hallucinogenic drug LSD and stacks of cash. A 40-year-old man was arrested and charged at Granville Police Station with two counts of possess a prohibited drug. He was granted conditional bail and will appear at Fairfield Local Court on April 19. Advertisement Volodymyr Zelensky has condemned Russia for 'booby-trapping' corpses and abandoned homes as they retreat from the north of Ukraine - a day after scores of executed civilians were found along a highway out of Kiev. The Ukrainian President warned his people that retreating Russian forces were creating 'a complete disaster' outside the capital by leaving mines across 'the whole territory', even around homes and dead bodies. He issued the warning as the humanitarian crisis in the encircled city of Mariupol deepened and the Kremlin accused the Ukrainians of launching a helicopter attack on a fuel depot on Russian soil. Ukraine denied responsibility for the fiery blast, but if Moscow's claim is confirmed, it would be the war's first known attack in which Ukrainian aircraft penetrated Russian airspace. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: 'Certainly, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of the talks.' Russia continued withdrawing some of its ground forces from areas around Kyiv after saying earlier this week it would reduce military activity near the Ukrainian capital and the northern city of Chernihiv. Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the nation: 'They are mining the whole territory. They are mining homes, mining equipment, even the bodies of people who were killed. 'There are a lot of trip wires, a lot of other dangers.' His comments follow the bodies of at least thirteen dead civilians being discovered yesterday on the same stretch of road where Russian soldiers were caught on video executing a young couple in aerial drone footage that shocked the world at the start of March. And as Western journalists accompany advancing Ukrainian troops near Kyiv, they are uncovering more evidence of war crimes carried out by Putin's soldiers - with the mayor of one city claiming 300 civilians were killed in the last month. Pictures from Irpin on Friday showed soldiers and volunteers carrying body bags down a ruined stretch of road. About a dozen bodies were zipped up in black plastic body bags, lined up on the concrete and loaded into vans. Volodymyr Zelensky (pictured in video address) warned his people that retreating Russian forces were creating 'a complete disaster' outside the capital by leaving mines across 'the whole territory', even around homes and dead bodies Ukrainian rescue workers are pictured carrying an injured woman in Irpin close to the capital of Kyiv, Ukraine, on April 1 Ukrainian soldiers collect bodies of civilians killed by the Russian forces at the destroyed bridge in Irpin close to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, March 31, 2022 The bodies of civilians killed by Russian shelling are gathered to be transferred to a mortuary in Irpin, Ukraine, on March 31 Some experts believe the Mariupol's fall is imminent after Russian forces reached its centre this week, while feared Chechen soldiers have been seen prowling its streets. (Pictured: Pro-Russian armoured vehicle moves through Mariupol on Friday) A man walks past a burnt armored personnel carrier near buildings destroyed in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 1 A view shows the building of a theatre destroyed in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine April 1 Zelensky urged residents to wait to resume their normal lives until they are assured that the mines have been cleared and the danger of shelling has passed. While the Russians kept up their bombardment around Kyiv and Chernihiv, Ukrainian troops exploited the pullback on the ground by mounting counterattacks and retaking a number of towns and villages. Still, Ukraine and its allies warned that the Kremlin is not de-escalating to promote trust at the bargaining table, as it claimed, but instead resupplying and shifting its troops to the country's east. Those movements appear to be preparation for an intensified assault on the mostly Russian-speaking Donbas region in the country's east, which includes Mariupol. Mr Zelensky warned of difficult battles ahead as the Russians redeploy troops. 'We are preparing for an even more active defence,' he said. The comedian turned war time leader added that more than 3,000 people escaped the besieged south-eastern city of Mariupol in a convoy of buses and private cars on Friday, while the Red Cross is preparing a fresh evacuation effort for today. Some experts believe the city's fall is imminent after Russian forces reached its centre this week, while feared Chechen soldiers have been seen prowling its streets. While Zelensky said the east remains 'extremely difficult', his troops have enjoyed successes elsewhere, mostly in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, where it has taken back at least 30 towns in recent days, including Irpin and the Hostomel air base on the outskirts of the capital yesterday. It also regained control of the heavily contaminated Chernobyl nuclear site on Friday morning. Zelensky said: 'The occupiers are withdrawing forces in the north of our country. The withdrawal is slow but noticeable. Somewhere they are expelled with battles. Somewhere they leave positions on their own.' He added: 'We are moving forward. Moving carefully. And everyone who returns to this area must also be very careful. Pictured: Ukrainian soldiers carry a body of a civilian killed by the Russian forces over the destroyed bridge in Irpin close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 31, 2022 A couple walk past the bodies of civilians killed by Russian shelling before they are transferred to a mortuary, after bodies were collected from different locations, amid Russia's invasion on Ukraine, in Irpin, Ukraine March 31, 2022 Bodies of civilians killed by Russian shelling are seen inside a car after they were collected from different locations, amid Russia's invasion on Ukraine, in Irpin on March 31 Maksim and his wife (pictured together) were killed in an attack on March 7. Their six-year-old son survived and a friend's mother - who was also in the car when it came under fire from a Russian tank unit - was injured. The Russian soldiers later let them go 'It is still impossible to return to normal life as it was. Even in the areas we return after the fighting. You will have to wait. Wait for our land to be cleared. Wait until you can be assured that new shelling is impossible. 'In the east of our country, the situation remains extremely difficult. The Russian militaries are being accumulated in Donbas, in the Kharkiv direction. 'They are preparing for new powerful blows. We are preparing for even more active defense.' Mariupol has faced weeks of ferocious Russian shelling, with at least 5,000 residents killed, according to local authorities, and the estimated 160,000 who remain face shortages of food, water and electricity. 'We have managed to rescue 6,266 people, including 3,071 people from Mariupol,' Zelensky said. He did not say anything about the latest round of talks, which took place on Friday by video. At a round of talks earlier in the week, Ukraine said it would be willing to abandon a bid to join Nato and declare itself neutral - Moscow's chief demand - in return for security guarantees from several other countries. Giving details of Friday's evacuation efforts along humanitarian corridors, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said 42 buses carrying Mariupol residents had departed from the city of Berdiansk, 70 kilometres (44 miles) southwest, while another 12 had left Melitopol with local residents on board. Two women hug as a convoy of 30 buses carrying evacuees from Mariupol and Melitopol arrive at the registration center in Zaporizhzhia, on April 1, 2022 Children asleep are seen through a bus window as a convoy of 30 buses carry evacuees from Mariupol and Melitopol on Friday A woman looks through a bus window as a convoy of 30 buses carrying evacuees from Mariupol and Melitopol arrive at the registration center in Zaporizhzhia on Friday Passengers show their passports as a convoy of 30 buses carrying evacuees from Mariupol and Melitopol arrive at the registration center in Zaporizhzhia, on April 1, 2022 A convoy of 30 buses carrying evacuees from Mariupol and Melitopol arrive at the registration center in Zaporizhzhia on Friday. Children are seen through a bus window as a convoy of 30 buses carrying evacuees from Mariupol and Melitopol arrive at the registration center in Zaporizhzhia Zelensky reported Friday that more than 6,000 people had been evacuated from besieged cities in Ukraine (Pictured: Passengers disembark as a convoy of 30 buses carrying evacuees from Mariupol and Melitopol arrive at the registration center in Zaporizhzhia, on April 1, 2022) Woman becomes emotional while being evacuated through Zaporizhzhya Dozens of buses carrying Mariupol residents who had escaped the devastated city arrived Friday in Zaporizhzhia, about 200 kilometres to the northwest. (Pictured: Man and woman and their beloved pet dog arrive in Zaporizhzhia) Families hug as they arrive to safety in Zaporizhzhia after being evacuated from the frontlines Elderly woman smiles after being evacuated from the besieged city of Mariupol by the Red Cross Woman sheds a tear after arriving in Zaporizhzhya, one of thousands to be evacuated from Berdyansk, Mariupol and other besieged cities 'That's more than 2,500 people. More than 300 private cars follow the buses. All of them are now heading to the city of Zaporizhzhia,' she said on Telegram, adding more evacuations of Mariupol were planned for Saturday. Dozens of buses carrying Mariupol residents who had escaped the devastated city arrived Friday in Zaporizhzhia, about 200 kilometres to the northwest. The buses carried people who had been able to flee Mariupol to Russian-occupied Berdiansk. 'We were crying when we reached this area. We were crying when we saw soldiers at the checkpoint with Ukrainian crests on their arms,' said Olena, who carried her young daughter in her arms. 'My house was destroyed. I saw it in photos. Our city doesn't exist anymore.' The International Committee of the Red Cross said its team headed to Mariupol to conduct an evacuation effort was forced to turn back Friday after 'arrangements and conditions made it impossible to proceed', as it vowed to try again Saturday. It comes after it was revealed that Chechen soldiers have been prowling the shelled-out streets of Mariupol engaging in fierce firefights as they try to take the besieged city. Chechen soldiers have been prowling the shelled-out streets of Mariupol engaging in fierce firefights as they try to take the besieged city. Propaganda channels have previously pumped out pictures and videos of the notorious fighters in conquered territories to boost Russian morale Among the Chechen fighters pictured in Mariupol was the regiment commander Zamid Chalaev (above, on Thursday), who is accused of human rights violations Some Chechen soldiers are fighting alongside the Russian military, which waged two wars against Chechnya a Muslim republic in southern Russia between 1994 and 2000 'I do not discuss orders': Zelensky refuses to comment on alleged Ukrainian strike on fuel depot in Russia As day broke in Belgorod, the oil facility was ablaze, with the fire allegedly sparked by Ukrainian missiles During an interview with Fox News on Friday, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky responded to Russian accusations that Ukraine mounted a helicopter attack on a fuel depot inside Russian territory. He said: 'I'm sorry I do not discuss any of my orders as commander in chief, the leader of this state. 'There are things which I only share with military armed forces of Ukraine and when they talk with me. 'You need to understand that on that territory that you mentioned they were placing their shooting systems and were firing missiles themselves.' Russia's defence ministry had said two Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters were responsible for an attack Friday morning on a fuel depot in the city of Belgorod, western Russia, but added the facility did not supply fuel to the military. In its statement, the ministry said the two helicopters attacked after crossing the border at an extremely low altitude Yet Ukraine's top security official denied the accusations. There were initial fears it was a false flag after claims Russia would try to justify an escalation of conflict or an excuse to walk out of peace talks by staging an attack within its own territory. There have been fears that Russia would stage a false flag attack on itself to justify an escalation of the war or to back out of peace talks Ukraine said yesterday it was not responsible for the daring blitz in what was the first air strike to target Russian soil since WWII. The helicopters reportedly fired S-8 rockets at a Roseneft depot, the area's regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said. Several nearby businesses were also reportedly hit. Speaking on national television, Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said: 'For some reason they say that we did it, but according to our information this does not correspond to reality.' Advertisement The feared troops, armed with machine guns and rocket launchers, have been used as a PR tool in Putin's war, and photos of them in the city suggest the dictator believes he is on the verge of taking it. Propaganda channels have previously pumped out pictures and videos of the notorious fighters in conquered territories to boost Russian morale. Some Chechen soldiers are fighting alongside the Russian military, which waged two wars against Chechnya a Muslim republic in southern Russia between 1994 and 2000. Among the Chechen fighters pictured in Mariupol was the regiment commander Zamid Chalaev, who is accused of human rights violations. Thanks to fierce Ukrainian resistance, Mariupol has held out for over a month despite Russia's brutal bombardment. But Russia finally entered the city centre this week and some observers believe its fall is imminent. It comes as the invading forces were accused of looting 14 tons of humanitarian aid destined for the southern port and a convoy of 45 buses bringing medical supplies was allegedly blocked from entering on Thursday night. Ukrainian soldiers on Friday liberated the suburban town of Irpin and the Hostomel air base on the outskirts of Kyiv while also regaining control of the heavily contaminated Chernobyl nuclear site early on Friday morning. The exchange of control happened amid growing indications the Kremlin is using talk of de-escalation in Ukraine as cover to regroup, resupply its forces and redeploy them for a stepped-up offensive in the eastern part of the country. The Russian military in the northeast continued to block and shell Chernihiv and Kharkiv on Friday and Ukraine's general staff said its forces were bracing for an all-out assault in the country's east. In the southeast of the country the Russians are trying to seize the cities of Popasna, Rubizhne and Mariupol in order to expand the territory of separatist republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, according to the Ukrainian military. Russian troops left the heavily contaminated Chernobyl nuclear site early on Friday morning after returning control to the Ukrainians, authorities said. Ukraine's state power company, Energoatom, said the pullout at Chernobyl came after soldiers received 'significant doses' of radiation from digging trenches in the forest in the exclusion zone around the closed plant. But there was no independent confirmation of that. Announcing the exchange on Friday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said the Russians behaved irresponsibly at the site during the more than four weeks that they controlled it, preventing staff at the plant from performing their full duties and digging trenches in contaminated areas. Kuleba told a news conference in Warsaw that the Russian government had exposed its soldiers to radiation, endangering their health. Russia said during negotiations on Tuesday that it would scale down operations in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions. Fighting has continued in both regions and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said Russian forces are not withdrawing but regrouping. 'We are observing the movement of joint (Russian) vehicle columns of various quantities,' the Kyiv region's governor, Oleksandr Pavlyuk, wrote on the Telegram messaging app. Pavlyuk said some of the troops were heading towards the border with Belarus, a Russian ally. He said Russian forces had left the village of Hostomel, which is next to an important airport, but were digging in at the town of Bucha. Moscow's men have suffered heavy losses in the five week war and NATO estimates between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in the fighting. Ukraine claims as many as 17,000 have been killed. Putin this week ordered 134,500 more conscripts aged 18 to 27 to join his army as part of the annual spring military draft, which runs from April 1 to July 15. Poor weather and a shortage of cross-channel ferry services are being blamed for huge queues at the border and gridlocked roads around Kent today. Three-hour waits are being reported after the Port of Dover's capacity was reduced, owing to fewer services being offered by DFDS, Irish Ferries and P&O Ferries in the wake of the redundancy debacle. Drivers have been stuck in hours of queues before being able to board their boats, while other lorries were forced to wait in up to eight miles of queues overnight. It comes as day two of Operation Brock caused fresh headaches for both holidaymakers and hauliers as the M20 in Kent was closed to hold lorries heading towards the coast. Kent Police implemented the traffic management plan to stack HGVs heading to the continent after eight-mile long tailbacks were reported on the motorway overnight. Some lorries were made to wait for up to eight hours, while sources described the situation as 'a mess' to ITV. Last month, P&O Ferries admitted to breaking the law in the manner in which it terminated 800 members of staff to hire cheaper agency workers, a move that has caused a major backlash from politicians and workers. A gridlocked Port of Dover on Friday night as traffic chaos caused by Operation Brock entered its second day Eight-mile long tailbacks were reported on the M20 and surrounding roads overnight The M20 eastbound between J8 and J9 remains shut to non-freight traffic on Saturday. Pictured: The traffic chaos for holidaymakers continued overnight Day two of Operation Brock caused fresh headaches for both holidaymakers and hauliers as the M20 in Kent was closed to hold lorries heading towards the coast. Pictured: Lorries queuing on the M20 on Saturday morning Three-hour waits are being reported after the Port of Dover's capacity was reduced, owing to fewer services being offered by DFDS, Irish Ferries and P&O Ferries in the wake of the redundancy debacle The M20 eastbound remains shut to non-freight traffic this morning, causing gridlocked roads for surrounding villages, and creating havoc for families hoping to get away for the Easter break A shortage of ferries was exacerbated after a DFDS ferry struck a berth in Dunkirk amid strong winds last night, leading to that service being removed for repairs. The M20 eastbound between J8 and J9 remains shut to non-freight traffic, causing gridlocked roads for surrounding villages, and creating havoc for families hoping to get away for the Easter break. Meanwhile, the A20, one of the main access roads for the Port of Dover, remains closed east-bound owing to the huge queues of lorries attempting to cross the Channel. The traffic chaos, which saw some cars stuck for up to three hours, prompted motorists to seek alternative routes towards the ferry terminal causing further delays in towns across Kent which have spilled over into Saturday. Motorists heading to the coast were warned they can expect delays well in excess of an hour, while it was reported that some hauliers waited for up to eight hours. Many schools across the country have broken up for the Easter holidays this afternoon, prompting the mass exodus. However, other children will be expected in their classrooms early next week. Non-freight vehicles are being diverted along the A20, but eastbound traffic on that carriageway is then being diverted again to the A259, onto the A260. Closures were first implemented last night as part of Operation Brock to allow lorries heading for the channel crossing to be 'stacked' on the motorway, in theory allowing them smoother access to the Kent coast. A Department for Transport spokesman said: 'We are aware of queues at Dover, and the Kent Resilience Forum and local partners are working to minimise any disruption by deploying temporary traffic-management measures as standard.' Last night, the A20 Roundhill Tunnel was closed coastbound between the junction 13 of the M20 and the A260 near Folkstone. This is part of Operation Tap which controls traffic approaching Dover Port. The M20 in Kent, pictured, saw lorries stuck in Operation Brock for more than six hours. Meanwhile, motorists heading to Dover are also facing significant delays of more than an hour with five-mile tailbacks resulting from the chaos The AA is reporting that the M20s closure is impacting traffic flows across Kent as motorists try and find a route towards the ferry terminal The AA has warned the closure of the M20 is having knock-on effects across the county Kent Police were forced to implement Operation Brock, closing the M20 to park lorries to limit the numbers allowed to approach Dover National Highways last night stated: 'There are currently 5.5 miles of congestion on approach to J8 causing delays of 60 mins above normal travel time. 'If this closure impacts on your planned route, please allow extra journey time. Plan ahead, you may wish to re-route or even delay your journey.' The Port of Dover warned passengers about long delays approaching the ferry terminal. Furious motorists took to Twitter to vent their frustration at the Operation Brock chaos According to a spokesperson: 'The main approach roads to the Port are currently very busy. 'We are working with operators to get people on their way as swiftly as possible, but are asking passengers to please allow extra time for their journey. 'Local traffic is advised to use alternative routes where possible.' The ongoing dispute involving P&O Ferries has dramatically reduced the capacity of the port. DFDS has also announced it will run a reduced service between Dover and Calais due to poor weather conditions and a 'technical problem'. The mother of a woman whose body was found in a remote bush grave three years after a drug deal went wrong, has broken her silence after finally being able to lay her daughter to rest. Allecha Boyd, 27, was shot multiple times on a dirt track by her drug dealer while on her way to buy meth just outside the small town of Coolamon, near Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, in 2017. Ms Boyd had gotten into an argument with a woman who had accused her of a break and enter at her home, before Samuel Shephard shot her four times with a pistol. Allecha Boyd, 27, (pictured) was shot multiple times on a dirt track by her drug dealer and buried in a bush grave in 2017 Ms Boyd's body was hidden in the Lester State Forest for three years (site pictured) Shephard and his friend Anthony Hagan, then 19, later drove her body 12km and buried her in the Lester State Forest, where it remained undiscovered for three years. Her grief-stricken mother Leah Freeman is now finally ready to speak out about the anguish she still faces over her daughter's brutal murder. 'Nobody had the right to take my daughter. I go to her grave and I cry. It will never be okay,' Ms Freeman told The Daily Telegraph. She said she was finally able to give her daughter a proper burial back home in Melbourne after starting a GoFundMe. Her grief-stricken mother Leah Freeman (pictured) has since opened up about the tragedy for the first time 'I needed a GoFundMe page to bury my daughter because all justice gave us was $8,000 to bury Allecha's remains,' Ms Freeman said. '$8000 isn't enough to dig the hole. Through that page people I will never know helped me bury my daughter to give her the dignity I couldn't afford to give her. 'If I could give back to every person on that page I would. I could not have done it without them.' Ms Freeman said her daughter had moved from Melbourne to Central NSW to pursue her dreams of becoming a chef but had gotten 'into some trouble' and made some bad choices. She said all Ms Boyd wanted to do was come back home, but she never got the chance to. Ms Boyd's remains were found three years after her murder when Shephard and Hagan assisted police on walk-throughs of the scene. Ms Freeman said her daughter (pictured) had moved from Melbourne to Central NSW to pursue her dreams of becoming a chef but had gotten 'into some trouble' and made some bad choices In February 2020, Shephard was convicted of killing Ms Boyd and was sentenced to 27 years in prison. Hagan was convicted as an accessory to murder and was released from prison last week after returning to jail for breaching the terms of his parole. Police caught the pair after tapping Shephard's phone in relation to his drug connections. Shephard's ex-partner Tracy Lee King left a series of incriminating voicemails that eventually lead police to Ms Boyd's killer. 'Where's Allecha Boyd you f**king dog c**t in the state forest?' one message said. 'Sam John Shephard killed her,' she wrote in another text. Ms King was sentenced to 15 months as an accessory to murder. Russia has today announced it will end co-operation on the International Space Station until Western-led sanctions over its Ukraine invasion are lifted. The head of the country's space agency said it will no longer work with its partners, including NASA and the European Space Agency, on the groundbreaking orbiting laboratory. The chief of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, revealed the move on Twitter and said he will submit a timetable for completion of current projects to the Kremlin. It follows weeks of threats, delays and cancelled projects from Roscosmos since a wave of sanctions were introduced against oligarchs linked to warring Russian President Vladimir Putin. Most astronauts aboard the ISS currently return to Earth aboard Russian Soyuz flights, but Elon Musk's SpaceX Crew Dragon also now transports crew to the space station and has made four visits so far since its inaugural voyage in 2020. The current crew is made up of three Americans (Kayla Barron, Thomas Marshburn, Raja Chari) three Russians (Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev, Sergey Korsakov) and one German (Matthias Maurer). Rogozin previously said 'who would save the ISS?' if Russia were to withdraw from the project. It prompted US billionaire Elon Musk to reply: 'SpaceX' - the name of his private space company. When a Twitter user asked the Tesla founder if this meant SpaceX would keep the ISS from falling onto Earth, Musk simply replied: 'Yes.' The ISS, a symbol of post-Cold War detente, is split into two halves, with life support coming from the US half, and propulsion, stopping it falling to Earth, coming from Russia's side. Rogozin previously said their responsibilities on the ISS could fall to the US or Europe if it pulled out, but the US said it would be 'very difficult' to operate the satellite on its own. Russia and the US had been able to bury their differences this week when NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei returned to Earth alongside two Russian counterparts. It came just days after three Russian cosmonauts arrived at the ISS wearing yellow and blue flight suits, which some people saw as a show of support for Ukraine and a humiliation for Putin's regime. In a Twitter thread today, Rogozin said: 'Sanctions from the US, Canada, the European Union and Japan are aimed at blocking financial, economic and production activities of our high-tech enterprises. Three Russian cosmonauts arrived at the International Space Station wearing yellow and blue flight suits in late March, which some people claimed resemble the Ukrainian national colours The head of the country's space agency said it will no longer work with NASA or the European Space Agency on the orbiting laboratory. (Pictured: International Space Station) The current crew of the International Space Station, three Russians pictured bottom row, right, while top row and left, Americans and German Matthias Maurer Dmitry Rogozin (pictured) said Russia will no longer work with its partners, including NASA and the European Space Agency, on the orbiting ISS The chief of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, revealed the move on Twitter (pictured) and said he will submit a timetable for completion of current projects to the Kremlin 'The purpose of the sanctions is to kill the Russian economy, plunge our people into despair and hunger, and bring our country to its knees. It is clear that they will not be able to do this, but the intentions are clear. 'That is why I believe that the restoration of normal relations between partners in the International Space Station and other joint projects is possible only with the complete and unconditional lifting of illegal sanctions. 'Specific proposals of Roscosmos on the timing of the completion of cooperation within the framework of he ISS with the space agencies of the United States, Canada, the European Union and Japan will be reported to the leadership of our country in the near future.' The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest single structure ever put into space by humans. It has been continuously occupied by a multi-national crew, mostly from the US and Russia, since November 2000. It is not owned by one single nation and is a 'co-operative programme' between Europe, the United States, Russia, Canada and Japan, according to the European Space Agency (ESA). Rogozin said in a Twitter thread that he had written to each of the participating ISS countries' space agencies in regards to their respective governments' sanctions against Russia. He shared their responses, including that of the European Space Agency, which said it would pass on the matter to all member states to discuss. 'By this time, the ISS could have died its own death,' Rogozin said. Elon Musk, left, previously said his company SpaceX would rescue the International Space Station, right, if Russia attempted to drop it from orbit after threats by Vladimir Putin's space chief 'Nevertheless, the position of our partners is clear: the sanctions will not be lifted. 'At the same time, fearing the destruction of cooperation on the ISS, where the role of Russia is of fundamental importance to ensure the viability and safety of the station, Western partners make it clear that in reality, sanctions in terms of work in the interests of the ISS will not work. I consider this state of affairs unacceptable.' Russia had already withdrawn cooperation with Germany on a space telescope - which it temporarily switched off - and experiments on the ISS. Roscosmos also pulled out of a Soyuz sharing agreement with the European Space Agency launch partner Arianespace in French Guiana. It has also threatened to withhold U.S.-built, UK-owned OneWeb satellites without a guarantee they won't be used for military purposes. OneWeb later cancelled its planned launch on a Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome. However Russia and the US were able to work together this week when NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei returned to Earth following a four-hour journey from the ISS alongside two Russian comonauts. A livestream shows the Soyuz MS-19 space capsule landing back to Earth with the trio on board NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei (pictured) returned to Earth March 30 following a four-hour journey from the International Space Station (ISS) alongside two Russian cosmonauts NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei (left) and Roscosmos cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov (centre) and Pyotr Dubrov (right) returned to Earth in the Soyuz MS-19 crew ship The trio undocked from the ISS on board a Russian Soyuz capsule and landed on the steppe of Kazakhstan Despite ongoing tensions with Russia, NASA claimed that the trio were 'working professionally together without tension'. Vande Hei and Russia's Pyotr Dubrov spent a total of 359 days on the orbiting observatory after blasting off to space on April 5 last year. The pair, along with cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, undocked from the ISS on board a Russian Soyuz capsule at 03:21 EDT (08:21 BST) on March 30, and landed on the steppe of Kazakhstan at 07:28 EDT (12:28 BST). The landing zone lies roughly 250 miles (400 km) to the northeast of Russia's space launch facility at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. 'The crew is feeling good after landing, according to rescuers,' Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin wrote on Telegram messenger. The joint US-Russian return flight from ISS was closely watched for signs that escalating tensions between Moscow and Washington over the Russian invasion of Ukraine have spilled over into longtime cooperation in space between the two former Cold War adversaries. It comes after three Russian cosmonauts arrived at the International Space Station in late March wearing flight suits in the national colours of Ukraine - which many viewed as an act of defiance. The three spacemen flew to the international space station in yellow and blue suits on board the Soyuz MS21 space craft from Kazakhstan. Russia is building its own space station Russia announced in 2020 that it could withdraw from the International Space Station as early as 2025 and launch its own facility. Dmitry Rogozin, chief of the Russian space agency said work has already begun on the first module of a new station. A top Kremlin official warned that 'disaster' was looming for the ISS, putting the lives of crew members at risk due to its age - by 2025 is will be 27 years old and was originally designed to last between 15 and 30 years, according to NASA. Russia has shared images and video of the first module that will make up a core part of its new hi-tech orbital base, which is expected to include a tourist hotel. NASA has since confirmed plans to de-orbit the ISS in 2031, switching to using commercial stations instead. Advertisement The men were the first new arrivals on the space station since the start of the Russian war in Ukraine in February. Video of one of the cosmonauts taken as the capsule prepared to dock with the space station showed him wearing a blue flight suit. It was unclear what, if any, message the yellow uniforms they changed into were intended to send. Oleg Artemyev was asked about the yellow flight suits when the newly arrived cosmonauts were able to talk to family back on Earth. He said every crew chooses its own flight suits, so that they are not all the same. 'It became our turn to pick a color. But in fact, we had accumulated a lot of yellow material so we needed to use it. So that's why we had to wear yellow,' he said. NASA said at the beginning of March that it was exploring ways to keep the ISS in orbit without Russian help, including using commercial cargo vehicles from SpaceX and Northrup Grumman. Elon Musk's SpaceX already delivers supplies to the ISS. On December 31 it launched a new two-stage Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida for a cargo resupply mission to the station. The Falcon rocket carried a Dragon capsule loaded with more than 6,500 pounds supplies, scientific experiments and Christmas gifts for the seven astronauts who were part of Expedition 66. Several minutes after launch, the first-stage booster landed upright on an ocean platform, six years to the day that Elon Musk's company accomplished its first booster touchdown in 2015. The Dragon capsule docked at the ISS and remained there for about a month. Packed inside the capsule were Christmas presents from the astronauts' families, as well as smoked fish and turkey, green beans and fruitcake for a holiday feast. Elon Musk's SpaceX already delivers supplies to the ISS. On December 31 it launched a new two-stage Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center (pictured) in Cape Canaveral, Florida for a cargo resupply mission to the station While the US side of the ISS supplies power and life support, Russia is responsible for propulsion and keeping the station in its orbit, over 250 miles above the planet. It does this by using docked Progress spacecraft to periodically give the station a boost to maintain its altitude, and stop it falling back to the Earth. Rogozin first raised the prospect of pulling out of the partnership in February in response to US sanctions, warning that without the Progress spacecraft, the 400 ton structure would fall back to Earth without any indication of where it might land. Kathy Lueders, who heads the agency's human spaceflight program, said in March that it would be 'very difficult' to operate the ISS without Russia. 'It would be very difficult for us to be operating on our own -- ISS is an international partnership that was created...with joint dependencies,' she said. 'As a team, we are looking at where we may have operational flexibilities, but... it would be a sad day for international operations if we can't continue to peacefully operate in space,' she concluded. A symbol of post Cold War detente, the ISS has been continuously habited for more than 21 years and has weathered past geopolitical storms, notably Russia's invasion of Crimea in 2014, with space excluded from sanctions at the time. China have been accused of launching a flurry of cyber attacks on Ukraine's military and nuclear infrastructure days before Russia's invasion - indicating initial support for Putin's war. Intelligence memos from the SBU, Ukraine's spy agency, claim that more than 600 websites belonging to Ukraine's ministry of defence were attacked by the Chinese government, according to The Times. Despite the Chinese government's lukewarm public reaction to the invasion of Ukraine, the move indicates prior knowledge of the invasion plans on the part of Xi Jinping's government before troops entered on February 24. The cyber attacks indicates prior knowledge of the invasion plans on the part of Xi Jinping's government before Russian troops entered Ukraine on February 24 The SBU said they had identified the source of the attack because the tools and methods used were consistent with the common tactics of the cyber warfare wing of the Chinese armed forces. Speaking to the Times, the SBU said that border defence, banking and railway infrastructure was targeted with a computer network exploitation (CNE) intended to gather information about Ukrainian weaknesses. The SBU said there was an 'increase in activity against our country's networks in mid-February' from both Russian and Chinese hackers which peaked on February 23. The agency added: 'Intrusions that are of particular concern include the CNE campaigns directed at the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate, and the Ukrainian Investigation Website focused on Hazardous Waste. 'This particular CNE attack by the Chinese cyberprogram included the launch of thousands of exploits with attempts pointed to at least 20 distinct vulnerabilities.' US intelligence sources confirmed that the Ukrainian sources were accurate to the Times but British sources would only confirm they were investigating the attack. The attacks contradict President Xi's denial that China had prior knowledge of the invasion plans and had asked Vladimir Putin to delay the war until the end of the Beijing Winter Olympics. At a meeting at the start of the Beijing Olympics, Xi and Putin signed a declaration of friendship - adding that there were 'no limits' on the scope of cooperation between the two dictatorships. Tom Hegel, a threat researcher at US-based cybersecurity firm SentinelOne, told the Times: 'It sounds like [the Chinese] didn't care that they were seen they had an objective to get in and get what they needed as quickly as possible. 'It's abnormal for a CNE-type effort, it stresses the importance of what they knew was coming.' Beijing has been careful to not outright support or condemn the invasion, fearing potential sanctions from the West if they are seen to be supporting the invasion of Ukraine. Steve Tsang, director of the Soas China Institute, told the Times: 'The number of people China has engaged in cyberoperations is enormous. A lot of them are part of the People's Liberation Army, which is part of the [Chinese Communist] party. 'We all believe that they have a cyberforce that attacks states. 'They have been more engaged in getting information rather than shutting people down. President Volodymyr Zelensky's government were provided with cyber defence support from US private contractors between October and January 'If they're working in Ukraine they're working in support of Russians. The implications of this would be they are potentially subjected to sanctions.' Sam Cranny-Evans, an intelligence and surveillance expert at the Royal United Services Institute, a think tank, said: 'The attacks suggest a certain level of collusion between Russia and China, which may prompt revised assessments of the nature of the relations between Russia and China, and the willingness of the two nations to support each other in military operations. 'It may also raise questions about what other support Beijing will provide Russia's operation in Ukraine, and the potential for this to prolong the conflict. 'At the capability level, it is interesting that the Russian security apparatus involved Chinese actors in this operation; they are typically quite capable and committed considerable resources to the intelligence operation in Ukraine in the lead-up to the conflict. The FSB for instance, had a staff of 200 personnel focused on gathering human intelligence in Ukraine, which included cyberattacks to gather information on the population.' As invasion fears mounted in October 2021, the US sent private contracts to bolster the Ukrainian cyber defences, a move which has led to successful defences of the country's digital infrastructure since the war began. Juan Andres Guerrero-Saade, principal threat researcher at SentinelOne, told the Times: 'Credit to the Ukrainian government, I don't know what they've done with [their] computer emergency response team, but they are killing it. 'It's very plausible that the US government is helping or that they have other companies on the ground no one we know has owned up to that yet. There's something going on there.' Just hours before the drastic new cost-of-living bills came into place for Britons, Prime Minister Boris Johnson hosted a luxurious champagne and canapes do and joked about Partygate, a report has claimed. On Thursday night, Johnson and fellow Cabinet ministers went to Claridge's in London's Mayfair to 'schmooze' Tory donors, ahead of the life-changing rise in costs for bills and council tax for the people of the UK. The next day saw millions of ordinary Britons face an assault on their budgets because council tax, car tax, national insurance, water bills and the cost of broadband, phones and TV are all going up in April. Households are suffering a huge hit on living standards as the price of gas and electricity soars by 54 per cent this morning, as regulator Ofgem raises the price cap for an average home to 1,971 from 1,277. Experts predict it will be around 2,700-a-year from October. All the while Mr Johnson was wooing wealthy backers, with his aim to get cash for the Conservative's marginal seats funds. He also was said to have 'laughed off' the ongoing Partygate investigations by the Metropolitan Police, telling guests: 'I can assure you that you won't be sent any questionnaires for attending this event.' PM Johnson (pictured walking into Claridge's on Thursday) also was said to have 'laughed off' the ongoing Partygate investigations by the Metropolitan Police, telling guests: 'I can assure you that you won't be sent any questionnaires for attending this event' Boris, pictured walking into Claridge's Hotel, joined the remaining 150 guests at the five-star hotel, ate 'fancy canapes' and drank champagne for two hours on Thursday 31 March According to The Sun, Cabinet ministers and MPs, including Home Secretary Priti Patel were also in attendance as Parliament broke up for Easter. They joined the remaining 150 guests at the five-star hotel, ate 'fancy canapes' and drank champagne for two hours on Thursday 31 March. The Prime Minister was not seen to have joined in on the boozing. The timing of the event, as well as jokes of Partygate when Downing Street officials have been issued with the first set of 50 fines, comes on the eve of a huge hit to people's wallets. Downing Street officials who attended a boozy leaving do while indoor events were banned due to Covid have begun receiving 50 fines over the lockdown-busting party. The first fixed penalty noticed from police probing the Partygate saga arrived via email to those found to have broken the law. They relate to a party in June 2020, understood to be a leaving do for an aide, Hannah Young, who was leaving Downing Street for a Government role in the US. Cabinet ministers and MPs, including Home Secretary Priti Patel, pictured, were also in attendance as Parliament broke up for Easter The timing of the event, as well as jokes of Partygate when Downing Street officials have been issued with the first set of 50 fines, comes on the eve of a huge hit to people's wallets (Home Secretary Priti Patel pictured attending the Tory donor evening at Claridge's on Thursday) Also named as 'Bleak Friday', April 1 saw all 66million Britons face an assault on their budgets because council tax, car tax, national insurance, water bills and the cost of broadband, phones and TV are all going up in April. Food prices are also spiking and a pint of beer is up at least 20p. Social housing rents are up 20-a-month and from today people face paying 1 to 3 for a lateral flow test. There are reports that some people have taken to lighting barbecues and open fires in homes to avoid using gas or electric heating, which could cause deadly blazes and fatal carbon monoxide poisoning. Labour claims the extra annual cost to Britons will be 2,620, piling even more pressure on Rishi Sunak to step in to help. On Thursday night, Johnson and fellow Cabinet ministers went to Claridge's (pictured) in London's Mayfair to 'schmooze' Tory donors, ahead of the life-changing rise in costs for bills and council tax for the people of the UK Energy companies insist that they can do nothing to reduce increasing costs for customers with one boss admitting today that the only answer is for consumers to use less energy. Utilita founder and boss Bill Bullen that Chancellor Rishi Sunak will be forced to find billions to pay energy bills for Britain's poorest households. He said: 'There is one thing that everyone can do and that is to think about their energy consumption and change their behaviour. And if you can afford to invest in your home then do that as well. 'Energy price rises are going to hit everybody. It's going to cause everybody to make difficult decisions but some consumers are in a far worse position and this will be worse for them.' Two former Labour staffers who made complaints of sexual harassment about a senior official resigned without pay after refusing to sign gagging orders that go against the party's own policies. Laura Murray and Georgie Robertson say they were asked to sign confidentiality agreements after reporting a senior official for alleged 'inappropriate' and 'possessive' behaviour, reports the BBC. Before formally quitting the party, they were offered a settlement agreement with a confidentiality clause by Labour's lawyers, which would have prevented the pair from speaking about the harassment case and any future legal claims against the party or official. Ms Robertson said she 'refused to be silenced' by the confidentiality clause included in the deal, while Ms Murray described the fallout from the situation as 'hellish'. The party official, who was temporarily suspended in the wake of the allegations, has strongly denied both women's claims. Their lawyer, Mark Stephens, warned the non-disclosure agreements were against recommendations from the Equality and Human Rights Commission and would have violated Labour's own policies. Former Labour staffers Laura Murray (left) and Georgie Robertson say they were asked to sign confidentiality agreements after reporting a senior official for alleged 'inappropriate' and 'possessive' behaviour The pair were offered a settlement agreement, that came with a confidentiality clause by Labour's lawyers. Pictured: Sir Keir appearing with Labour councillors in Colchester, Essex Ardent Jeremy Corbyn supporters Ms Murray and Ms Robertson both joined the party under his leadership. Ms Murray was stakeholder manager in Mr Corbyn's office when he was Labour leader, and went on to be the party's head of complaints, before going into teaching. After graduating from the School of Oriental and African Studies, Ms Robertson was elected co-president of the students union and was part of the Corbyn-supporting wing of the Labour Party - even writing an article for Labour List with the headline 'Why Jeremy Corbyn is the right choice for women. At the time of the alleged harassment, several top Labour MPs, including Corbyn and Diane Abbott had publicly spoken out on non-disclosure agreements. Corbyn himself had said in a 2018 press release that he would 'commit the next Labour government to legislating to prevent making any contractual clauses (NDAs) which stop disclosure of future discrimination, harassment or victimisation'. Ms Murray, then the party's head of complaints, and Ms Robertson, a Labour press officer, submitted an initial complaint and formal grievances about the 'inappropriate behaviour' of a senior official in March 2020. Ms Murray claimed the 'overbearing and possessive' man had tried to pressure her to join him for drinks, messaged her throughout the night and made inappropriate comments regarding her personal life and attractiveness. She said: 'It was really, really obsessive levels of communication. Because I was more junior, I didn't really know how to protect myself'. Meanwhile, Ms Robertson alleged the official asked her to join him for drinks after a private event and had sought her out while she worked late. 'After rebuffing his advances, he then started to spread false rumours that I was sleeping with a married man at work,' she told the BBC. Ms Murray, then the party's head of complaints, claimed the 'overbearing and possessive' official had tried to pressure her to join him for drinks, messaged her throughout the night and made inappropriate comments regarding her personal life and attractiveness At the time they submitted formal grievances, Sir Keir Starmer had taken over the Labour leadership, and the pair insist the party failed to properly investigate their complaints The official was formally suspended by the party, but was reinstated after the women said they felt 'pressured' to withdraw their official complaints. With their futures up in the air, the pair submitted formal grievances as they attempted to leave the party for good. At the time Sir Keir Starmer had taken over the Labour leadership, and the pair insist the party failed to properly investigate their complaints. Labour were accused of never subsequently raising the formal grievances with the official in question, who has always denied the allegations against him. 'It felt like a slap in the face and just being completely thrown under the bus', Ms Robertson added. MailOnline has contacted Labour for comment. Ms Murray and Ms Robertson quit after rejecting Labour's settlement offer, that came with a 'broad confidentiality clause' attached, reports the BBC. Any signed settlement agreement would have seen them made to compensate Labour for all costs related to the party's then-leaked anti-Semitism report. They have denied being behind the leak. Both Ms Murray and Ms Robertson have recently been named as potential sources of the leaked report, which they worked on under Jeremy Corbyn's instruction. The pair have both since quit politics, with Ms Murray choosing to pursue a career as a history teacher, and councillor Ms Robertson saying she will not seek re-election. Tommy Robinson has claimed he is being deported from Mexico for 'national security reasons' after he says he was arrested while on an Easter getaway with his family. Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has shared footage of him allegedly being arrested at Cancun Airport while on a half term holiday with his three children. In clips shared to Telegram the 39-year-old films an interaction between himself and a man purported to be an immigration officer, while also showing off the 'holding cell' he is said to be held in. 'I have been arrested, separated from my kids and now I'm being deported as a matter of national security', he explains. In an interaction with Cancun Airport staff, Robinson is told the information about his arrest is 'confidential' but has come directly from the capital, Mexico City. After saying he is a journalist and pleading his case, he adds: 'I've never broken a law here. All I do at home is talk about Islam'. Tommy Robinson, real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has shared footage of him allegedly being arrested at Cancun Airport while on a half term holiday with his three children In an interaction with Cancun Airport staff, Robinson is told the information about his arrest is 'confidential' but has come directly from the capital, Mexico City Robinson, who claims he was separated from his three children, is reportedly being held in Cancun Airport (pictured) Robinson, who tells his 157,000 followers he has travelled to Mexico three times and never committed a crime, questions the charges he is allegedly being deported on. 'I've never caused a problem, landed for what is clearly a family holiday, and I've been arrested, detained and separated from my kids. Several reports suggest Robinson will be sent back to England on Saturday, while he himself has said that his children's mother is having to fly out to collect the kids. MailOnline has approached Robinson for comment. It's not the first time the EDL co-founder has run into issues while abroad. In 2020, it was widely reported that he had fled to Spain following an arson attack on his wife Jenna Vowles' home. Robinson said they had got places at local schools for his three children but was still 'in the process' of finding a permanent place for them to live. He added: 'I need my family to be away because they are not safe basically.' But in a stunning u-turn, he later announced he would not be permanently moving to Spain because England 'is my home'. While he claims he has never committed a crime in Mexico, the far-right campaigner has faced prior convictions for violence, fraud and stalking in the UK. In November 2013, Robinson pleaded guilty to fraud and was jailed for 18 months. He also has convictions for stalking, assault, using someone elses passport, using threatening behaviour, and contempt of court. Robinson, who tells his 157,000 followers he has travelled to Mexico three times and never committed a crime, questions the charges he is allegedly being deported on. Pictured outside Westminster Magistrates' Court in August, 2021 Robinson is currently being pursued by creditors for an estimated 2million after he was ordered to compensate a Syrian schoolboy he wrongly accused of attacking a girl. He declared bankruptcy during a High Court libel battle brought against him last year by teenage refugee Jamal Hijazi. However, anti-racism campaigners have accused the convicted fraudster of hiding millions to avoid paying the teenager. Campaign group Hope Not Hate allege that Robinson has access to assets worth up to about 3million through property acquisitions, investments, donations and book sales. Hope Not Hates chief executive Nick Lowles said: Jamal Hijazi is a victim of Tommy Robinsons vitriol, and it is important that Robinson is held to account. It is wholly unjust that while his victims life has been turned upside down, Tommy Robinson carries on his life as before. Tommy Robinson has to understand that there are real consequences to his hate. It is time to make him pay up and ensure that his victims get proper justice. Russia has been accused of blaming its own missile failure near a fuel depot on Ukraine by Western sources. Conflict Intelligence Team, an open source investigative journalism blog based in Ukraine, says that local media in Belgorod, Russia, has been reporting that craters in the area were caused by Ukrainian missiles. The photos of the craters were geolocated by the group and verified to be near the west Russian city and had come from the north-east, which indicates it came from Russian territory. Local media in Belgorod, Russia, has been reporting that craters in the area were caused by Ukrainian missiles Conflict Intelligence Team claim that the craters of that size were more likely caused by misfiring Russian cruise missiles fired from the north-east of Belgorod - which is Russian territory The photos of the craters were geolocated by the group and verified to be near the west Russian city and had come from the north-east, which indicates it came from Russian territory The collective identified the crater as more likely to have come from a Russian 9M728 cruise missile from a Russian Iskander-M launcher The size of the crater implied that the damage to the terrain had come from cruise missiles - a weapon which Ukraine has not used in the conflict thus far. The collective identified the crater as more likely to have come from a Russian 9M728 cruise missile from a Russian Iskander-M launcher. However, this is unconfirmed with Russia unlikely to have fired a nuclear capable ballistic missile on its own soil. The group concluded that the most likely scenario was the crater was caused by the latest military equipment failure from Russian forces which was then opportunistically used to blame Ukraine. The latest claims come after the first reported attack by Ukraine on Russian soil as two helicopters were filmed attacking the Roseneft fuel depot, also in Belgorod. Regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said two of Ukraine's military helicopters flew 25 miles undetected past the Russian border at low altitude to Belgorod yesterday where they fired S-8 rockets at a Roseneft depot, causing a huge fireball to break out. Two people were injured in the Belgorod facility blaze, the Russian governor said, but they were expected to survive The oil facility is only 25 miles from the border with Ukraine, and was ablaze on Friday morning Firefighters try to tackle the huge blaze at the oil depot this morning as plumes of black smoke billow from the site But some have theorised that this could be a false-flag attack in order to justify escalation of the conflict or a Russian withdrawal from peace talks. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: 'Of course, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of negotiations.' Ukraine foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said: 'I can neither confirm nor reject the claim that Ukraine was involved in this simply because I do not possess all the military information.' Gladkov, who was appointed by Vladimir Putin in 2020. said the air strike, which would be the first on Russian soil since WWII, injured two workers and parts of the city have been evacuated. Photos on social media appeared to show the oil facility in Belgorod ablaze in the early hours of Friday Video shared on social media appeared to show the attack happening at 5.43am local time, followed by helicopters flying away from the blaze, although analysts have noted Russia uses the same time of helicopters as Ukraine. Ukraine's government is yet to confirm the incident but if true, it would be the second time Ukraine has ventured past the border since the invasion following the alleged long-range missile attack on Millerovo airbase last month, in the latest humiliation for Putin in his flailing campaign. But last week, an exiled Russian politician claimed the Kremlin is plotting a wave of attacks on its own cities in a false flag operation led by the FSB that it will blame on Ukraine to justify a general mobilisation of troops. Ilya Ponomarev, 46, said the Russian security service is preparing to target its own chemical and weapons factories in attacks that could see civilians die. A 600kg bullock had to be hoisted out of a swimming pool he fell into after the young bovine escaped a local field on a farm in Devon. The very cold bovine needed three crews from Paignton, Torquay and Exmouth fire stations to hoist it from deep water in the Paignton area of South Devon. It is now 'safe and well' after being pulled from the pool using a harness while a vet waited in the wings to keep an eye on the wellbeing of the animal and offer their advice. A young bullock ended up stuck in a pool in Paignton, South Devon, after escaping from a farm Three fire crews and a vet were called to help hoist the bullock from a nearby swimming pool The bullock was up to his neck in the dark waters, but remained calm while firefighters executed the late night rescue mission in the dark. Rob Cude, group manager at Devon and Somerset fire service said: 'The plan of action was to feed webbing strops under the (bullock) after getting him in the corner of the pool, then bring in a telehandler and lift him out supported comfortably. 'Whilst this was ongoing, a local farmer positioned a cattle trailer ready for him to move straight into. 'The operation went very smoothly, (bullock) lifted, moved to the trailer, and was then held in the harness for a few minutes until he could support himself again. A pool in Paignton, South Devon, had to be partially drained after the bovine fell in 'By this time, he had been in the pool for three to fours hours and was very cold, with obviously numb legs.' Mr Cude said the animal coped well in the water, which was partially drained. He added: 'He did spend quite some time with his nose just below the surface blowing bubbles, which he seemed to enjoy. Crews from Paignton, Torquay and Exmouth fire stations were called to hoist the bullock out 'When they started pumping out the water, he seemed to swim along the pool and investigate the pump. 'All (were) relieved to see him safe and well. A really good outcome for one very cold young bullock.' After the bullock was released from the harnessed he was transported in a cattle trailer to a local farm to relax after his quick dip. Bullocks can grow to be as heavy as 1,000kg and are usually aggressive in nature, which is why it was a shock to the fire crews handling the calm bovine. An EasyJet flight that departed from London Gatwick has been forced into an emergency landing mid-flight today. Flight U28569, bound for Barcelona, departed the London terminal around 30 minutes later than expected before being forced into a mid-air divert in France. It then descended rapidly before safely landing at Charles de Gaulle airport at around 11am GMT. Live data tracking from FlightRadar24 showed the moment the plane started to rapidly descend above Loches, Northern France. An EasyJet spokesman told MailOnline: 'We can confirm that flight EJU8569 from London Gatwick to Barcelona today diverted to Paris due to a passenger on board requiring urgent medical assistance. 'The passenger was met by medical services on arrival and the flight will continue to Barcelona. 'The safety and wellbeing of our passengers and crew is always our highest priority. We would like to thank our passengers for their understanding.' An EasyJet flight that departed from London Gatwick has been forced into an emergency landing at Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris while mid-flight on Saturday An 'ashamed' Jet2 passenger who was thrown off a flight for screaming at cabin crew and allegedly slapping passengers has written an apology letter to the airline after she was banned for life. Catherine Bush went viral last week when footage emerged of her 'aggressive and dangerous' outburst on a flight from Manchester to Antalya, Turkey. The plane was forced to land in Vienna, Austria, where Ms Bush, of Cleckheaton, west Yorkshire, was met by police before later being handed a 5,000 fine by Jet2. In a letter to the airline, which she shared online, Ms Bush said she was taken to a psychiatric ward after attempting to take her own life. She said there will 'never be an excuse' for her behaviour, adding that she was 'embarrassed' by the incident. She wrote: 'When I was removed from the aircraft and released by the Austrian authorities I sadly tried to commit suicide and was stopped by Austrian police who then took me to a psychiatric ward in Vienna. Catherine Bush (pictured) went viral last week when footage emerged of her 'aggressive and dangerous' outburst on a flight from Manchester to Antalya, Turkey The row was said to have been sparked by the noise of children crying and people allegedly looking at Ms Bush funny an hour and a half after leaving Manchester The plane was forced to land in Vienna, Austria, where Ms Bush (pictured during outburst), of Cleckheaton, west Yorkshire, was met by police before later being handed a 5,000 fine by Jet2 'I was strapped down to the bed by my arms and legs and given strong sedatives because I was so hysterical, and a danger to myself and others. 'I was there just over a day before I was allowed out of my restraints. 'The psychiatric nurse told me I had, had a psychotic episode. 'I have experienced psychosis before due to my mental health and it was very scary and confusing for me.' Ms Bush made it clear that she was not making excuses for her behaviour. She added: 'There will never be an excuse to justify what happened and I wholeheartedly hold my hands up and take full responsibility for my actions. 'I know it is no excuse, but I do suffer with severe mental health issues, I have anxiety, depression and a personality disorder. 'I would like to reiterate that this will never justify my actions on board that aircraft but I felt I had to let you know how difficult it is for me to do the most simple of tasks, things ordinary people take for granted. 'I am again feeling suicidal and overwhelmed by the whole situation. Jet2.com fined Catherine Bush, from Bradford, West Yorkshire, 5,000 after she yelled at cabin crew and allegedly slapped passengers 'I am so embarrassed and ashamed with myself it's becoming too much to bear but at least I'm in good hands with some friends here, who are making me feel a bit better about the whole situation. 'Again I apologise from the bottom of my heart that I caused so many people distress.' MailOnline has contacted Jet2 for comment. Shocking footage showed Ms Bush grow unruly around halfway through the flight. She squared up to staff and witnesses claimed she slapped other customers, forcing the plane to be diverted via Vienna so she could be kicked off. A source told MailOnline Ms Bush had been on her way to get 20 zirconium veneers costing 3,000. The friend said: 'I was with Catherine in the pub at the weekend. She told me she was excited about going to Turkey. 'She said that she had scraped together 3,000 from her savings for cosmetic surgery on her teeth. She was going to have them whitened.' Ms Bush squared up to staff and witnesses claimed she slapped other customers, forcing the plane to be diverted via Vienna so she could be kicked off Managing Director of Jet2.com Phil Ward said: 'Ms Bush displayed a continued pattern of appalling behaviour on the flight and she must now face up to the consequences of her actions. 'We have always made it abundantly clear that, as a family friendly airline, we take a zero-tolerance approach to such behaviour and that we will vigorously pursue any costs incurred as a result of such an incident. 'Although such incidents are very rare, it is unacceptable that our customers and crew should have to experience it. 'We would like to apologise to anyone who had to experience this behaviour and we would like to commend our highly-trained crew for their exceptional handling of this difficult situation.' Jet2.com said it would fully support any investigation. The row was said to have been sparked by the noise of children crying and people allegedly looking at Ms Bush funny an hour and a half after leaving Manchester. She is believed to have walked to the front of the plane to confront other passengers before launching a verbal attack on the cabin crew. Witness Samantha Fearon, from Littleborough, Greater Manchester, said Ms Bush then tried to get off the plane mid-flight. She told Yorkshire Live: 'She was ragging at the door, saying 'get me off this f***ing plane - let me off now'. It was just so shocking.' Ms Feardon said she was worried and feared for her own life when the passenger took such drastic action. She added: 'My first thought was why did I pick the seat at the front - I am going to go out of the door first. That did worry me.' Another passenger said Ms Bush became disruptive 'about an hour and 20 minutes' into the flight. She told the MeN: 'There was lots of noise. Then she came to the front of the plane. She was really angry towards Jet2 staff and wouldn't calm down. 'Her voice was getting louder and more aggressive - she was shouting in people's faces. 'People were saying she was kicking off at the airport before she even got on the plane. Then some people said it was over babies crying on the flight. 'A customer said something and she slapped him in the face. Then a man got up to try and calm the situation before taking her to the back of the plane.' The flight had to be diverted to the Austrian capital so the woman could be removed, arriving at 11.40am. As the plane landed, the woman was said to have slapped another passenger as she was getting off. Jet2 sent a text message to passengers onboard the flight just before 12pm, apologising for the incident. (stock image) A witness said: 'This is the first time we have had to land because of someone on a flight. 'Jet2 staff handled the whole situation very well. Nobody could help the out-of-control woman once she slapped the passenger.' Jet2 sent a text message to passengers onboard the flight just before 12pm, apologising for the incident. It said: 'Hello, we are sorry that due to the disruptive behaviour of a fellow passenger, your flight has been diverted to Vienna.' The message added: 'We are working on a situation to get you on your way as soon as possible.' The flight left Vienna at 1pm before arriving at Antalya just after 3pm - an hour and 15 minutes later than scheduled. Jet2 said: 'We can confirm that flight LS895 from Manchester to Antalya diverted to Vienna earlier today so that a disruptive passenger could be offloaded. 'As a family friendly airline, we take a zero tolerance approach to disruptive behaviour.' For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116 123 or go to www.samaritans.org. GPs will be paid for prescribing hormone therapy and providing annual health checks to transgender patients. In the first programme of its kind for the UK, family doctors in Sussex will be given 178 every year, for every adult which they prescribe cross-sex hormone therapy. They can also claim another 91 each year for providing a transgender, non-binary or intersex patient with an annual health check. The new scheme was launched yesterday and aims to lower the currently-high rates of long-term physical and mental health problems for these patients, who have notably low levels of satisfaction with care provided by the NHS. After referrals to gender identity clinics rose by a staggering 240 per cent, the dedicated health centres now have wait lists that are years-long. But for people who were referred to the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust in north west London in December 2017, the clinic is now offering first appointments. The scheme is set to run for three years across Brighton and Hove, East Sussex and West Sussex initially, with participating GPs required to take up two-and-a-half hours of online training. Campaigners for trans rights are said to have welcomed the programme. GPs in the UK will be paid 178 for prescribing cross-sex hormone therapy and 91 for providing annual health checks to transgender patients, in the first programme of its kind for the country (file photo) However, according to The Times, the Sussex-based scheme is 'not designed to promote the initiation of hormonal treatment in general practice', but rather provide 'interim support' to patients on the waiting list and 'improve access' to hormone therapy. Concerns are that although GPs can provide medicines to transgender patients, they could be given without the appropriate psychological support. This could add pressure to family doctors who would already be undertaking extra training to prescribe hormones for people who are transitioning. GPs will also have to keep an eye on patients who are taking treatments to ensure it is being done so safely, including carrying out blood tests. Transgender women will get hormones to help with the feminisation process, such as oestrogen, and transgender men given testosterone to boost masculinisation. Trans woman and advocate Debbie Hayton, who transitioned in 2012, spoke of her uncertainty in the level of psychological support with the new scheme, describing it as 'desperate measures for desperate times'. The new scheme was launched yesterday and aims to lower the currently-high rates of long-term physical and mental health problems for these patients, who have notably low levels of satisfaction with care provided by the NHS (file photo) The 54-year-old woman argued that the GP programme would end up leading more patients to start taking cross-sex hormones even if it is 'not the intended outcome'. She told The Times: 'When I transitioned I had an hour with a therapist every week for months. That's what I needed to understand myself. 'An annual review is a pale shadow of that.' Surgeries who are participating in the scheme are required to make a register of anyone who is considered transgender, non-binary or intersex. A spokeswoman for Sussex Commissioners said: 'Transgender, non-binary and intersex (TNBI) people experience significant health inequalities something we are committed to tackling.' Sasha Misra, associate director of communications and campaigns at Stonewall, told MailOnline: Trans healthcare in the UK is under resourced and oversubscribed. 'Trans people face waiting times of up to four years to access vital healthcare services at specialist Gender Identity Clinics, while those who are referred today will likely have even longer waits. When trying to access care in community settings, many trans people report that local GPs lack the knowledge and confidence needed to support trans people's basic needs, and tend to refer to specialist services for simple matters. 'With enough capacity and training, schemes like this could ensure trans people can access the specialist care they need in their local community and without the lengthy wait. A Sydney father of three and financial executive is the fifth victim to be identified in Victoria's horror Mount Disappointment helicopter crash. Nicholas Vasudeva, co-founder and managing director of First AG Capital, was one of five people who perished in the chopper crash north-east of Melbourne on Thursday morning. The financial solutions company released a statement on Saturday afternoon and expressed condolences to Mr Vasudeva's wife and three children. Nicholas Vasudeva (pictured), co-founder and managing director of First AG Captial, has been identified as the fifth victim of a horror helicopter crash on Victoria's Mount Disappointment 'Nicholas was an inspiring individual, with a storied career in both Australia and the United Kingdom at a number of Law Firms and Financial Institutions,' the statement reads. 'He was a true gentleman with a great sense of humour who was well loved by all his colleagues, associates and family and will be missed dearly. 'Our most heartfelt condolences to his wife, and three children, extended family and friends as well as the families of the four people who lost their lives.' Ian Perry and his colleague and CEO Linda Woodford (pictured) were on the chopper along with helicopter pilot Dean Neal, 32, and Radford's Abattoir chairman Paul Troja, 73 Mr Vasudeva was also a director of the not-for-profit Integrated Specialist Healthcare Education and Research Foundation. The financial executive from Bellevue Hill in Sydneys east was travelling by helicopter with colleagues for a routine property inspection. AXIchain finance consultant Ian Perry and his colleague and CEO Linda Woodford, 50, were also onboard the chopper along with helicopter pilot Dean Neal, 32, and Radford's Abattoir chairman Paul Troja, 73. Dean Neal, 32, had four passengers on board, including Radford's Abattoir chairman Paul Troja, in his care AXIchain released a statement labelling Mr Perry as a 'respected member' of the agricultural industry and Ms Woodford as a driven 'visionary'. The company issued the statement shortly before it emerged Ms Woodford had made a haunting Facebook post about the helicopter before the doomed flight. 'Linda was a driven visionary and an eternal optimist and will be deeply missed by all that knew her,' AXIchain said on Friday. Ms Woodford's last Facebook post had the chilling message with a wink emoji: 'The transport to work today ... a little different 'Ian was a respected member of the agricultural industry and a committed family man and will be sorely missed by all that knew him. Mr Perry was described on the AXIchain website as a 'passionate' finance consultant who had a 'deep understanding' of the agriculture industry. 'Ian's aim is to work towards embedding new technologies in traditional finance products to improve the customer experience,' the website read. His previous roles included Head of Agribusiness, ANZ Corporate & Institutional Banking and Executive General Manager Financial Services for Ruralco Holdings and Nutrien. Ms Woodford had made one final Facebook post before boarding the helicopter with Mr Perry and the other passengers. 'The transport to work today ... a little different,' she wrote with a wink emoji. Ms Woodford had been the Melbourne-based chief executive of agriculture trading firm AXIchain since 2018 and for the past decade had also been the director of Kaizen Consulting, a blockchain technology company. In another twist, her family was already dealing with the loss of her sister-in-law shortly before this tragedy in rugged bushland during a trip to inspect land. Paul Troja (pictured), the chairman of Radford's Abattoir in Warragul, was killed when the helicopter he was riding in crashed at Mt Disappointment on Thursday A blue tarpaulin is set up over wreckage found in the Mount Disappointment bushland following the helicopter crash on Thursday Her friend Martin Gibson posted a tribute to her, alongside the haunting social media post put up shortly before the crash. 'Yesterday my lovely friend of 25 years Linda Woodford posted pics of her taking a helicopter to work from downtown Melbourne,' he said. 'It was yet another proud moment for me, having watched her build a fantastic, innovative and world-leading blockchain company. 'Her success came after relentless work and picking herself up after many failures. 'Sadly her flight ended in a crash into Mount Disappointment in Victoria, and it claimed the lives of all five people on board, including Linda's.' Mr Gibson remembered her as a 'beautiful, fun-loving and genuinely compassionate soul'. Her friend Martin Gibson posted a tribute to Linda Woodford (pictured), alongside the haunting social media post put up shortly before the crash Mr Gibson remembered his friend as a 'beautiful, fun-loving and genuinely compassionate soul' 'Such a loss, and such a shame for this to happen just as all her hard work was really paying off, and as her family are still dealing with the loss of her sister-in-law, whose children she had treated like her own,' he said. 'She packed a lot into her half century, and she'll leave a big hole in so many people's lives, including mine.' Another friend Miriam van Heusden, the founder of the Maralytics marketing group, said she was 'devastated beyond words'. 'We lost someone that was truly amazing yesterday, Linda Woodford, lifetime best friend of my sister and founder of Axichain, died in the horror helicopter crash in regional Victoria,' she said on Facebook. Ms Woodford's company AXIchain had developed technology to buy, sell and keep track of livestock. Her brother Dougal told Nine News the family had 'never felt emotional pain like this'. Mr Neal was a 'conscientious, professional pilot [who] always put the safety and wellbeing of his passengers in the highest of his priorities', his devastated family said in a statement on Friday afternoon The pilot involved in a devastating helicopter crash has been remembered as 'remarkable' and 'highly respected'. Dean Neal, 32, had four passengers on board. His father Rodney Neal read out a statement on Friday afternoon describing his son as a 'conscientious, professional pilot [who] always put the safety and wellbeing of his passengers in the highest of his priorities'. 'Our broken hearts go to the family's and friends of those who were flying with him,' he said. 'Your unspeakable loss is understood by us all. We know Dean would have done anything in his power to deliver his passengers safely to their destination.' Mr Neal was working for Microflite Helicopter Services, a family-owned business based in Victoria that offers private flights and premium tours Mr Neal was working for Microflite Helicopter Services, a family-owned business based in Victoria that offers private flights and premium tours. Microflite executive general manager Rod Higgins said in a statement the pilot was 'highly respected'. 'The service had been travelling as part of a two-aircraft charter when it lost communication with the second aircraft just after 8am,' he said. He flew everywhere from Uluru in the Northern Territory to Hamilton Island in Queensland and has been a qualified pilot since 2016. Mr Neal was trained to provide specialist bushfire support from the skies and patrolled beaches on behalf of Surf Life Saving Victoria. He also flew news crews covering some of the nation's biggest stories. Paul Troja, the chairman of Radfords Abattoir in Warragul, was also killed when the helicopter crashed. Mr Neal was trained to provide specialist bushfire support from the skies and patrolled beaches on behalf of Surf Life Saving Victoria Mr Neal flew everywhere from Uluru in the Northern Territory to Hamilton Island in Queensland and has been a qualified pilot since 2016 The 73-year-old Albert Park man was well known within the agricultural industry. Radfords is a family owned business operating out of the West Gippsland region. Avlaw Aviation consulting managing director Ron Bartsch said it was still too soon to determine the actual cause of the crash. Mr Bartsch said the helicopter flight operator Microflite had a near perfect safety record and there was only one possible explanation for the crash. 'The aircraft is a very common type of aircraft,' he told Channel Nine's Today on Friday. 'Six passenger aircraft, very reliable. Avlaw Aviation consulting managing director Ron Bartsch said it was still too soon to determine the actual cause of the crash at Mount Disappointment on Thursday A pilot and their four passengers died after the aircraft crashed near the popular picnic grounds at Blair's Hut 'The company indeed has a very good safety record and is very well managed with new aircraft. 'Really at this stage, without speculating, weather is probably the main consideration at this stage.' Mount Disappointment recorded a high of 21C and winds of up to 36km/h. Controlled forestry burns were being carried out in the area while there was also low cloud coverage throughout the day. Mr Bartsch warned 'it may be some time' before investigators determined the exact cause of the crash. Mr Bartsch warned 'it may be some time' before investigators determined the exact cause of the crash (pictured, a tree split in half near the crash site) 'Unlike larger air transport aircraft, these aircrafts are not always fitted with black boxes, flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder,' he said. 'I know the Australian Transport Safety Bureau is on the scene. Normally they will hand down a preliminary report in six to seven weeks.' The helicopter was one of two that left the Melbourne City Helipad on Thursday morning, flying in convoy over Mount Disappointment. Ambulance Victoria received a report of an incident at 9.35am that morning. A police helicopter and air ambulance were sent to search for the missing chopper but the terrain hampered their efforts until 11.45am on Thursday when the wreckage was finally located. A police helicopter, five Country Fire Authority vehicles and paramedics, including the air ambulance, were dispatched to the area on Thursday Mr Higgins said the incident was reported to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority as per industry protocols. 'We will work with the relevant authorities to conduct a comprehensive investigation into this incident,' he said. The helicopter had picked up the meat farmers from Melbourne City Helipad before reportedly heading north to purchase cattle. The second helicopter returned to Morrabbin Airport safely with all onboard accounted for and uninjured. Smoke (pictured) from controlled forestry burns in the area and low cloud cover hampered initial search efforts on Thursday Five Country Fire Authority vehicles, police and paramedics, including the air ambulance, were on scene at the crash site of the downed helicopter on Thursday. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is also investigating and has sent a team from its Canberra and Melbourne offices with expertise in helicopter operations and maintenance, and aerospace engineering, to the site. The experts will inspect the wreckage and site surrounds before retrieving any relevant components to take them to Canberra for further examination. The ATSB will also analyse any recorded data and conduct interviews with those who have knowledge of the flight. A preliminary report from the watchdog is expected in about six to eight weeks. Dame Cressida Dick has confirmed the date she will finally step down from the Metropolitan Police after a string of recent scandals forced her to quit. The Mayor's Office for Police and Crime has agreed that Dame Cressida's last day in post will be Sunday April 10. Dame Cressida announced her resignation in February after Mr Khan's aides indicated that he had no confidence in her ability to shake-up her force after a series of scandals, including murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens. The embattled Police Commissioner, 61, will step down for good later this month and be succeeded by Deputy Commissioner Sir Stephen House, who is expected to take over the Partygate probe into events in Westminster during lockdown. Priti Patel confirmed Sir Stephen, Police Scotland's former Chief Constable, will lead the force during its most torrid time in recent memory until a successor is appointed in the summer. Sir Stephen had his own career mired in controversy after it was claimed he was effectively forced out of Police Scotland after a botched investigation into a car crash saw a woman left inside the debris of her vehicle for three days before being found alive - despite a member of the public alerting the police. Police Scotland was eventually fined 100,000 for health and safety failures over the fatal crash in September. They also paid 1 million compensation to Ms Bells family. Further criticism came his way in the wake of Police Scotland's policy on firearms and their officers use of stop and search. In the past, Sir Stephen has reserved strong words for Extinction Rebellion's eco warrior protestors, telling MPs their tactics were 'a flipping nuisance'. The embattled Police Commissioner (left) will step down for good on April 10 and be succeeded by Deputy Commissioner Sir Stephen House (right) Sir Stephen had his own career mired in controversy after it was claimed he was effectively forced out of Police Scotland after a botched investigation into a car crash saw a woman left inside the debris of her vehicle for three days before being found alive Further criticism came his way in the wake of Police Scotland's policy on firearms and their officers use of stop and search. In the past, he has reserved strong words for Extinction Rebellion's eco warrior protestors, telling MPs their tactics were 'a flipping nuisance' Sir Steve House: Who is the Met's new top cop? Dame Cressida Dick will be succeeded by Deputy Commissioner Sir Stephen House, who is expected to take over the Partygate probe into events in Westminster during lockdown. Sir Stephen, Police Scotland's former Chief Constable, had his own career mired in controversy after it was claimed he was effectively kicked out of the force after a botched investigation into a car crash saw a woman left inside her vehicle for three days before being found alive. Sir Stephen House Lamara Bell and John Yuill lay in their car for three days despite a member of the public calling Police Scotland's non-emergency line to report a damaged vehicle. Miss Bell was still alive when emergency services finally arrived, but later died in hospital. Police Scotland was eventually fined 100,000 for health and safety failures over the fatal crash last September. He stood down and retired in 2015 following the incident, but it was later claimed he was effectively sacked by Nicola Sturgeon over the incident, her former aide Noel Dolan wrote in a bombshell book last year. Sir Stephen has also faced criticism from Lib Dem MP and former police officer Wendy Chamberlain, who told the Evening Standard he was a 'completely unsuitable' candidate to lead the Met. 'After so many scandals, the Met desperately needs strong new leadership to rebuild public trust. 'Putting it in the hands of someone who left his own trail of scandals in Police Scotland is not the way to do that.' Advertisement Home Secretary Priti Patel has since promised a review will be carried out by the Chief Inspector of Constabulary Sir Tom Winsor into the handling of the police chief's resignation. London's Mayor Sadiq Khan will also work with the Home Secretary to appoint a new commissioner 'to address the deep cultural issues facing the Met Police Service', his office added. A spokesman for Mr Khan said: 'The mayor thanks Dame Cressida Dick for her decades of public service. 'The mayor has been clear that candidates for the next commissioner must have a plan to restore the trust and confidence of Londoners.' Miss Patel insisted Sir Stephen will provide 'stability and continuity' for the Met. Before joining the force, Dame Cressida's successor, Sir Stephen House, had a career with Police Scotland that was dogged by controversy after the force was heavily criticised over the deaths of two people in a car crash on the M9 motorway. Lamara Bell and John Yuill lay in their car for three days despite a member of the public calling Police Scotland's non-emergency line to report a damaged vehicle. Miss Bell was still alive when emergency services finally arrived, but later died in hospital. He stood down and retired in 2015 following the incident, but it was later claimed he was effectively sacked by Nicola Sturgeon over the incident, her former aide Noel Dolan wrote in a bombshell book last year. Sir Stephen has also faced criticism from Lib Dem MP and former police officer Wendy Chamberlain, who told the Evening Standard he was 'completely unsuitable' to lead the Met. She explained: 'After so many scandals, the Met desperately needs strong new leadership to rebuild public trust. 'Putting it in the hands of someone who left his own trail of scandals in Police Scotland is not the way to do that.' A spokesperson for Sir Stephen declined to respond to Ms Chamberlain's letter. Dame Cressida will take unused annual leave after April 10, with her last day of employment being Sunday April 24. It comes after it was claimed City Hall launched an abortive bid to gag Dame Cressida and slash her rumoured 500,000 payoff. Sadiq Khan's aides are said to have wanted her to sign a confidentiality clause after her dramatic early resignation. Couple John Yuill, 28, and Lamara Bell, 25, died after a crash on the M9 near Stirling. Ms Bell was found '100% conscious' three days after the collision was reported to officers, who failed to investigate Priti Patel (pictured earlier this month) confirmed Sir Stephen House will cover the role until a successor is appointed in the summer Sadiq Khan (pictured), who announced he had lost confidence in the Met commissioner last month, reportedly vetoed the decision to try and make Cressida Dick sign a confidentiality clause String of disasters at the Met under Dame Cressida's watch April 2017: Appointed as first female Metropolitan Police commissioner. April 2019: Extinction Rebellion protesters bring London to a standstill over several days with the Met powerless to prevent the chaos. September 2019: Her role in setting up of a probe into alleged VIP child sex abuse and murder based on testimony from Carl Beech (right) is revealed but she declines to answer questions. 2020: Official report into Operation Midland said Met was more interested in covering up mistakes than learning from them. February 2021: Lady Brittan condemns the culture of 'cover up and flick away' in the Met. The same month a freedom of information request reveals an extraordinary spin campaign to ensure Dame Cressida was not 'pulled into' the scandal. March: Criticised for Met handling of a vigil for Sarah Everard, where officers arrested four attendees. Details would later emerge about how Wayne Couzens (right), used his warrant card to trick her. In the first six months of the year, London was on course for its worst year for teenage deaths 30 with knives being responsible for 19 out of the 22 killed so far. The youngest was 14-year-old Fares Matou, cut down with a Samurai sword. Dame Cressida had told LBC radio in May her top priority was tackling violent crime. June: A 20million report into the Daniel Morgan murder brands the Met 'institutionally corrupt' and accuses her of trying to block the inquiry. Dame Cressida rejects its findings. Mr Morgan is pictured below. July: Police watchdog reveals three Met officers being probed over alleged racism and dishonesty. The same month the Yard boss is at the centre of another storm after it emerged she was secretly referred to the police watchdog over comments she made about the stop and search of Team GB sprinter Bianca Williams. Also in July she finds herself under fire over her woeful security operation at the Euro 2020 final at Wembley where fans without tickets stormed the stadium and others used stolen steward vests and ID lanyards to gain access. August Dame Cressida facing a potential misconduct probe over her open support for Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Horne who could stand trial over alleged data breaches. December: Two police officers who took pictures of the bodies of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman (right) were jailed for two years and nine months each. Pc Deniz Jaffer and Pc Jamie Lewis were assigned to guard the scene overnight after Ms Henry, 46, and Ms Smallman, 27, were found dead in bushes in Fryent Country Park, Wembley, north-west London. Instead, they breached the cordon to take photographs of the bodies, which were then shared with colleagues and members of the public on WhatsApp. December: Dame Cressida apologises to the family of a victim of serial killer Stephen Port (right). Officers missed several chances to catch him after he murdered Anthony Walgate in 2014. Dame Cressida - who was not commissioner at the time of the murder - told Mr Walgate's mother: 'I am sorry, both personally and on behalf of The Met had police listened to what you said, things would have turned out a lot differently'.' January 2022: She faces a barrage of fresh criticism for seeking to 'muzzle' Sue Gray's Partygate report by asking her to make only 'minimal' references to parties the Met were investigating. February 2022: Details of messages exchanged by officers at Charing Cross Police Station, which included multiple references to rape, violence against women, racist and homophobic abuse, are unveiled in a watchdog report. Advertisement Home Secretary Priti Patel confirmed during the week that the circumstances of Dame Cressidas resignation will be reviewed by the outgoing chief inspector of constabulary Sir Tom Winsor. The Home Office said the review, to begin on April 1 and expected to finish by the summer, will aim to established why she stepped down, consider whether due process was followed and include recommendations to strengthen future accountability and due process checks. Dame Cressida quit last month after an avalanche of scandals, including the Sarah Everard murder, Daniel Morgan's death and Carl Beech's VIP child sex abuse claims. It followed the London mayor saying he was not happy with her response to offensive messages by a group of officers based at Charing Cross police station. It is not clear who will take over from her, but anti-terror chief Neil Basu, ex-Merseyside chief Andy Cooke and Northern Ireland's Simon Byrne are in the running. Whoever does is likely to take on the Partygate inquiry, which has seen mandarins across Westminster being interviewed by police. Britain's top civil servant Simon Case was probed over the alleged lockdown-breaking parties in Whitehall, it was reported last week. In a written statement to the Commons on Monday, Ms Patel confirmed Sir Stephen would temporarily take over as head of the force until the next commissioner is in. She said: 'Dame Cressida Dick will conclude her tenure as Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Service in April. 'She deserves our profound gratitude for her decades of public service and leadership in policing, as well as our best wishes for the future. 'Dame Cressida has shown exceptional dedication to fighting crime in London and beyond throughout her time as Commissioner, as the first woman to hold the role of Commissioner. 'The circumstances in which the outgoing MPS Commissioner is leaving her role warrant a closer look at the legislation which governs the suspension and removal of the Commissioner. 'I am pleased to announce that Sir Tom Winsor will be undertaking a formal review into the circumstances and implications of Dame Cressida's departure.' The Home Office said the review, to begin on April 1 and expected to finish by the summer, will aim to establish and assess the full facts, timeline of events and circumstances which resulted in the stepping aside of Dame Cressida. It will also consider whether due process was followed and include recommendations on how accountability and due process may be strengthened. Dame Cressida quit after Mr Khan was furious at her handling of racist, misogynist and homophobic messages shared by a group of officers based at Charing Cross. Her resignation, hours after she said in a media interview she had no intention of quitting, was greeted with dismay by many officers but critics were chuffed. Deputy commissioner Sir Stephen wrote to Ms Patel calling for a review of Dame Cressida's treatment by Mr Khan, saying due process had not been followed. Ms Patel's written statement added: 'The Metropolitan Police Service faces major challenges and needs to demonstrate sustained improvements in order to regain public trust in London and nationally. 'It is vital that we get the right person for the biggest leadership role in policing in this country. 'I will shortly launch the process to recruit a new Commissioner and anticipate that it will conclude in the summer. 'I will then make my formal recommendation to Her Majesty the Queen. My recommendation will pay regard to the views of the mayor of London, as occupant of the mayor's office for policing and crime. 'In the immediate term following Dame Cressida's departure, legislation enables the deputy commissioner, Sir Steve House, to exercise temporarily the powers and duties of the Commissioner. 'Sir Steve and the mayor of London must drive improvement even before the next Commissioner is in place to ensure that the Metropolitan Police Service restores trust and takes every necessary action to keep the public safe.' Last night it was claimed Mr Khan overruled the idea of gagging Dame Cressida. But there has also been an 'acrimonious' row over the size of her payout. The terms of her departure have yet to be finalised with claims about the latest wrangling in The Times. Despite Mr Khan arguing Dame Cressida was not legally entitled to compensation of 500,000 because she had not signed an extension to her contract, she is said to have held firm and is expected to get a large sum. A City Hall source said an agreement is expected to be reached in due course, which will allow the Home Office to begin the process to recruit a successor. A spokesman said: 'Public trust in the Met Police is at the lowest level on record, following a series of devastating scandals including the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving police officer and the overt racism, sexism, misogyny, homophobia and discrimination exposed at Charing Cross Police Station and the appalling strip search of a Black schoolchild where the Child Safeguarding review found that race was a factor. 'It was against this backdrop that the Mayor lost confidence in the ability of the current Met Commissioner to lead the deep-rooted change needed. 'The Mayor will now work with the Home Secretary to appoint a new Commissioner who understands the depths of the problems faced by the force and has a plan to restore the trust and confidence of Londoners.' Another private jet with links to Russian oligarchs has been grounded in the UK as moves to sanction Vladimir Putin's supporters continue with the West putting Moscow under mounting economic pressure. The Department for Transport said it has issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) to prevent the aircraft from taking off from London Luton Airport. The British transport minister has meanwhile claimed that he won't tolerate those who have profited from Vladimir Putin's support carry on without consequence. Grants Shapps (pictured) has claimed that he won't tolerate those who have profited from Vladimir Putin's support carry on without consequence. The DfT said it would not be commenting on the aircraft's ownership while it investigates as Mr Shapps made his remarks In a tweet Grants Shapps today said: 'We 'won't stand by and watch those who've made millions through (Russian President Vladimir) Putin's patronage live their lives in peace as innocent blood is shed.' The aircraft will remain at the airport while officials investigate further whether it falls under the recent sanctions legislation banning all aircraft connected with Russia, following its invasion of Ukraine. The DfT said it would not be commenting on the aircraft's ownership while it investigates. The Department for Transport said it has issued a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) to prevent the aircraft from taking off from London Luton Airport (pictured) The department has already detained one private helicopter belonging to HeliCo Group LLC and two private jets. The two jets belong to Eugene Shvidler, a sanctioned billionaire business associate of Roman Abramovich. Earlier this week Britain put new legal powers in place which prohibits maintenance on aircraft and ships belonging to specific sanctioned oligarchs or their businesses. Mr Shapps said the 'legislation adds new routes at our disposal to deprive oligarchs' access to their luxury toys'. MailOnline has reached out to London Luton Airport for more information. It comes after the grounding of a private jet with possible links to Russia on March 19. In that incident, the Cessna aircraft was blocked from taking off from London Biggin Hill Airport while it was investigated to see whether it fell foul of sanctions banning all Russian-linked aircraft. On March 8, a private jet suspected of being linked to a Russian oligarch was impounded at Farnborough Airport in Hampshire hours before it was due to fly to Dubai. The aircraft was detained on the orders of Mr Shapps to enable an investigation into its connection with billionaire oil tycoon Eugene Shvidler, a friend of Roman Abramovich. A Government source said Mr Shvidler, who was later added to the UK's sanctions list, was 'free to continue his journey by other means' after the plane was impounded. Mr Shapps announced on March 8 that he was making it a criminal offence for planes owned, operated or chartered by Russians, including private jets, to enter UK airspace following Mr Putin's invasion of Ukraine. A 38 million superyacht was also detained in London this week. UK officials boarded Phi - owned by a Russian businessman - in Canary Wharf, east London, on Tuesday. The vessel was the first to be detained in the UK under sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine. Mr Shapps told the PA news agency at the time that the boat was in London for a 'refit' but 'won't be going anywhere'. He said: 'It's just another indication that we will not stand by whilst Putin's cronies are allowed to sail around the world in these kinds of yachts and people in Ukraine are suffering. 'When you see what he's doing to Ukraine, when you see what he's doing to people's lives, it can't be right to have a yacht like this here in London, able to just sail away, and that is why we've impounded it and denied its ability to go anywhere right now.' Chinese authorities are forcing children as young as three months old into quarantine centres away from their parents as part of their endless Zero Covid strategy. Esther Zhao brought her daughter, two, to hospital with a fever on March 26 and they both tested positive for Covid three days later. Doctors attempted to take Zhao's child away to a quarantine centre alone and threatened Zhao when she didn't comply - saying that the girl would be kept in the Covid-ravaged hospital if she didn't comply. After her daughter was taken to Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre, Zhao has only had one piece of information from doctors about her daughter despite pleas from her and her husband. After her daughter was taken to Shanghai Public Health Clinical Centre, Zhao has only had one piece of information from doctors about her daughter despite pleas from her and her husband Zhao told Reuters: 'There have been no photos at all... I'm so anxious, I have no idea what situation my daughter is in. 'The doctor said Shanghai rules is that children must be sent to designated points, adults to quarantine centres and you're not allowed to accompany the children.' She also said that pictures of crying children circulated on the Weibo social media platform purporting to be in the hospital had made her anxious and worried. In one video, a groaning toddler crawls out of a room with four child-sized beds pushed against the wall. While a few adults can be seen in the videos, they are outnumbered by the number of children. By Saturday, the original post had been deleted from Weibo, but thousands of people continued to comment and repost the images. 'This is horrific,' said one. 'How could the government come up with such a plan?,' said another. In some cases children as young as three months old are being separated from their breastfeeding mothers, according to posts in a quarantine hospital WeChat group shared with Reuters. In one room described in a post, there are eight children without an adult. In another case, more than 20 children from a Shanghai kindergarten aged 5 to 6 were sent to a quarantine centre without their parents, a source familiar with the situation said. Since Shanghai's latest outbreak began about a month ago, authorities have locked down its 26 million people in a two-stage process that began on Monday. While the number of cases in Shanghai is small by global standards, Chinese authorities have vowed to stick with 'dynamic clearance', aiming to test for, trace and centrally quarantine all positive cases. The U.S., French and Italian foreign consulates have warned their citizens in Shanghai that family separations could happen as Chinese authorities executed COVID curbs, according to notices seen by Reuters. As Shanghai, China's most populous city and main financial hub, battles its largest ever COVID outbreak, stories like Zhao's and videos of the separated children are angering residents A Shanghai health official said last week that hospitals that were treating COVID-positive children maintained online communications with their parents, according to the government's official WeChat account. As Shanghai, China's most populous city and main financial hub, battles its largest ever COVID outbreak, stories like Zhao's and videos of the separated children are angering residents and raising questions about the costs of Beijing's 'dynamic clearance' policy to fight the spread of the disease. Shanghai on Saturday reported 6,051 locally transmitted asymptomatic COVID-19 cases and 260 symptomatic cases for April 1, versus 4,144 asymptomatic cases and 358 symptomatic ones on the previous day. Mainland China reported 2,129 new cases, up from 1,827. The killer father who carried out one of the most shocking domestic violence crimes in Australian history may have had an alternate plan on the morning he burned his family to death, an inquest has heard. Rowan Baxter, 42, murdered Hannah Clarke and her children Aaliyah, six, Laianah, four, and Trey, three, as they set off for school at Camp Hill, in Brisbane's south, on February 19, 2020. He doused the inside of the vehicle with petrol and then set it alight before fatally stabbing himself on a suburban street in front of horrified residents. Jacoba Brasch, the counsel assisting the coroner, told the inquest into their deaths that Baxter's movements prior to the sickening quadruple murder suicide, suggest his 'plan A' was a meticulous kidnapping and murder plot but things went awry when Ms Clarke fought back. She believed he may have planned to kidnap the family, distract the children with chocolate while he murdered their mother, before trying to start a new life with his kids as their 'primary carer'. Rowan Baxter was seen on CCTV footage shopping for a fuel can, plastic zip ties and a container of surface cleaner, in vision shown to the inquest Hannah Clarke and her children Aaliyah, six, Laianah, four, and Trey, three (pictured together), were killed by Rowan Baxter, 42, in a car as they set off for school at Camp Hill, in Brisbane's south, on February 19, 2020 The day before, the personal trainer called a men's counseling service falsely claiming he was being tormented by his estranged wife who took out a restraining order and wouldn't let him see their kids. One day earlier he was seen on CCTV shopping at a Bunnings store for a fuel can, plastic zip ties and a container of surface cleaner. The footage, played at the inquest, shows Baxter in a singlet and shorts looking at different jerry cans before deciding on a 5L green plastic container which he then went and filled. On the morning of the murders he also purchased a full tank of fuel and bought children's chocolates. '[He] bought three Kinder Surprises. Three children's chocolates. Three children here,' Dr Brasch said, according to The Courier Mail. 'Filling up the car in the morning not an act of someone who is just going to drive close by and do what he did. 'Perhaps his 'plan A' was to take Hannah and the children, drive them somewhere because we've filled the car up use the zip ties to restrain Hannah, burn her. And give the children Kinder Surprises and we'd be happy families.' Dr Brasch said filling up the car in the morning was not an act of someone who is just going to drive close by and do what he did. Pictured: Baxter filling up his vehicle the day of the murders The morning of the murders Baxter bought his children (pictured) Kinder Surprise Chocolates Dr Brasch said in Baxter's twisted plot, he'd become the 'primary career' and be in total control of the children. In another sign this might have been his evil plot all along, on January 26, Baxter began typing on his phone, what the counsellor called a 'death note' 'I'm sorry Hannah,' he wrote. 'I'm finishing your game. I don't want to play any more.' 'And I have told the kids that you loved them and they will miss you, I'm sure.' Baxter was lying in wait for Ms Clarke to step outside of her parents' home when he ambushed her and their children with a knife and ordered her to 'just drive'. Baxter was lying in wait for Ms Clarke to step outside of her parents' home when he ambushed her and their children (pictured together) with a knife and ordered her to 'just drive' She travelled a short distance before pulling the car over and screaming for help to a man washing his car in his driveway. 'It was perhaps when Baxter saw Hannah's strength, saw that she would not yield to yet another command, that he moved to Plan B,' Dr Brasch said. 'To commit the ultimate act in power and control. 'To obliterate the very physical presence and manifestations of his estranged wife and his own children.' He remarked that the brave mother died while fighting to save them. If you or anyone you know is suffering from domestic violence call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or Lifeline 13 11 14. Hanna Clarke died while desperately trying to save her kids (pictured together), Dr Brasch told the inquest A defiant Volodymyr Zelensky says that Ukraine will never concede any other territory and his people will not accept anything less than the defeat of Russia. In a new interview with Fox News' Bret Baier the Ukrainian president explained what a true victory for his war-torn country would look like. 'A victory of truth means a victory for Ukraine and Ukrainians,' Zelensky told the Special Report host. 'The question is when it will end. That is a deep question. It's a painful question. Besides victory, the Ukrainian people will not accept any outcome.' When Baier asked if Zelensky was willing to cede Ukrainian territory to Russia to secure a peace deal, Zelensky held firm. A defiant Volodymyr Zelensky says that Ukraine will never concede any other territory and his people will not accept anything less than the defeat of Russia The bodies of civilians killed by Russian shelling are gathered to be transferred to a mortuary in Irpin, Ukraine, on March 31 Ukrainian soldiers collect bodies of civilians killed by the Russian forces at the destroyed bridge in Irpin close to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Thursday, March 31, 2022 'We do not trade our territory,' Zelensky told Baier. 'The question of territorial integrity and sovereignty is out of discussion.' Over a month into the invasion Zelensky reiterated his desire for Ukraine to join NATO. 'It's hard for us to talk about NATO because NATO doesn't want to admit us,' Zelensky said. 'I think it's a mistake because if we join NATO, we make NATO much stronger. We are not a weak state. We are not proposing to make us stronger at the expense of NATOWe are an addition, we are the locomotive. I think we are one of the important components of the European continent.' Zelensky added that he has indicated to President Biden that he would like for the United States to be included in a security agreement that would provide long-term support for Ukraine in case Russia plans to invade the country again in the future and that Biden is 'considering this proposition.' Zelensky told Baier he believes Biden is rooting for Ukraine to win the conflict. 'I have faith that President Biden, like any true American citizen, believes and wants the truth to win,' Zelensky said. 'And the truth is on the side of Ukraine. I believe they want the values that make our nations closer to win.' When talking about aide, Zelensky said he does not was bullet-proof vests and special helmets, but heavy weaponry to fight back. 'Just give us missiles, give us airplanes, you cannot give us F18 or F-19 or whatever you have, give us old Soviet planes,' Zelensky said. 'That's all. Give them into my hands. Give me something to defend my county with.' Zelensky also warned that Putin will never be satisfied no matter what the West gives him. 'The more you give them the more their appetite grows,' Zelensky said, adding that Putin will set his sights in Europe beyond Ukraine 'unless he is stopped' now. His interview comes as Russian forces have seized 14 tons of supplies destined for the besieged city of Mariupol, where thousands of desperate Ukrainians are dangerously low on food, water and other vital supplies. Few humanitarian buses have managed to get people out of the city, but many have escaped in their cars or even on foot often under fire. The Ukrainian government said only 631 people were able to get out of the city in private cars in the last day. Pictured: Ukrainian soldiers carry a body of a civilian killed by the Russian forces over the destroyed bridge in Irpin close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, March 31, 2022 Vladimir Galinkov packs his belongings to evacuate his damaged apartment after the building was hit by pieces of a destroyed Russian missile The ceiling of an apartment is completely collapsed in the tower block which was hit by the remains of a Russian missile shot down over Kyiv The city has been the scene of some of the worst suffering of the war. Kyiv has said that at least 5,000 people have been killed in the city, but that number could be as high as 20,000, according to one Ukrainian official. Tens of thousands have managed to get out in the past few weeks by way of humanitarian corridors, reducing the population from a pre-war 430,000 to an estimated 100,000 by last week, but other relief efforts have been thwarted by continued Russian attacks. In a recent address the Ukrainian president warned that 'there will be battles ahead' as he claimed Russian withdrawals from the north and center of Ukraine are being used as a cover for troops to regroup and step up attacks in the south east. 'We know their intentions,' he added. 'We know that they are moving away from those areas where we hit them in order to focus on other, very important ones where it may be difficult for us.' Zelenksy also warned his people that retreating Russian forces were creating 'a complete disaster' outside the capital by leaving mines across 'the whole territory', even around homes and dead bodies. He issued the warning as the humanitarian crisis in the encircled city of Mariupol deepened and the Kremlin accused the Ukrainians of launching a helicopter attack on a fuel depot on Russian soil. Ukraine denied responsibility for the fiery blast, but if Moscow's claim is confirmed, it would be the war's first known attack in which Ukrainian aircraft penetrated Russian airspace. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: 'Certainly, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of the talks.' Russia continued withdrawing some of its ground forces from areas around Kyiv after saying earlier this week it would reduce military activity near the Ukrainian capital and the northern city of Chernihiv. Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the nation: 'They are mining the whole territory. They are mining homes, mining equipment, even the bodies of people who were killed. 'There are a lot of trip wires, a lot of other dangers.' His comments follow the bodies of at least thirteen dead civilians being discovered yesterday on the same stretch of road where Russian soldiers were caught on video executing a young couple in aerial drone footage that shocked the world at the start of March. And as Western journalists accompany advancing Ukrainian troops near Kyiv, they are uncovering more evidence of war crimes carried out by Putin's soldiers - with the mayor of one city claiming 300 civilians were killed in the last month. Pictures from Irpin on Friday showed soldiers and volunteers carrying body bags down a ruined stretch of road. About a dozen bodies were zipped up in black plastic body bags, lined up on the concrete and loaded into vans. Ukraine denied responsibility for the fiery blast, but if Moscow's claim is confirmed, it would be the war's first known attack in which Ukrainian aircraft penetrated Russian airspace. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: 'Certainly, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of the talks.' Russia continued withdrawing some of its ground forces from areas around Kyiv after saying earlier this week it would reduce military activity near the Ukrainian capital and the northern city of Chernihiv. Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the nation: 'They are mining the whole territory. They are mining homes, mining equipment, even the bodies of people who were killed. 'There are a lot of trip wires, a lot of other dangers.' His comments follow the bodies of at least thirteen dead civilians being discovered yesterday on the same stretch of road where Russian soldiers were caught on video executing a young couple in aerial drone footage that shocked the world at the start of March. And as Western journalists accompany advancing Ukrainian troops near Kyiv, they are uncovering more evidence of war crimes carried out by Putin's soldiers - with the mayor of one city claiming 300 civilians were killed in the last month. Pictures from Irpin on Friday showed soldiers and volunteers carrying body bags down a ruined stretch of road. About a dozen bodies were zipped up in black plastic body bags, lined up on the concrete and loaded into vans. The family of a high school track star who was sucker-punched during a race say they had wanted to press charges against his attacker but deputies had threatened to arrest their son if they'd done so. Now, the family is considering filing a civil lawsuit against the other student and the track invitation event that hosted the race, their attorney says. Shocking video of the attack during the Tohopekaliga Tiger Invitational in Kissimmee last Saturday captured the incident as a pack of runners coming down the track in the 1,600-meter race when a teen comes up from behind and punches the athlete in the lead in the back of the head. The runner goes down and stays on the ground as the rest of the team run past. His family's attorney, Nathan Carter, revealed the teen suffered a concussion following the attack. There was allegedly an altercation before the attack, where the victim had told the attacker to move out of his way. When he refused, during an earlier lap, the victim had pushed him, according to TMZ. At the time, Osceola County Sheriff's Office claimed that the victim, who has not been identified, had not wanted to press charges, but his family have disputed that claim, with their attorney telling the outlet that their son would have been arrested for battery had they filed criminal charges. 'The family has read reports that the OCSD claims [my client] refused to press charges,' Carter said in a statement. 'This is false.' The family of a high school track star who was sucker-punched during a race say they had wanted to press charges against his attacker but deputies had threatened to arrest their son if they'd done so. The unnamed high school runner, pictured above in a white top and red shorts, right before he was punched in the head during the 1,600m race 'The family of the victim did want to press charges for this vicious attack and assault caught on video and witnessed by hundreds of people. The OCSD deputy told the family that if [my client] pressed charges then he would also be arrested for battery.' 'Only because of this threat did the family choose not to press charges.' Now, Carter states the family is 'exploring civil remedies against all those responsible.' 'If this event hired proper officials to help run this track meet, they could have prevented this,' Carter added. The runner in black can be seen chasing down the lead runner in read and white and sucker punching him, knocking the runner off balance sending him to the floor The athlete who threw the punch had earlier got in the way of the lead runner and was told to move out of the way, but instead he decided to exact revenge 'They could have prevented the CC athlete from standing on the track during the first turn. Or they could have moved the CC athlete after the first lap incident. Or they could have moved the CC athlete before the second lap incident. Or they could have stopped the CC athlete before he chased [my client] down and sucker-punched him.' 'They had many opportunities to prevent this and failed to do so.' Video of the event showed the stunned response of spectators after the punch was thrown. 'Are you f***ing kidding me?!' one person could be heard saying repeatedly while others simply screamed in horror. The Tohopekaliga Tiger Invitational in Kissimmee invites athletes from 27 schools to compete Event organizers have not yet commented on the incident. The runner responsible for attacking the other teen can be seen pushing him out of the way after sucker punching the runner the face, knocking him over The runner was left in a heap on the ground at the side of the track, although he did manage to complete the race The incident happened on Saturday at Tohopekaliga Tiger Invitational in Kissimmee, Florida A rare holiday brochure for the Titanic has surfaced 111 years after it was originally produced. The century old flyer, which dubbed the infamous liner as 'the epitome of security', has surfaced weeks before the 110th anniversary of the tragedy. It was published a year before the 52,000 tonne linker sank in the North Atlantic Ocean, resulting in the loss of 1,522 lives, on her maiden voyage. The brochure is being sold by a private collector who uncovered it in Northern Ireland several years ago on April 23 and is expected to sell for 6,000. A brochure advertising the Titanic and The Olympic has surfaced 111 years after production The 'immaculate' brochure, which includes 50 pictures, is being auctioned off on April 23 The immaculate booklet boasted the ship reached levels of 'prestige and beauty' never seen before and stated both Titanic and her sister ship Olympic were the perfect example of comfort, elegance and security. Producers of the brochure - which was aimed at the more wealthy people of that generation -even compared the doomed ship to Noah's Ark in terms of its importance and the role of the ship in man's development. It bright red flyer, which had a big white start for 'white star line', painted a picture of prestigious settings on the ship, including picturing the famous grand staircase, which feature in the 1997 blockbuster starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. An image of the famous grand staircase - shown in the 1997 blockbuster film - is in the booklet The brochure said the Titanic and The Olympic had high levels of 'prestige and beauty' Pictured inside the 5ins by 8ins booklet are images of facilities, dining rooms and Turkish baths It described how the lights from the handsome chandelier above it would reflect upon the glittering jewels of women in brilliant evening frocks. The brochure went into detail about the first class accommodation on board and had around 50 pictures of facilities, including dining rooms and Turkish baths. Only a handful of copies are in existence today, despite hundreds being printed and distributed in 1911 - making it extremely rare when one comes into the public domain. Andrew Aldridge, of auctioneers Henry Aldridge and Son, who are auctioning the item, said: 'There are no more than a handful of these in existence. 'It is more of a promotional brochure that was aimed at wealthy prospective passengers. 'The Titanic wasnt due to set sail for another year and so the owners hadnt formulated the prices at that time, which is why they arent in there. 'The brochure was just about how this ship was the biggest and best ship on the planet at that time. The White Star line, who produced the booklet with 50 images, claimed the boats would 'enhance their reputation' Most brochures at the time ran between 16 or 32 pages, while this one had 72 mainly illustrated pages 'Other brochures at the time ran to 16 or 32 pages but this one was by far the largest with 72 pages. It was profusely illustrated.' The 5ins by 8ins brochures were printed by owners White Star Line in May 1911 to coincide with the Titanic's launch from the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast - where The Olympic was launched 18 months before - and claimed the two vessels were the 'most important maritime development of the time' and were 'without a peer in the ocean'. It read: 'Everything on board has been brilliantly conceived and admirably carried out... 1,522 people died after the Titanic hit an iceberg in the North Atlantic Ocean and sank In reference to the staircase, it read: 'A great dome of iron and glass throws a flood of light down the stairway, and on the landing beneath a great carved panel gives its note of richness to the otherwise plain and massive construction of the wall. 'Saloon passengers will foregather for that important moment upon an ocean-going ship - lheure ou lon dine - to regale each other with their days experiences in the racquet court, the gymnasium, the card-room or the Turkish bath. 'It is safe to predict that the Olympic and Titanic will enhance the great reputation of the (White Star) Line.' But on the contrary, the White Star Lines reputation was destroyed after the sinking and many passengers and crew died. Had the disaster happened today the company would have been charged with corporate manslaughter, given that the ship was speeding through an ice-field at the time it sunk. The brochure was printed by Liverpool Printing and Stationery Co Ltd. Advertisement British holidaymakers have been met with chaos today as airports and ferry services struggle to cope with an influx of families looking to get away for the Easter half term break. Fed-up passengers reported hours-long queues at Manchester Airport while gridlocked traffic en route to Dover port stretched for miles, with scores of tourists missing their ferries to Calais. The situation was worsened by families flocking to Kent in search of a sunny staycation. Severe delays were also reported at Heathrow Airport on Saturday, with some passengers left waiting for over an hour on air bridges. Arrivals also continued to face delays, with one complaining of waiting up to an hour to disembark their aircraft. It comes as industry leaders today warned the travel misery would likely last until at least the summer. The delays have been blamed on crippling staff shortages, with tens of thousands of staff needed to fill the void - with 12,000 needed at Heathrow alone. Some 400 new staff are being sworn in at Manchester Airport this month after travellers were forced to queue for hours at check-in and baggage reclaim on Friday. British holidaymakers have been met with chaos today at transport hubs such as Manchester Airport (pictured) and the Port of Dover as people set off on the first day of the Easter break Gridlocked traffic en route to Dover port (pictured) stretched for miles, with scores of tourists missing their ferries to Calais Severe delays were also reported at Heathrow Airport on Saturday (pictured), with some passengers left waiting for over an hour on air bridges Manchester Airport has struggled to cope after seeing passenger numbers explode, with figures for February showing a huge year-on-year increase, from 70,000 passengers to more than two million. (Pictured: Chaotic scenes at security on Friday) Video footage shared online also showed incredibly long queues at security, with bunched up passengers struggling to put their items into trays. Similar issues were reported today. Fuming holidaymakers branded the transport hub 'the worst in Europe' for failing to prepare for the spike in travel following the easing of Covid restrictions. One fed-up passenger fumed: '@manairport you are an absolute disgrace! It was dangerous today, people will get hurt if you do not improve things.' Others reported queuing for four hours to get through check-in and security, with several missing flights, while one added: 'Manchester Airport is a disgrace, dangerous and a shambles.' Images shared online showed suitcases piling up and falling off the conveyer belt, with some becoming visibly damaged. Hours-long queues have been reported at Manchester Airport (pictured) Fuming holidaymakers branded Manchester Airport 'the worst in Europe' for failing to prepare for the spike in travel following the easing of Covid restrictions One suitcase was damaged amid the chaos at Manchester's baggage reclaime Suitcases are strewn across the floor after a conveyer belt at Manchester Airport became overwhelmed on Friday The airport has struggled to cope after seeing passenger numbers explode, with figures for February showing a huge year-on-year increase, from 70,000 passengers to more than two million. Manchester Airport is partly owned by the Labour run City Council. Following a meeting with airport bosses, councillor Pat Karney - who previously warned that the travel hub's reputation was 'nosediving' - said they had come up with a six-point plan to fix the issues. He also said the airport needed to 'level with the public' after being told of problems he had not been aware of, adding: 'To be brutally honest, we're going to have delays and queues over Easter'. Bosses have already been forced to apologise for agonising waits in recent weeks, with staff shortages and sickness due to Covid being blamed for placing operations 'under extreme pressure.' 'Disgrace': Fuming holidaymakers take to social media to blast chaotic scenes at Manchester Airport on Friday and Saturday Cllr Karney said airport management had 'totally underestimated the recovery time of the airport', adding that such disruption is likely to last until the summer. 'Two million people went through the airport in February [and] in the previous year, it was 70,000, so you had to plan ahead,' he said. 'They should have seen all this. They should have known the recovery was going to be very quick.' He added: 'I don't think their planning has been really up to scratch. There's been a failure of management.' MailOnline has contacted Manchester City Council for comment. Karen Dee, Chief Executive of the UK's Airport Operations Association, told BBC Breakfast: 'At the start of the year we were under travel restrictions that meant there were virtually no passengers, and what airports have had to do is really scale up in a very short space of time. 'The industry as a whole is scaling up and we are doing this as fast as we can.' She said the industry needed to recruit 'tens of thousands' of staff as it scales-up after Britain's Covid-19 restrictions on travel were removed. However she warned: 'We do think there will be queues in peak times over the Easter period.' London's Heathrow airport alone needed another 12,000 staff, she said. 'We've started this process some time ago, but actually with those scale of numbers, particularly in a tight labour market, it is going to take us some time unfortunately,' she added. She told those planning to fly: 'Check with the airline you are flying with because they will not want people arriving before they are permitted to check-in. 'Make sure you're looking at the types of documents that you need because that will speed through your check-in too. Heathrow said it was aware of delay today as passengers branded it a 'shambles' and claimed they waited for over an hour on air bridges. Arrivals also faced delays. 'When you're approaching security, think, 'Do I have liquids?', 'Do I have a laptop?' - all of those things that we've actually forgotten about because we haven't travelled for so much time.' It comes as lorries and motorists are also facing long delays to board ferries at the Port of Dover. Cross-channel ferry capacity between Dover and the French port of Calais has been disrupted after P&O Ferries services were suspended following its sacking of 800 workers last month. The company is yet to be given clearance to resume sailings using cheaper agency staff. Poor weather overnight has made the situation worse, as have tourists travelling to Kent for an Easter getaway. Nick Gale, a teacher taking his family to Calais for a trip to Amsterdam, told Sky News they had been stuck for 'over two hours' and missed their ferry. 'No communication at all from port staff. Policeman said it was basically the perfect storm, less ferries... plus bad weather and (the) P&O issue,' he said. One woman waiting in the traffic jam said: 'It's taken about an hour to move half a mile, if that and we've missed our ferry crossing now, so we're just deliberating whether it's worth going home or sitting it out.' 'We are aware of queues at Dover, and the Kent Resilience Forum and local partners are working to minimise any disruption by deploying temporary traffic management measures,' the Department for Transport said in a statement. 'This has been caused by a number of factors, including severe weather in the Channel.' Newly revealed transcripts have shed light on controversial child pornography sentences handed down by Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson during her time as a US district judge. At issue are eight child porn cases that Jackson oversaw as a DC district judge between 2013 and 2021, which Senate Republicans seized on in recent hearings to paint the nominee as soft on sex offenders. The transcripts, described by the New York Post in a report on Saturday, show that Jackson disregarded prosecutors' sentencing recommendations even in some cases involving sickening abuse images of 'infants and toddlers' and in one case apologized to the defendant for handing down prison time. Jackson in recent hearings said that she had overseen at least 14 cases involving sex offenses against children, and Democrats accuse the GOP of cherry-picking cases to falsely portray President Joe Biden's nominee as soft on pedophiles. Newly revealed transcripts have shed light on controversial child pornography sentences handed down by Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson CHILD PORN CASES IN WHICH JACKSON SENTENCED OFFENDERS TO LESS PRISON TIME THAN PROSECUTORS RECOMMENDED DEFENDANT CASE NUMBER SENTENCING GUIDELINE PROSECUTOR RECOMMENDATION PROBATION RECOMMENDATION JACKSON'S SENTENCE Wesley Hawkins 13-cr-244 97-121 months 24 months 18 months 3 months Andre Hammond 14-cr-00184 94-120 months 108 months 120 months 94 months Daniel Savage 15-cr-95 37-46 months 49 months 36 months 37 months Neil Stewart 16-cr-67 97-121 months 97 months 42 months 57 months Christopher Michael Downs 18-cr-391 70-87 months 70 months 60 months 60 months Jeremy Sears 19-cr-21 97-121 months 108 months 120 months 71 months Ryan Cooper 19-cr-382 151-188 months 72 months 60 months 60 months Adam Chazin 21-cr-076 78-97 months 78-97 months 28 months 28 months The most infamous of the eight cases in question involves the 2013 sentencing of Wesley Hawkins, who was 18 when he was busted posting videos to YouTube of boys as young as 11 being raped by adult men. Jackson, citing his young age, sentenced Hawkins to just three months in prison, as opposed to the 24 months recommended by prosecutors. 'I am not persuaded that two years in prison is necessary,' she said at the time, according to the new transcripts, citing Hawkins' 'future potential'. 'This is a truly difficult situation,' she told Hawkins, according to the transcript. 'I appreciate that your family is in the audience. I feel so sorry for them and for you and for the anguish that this has caused all of you.' Explaining her lenient sentence for Hawkins, Jackson explained that the more than 600 images of child sexual abuse 'don't signal an especially heinous or egregious child pornography offense.' At recent hearings, Jackson explained that she believes sentencing guidelines in child pornography cases are outdated, because they derive from a time before the internet, when offenders would have to receive each image of child sexual abuse through the mail. Jackson said the structure of the sentencing guideline is 'not doing the work of differentiating who is a more serious offender in the way that it used to.' Jackson, citing his young age, sentenced Wesley Hawkins (left) to just three months in prison, while handing Neil Stewart (right) a sentence of 57 months In another controversial case, Jackson in 2020 sentenced Christopher Michael Downs to 60 months in prison after he was busted distributing images and videos of infants being sexually abused, and boasting of molesting his 13-year-old cousin. Daniel Jason Savage was sentenced to 60 months after prosecutors recommended 72 Prosecutors had asked for 70 months in prison, but the court's probation office had recommended 60 months. Transcripts show that Jackson herself admitted that the felon was at 'risk of reoffending'. However, she declined to enhance his prison time based on the amount of porn he distributed, arguing such enhancements were 'outdated' and 'substantially flawed.' Downs is scheduled for release in December after getting credit for time served prior to his trial. In another case, Jackson in April 2021 sentenced child porn peddler Ryan Manning Cooper to 60 months in prison, less than the 72 months sought by prosecutors but in line with the 60-month recommendation of the probation office. Though prosecutors described Cooper's crimes as on the more egregious or extreme spectrum' of child porn, Jackson disputed that they were 'especially egregious.' Jackson in April 2021 sentenced child porn peddler Ryan Manning Cooper to 60 months in prison, less than the 72 months sought by prosecutors Among the 600 images that prosecutors say Cooper traded with other pedophiles were explicit images depicting bondage of infants and toddlers, and a pre-pubescent boy being raped by an adult male. 'I'm really reluctant to get into the nature of the porn,' Jackson said in court, the transcripts show. 'I don't find persuasive the government's arguments concerning why they think that this is a particularly egregious child pornography offense, which means I struggled to find a good reason to impose a sentence that is more severe in this case.' Jackson's confirmation to the Supreme Court seems assured, with all 50 Senate Democrats backing her nomination, and Republican Susan Collins of Maine also saying she will vote to confirm. Democrats need just 50 votes to secure the confirmation, with Vice President Kamala Harris as the tie-breaker in the evenly divided Senate. Lucas Cane was sentenced to 60 months in prison after being busted with 6,500 images of child sexual abuse. Probation officers had recommended 84 months The transcripts were not released to the Senate Judiciary Committee ahead of Jackson's recent confirmation hearings, leading to furious Republican criticism that the White House 'intentionally' engaged in a 'cover up'. Republican Judiciary member Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina tweeted: 'The Senate should be provided all relevant information before voting on this nomination.' 'When we first highlighted her record on child porn cases, the White House leaked information to their friends in the media and Democrats on the Judiciary Committee,' GOP Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri told Fox. 'They hid it from the public despite knowing Judge Jackson gives lenient sentences to criminals. The White House is still refusing to be transparent about Judge Jackson's record.' Graham and Hawley are two Republican members who were most harsh on Jackson, specifically regarding her sentencing history of child porn offenders. In visibly emotional testimony during the hearings, Jackson defended her sentencing record and furiously denied criticism that she was soft on child porn offenders. 'As a mother and a judge who has had to deal with these cases, I was thinking that nothing could be further from the truth,' Jackson replied. 'These are some of the most difficult cases that a judge has to deal with because we're talking about pictures of sex abuse of children, we're talking about graphic descriptions that judges have to read and consider when they decide how to sentence in these cases,' she continued in an impassioned defense of her judicial record. 'These people are looking at 20, 30, 40 years of supervision,' she said of offenders. 'They can't use their computers in a normal way for decades. I am imposing all of those constraints because I understand how significant, how damaging, how horrible this crime is.' 'I impose a significant sentence,' Jackson assured, but said she is limited as a judge by what Congress has decided judges can do with cases. She also blamed Congress for limiting what she can do in the sentencing of these cases as a judge. 'There's a statute that tells judges what they're supposed to do,' she detailed. 'Congress has decided what it is that a judge has to do when this and any other cases when they sentence.' 'And that statute doesn't say 'look only at the guidelines and stop' the statute doesn't say 'impose the highest possible penalty for this sickening and egregious crime.' The statute says, calculate the guidelines, but also look at various aspects of this offense and impose a sentence that is 'sufficient but not greater than necessary to promote the purposes of punishment.' Civil service open to those with disabilities By HUANG ZHILING in Chengdu (China Daily) 08:35, April 02, 2022 In a sign of progress toward better inclusivity and diversity in the civil sector, 23 people with disabilities recently took part in the civil service examination in the city of Meishan in Sichuan province. A special exam room was set up in a local high school organized to facilitate the needs of the examinees. One of those taking the test was Xiao Yun, a university student from Tianjin. The 23-year-old chose to sit the exam after reading an online recruitment notice for a job involved in education and employment for people with disabilities in Qingshen county. After preparing for the examination for half a month, the big day arrived and Xiao, who has a congenital defect in his right hand, was surprised with the steps taken to ensure those with disabilities could sit the test in comfort. Leading to the examination room were barrier-free pathways including ramps for wheelchair access, and next to the examination room were barrier-free toilets. In addition to the two invigilators in the exam room, there were extra wheelchairs should they be needed. Two female staff members from the Meishan Disabled Persons' Association greeted each examinee as they entered and were on hand if any assistance was required. Also taking the exam was Xiao Liu, a visually impaired man from Hunan province. To accommodate his disability, Xiao Liu was provided with a front-row seat in the exam room. Another examinee whose waist had been injured and is unable to sit for long spells was permitted to stand up during the examination. In order not to adversely affect the other examinees, he was able to take the exam at the back of the room. Saturday's examination marked the first time that Sichuan had tried to recruit public servants with disabilities through the civil service examination, regardless of the examinee's gender, university major and work experience. With a university diploma, any person with a disability was eligible for the examination, said Xiao Honglin, an official in the department of organization with the Meishan city committee of the Communist Party of China. Xiao Honglin said more job vacancies would be provided exclusively for people with disabilities in the civil sector. The moves are aimed at promoting care for the people with disabilities within the community, he said. Jiang Lin contributed to this story. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) More than 204 people across 17 cities in Russia have today been arrested following demonstrations against the country's actions in Ukraine. Most appear to be detained in the capital Moscow, with around 79 arrests, and Saint Petersburg, with some 73 arrests, according to OVD Info, which monitors political persecution. Detentions follow scenes of unrest across the country as one journalist covering the rallies has reportedly been arrested and is not allowed to see a lawyer. Most appear to be detained in the capital Moscow, with around 78 arrests, and Saint Petersburg (pictured), with some 71 arrests, according to OVD Info In Moscow, a woman on social media was pictured smiling at approaching police officers as she held up a sign saying 'peace around the world'. Another man walking around with a 'No War' sign was taken by police as four officers had to hold the man, his hands twisted behind his back, for laying on the ground as they attempted to take him away. In a video he could be heard saying: 'What are you doing? This isn't right.' A photo on Telegram shows a park bench near St Isaac's Square in St Petersburg with the words 'Putin=killer' scribbled onto it. More than 198 people across 15 cities in Russia have today been arrested following demonstrations against the country's actions in Ukraine In Moscow, a woman on social media was pictured smiling at approaching police officers as she held up a sign saying 'peace around the world' Detentions follow scenes of unrest across the country as one journalist covering the rallies has reportedly been arrested and is not allowed to see a lawyer Activist Lina Barabash, of St Petersburg's pro-democracy group Vesna (meaning 'spring'), who reportedly chained herself to a fence with a banner, was arrested for discrediting the armed forces and swearing in a public place, according to claims on social media. Reports online also suggest that police are not allowing protesters, gathered at a bridge, to get to St Petersburg's Legislative Assembly. A journalist was also reportedly arrested for reporting on the rallies in St Petersburg, Avtozak Live reports. In a Telegram post, the outlet said: 'A lawyer is not allowed to see @avtozaklive correspondent Angelina Trofimenko. 'Today she was detained when she was covering a rally in St Petersburg.' Arrests have also reportedly been made in Novosibirsk, Ekaterinburg, Kirov, Permian and Krasnodar amongst others. It comes as footage appeared to show Russian forces using what seem to be stun grenades on protesters in Enerhodar an occupied town in south Ukraine. Video shows demonstrators running away explosions in a square, with smoke visible. Russian troops violently dispersed civilians singing the national anthem during a pro-Ukraine rally in an occupied town today, local authorities said. Sharing a video of what appeared to be multiple stun grenades landing in the square, the local administration wrote: 'The occupiers are dispersing the protesters with explosions' Some participants were also bundled into detention vans by the soldiers, according to the administration, after gathering in the centre of Enerhodar, around the vicinity of the Sovremennik cultural centre. Sharing a video of what appeared to be multiple stun grenades landing in a square before letting off bangs and white smoke, it wrote in a Telegram post: 'The occupiers are dispersing the protesters with explosions.' It also accused Russian forces of shelling another part of the town on Saturday and said as a result four people had been wounded and were being treated in hospital. A mother who died during childbirth was not properly warned by the NHS about the risks of natural delivery, an inquest has heard. Lucy Howell, 32, passed away after suffering complications during the birth of her second child, Pippa at Royal Hampshire County Hospital in March 2021. The mother-of-two had previously given birth to her eldest daughter Rosie via a caesarean section, which required special surgery to repair. But her family have now claimed Ms Howell was given 'conflicting' advice about the risks of a natural delivery and are demanding answers from Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The coroner who is investigating Ms Howell's case has also criticised the trust, and said it is yet to provide a 'candid' explanation over the circumstances of her death. It is hoped a full inquest will establish whether she would have survived if she had chosen an alternative mode of birth - such as a C-section. The hearing came during the same week that a damning maternity report found more than 200 babies and nine mothers died after failings at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust. The Ockenden report found mothers were blamed for their babies' deaths, that infants' deaths were often not investigated and grieving parents were not listened to. Lucy Howell, 32, (pictured) passed away after suffering complications during the birth of her second child, Pippa at Royal Hampshire County Hospital in March 2021 Her family have now claimed Ms Howell was given 'conflicting' advice about the risks of a natural delivery and are demanding answers from Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust The pre-inquest review was told Mrs Howell, of Bishop's Waltham, Hants, went into labour in March 2021 and was admitted to Royal Hampshire County Hospital in Winchester to be induced. Tragically Ms Howell suffered a ruptured uterus during delivery and, while her daughter survived after being born in her stomach, she passed away on March 12. Her family were told that the post-mortem gave the cause of death as a uterine rupture and amniotic fluid embolism. An investigation was then launched by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Minister reveals she was told she wasn't going to have a C-section A minister has revealed she was told not to have a C-section, despite enduring a 'very difficult' labour with her first child. International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan was asked today how she felt about yesterday's report which found some 201 babies and nine mothers could have survived at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust if they had got better care. She told Times Radio that with her first birth she was 'basically told I wasn't going to have a Caesarean section'. Ms Trevelyan, who has two children, said the inquiry, which found several mothers were made to have natural births when they could have been offered a C-section, 'reminded me that there has been for a long time a culture which says natural birth: good; Caesarean: bad'. 'And actually this report has highlighted that in too many cases difficult births can end in the most appalling tragedy, and honestly it makes me feel sick thinking that those situations have occurred,' she said. International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan (pictured earlier this month) has said she, like many of the women in the Ockenden was advised having a C-section Advertisement The hearing was told that following the birth of her first daughter in 2017 Mrs Howell had to have surgery to repair scarring. Her family believe this may have made her vulnerable to having a natural delivery and have questioned the advice she was given ahead of the birth of Pippa. Winchester Coroner's Court heard it is disputed whether Mrs Howell was given sufficient information to make an informed decision on whether she should have given birth naturally having had a C-section previously. Vanessa Cashman, the family's lawyer, told the pre-inquest review: 'She was given conflicting advice - if it can be called that.' Area Coroner Rosamund Rhodes-Kemp told the hearing she felt the statements supplied by the Trust so far did not provide a full explanation of what happened. Mrs Rhodes-Kemp said: 'For the family, the Trust have to show they have learnt from what happened. 'But they can only learn from it if there has been an open and candid explanation of what happened. The statements I have seen do not reflect that at the moment. 'The statements do not reflect learning and full understanding into exactly what's happened.' Mrs Rhodes-Kemp said she now has questions about Mrs Howell's antenatal care, her labour and whether Mrs Howell was given sufficient information to make an informed decision. 'The advice given is not huge to women who've had a caesarean,' she said. 'This was a rare situation. There are issues regarding the management of the labour. 'The starting point is: should there have been a labour and who said what to whom. The second issue is: was the labour managed appropriately given the risk? 'I don't think anyone could have done anything regarding resuscitation. But I'm keen to understand how we got to this point, whether it could have been avoided. 'I think there are issues regarding the labour and whether this could all have been avoided had she not had a vaginal birth.' The hearing came during the same week that a damning maternity report found more than 200 babies and nine mothers died after failings at Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust (above) Mrs Howell's widower Matthew - who is bringing up their two daughters alone - said: 'The shock and pain of Lucy's death has been unimaginable. 'She was a devoted mother and a wonderful person who is sorely missed every day by so many people. 'Lucy's family and I have many questions about the circumstances surrounding Lucy's death. We hope that the inquest will help provide us with answers to those questions.' Clinical negligence lawyer Emma Beeson, of law firm Penningtons, who is representing the Howell family said: 'This marks an important moment in time for assessing maternity services in this country. 'Mrs Howell's family have raised a number of concerns in respect of the management of Mrs Howell's pregnancy and her labour and it is clear that these have been taken very seriously by the Coroner who is conducting a thorough investigation into this matter.' The full inquest will be held later this year. A fundraiser for a memorial at Winnall Moors nature reserve in Winchester - where Mrs Howell enjoyed taking her daughter - raised more than 10,000, well above the target of 3,000. Mrs Howell worked at consultancy agency Soils Limited as an Health and Safety Coordinator and Geo-Environmental Engineer after joining as a graduate in 2011. Russian troops violently dispersed civilians singing the national anthem during a pro-Ukraine rally in an occupied town on Saturday, said local authorities. Some participants were also bundled into detention vans by the soldiers, according to the administration, after gathering in the centre of Enerhodar, around the vicinity of the Sovremennik cultural centre. Sharing a video of what appeared to be multiple stun grenades landing in a square before letting off bangs and white smoke, it wrote in a Telegram post: 'The occupiers are dispersing the protesters with explosions.' It also accused Russian forces of shelling another part of the town on Saturday and said as a result four people had been wounded and were being treated in hospital. And separately, within Russia, 176 people were detained today in protests against Moscow's military operation in Ukraine, a non-governmental organisation said. Sharing a video of what appeared to be multiple stun grenades landing in the square in Enerhodar before letting off bangs and white smoke, the local administration wrote: 'The occupiers are dispersing the protesters with explosions' Moscow denies targeting civilians and describes its invasion of Ukraine as a 'special military operation.' Ukraine and the West say it is an unprovoked war of aggression. Residents of some towns and villages seized by Russian troops since they invaded on February 24 have staged regular rallies against the occupation. The footage came on the same day a series of blasts tore through the region nearby the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Both the town and the plant, which generates over a fifth of Ukraine's electricity, have been under Russian control since March 4, according to Interfax Ukraine. Enerhodar lies on the Dnipro river in southern Ukraine and is home to workers of the nearby Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest. Meanwhile, OVD-Info, which monitors arrests during protests, said police had detained at least 176 people during demonstrations in 14 cities in Russia. Police in Moscow reportedly escorted away people sitting on park benches or just standing around without explaining the reasons for the detention. One of the detained women held a bouquet of white tulips, while another several times exclaimed 'No to war in Ukraine!' as she was being taken away. Residents of some towns and villages seized by Russian troops since they invaded on February 24 have staged regular rallies against the occupation Moscow denies targeting civilians and describes its invasion of Ukraine as a 'special military operation.' Ukraine and the West say it is an unprovoked war of aggression A national sit-in on Saturday against what Moscow calls its 'military operation' in Ukraine was announced on social media by activists in around 30 Russian cities. The organisers said in a statement they wanted to protest 'the collapse of (Russia's) economy', against Russian President Vladimir Putin and to demand freedom for jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. 'Russia deserves peace, democracy and prosperity,' they said. In Russia's second city, Saint Petersburg, multiple arrests were made near the city's Legislative Assembly where around 40 people gathered, although it was unclear how many were there to protest. Separately, within Russia, 176 people were detained today in protests against Moscow's military operation in Ukraine, a non-governmental organisation said. Pictured: people being detained by police in Zaryadye Sergei Gorelov, 30, said he came to 'take a look and show support if necessary', He added: 'Nobody will come, all the active ones were detained at previous protests.' And 50-year-old Galina Sedova said: 'I just came to stand around, to somehow express my protest to everything that is happening. It's scary to protest actively.' Protesters risk fines and possible prison sentences by taking to the streets. OVD-Info says that over 15,000 people have been detained at rallies across the country to protest Russian military action in Ukraine, which was launched on February 24. A prominent Ukrainian photojournalist who went missing last month in a combat zone near his country's capital has been found dead. Maksym 'Maks' Levin, 40, was killed by two bullets allegedly fired by the Russian military on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine's prosecutor general's office said in a statement on Saturday. Mr Levin's body was found in the Huta-Mezhyhirska village on Friday, according to the news website LB.ua where he worked. There had been heavy shelling in that area. Ukrainian photojournalist Maksym 'Maks' Levin (above) who went missing last month in a combat zone near his country's capital has been found dead Levin was killed by two bullets allegedly fired by the Russian military on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine's prosecutor general's office said in a statement on Saturday. Above is one of the last photos snapped by Levin, who was a long-time contributor to Reuters. It shows a residential building destroyed by shelling in the settlement of Borodyanka in the Kyiv region on March 3 The body of Levin was found in the Huta-Mezhyhirska village on Friday, according to the news website LB.ua where he worked. Above is another of his photos, taken on March 10 - showing members of the Ukrainian forces preparing food near Demydiv, Ukraine Levin had been missing since March 13, when he contacted his friend from Vyshhorod near Kyiv to report on the fighting in the region. In this photo he took on March 10, locals from the village Chervone, occupied by Russian troops, evacuate to an area controlled by Ukrainian forces The photographer and documentary maker - who leaves behind his wife and four sons - worked for many Ukrainian and international publications. He had been missing since March 13, when he contacted his friend from Vyshhorod near Kyiv to report on the fighting in the region. Levin had contributed to Reuters' coverage of the country since 2013. John Pullman, Reuters' global managing editor for visuals, said: 'We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Maksim Levin, a long-time contributor to Reuters, in Ukraine.' 'Maks has provided compelling photos and video from Ukraine to Reuters since 2013. 'His death is a huge loss to the world of journalism. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.' An investigation into Levin's death has been launched. Levin had contributed to Reuters' coverage of the country since 2013. John Pullman, Reuters' global managing editor for visuals, said: 'We are deeply saddened to hear of the death of Maksim Levin, a long-time contributor to Reuters, in Ukraine' The news comes as at least three Russian ballistic missiles were fired late Friday at the Odesa region on the Black Sea, regional leader Maksim Marchenko said. The Ukrainian military said the Iskander missiles did not hit the critical infrastructure they targeted in Odesa, Ukraine's largest port and the headquarters of its navy. Ukraine's state nuclear agency reported a series of blasts Saturday that injured four people in Enerhodar, a city in southeastern Ukraine that has been under Russian control since early March along with the nearby Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Ukrainian officials also reported that the death toll from a Russian rocket strike Tuesday on a government building in Mykolaiv, a port city east of Odesa, had risen to 33, with a further 34 people wounded. The confirmed death toll has risen steadily as the search and rescue operation continues. As the war dragged on, the U.S. Defense Department said Friday night it is providing an additional $300 million in arms to Ukrainian forces, including laser-guided rocket systems, unmanned aircraft, armored vehicles, night vision devices and ammunition. An investigation into Levin's death has been launched. In this photograph he snapped on March 10, a Ukrainian soldier hides from a helicopter airstrike near Demydiv Also included are medical supplies, field equipment and spare parts. There was no immediate word Saturday on the latest round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, which took place Friday by video. During a round of talks earlier in the week, Ukraine said it would be willing to abandon a bid to join NATO and declare itself neutral - Moscow's chief demand - in return for security guarantees from several other countries. On Friday, the Kremlin accused Ukraine of launching a helicopter attack on a fuel depot on Russian soil. Ukraine denied responsibility for the fiery blast at the civilian oil storage facility on the outskirts of the city of Belgorod, about 25 kilometers (16 miles) from the Ukraine border. If Moscow's claim is confirmed, it would be the war's first known attack in which Ukrainian aircraft penetrated Russian airspace. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's national security council, said on Ukrainian television: 'For some reason they say that we did it, but in fact this does not correspond with reality.' Later, in an interview with American TV channel Fox News, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused to say whether Ukraine was behind the attack. The former UN chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte has called for an international arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin. She said the Russian President was a 'war criminal' owing to his actions in Ukraine. Ms Del Ponte was in charge of prosecutions of war crime tribunals for the UN in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. 'Putin is a war criminal,' she told the Swiss newspaper Le Temps in an interview published on Saturday. The former UN chief prosecutor Carla Del Ponte (pictured) has called for an international arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin because she said he was a 'war criminal' Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the Security Council via teleconference call at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow on April 1 She said she was particularly shocked by the use of mass graves in Russia's war on Ukraine, which recalls the worst of the wars in the former Yugoslavia. 'I hoped never to see mass graves again,' she told the newspaper Blick. 'These dead people have loved ones who don't even know what's become of them. That is unacceptable.' Other war crimes she identified in Ukraine include attacks on civilians, the destruction of civilian buildings and even the demolishing of entire villages. She said the investigation in Ukraine would be easier than that in Yugoslavia because the country itself had requested an international probe. The current International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, visited Ukraine last month. An aerial picture shows burned Russian armoured vehicles in the outskirts of Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, on Friday Columns of Russian armoured vehicles have been reduced to rubble as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's troops continue to repel Russian forces, and in some instances recapture roads and settlements near to Kyiv Ukrainian policemen check the wreckage of Russian tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APC) in Dmytrivka village, west of Kyiv, on April 2 Ukrainian servicemen walk next to destroyed Russian tanks and armoured personnel carriers (APC) in Dmytrivka Burned Russian armoured vehicles are seen on the outskirts of Kyiv. Since the conflict began in late February, Russia has lost an estimated 143 planes, 131 helicopters, 625 tanks and 316 artillery pieces As Ukrainian units advance, they're met with burned-out tanks and heavily-armoured personnel transport vehicles that line the roads once populated by commuters that would have been heading in or out of the capital. If the ICC finds proof of war crimes, she said 'you must go up the chain of command until you reach those who took the decisions.' She said it would be possible to bring even Mr Putin to account. 'You mustn't let go, continue to investigation. When the investigation into Slobodan Milosevic began, he was still president of Serbia. Who would have thought then that he would one day be judged? Nobody,' she told Blick. Ms Del Ponte said investigations should be carried out into possible war crimes committed by both sides, pointing also to reports about the alleged torture of some Russian prisoners of war by Ukrainian forces. It comes as once-bustling highways on the outskirts of Kyiv have become a graveyard for scores of Vladimir Putin's tanks as the Ukrainians continue their successful counterattacks around the capital. Columns of Russian armoured vehicles have been reduced to rubble as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's troops continue to repel Russian forces, and in some instances recapture roads and settlements near to Kyiv. As Ukrainian units advance, they're met with burned-out tanks and heavily-armoured personnel transport vehicles that line the roads once populated by commuters that would have been heading in or out of the capital. Despite successful counter attacks, the country still faces no reprieve from more than five weeks of war or that the more than 4 million refugees who have fled Ukraine will return soon. Pictured: A destroyed Russian personnel transport A Ukrainian soldier inspects a damaged Russian tank depicting the 'V' sign as their armed forces continue to share photographs of heavy Russian losses Pictured: Destroyed Russian machinery in the village of Dmitrivka, near Kyiv on Saturday afternoon A damaged BMP-2 armoured personal carrier is pictured in Bucha, a town of 28,000 on the outskirts of Kyiv A Ukrainian policeman inspects destroyed Russian heavy vehicles after Zelenskyy's forces regained control of the village of Dmitrivka near Kyiv on Saturday As Ukrainian units advance, they're met with burned-out armoured tanks and troop transport vehicles that line the roads once populated by commuters heading in or out of the capital. Pictured: Destroyed Russian tanks outside Kyiv Local residents in the village of Dmitrivka, near Kyiv, emerge from their homes and begin clearing away the burned remains of Russian tanks after a string of successful Ukrainian counterattacks Pictured: Dozens of burned out Russian armoured vehicles line the roads out of Kyiv A damaged APS is pictured in the recaptured by the Ukrainian army Nova Basan village of Kyiv in Ukraine on Friday A Ukrainian soldier is seen among the ruins of a burned vehicle in Irpin, Ukraine, on Friday. It came as Ukrainian soldiers regained control in the region that is one of the conflict areas where the most intense battles have taken place Burned-out tanks and heavily-armoured personnel transport vehicles that line the roads once populated by commuters UK defence sources revealed last night that Kremlin forces have run out of vital weapons and cannot now replenish their stocks President Zelensky warned Moscow's retreating forces are leaving behind 'catastrophic' situations by mining the areas outside their homes, abandoning their ruined equipment and the 'bodies of those killed' But far more grisly finds are being discovered in the villages and towns in Kyiv's urban sprawl. After recapturing Bucha from the Russian forces, Ukrainian troops found the bodies of 20 men in civilian clothes on a single street. In what could be further evidence of Russian war crimes, eyewitnesses said one of the corpses had his hands tied, with the dead bodies strewn all over residential roads in the suburban town that was once home to 28,000 people. President Zelensky warned Moscow's retreating forces are leaving behind 'catastrophic' situations by mining the areas outside their homes, abandoning their ruined equipment and the 'bodies of those killed'. Despite successful Ukrainian counter attacks, the country still faces no reprieve from more than five weeks of war or that the more than 4 million refugees who have fled Ukraine will return soon. Zelenskyy said he expects departed towns to endure missile strikes and rocket strikes from afar and for the battle in the east to be intense. 'It's still not possible to return to normal life, as it used to be, even at the territories that we are taking back after the fighting,' the president told his nation in a nightly video message. 'We need wait until our land is de-mined, wait till we are able to assure you that there won't be new shelling.' The Duke of York said he returned from the Falklands War 'a changed man' in a piece of writing posted to his ex-wife's Instagram account - before it was hurriedly taken down. Prince Andrew, who reached a reported 12million out-of-court settlement in a civil sexual assault case a few weeks ago, wrote more than 700 words about his experience in the Falklands. The Queen's son flew missions as a Sea King helicopter pilot during the conflict. Andrew's reflection appeared in three posts which were removed after about two hours on the Instagram account of Sarah, Duchess of York. Beneath the last post, it said it was 'written by HRH The Duke of York' before the 'HRH' was deleted. The Queen stripped Andrew of his honorary military roles in January and he gave up his HRH style in a dramatic fallout from his civil sex case. The Duke of York said he returned from the Falklands War 'a changed man' in a piece of writing posted to his ex-wife's Instagram account - before it was hurriedly taken down Andrew's reflection appeared in three posts on the Instagram account of his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson and were signed off 'HRH The Duke of York'. The post was then apparently changed to remove the HRH before being deleted Prince Andrew returns from the Falklands War on September 17, 1982, on board HMS Invincible at Portsmouth Harbour, where he was met by the Queen and Prince Philip with Princess Anne At the time, a royal source said Andrew, who was born a HRH, will not use it in any official capacity. Virginia Giuffre was suing Andrew for allegedly sexually assaulting her when she was 17 and trafficked by convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein. In the first Instagram post, Sarah wrote: 'I asked Andrew this morning for his reflections on the anniversary of his sailing from Portsmouth to the Falkland Islands 40 years ago.' Andrew's account begins: 'As I sit here at my desk on this cold crisp spring morning thinking back to April 1982 I've tried to think what was going through my mind as we sailed out of Portsmouth lining the flight deck of HMS INVINCIBLE.' Prince Andrew, who reached a reported 12million out-of-court settlement in a civil sexual assault case a few weeks ago, wrote more than 700 words about his experience in the Falklands. The Queen's son flew missions as a Sea King helicopter pilot during the conflict Andrew's reflection appeared in three posts which were removed after about two hours on the Instagram account of Sarah, Duchess of York The 62-year-old concluded: 'So whilst I think back to a day when a young man went to war, full of bravado, I returned a changed man. 'I put away childish things and false bravado and returned a man full in the knowledge of human frailty and suffering. 'My reflection makes me think even harder and pray even more fervently for those in conflict today, for those family's (sic) torn apart by the horrors they have witnessed. 'And, i'm (sic) afraid to say, that the historical perspective my short war has taught me is this war is failure to keep peace; war is failure of human judgement; war is failure to recognise we need to seek permission to understand another persons perspective or reality, whether or not we agree or disagree with that perspective or reality.' The Queen stripped Andrew of his honorary military roles in January and he gave up his HRH style in a dramatic fallout from his civil sex case Andrew had been forced to step back from public life over his association with late paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, but made a surprising centre-stage appearance with the Queen at a memorial service for Prince Philip this week Andrew also recalled being shot at, writing: 'I was flying and saw a chaff shell fired from one of our ships that passed not that far in front of us. 'For a moment it was on a steady bearing before it began to cross to our left. 'The terror that that was going to be that, just for a moment, has had a lasting and permanent effect on me.' Andrew has spoken about being shot at before in his infamous Newsnight interview, given to defend himself against Ms Guiffre's accusations and to explain his friendship with the late Epstein. It was the shamed royal's first social media post since he paid a reported 12million settlement to Jeffrey Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre to end a highly-damaging civil sexual assault case in New York Addressing a claim he was sweating heavily during an alleged night out with Ms Guiffre, Andrew told Emily Maitlis in 2019: 'I didn't sweat at the time because I had suffered what I would describe as an overdose of adrenaline in the Falklands War when I was shot at and I simply it was almost impossible for me to sweat.' Andrew was the first member of the royal family to have an official Twitter account under his own name, though that account was deleted in January. His reflections on Sarah's Instagram account came on the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War. On April 2 1982, Argentine forces invaded the islands, which had been in British hands since the 19th century, sparking the sending of a Royal Navy task force south to recapture them. The resulting naval and land campaign led to the recapture of the islands on June 14 at the cost of 255 British lives. About 650 Argentines died. The daughter of an Islamic State beheading victim is going to Syria to find his remains and hold a memorial. Bethany Haines, 24, the daughter of British aid worker and IS beheading victim David Haines, is set to travel to Syria in search of his body. It follows a mysterious phone call from someone who claimed to know where her father's body is, The Mirror reported. Mother-of-one Bethany, from Perthshire, Scotland, was just a schoolgirl when infamous terrorist Jihadi John, later identified as Mohammed Emwazi, murdered her father in 2014. Bethany Haines, 24, (pictured) the daughter of British aid worker and IS beheading victim David Haines, is set to travel to Syria in search of his body David Haines (pictured) was captured and beheaded in 2014 after being held by a four-man terrorist group of Britons dubbed 'The Beatles' John Mohammed Emwazi, a Kuwaiti-born British citizen known as Jihadi John during an Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant propaganda video. Emwazi was killed in an American drone strike in November 2015 Emwazi was filmed beheading Haines in a killing that shocked the world. The following year the evil murderer was himself killed in a drone strike. Bethany previously said she wanted her father's murderers 'hung from a tree'. Since his killing almost a decade ago, Bethany has worked hard to find her father's body so she can repatriate him 'so me and my son can properly say goodbye'. Bethany was in Virginia this week when a U.S. federal judge finally heard the case against El Shafee Elsheikh, 33, who is standing trial over the deaths of Americans James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig. Bethany Haines was present in Virginia this week when a U.S. federal judge heard the case against El Shafee Elsheikh, who is standing trial over the deaths of Americans James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig David Haines (pictured) was a British aid worker kidnapped and beheaded by the ISIS 'Beatles' cell when he was just 44, in 2014 Pictured: Bethany Haines when she was a child with father David Haines Mother-of-one Bethany, from Perthshire, Scotland, was just a schoolgirl when infamous terrorist Jihadi John, later identified as Mohammed Emwazi, murdered her father in 2014. Pictured: Bethany Haines with father David Haines Alexanda Amon Kotey, left, and El Shafee Elsheikh, who were allegedly among four British jihadis who made up a brutal Islamic State cell dubbed 'The Beatles,' speak during an interview with The Associated Press at a security center in Syria in 2021 Elsheikh (pictured in a court room sketch on April 1) and The Beatles so-called because they were all from the UK are said to have captured 26 hostages between 2012 and 2015 in Syria While Elsheikh has not been charged in America over Mr Haines' death due to America lacking jurisdiction, he is believed to have participated in the kidnapping, torture and beheading of 27 British, American and other foreign hostages in Syria. Speaking to The Sunday Telegraph, the daughter of Mr Haines - the former RAF engineer and aid worker who was 44 he was captured by ISIS in 2013 and beheaded the following year - said that she never thought Elsheikh would be caught, let alone stand trial. 'That we have got to this point feels like a miracle,' she told the newspaper before travelling to Virginia from her home in Perthshire. The 24-year-old has prepared a victim impact statement which she plans to read in court. Giving the Telegraph a preview, she said it would say that Elsheikh's alleged killings had nothing to do with his religion. 'No matter what you say, this was not about religion, you brutally murdered good and innocent people, and now you have to live with that for the rest of your life,' Ms Haines plans to tell him, she said. Ms Haines says that as much as she wants to see Elsheikh see justice, she is also hoping that he will finally reveal the location of her father's body. Her letter will implore him to give up the location not for her, but for her son. 'Don't do it for me, do it for my son, who can finally say goodbye to his grandad,' she told the newspaper, reading from her draft. While Elsheikh (pictured) has not been charged in America over Mr Haines' death due to America lacking jurisdiction, he is believed to have participated in the kidnapping, torture and beheading of 27 British, American and other foreign hostages in Syria Elsheikh was one of the members of the 'ISIS Beatles' - four British born men who went to Syria to fight for the terrorist group. When being interrogated by the United States, Elsheikh said that Mohammed Emwazi, known as the infamous 'Jihadi John', buried the body of James Foley, but burned that of Steven Sotloff because the ground was too dry. It is expected that Elsheikh will spend 15 years in a U.S. prison before being extradited to the UK to serve the rest of his jail term. Over the course of the trial - that will likely last a whole month - 60 witnesses will give evidence. They are made up of foreign intelligence, other alleged victims and Yazidi sex slaves, the Sunday Telegraph reported. The trial will be the first - and likely the last time a senior member of ISIS stands trial in the West. Others were either killed in Syria or tried in the Middle East. Advertisement French President Emmanuel Macron held his first big rally on Saturday in his race for re-election, promising the French more 'progress' and 'solidarity' over the next five years, but his campaign has hit a speed bump. It's been dubbed 'the McKinsey Affair,' named after an American consulting company hired to advise the French government on its Covid vaccination campaign and other policies. A new French Senate report questions the government's use of private consultants and accuses McKinsey of tax dodging. The issue is energizing Macron's rivals and dogging him at campaign stops ahead of France's April 10 first-round presidential vote. French President Emmanuel Macron held his first big rally on Saturday in his race for re-election, promising the French more 'progress' and 'solidarity' over the next five years, but his campaign has hit a speed bump. It's been dubbed 'the McKinsey Affair,' named after an American consulting company hired to advise the French government on its Covid vaccination campaign and other policies Macron supporters at the rally in Paris. It comes as a new French Senate report questions the government's use of private consultants and accuses McKinsey of tax dodging. The issue is energizing Macron's rivals and dogging him at campaign stops ahead of France's April 10 first-round presidential vote Macron, a centrist who has been in the forefront of diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine, has a comfortable lead in polls so far over far-right leader Marine Le Pen and other challengers The president told a crowd of about 30,000 at a stadium that usually hosts rugby matches: 'We are here to make possible a project of progress, of independence, for the future, for our France' Macron, a centrist who has been in the forefront of diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine, has a comfortable lead in polls so far over far-right leader Marine Le Pen and other challengers. 'We are here to make possible a project of progress, of independence, for the future, for our France,' Macron told a crowd of about 30,000 at a stadium that usually hosts rugby matches. 'I see difficulties to make ends meet, situations of insecurity ... and so much more to accomplish to turn back extremism.' Speaking to those who see 'all their salary go into gasoline, bills, rent' as the war in Ukraine is driving up food and energy prices, Macron promised to let companies give a tax-free bonus to employees of up to 6,000 euros (5.050) as soon as this summer. He also promised to raise the minimum pension to 1,100 euros (925) a month for those who have worked full time - up from about 700 euros now. The retirement age will need to be progressively raised from 62 to 65 to finance the plan, he said. Supporters welcomed him, chanting 'Macron, president!' 'One, two, five more years!' and waving the French tricolor flag. Speaking to those who see 'all their salary go into gasoline, bills, rent' as the war in Ukraine is driving up food and energy prices, Macron promised to let companies give a tax-free bonus to employees of up to 6,000 euros (5.050) as soon as this summer Supporters welcomed him, chanting 'Macron, president!' 'One, two, five more years!' and waving the French tricolor flag The French President's wife Brigitte Macron (centre) listens to her husband at the rally in Paris on Saturday Macron also promised to raise the minimum pension to 1,100 euros (925) a month for those who have worked full time - up from about 700 euros now. The retirement age will need to be progressively raised from 62 to 65 to finance the plan, he said But for those trying to unseat Macron, the word 'McKinsey' is becoming a rallying cry. Critics describe the French government's 1 billion euros spent on consulting firms like McKinsey last year as privatization and Americanization of French politics and are demanding more transparency. The French Senate, where opposition conservatives hold a majority, published a report last month investigating the government's use of private consulting firms. The report found that state spending on such contracts has doubled in the past three years despite mixed results, and warned they could pose conflicts of interest. Dozens of private companies are involved in the consulting, including giants like Ireland-based multinational Accenture and French group Capgemini. Most damningly, the report says McKinsey hasn't paid corporate profit taxes in France since at least 2011, but instead used a system of 'tax optimization' through its Delaware-based parent company. McKinsey issued a statement saying it 'respects French tax rules that apply to it' and defending its work in France. Macron supporters at the event. France is pushing for quick implementation in the 27-nation European Union of the minimum corporate tax of 15%, on which more than 130 countries agreed last October Macron sings the national anthem at the rally. He said: 'I see difficulties to make ends meet, situations of insecurity ... and so much more to accomplish to turn back extremism' French President and liberal party La Republique en Marche (LREM) candidate for re-election Emmanuel Macron greets supporters during his first campaign meeting at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre on Saturday McKinsey notably advised the French government on its Covid vaccination campaign, which got off to a halting start but eventually became among the world's most comprehensive. Outside consultants have also advised Macron's government on housing reform, asylum policy and other measures. The Senate report found that such firms earn smaller revenues in France than in Britain or Germany, and noted that spending on outside consultants was higher under conservative former President Nicolas Sarkozy than under Macron. Budget Minister Olivier Dussopt said the state money spent on consultants was about 0.3% of what the government spent on public servants' salaries last year and that McKinsey earned only a tiny fraction of it. He accused campaign rivals of inflating the affair to boost their own ratings. The affair is hurting Macron nonetheless. Fans of Macron show their support. Critics describe the French government's 1 billion euros spent on consulting firms like McKinsey last year as privatization and Americanization of French politics and are demanding more transparency A former investment banker once accused of being 'president of the rich,' Macron saw his ratings surge when his government spent massively to protect workers and businesses early in the pandemic, vowing to do 'whatever it takes' to cushion the blow. But his rivals say the McKinsey affair rekindles concerns that Macron and his government are beholden to private interests and out of touch with ordinary voters. Everywhere Macron goes now, he's asked about it. 'The last few days, I heard a lot speaking about tax evasion, an American company,' Macron said at Saturday's rally. 'I want to remind those who show outrage that they used them (consulting firms)' in local government as well. He also pointed to his government's fight to make sure corporations pay their fair share of taxes. 'The minimum tax in Europe, we fought for it, we did it,' he said. France is pushing for quick implementation in the 27-nation European Union of the minimum corporate tax of 15%, on which more than 130 countries agreed last October. Marine Le Pen narrows the gap between her and Emmanuel Macron with two weeks to go until the French election By WALTER FINCH for MailOnline French President Emmanuel Macron's support has seen a tumble just a week before the election as Marine Le Pen surges in the polls. In the wake of his shrinking lead, Prime Minister Jean Castex went on the attack, warning voters the new 'centrist' image of perennial far-right challenger Le Pen is a 'sham' and that she 'hasn't changed'. Castex told reporters: 'She makes people believe that she has changed. She makes people believe that she has become more flexible, more centrist almost. But it's a sham, she hasn't changed.' 'The election of Marine Le Pen would be a catastrophe for this country'. Recent polling, which had previously put Macron well ahead, suggests he would now win by just 53 per cent to 47 per cent against Le Pen in a second round presidential run-off. Macron had enjoyed a mid-March high of 14 point lead over Le Pen in first round polling, but now it is down to just eight points. Marine Le Pen campaigning on the Haguenau market yesterday. Her support has seen a bounce in recent weeks in a blow for current French President Emmanuel Macron President Emmanuel Macron visiting Dijon at the Maison-Phare for an exchange with associative actors. Macron is still the favourite to win a second term in the French elections this April Le Pen and her National Rally party - formerly the National Front - have moved away from their usual agenda of anti-immigration and anti-EU this election. Instead she has focused on the cost of living crisis and policies such as cutting fuel taxes, and voters have responded. But Castex was dismissive of her new policy shift. 'We are in a serious crisis. It is not easy to govern a country like France.' He added: 'Her programme has changed a lot, because the idea is to attract people, but basically the values that we know in the National Rally, in the Le Pen family, are the same.' Macron delivers a speech during a campaign visit in Fouras, western France, on March 31, 2022. He had enjoyed a mid-March high of 14 point lead over Le Pen in first round polling, but now it is down to just eight points Emmanuel Macron's estimated margin of victory over Marine Le Pen (pictured) is narrowing sharply as the election approaches, polls published this week suggest But with a little over a week to go until the first round elections on April 10, it is looking like it will be Le Pen to face off against Macron in the second round once again, in a re-run of the 2017 elections which Macron won with 66 per cent of the vote to 34 per cent. The French elections are dividied into two rounds, with only the top two candidates advancing to a second round runoff. The nearest other contender is the hard-Left Jean-Luc Melenchon, who trails her by up to seven per cent. The Telegraph report that one survey published by Le Monde this week said the number of people seeing Ms Le Pen as a threat has dropped two points since January, to 51 per cent. Half of all people surveyed said they would not vote for her under any circumstances, but that was fewer than those who refused to back Mr Melenchon and fellow far-right candidate Eric Zemmour, who was seen as Le Pen's likeliest rival. Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has dealt a blow to the far-right cause across Europe, which is seen to be ideologically aligned with the Russian dictator, and boosted Macron because of his handling of the diplomatic crisis caused by the war. Macron can rest easy to some extent, as Le Pen will still face an uphill battle to unseat him if she does make it to the second round, as the current president is polled to take over fifty percent of the vote. An emergency air-and-sea rescue operation was underway in the English Channel tonight after a plane with two people on board crashed after taking off in the UK. The Piper PA-28 was in a group of aircraft which was heading to the northern France resort of Le Touquet on Saturday morning. 'It crashed into British waters for an unknown reason,' said a spokesman for the French emergency services. 'British Coastguard launched an operation supported by French aircraft and boats including the Abeille-Languedoc (Languedoc Bee) tug, which has been chartered by the French Navy.' The missing plane took off from Wellesbourne Mountford Airfield, near Stratford-upon-Avon, on Saturday morning, said a spokesman for the Maritime Prefecture in France. The Piper PA-28 was in a group of aircraft which was heading to the northern France resort of Le Touquet on Saturday morning (file image, Piper PA-28) He spoke as the wide-ranging search was suspended overnight Saturday, as rescuers said it would resume at first light on Sunday. 'The plane was travelling from Wellesbourne to Le Touquet, with two people on board, before it disappeared off radars,' said the Prefecture spokesman. Publicly available flight records showed that a privately owned Piper PA-28R-200 Cherokee Arrow II, registration number EGVA left Wellesbourne at 7.56am on Saturday and appeared to go off radar over the Channel at 09.02am. It has been due to land at Le Touquet, France, but failed to arrive. The single engine plane is 46 years old it was built in 1976 and has four seats. Another investigating source in France said the two people on board were British nationals. As well as the Abeille Languedoc, the major search involved a French Navy Falcon 50 jet and a Dauphin helicopter. Ships in the Channel were also alerted to the disappearance, but by nightfall there was no sign of the plane, or any debris. 'The search continued all afternoon, without being able to locate any debris or aircraft wreckage,' said the Prefecture spokesman. He added: 'At the beginning of Saturday evening, without additional elements and the probable sector of disappearance having been fully investigated, the searches were suspended. 'They will resume tomorrow morning with a flight by the Dauphin helicopter'. By 8.30pm in France, there was no sign of the occupants of the plane, who have not been identified publicly. Those travelling in small planes such as the Piper PA-28 are usually equipped with lifejackets and a life raft. While the plane may have sunk in the Channel, rescuers are accordingly hoping to find the pilot and passenger on the surface. The PA-28 is a two or four-seat aircraft built by the U.S. firm, Piper, as a trainer, air taxi, or for personal transport. It has been in production since 1960 and various models have been involved in a number of high-profile accidents in that time. In August 1972, Prince William of Gloucester, the Queen's cousin, was killed along with his co-pilot in a Piper Cherokee Arrow after crashing on take-off from Halfpenny Green, near Wolverhampton, during an air race. 'Reckless' lack of anti-fraud measures meant Bounce Back Loan Scheme and Eat Out To Help Out were taken advantage of by criminal organisations Fraudsters might have stolen as much as 37billion of Covid money from the public purse, experts say. The staggering sum, based on an analysis by academics from the University of Oxford, is vastly higher than previous estimates, and more than double the 16billion presented as a possibility to the Public Accounts Committee earlier this year. In a damning review of the latest evidence from several public bodies, the report says criminal organisations who were 'fraud ready' before the pandemic took advantage of the 'reckless' lack of anti-fraud measures to siphon huge amounts from Government initiatives such as the Bounce Back Loan Scheme and Eat Out To Help Out. Around 374 such schemes were introduced by various Government departments during 2020 and 2021 to support individuals and businesses hit hard by Covid measures, as well as to further research and support vaccine development. The National Audit Office's Covid cost tracker estimates that they have cost 370billion to implement. Analysis by University of Oxford academics found that huge amounts of money put into Covid support schemes were siphoned from Government initiatives such as the Bounce Back Loan Scheme and Eat Out To Help Out. Pictured: Rishi Sunak places an 'Eat Out to Help Out' sticker in the window of a business But the Oxford team's review, which was given to The Mail on Sunday ahead of being published Saturday, concludes 'at least ten per cent' of the cash equivalent to 37billion, or one third of the total NHS annual budget - is likely to have been lost to fraud. 'When the decision to put into place severe and unprecedented restrictions was taken, governmental support for those worst affected was a sensible and humane act, regardless of the sums involved,' the review read. 'However, because of the size of the programmes and the speed with which they were put in place, anti-fraud checks should have been part of the programmes. However, in several instances, they were not. 'If we add the lack of pandemic preparation, the government's appetite for hasty risk-taking fed by flawed predictions of modellers and general media frenzy, together with the fragmentation of anti-fraud activities, all these factors created a greenhouse effect for criminals to fleece the public purse.' John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, last night condemned the scale of the fraud highlighted by the review. 'Abuse of the Covid schemes will appal hard-working taxpayers, who will ultimately have to foot the bill,' he said. 'Support had to be deployed quickly without reams of red tape tying things up, but the scale of the abuse will shock those who played by the rules while worrying about their jobs and families. 'Ministers should protect taxpayers with more stringent measures to fine and prosecute the fraudsters that fiddled the system.' The detailed analysis, which focused on the largest of the government schemes, was carried out by Dr Tom Jefferson and Professor Carl Heneghan, from the CEBM. They have helped produce a series of reports which exposed Government failings during the pandemic. They had previously investigated discrepancies in the way PCR tests were carried out and how Covid deaths were recorded. Last month, respected epidemiologist Prof Heneghan, director of the CEBM, found himself at the centre of a censorship storm when he was briefly banned from Twitter after the Covid deaths report, highlighted in The Mail on Sunday, was wrongly flagged as 'fake news'. Their most recent report investigates publicly available information from Parliamentary committees, FOI responses and documents from the National Audit Office to estimate the full extent of fraud during the pandemic. It finds the losses are 'between 8.5 per cent and 38.8 per cent' of the total, depending on the specific programme. Lord Agnew of Oulton, former Treasury minister in charge of counter-fraud, quit over the Government's 'lamentable' handling of Covid business loan fraud The Eat Out To Help Out Scheme, for example, introduced in August 2020 in a bid to encourage people back into restaurants following the first lockdown, cost 849million. Diners eating on certain days were given a 50 per cent discount up to 10 which was refunded to restaurants by HMRC. But around 8.5 per cent of the claims by restaurants which amounts to 72million - are estimated to be fraudulent. This means one in 12 meals provided were 'ghost meals' which were never served, the review says. One cafe owner in mid-Wales described how there was 'no official form to fill in' and establishments were just told to 'keep a tally'. 'I've kept all my pieces of paper where I jotted things down along with my till receipts just in case, but no-one's asked for them,' she said. 'I was just paid back the money two days after submitting an iPhone picture of some words on a blank sheet of paper. HMRC denied banks access to data that could have prevented BILLIONS of pounds lost to Covid loans fraud, Barclays chief tells MPs HMRC denied banks access to data that could have prevented billions of pounds lost to Covid loans fraud, a Barclays chief told MPs today. Hannah Bernard said her bank had asked government officials for up-to-date figures on the turnover of borrowers before handing out bounceback loans in 2020, but had been told it was not available. It meant that, instead, the bank had to ask the business what its turnover was, and hope it told the truth. During the rollout of the scheme, the amount a business could borrow was based on turnover. Ms Bernard, who is the head of business banking at Barclays, told the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee today: 'The scheme necessitated a lot of self-attestation, particularly the businesses' turnover. 'Ideally we would have wanted an HMRC data feed so we could have checked the turnover they were stating. 'We made the suggestion, it wasn't available, so we had to go with the self-attestation.' She later added that of the 7.5% of loans that the Government estimates might have been taken out fraudulently, a vast majority would have been due to self-attestation of turnover. Barclays' data currently shows around 1.5% of fraud in the scheme, but Ms Bernard said this could rise. 'I can see my way through to the 7.5%, but most of that, 90% of that, will be due to self-attestation,' she said. Ms Bernard said it is possible that many of the businesses which inflated their turnover will still pay back their loans and the taxpayer will not lose out. It was unclear from Ms Bernard's answer whether HMRC had the data at the time. According to a National Audit Office report, the British Business Bank, which ran the scheme on behalf of the Government, identified turnover misstatement as the top fraud risk in October 2020. Ms Bernard's comments came at a meeting where HSBC revealed it had taken it months longer than other banks to make sure that it was not giving bounceback loans to companies which had borrowed from one of its rivals. The bank said it had not put in place a full duplicate check on all applicants until December 8. The British Business Bank had put what the National Audit Office called a 'straightforward' way of checking for duplicates in June, already too late to prevent many duplicate applications. Other banks said it had taken them a matter of weeks to implement the duplicate checks. Advertisement 'Most people are good. But the door was open to fraud.' The Bounce Back Loan Scheme, which cost 47billion and has distributed Government-backed loans of up to 50,000 to small and medium-sized businesses affected by the pandemic, is also facing significant losses due to fraud. Around 100,000 applications were made on the day the scheme opened in May 2020. A Public Accounts Committee hearing in January learned some businesses had erroneously received two grants from separate schemes, while others fraudulently obtained cash payments. The true scale of any criminal activity is yet to be established, but officials from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy told MPs losses which includes companies not being able to pay back loans - could reach 37 per cent of the total. Around 7.5 per cent, or 3.5billion, could be fraud, according to Permanent Secretary Sarah Munby. But not all of this was due to the need for applications to be processed quickly, the review notes. Lord Agnew of Oulton, former Treasury minister in charge of counter-fraud, quit over the Government's 'lamentable' handling of Covid business loan fraud. He told the Treasury Committee last month that fraud checks in relation to the Bounce Back Loan Scheme were 'just a "Dad's Army" operation as they were lending money to companies that did not even exist before Covid-19 broke out, because of a total naivety in the system and not putting in proper checks'. He added: 'The only thing I can say to you is that the average age of a Treasury official is 29 and the turnover of staff in there is somewhere between 20 per cent and 25 per cent a year. They are very bright in a standard way they went to a good university and got a good degree but they have no life experience.' The Oxford team analysed Companies' House data to see whether there was an increase in the number of new companies incorporated during the pandemic. It found 768,777 new companies were set up in 2020, a 13.32 per cent increase on the previous year. This is also well above what might be expected given the modest increases of around four per cent during previous years, the review found, which it described as 'unexplained'. Dr Jefferson said: 'Obviously we have no idea whether these companies were set up simply to benefit from these schemes. 'But it costs 12 to file a new company with Companies House. All you need is a frontman at an address in the UK and anyone, anywhere in the world, might have benefited from these payouts.' The broad conclusion of the review is that criminality may have stripped up to 10 per cent of the financial aid funds, based on an estimate made to MPs by one of the country's most senior civil servants, Permanent Secretary to the Treasury Sir Tom Scholar. HMRC's Taxpayer Protection Task Force is forecast to recover around 1billion by the end of March 2023. But the total lost could well exceed 37billion. The NAO Covid cost tracker has not been updated since September 2021, so the expenditure and fraud is likely to rise, according to Dr Jefferson. 'I'm not sure we'll ever know how much has been lost,' he said. 'The faults in the system were there before the first lockdown, and as far as we know have still not been addressed. An amount of fraud is simply built-in, a fact of life.' A HM Treasury spokesperson said: 'Fraud is totally unacceptable, and we're taking action on multiple fronts to crack down on anyone who has sought to exploit our schemes and bring them to justice. 'Last year we stopped or recovered nearly 2.2 billion in potential fraud from the Bounce Back Loan Scheme and 743m of over-claimed furlough grants. 'We've also invested over 100m in a Taxpayer Protection Taskforce made up of nearly 1,300 staff which is expected to recover an additional 1 billion of taxpayers money.' Investigators have started digging in fields where they believe the remains of a woman kidnapped and held to ransom 53 years ago could be buried. Murder detectives have been searching a farm in Hertfordshire, where one of Muriel McKay's abductors has confessed to burying her body. Mrs McKay, 55, was the victim of a bungled abduction by Nizamodeen Hosein and his older brother Arthur Hosein in 1969 after they mistook her for the wife of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch. The brothers forced their way into the McKay home in Wimbledon, south London on December 29 and bundled her into a car and took her to a Hertfordshire farm where they lived. They then demanded 1million for the return of Mrs McKay, who was married to Mr Murdoch's deputy Alick, pretending to be mafia. She was never seen alive again and her body was not found. Investigators have started digging in fields where they believe the remains of a woman kidnapped and held to ransom 53 years ago could be buried Muriel McKay was kidnapped from her Wimbledon home on December 29, 1969 after she was mistaken for Anna Murdoch, the 25-year-old wife of media tycoon Rupert, and later died. She was never seen alive again and her body was not found One of her abductors Nizamodeen Hosein, now 75, revealed that Mrs McKay was buried on the 11-acre Hertfordshire farm where she was held. The admission was made to a lawyer representing Mrs McKays family Following trial in 1970, the brothers were sentenced to life imprisonment in one of Britains first convictions for murder without a body. In December, Hosein, now 75, revealed that Mrs McKay was buried on the 11-acre Hertfordshire farm where she was held. The admission was made to a lawyer representing Mrs McKays family. Since February, officers have been carrying out visits to the farm near Royston, and now work has begun in an effort to find answers. Pictures show police forensic tents over being set up on the farm and detectives moving away wheelbarrows of soil that has been dug up. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell said: 'We are very grateful to the landowners for allowing us to carry out this work and have been keeping Muriel's family fully informed. Since February, officers have been carrying out visits to the farm near Royston, and now work has begun in an effort to find answers. Pictures show police forensic tents over being set up on the farm and detectives moving away wheelbarrows of soil that has been dug up Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell said: 'We are very grateful to the landowners for allowing us to carry out this work and have been keeping Muriel's family fully informed' 'While two men were previously convicted of murder, the family have lived for more than 50 years without knowing where Muriel's remains lie. 'At this stage we don't know how long the dig will take or what we will find but it would be an enormous relief and sense of closure for everyone if Muriel's remains were discovered.' The killer, who has denied involvement in the kidnap, also insisted that no violence was used against her. He told her family that she collapsed and died while watching a TV news report with him about her kidnapping. The confession was made after he was tracked down in Trinidad by documentary makers covering the story last year. Mrs McKays daughter Dianne, 81, told The Times: Were pleased the police are taking it seriously. We have worked hard for the last few months to get this far and we just want to get on with it. Nizamodeen and Arthur Hosein thought they were abducting Rupert Murdoch's then wife Anna Murdoch, pictured here in 1988 Muriel McKay's family (pictured in January 1970) are pressuring the police to excavate the farmhouse where she is thought to been buried in a bid to find her remains Nizmodeen Hosein protested he had not killed McKay, maintaining instead that she had collapsed and later died from a heart attack while sitting downstairs in the farmhouse (pictured) Its very frustrating because weve talked about nothing else, and now Nizam told us where he buried my mother and now we have to stop and wait. Its very difficult. We are aware there are certain protocols which must be followed, for example obtaining a search warrant to search the area she is buried, but all we really wish is to move on and achieve the closure that we have been seeking for the past 52 years. A spokeswoman for the Met told MailOnline: The Met were contacted in December 2021 by the family of Muriel McKay regarding information they had obtained in relation to her murder. Officers from the Mets Specialist Crime Command have met with the family and are in the process of reviewing all the material. According to The Times, detectives travelled today to the National Archives in Kew to retrieve the original case files. However, the farms present owner has refused to co-operate with requests from the family to allow them on to the farm so that the location pinpointed by Hosein can be scanned using a ground-penetrating radar. Depending on the evidence, the Met Police may decide to launch a search for Mrs McKay's remains. Nizmodeen said: 'At the farmhouse there's a wooden gate, there's a few wooden gates, it has barn beside, barn beside, and ten foot forward, ten foot this side [left], the body's somewhere around there' Nizamodeen (right) and Arthur Hosein (left) were convicted of her murder though police never recovered McKay's body The pair claimed they were innocent but Arthurs fingerprints were found on the ransom notes and a notebook filled with the same paper that Muriel's letters were written on were discovered at the site. Nizmodeen told Matthew Gayle, a British barrister in Trinidad hired by the family, that he wanted closure before he died and so would reveal the location of McKay's body. He said: At the farmhouse there's a wooden gate, there's a few wooden gates, it has barn beside, barn beside, and ten foot forward, ten foot this side [left], the body's somewhere around there. Next to the barbed wire fence, about three foot [from the fence]. Mrs McKay was kidnapped after the brothers tailed a chauffeured Rolls-Royce belonging to Murdoch that was on loan to her husband Alick McKay. She was abducted in the brotherss Volvo and taken to Rooks Farm, where they lived with Arthurs wife and children, who were on holiday at the time. Newspaper executive Mr McKay returned home to find the telephone ripped off the wall, the contents of his wife's handbag strewn over the hall. He later received a call from a man demanding 1million equivalent to 20million today if Mrs McKay was to be returned alive, sparking the UKs first high-profile, kidnap-for-ransom case. Over the 40-day ordeal the brothers, who claimed to be a mafia group called M3, sent three letters and made 18 further calls demanding the money. They also sent Mrs McKays husband five letters allegedly written by Muriel, including one in which she said she was cold and blindfolded, as proof of life. Two attempts by police to deliver fake notes to the kidnappers failed but the second try led officers to Rook's Farm, where Mrs McKay was taken by the brothers. Nizmodeen told the lawyer he was the only person who buried Mrs McKay, refusing to implicate his brother Arthur who was also convicted for her murder. Nizmodeen (above), 75, has now revealed the site where McKay was buried to a lawyer representing her family He also protested he had not killed Mrs McKay, maintaining instead that she had collapsed and later died from a heart attack while sitting downstairs in the farmhouse. This will forever haunt me for the rest of my days, Nizmodeen said, adding he had fed fried rice to Mrs McKay after kidnapping her. His brother Arthur died in prison in 2009. Nizmodeen also agreed to talk to Mrs McKays sister Dianne, 81, in a video call. She said: I was dreading speaking with him. At first I wrote him a letter and I couldn't do it, I felt physically ill. Since then I've got more into it and eventually I was able to front him up on a Zoom call. He told me he wanted closure before he met his maker. I felt utter relief when he said she's buried at the farm. I've just thought about it so much over the years. For years I had terrible dreams of them throwing my mother in the sea. We haven't had a good Christmas since it happened. To me it's a horrible time, it's the anniversary of it happening and New Year I find particularly upsetting. We always went abroad at Christmas so we could avoid the issue Dianne added: It's always there in the back of your mind somewhere. It makes you more anxious I lock the doors and moved abroad to somewhere in the middle of nowhere, I retreated to a very isolated place. You didn't know whether to cry, or to accept, it was a very confusing emotion. You cannot grieve, you cannot accept, because there was no body... When he told us those details, he said where it was, how to get there, how many steps, it was quite a lot of detail and I thought, My God, he's telling the truth, he can't be making this up. Advertisement Prince William will focus on 'five or six core charity subjects' when he becomes Prince of Wales, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. Under a blueprint setting out what Palace aides are describing as 'The Cambridge Way', William will adopt an approach closer to that pursued by his grandfather, Prince Philip, rather than that of his father. With an over-arching mantra of 'urgency plus optimism equals action', William will eschew what a source described as 'hand-wringing over life's problems' and instead concentrate on 'hope and solutions'. Prince William will focus on 'five or six core charity subjects' when he becomes Prince of Wales, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. William and Kate's long-term strategywill include deploying the increasingly assured and popular Duchess of Cambridge on more solo overseas trips. (Above, the couple in the Bahamas on their recent Caribbean tour) Citing his role last year as co-presenter of a five-part Earthshot TV documentary with Sir David Attenborough, an insider added that William also wanted to utilise his media training and TV experience to be more 'credible' with the wider public The Queen's advancing years and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's recent troubled tour of the Caribbean has resulted in a redoubling of efforts to finalise William and Kate's long-term strategy, which will include: Prioritising core issues including mental health, the environment and children's early years, and focusing on 'hope and solutions' in the style adopted by former US President Barack Obama when running for the White House; Harnessing his media training to make more TV appearances so that he is seen as 'credible and comfortable' by the public; Deploying the increasingly assured and popular Duchess of Cambridge on more solo overseas trips; Reducing stage-managed events in favour of more meet-and-greets so the couple can 'get under the skin' of issues; Cutting the number of charities with which the Prince of Wales is usually associated, but playing a greater role with those he retains. While the reinvention of the role of the Prince of Wales will inevitably spark suggestions of an implied attack on Prince Charles, a source close to William insisted: 'This approach isn't a criticism of what has come before but just an acknowledgment of a desire for change. 'It's about hope and optimism for the future. What is driving the Duke and Duchess in everything they do is urgency plus optimism equals action. 'Many of the causes adopted by the Duke and Duchess, whether it's Earthshot [the annual prize awarded by the Royal Foundation for contributions to environmentalism] or the early years work, also touches on every other aspect of society so it's not that they're excluding other good causes by having a focus.' That is not to say, however, that no friction exists between father and son. The Mail on Sunday understands that William has no plans to take on The Prince's Trust, the charity founded by Charles in 1976 to support vulnerable young people, but will instead concentrate on the Royal Foundation, created by William and his brother Harry in 2009 and now the vehicle for the Cambridges' campaigning work. (Above, Charles gives a speech during the Prince's Trust Awards Trophy Ceremony last October) Charles was irked that last month's eight-day Caribbean tour, which included visits to Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas, clashed with his long-planned trip to Ireland. (Above, William and Kate in Jamaica on March 22) Charles was irked that last month's eight-day Caribbean tour, which included visits to Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas, clashed with his long-planned trip to Ireland. 'Ireland is one of the most important relationships so there was a little consternation over the timing to say the least,' said an insider close to Charles. 'There is not usually a clash of diaries in this way.' As feared by Charles's team, the Cambridges did eclipse the Prince of Wales in terms of media coverage although far from all of it positive but a source close to William played down the spat, saying: 'The Prince of Wales always goes away to Ireland around this time of year, so there didn't seem to be a problem.' The Mail on Sunday understands that William has no plans to take on The Prince's Trust, the charity founded by Charles in 1976 to support vulnerable young people, but will instead concentrate on the Royal Foundation, created by William and his brother Harry in 2009 and now the vehicle for the Cambridges' campaigning work. The charity focuses on the environment, including the Earthshot Prize, conservation, early years, emergency responders and mental health, including reducing stigma. The Cambridges hold regular meetings with Lord Hague, the former Foreign Secretary, who was appointed Chair of the Royal Foundation's Board of Trustees in 2020.William has also made clear his intention to slash by half the estimated 140 staff employed by his father when he becomes Prince of Wales. Some friction: Prince Charles and William at an Earthshot event last year. Charles was irked that last month's eight-day Caribbean tour, which included visits to Belize, Jamaica and the Bahamas, clashed with his long-planned trip to Ireland The Cambridges hold regular meetings with Lord Hague, the former Foreign Secretary, who was appointed Chair of the Royal Foundation's Board of Trustees in 2020. William has also made clear his intention to slash by half the estimated 140 staff employed by his father when he becomes Prince of Wales. (Charles, above, in Tipperary, Ireland in March) The Duke, who has his own dedicated office entirely separate from that of Prince Charles, will inherit about 22 million a year from the Duchy of Cornwall when he succeeds his father. The funds are used to subsidise the Prince of Wales's official and charitable activities as well as to pay for any children, but William will be free to use any savings as he sees fit, including ploughing money into the Royal Foundation. Drawing parallels with the Duke of Edinburgh, the source said that The Cambridge Way blueprint was being devised in 'much the same way' as the Duke of Edinburgh's approach. Prince Philip had supported a wide range of charities yet maintained a particular interest in the military, the environment and technology. Explaining William's determination to adopt the hands-on approach that endeared his late mother Princess Diana to the nation, the source added: 'The Duke doesn't like stage-managed events. 'When he talks in a speech he wants it to be more natural and credible, an event where he is interacting and reacting to people rather than an event designed around him about what he wants to say. 'He doesn't just want to do round-table talks without properly getting to grips with the issues. 'There will also be new ways in which to interact with people and become credible and comfortable in five or six core subjects.' While William's team consider the creation of the blueprint for the Cambridges' future to be both sensible and necessary, some allies of Charles fear it could tarnish his achievements as Prince of Wales, particularly on the environment and supporting young people Citing his role last year as co-presenter of a five-part Earthshot TV documentary with Sir David Attenborough, the insider added that William also wanted to utilise his media training and TV experience to be more 'credible' with the wider public. William's growing confidence was illustrated last weekend with his intervention at the end of the Caribbean tour, which was beset by public-relations errors and protests about British colonialism. As the MoS revealed, the impetus for his acknowledgement that he might not succeed the Queen as head of the Commonwealth 'came from KP' Kensington Palace rather than from Charles, although the Queen was told about his statement. One insider described it as the Duke's 'coming of age'. While William's team consider the creation of the blueprint for the Cambridges' future to be both sensible and necessary, some allies of Charles fear it could tarnish his achievements as Prince of Wales, particularly on the environment and supporting young people. 'It's not particularly fair to the Prince of Wales and all the work he has put in,' said one. What would the Queen Mother have said? Nothing. That's why she was so popular, writes PATRICK JEPHSON By PATRICK JEPHSON for the Mail On Sunday Last week marked the 20th anniversary of the death of the Queen Mother. From her celestial Royal box at an eternal Epsom Derby, it's tempting to wonder what Her Majesty might make of the Royal headlines of the past fortnight. A veteran of overseas tours from an era when the Royal Yacht Britannia was considered essential kit for making the right impression, she might raise an eyebrow at the furore generated by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's use of a humble vintage Land Rover to review a parade in Jamaica. She would surely have found the dignified proceedings in Westminster Abbey where the life of her famously brisk son-in-law was celebrated on Tuesday more familiar territory. Last week marked the 20th anniversary of the death of the Queen Mother. From her celestial Royal box at an eternal Epsom Derby, it's tempting to wonder what Her Majesty might make of the Royal headlines of the past fortnight And she would have joined in the universal admiration for her elder daughter's visible fortitude in just being there. What the Queen Mother might make of great-nephew Harry's decamping to California or grandson Andrew's settlement of a sexual assault case is best not imagined. Four big Royal stories, each symbolising an aspect of the momentous period of change through which the Monarchy is now passing. How it comes through the change is critically important. It may even decide if the House of Windsor will continue to supply heads of state to any country in the Commonwealth, ours included. The Cambridges' Jubilee tour of three Caribbean realms seems to have hit several painful nerves. It could be studied by future courtiers as an example of how trouble on tour never arrives when or how you expect it. What the Queen Mother might make of great-nephew Harry's decamping to California or grandson Andrew's settlement of a sexual assault case is best not imagined A veteran of overseas tours from an era when the Royal Yacht Britannia was considered essential kit for making the right impression, she might raise an eyebrow at the furore generated by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's use of a humble vintage Land Rover to review a parade in Jamaica (above) But even as the flak starts flying, the golden rule must stay the same: don't make a bad situation worse, especially by answering questions you haven't been asked. A tour that should have been remembered for mutual goodwill now looks destined to be remembered for very different reasons. In a climate of post-colonial reassessment, it could prove a catalyst for uncomfortable changes in Royal relations with the Commonwealth. Royal tours to Commonwealth countries always require special care, and that counts extra when the tour, as in this case, includes realms countries that while fully independent retain the Queen as a largely ceremonial head of state. Having overseen a score of Royal tours for William's mother, I have experienced for myself the pressure-cooker atmosphere that can build in a small team, working hard in stressful circumstances in unfamiliar surroundings. I learned the hard way that time for reflection which the Prince says he has had on tour should usually be left until at least a day after the flight home. When a PR emergency breaks out an innocent chain-link fence picture suddenly turns inflammatory the travelling media naturally switch from sedately following the planned list of press opportunities to full investigative mode. Tensions rocket and Royal smiles become heroically fixed. The pressure on tour managers to Do Something becomes intense. It can lead even seasoned Palace tourists to ignore cautious instincts. 'Never feed a media fire' is old advice that still holds good. Was it forgotten this time? Left alone, the tour might easily have slipped down the news agenda before re-emerging as part of a calm process of Royal reflection and evolution. When a PR emergency breaks out an innocent chain-link fence picture suddenly turns inflammatory the travelling media naturally switch from sedately following the planned list of press opportunities to full investigative mode. Tensions rocket and Royal smiles become heroically fixed Of course there are lessons to be learned from this tour. It's a process best done in private, with measured consultation and a realistic understanding of likely public concern. Instead, the aftermath has been dominated by Prince William's surprise statement referring to the future of the Commonwealth, written before he left the Bahamas. This helped fuel a largely ill-informed post-mortem on What Went Wrong. Kensington Palace 'sources' have been helpfully trying to explain what the Prince really meant, so prolonging the agony. All of which rather confirms President Reagan's wise words: 'If you're explaining, you're losing.' In truth, Prince William's statement is a bit of a head scratcher. The sincerity is tangible but the tone is neither assured nor reassuring. We're told that the greatest living expert on the Commonwealth, the Queen, was not consulted but informed, by WhatsApp, after the statement was issued. If true, that's an opportunity missed. She of all people knows the danger of knee-jerk reactions to bad headlines. A chance to show the Royal machine functioning smoothly under pressure was lost. Instead, critics at home and in the Caribbean and beyond, were offered (and gleefully seized) an opportunity to add acrimony to an already unfortunate series of events. Post-tour Palace damage control has veered into dangerous territory, especially by encouraging speculation about what kind of Monarchy we can expect not one, but two reigns hence. Prince William's words have been interpreted variously as ripping up the Royal rule book, guessing Commonwealth leadership policy in the 2060s and rejecting of the time-honoured mantra of 'never complain, never explain'. In its place the Prince is said to favour 'healthy debate'. Take a step back and what's at risk here is a shared understanding of what the Monarchy should do and how it should do it. Just look at the breadth of discord ignited by the tour, reflecting divisions by age, background, race, political affiliation and more. This does not bode well for healthy debate, nor does Prince William's interpretation of Royal service: 'For us, that's not telling people what to do. It is about serving and supporting them in whatever way they think best' Royal service, at its best, is an inspirational combination of duty, sacrifice and consistent hard work. Look at the Queen's lifetime of service. Too often, though, it has become a code word for the pursuit of personal agendas. William has only to look at his uncle, younger brother and even at times his father to see how the concept of Royal 'duty' has been degraded. Not by bad luck, or an unfair press or even an old Land Rover, but by plain bad judgment. So what would the Queen Mother say, hopefully between sips of heavenly gin and Dubonnet? Probably nothing at all, at least in public. Which may help explain why she is remembered as one of the most widely loved and admired Royal figures of all time. Patrick Jephson was equerry and private secretary to HRH The Princess of Wales 1988-96. Last week marked the 20th anniversary of the death of the Queen Mother. From her celestial Royal box at an eternal Epsom Derby, it's tempting to wonder what Her Majesty might make of the Royal headlines of the past fortnight. A veteran of overseas tours from an era when the Royal Yacht Britannia was considered essential kit for making the right impression, she might raise an eyebrow at the furore generated by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's use of a humble vintage Land Rover to review a parade in Jamaica. She would surely have found the dignified proceedings in Westminster Abbey where the life of her famously brisk son-in-law was celebrated on Tuesday more familiar territory. Last week marked the 20th anniversary of the death of the Queen Mother. From her celestial Royal box at an eternal Epsom Derby, it's tempting to wonder what Her Majesty might make of the Royal headlines of the past fortnight And she would have joined in the universal admiration for her elder daughter's visible fortitude in just being there. What the Queen Mother might make of great-grandson Harry's decamping to California or grandson Andrew's settlement of a sexual assault case is best not imagined. Four big Royal stories, each symbolising an aspect of the momentous period of change through which the Monarchy is now passing. How it comes through the change is critically important. It may even decide if the House of Windsor will continue to supply heads of state to any country in the Commonwealth, ours included. The Cambridges' Jubilee tour of three Caribbean realms seems to have hit several painful nerves. It could be studied by future courtiers as an example of how trouble on tour never arrives when or how you expect it. What the Queen Mother might make of great-grandson Harry's decamping to California or grandson Andrew's settlement of a sexual assault case is best not imagined A veteran of overseas tours from an era when the Royal Yacht Britannia was considered essential kit for making the right impression, she might raise an eyebrow at the furore generated by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's use of a humble vintage Land Rover to review a parade in Jamaica (above) But even as the flak starts flying, the golden rule must stay the same: don't make a bad situation worse, especially by answering questions you haven't been asked. A tour that should have been remembered for mutual goodwill now looks destined to be remembered for very different reasons. In a climate of post-colonial reassessment, it could prove a catalyst for uncomfortable changes in Royal relations with the Commonwealth. Royal tours to Commonwealth countries always require special care, and that counts extra when the tour, as in this case, includes realms countries that while fully independent retain the Queen as a largely ceremonial head of state. Having overseen a score of Royal tours for William's mother, I have experienced for myself the pressure-cooker atmosphere that can build in a small team, working hard in stressful circumstances in unfamiliar surroundings. I learned the hard way that time for reflection which the Prince says he has had on tour should usually be left until at least a day after the flight home. When a PR emergency breaks out an innocent chain-link fence picture suddenly turns inflammatory the travelling media naturally switch from sedately following the planned list of press opportunities to full investigative mode. Tensions rocket and Royal smiles become heroically fixed. The pressure on tour managers to Do Something becomes intense. It can lead even seasoned Palace tourists to ignore cautious instincts. 'Never feed a media fire' is old advice that still holds good. Was it forgotten this time? Left alone, the tour might easily have slipped down the news agenda before re-emerging as part of a calm process of Royal reflection and evolution. When a PR emergency breaks out an innocent chain-link fence picture suddenly turns inflammatory the travelling media naturally switch from sedately following the planned list of press opportunities to full investigative mode. Tensions rocket and Royal smiles become heroically fixed Of course there are lessons to be learned from this tour. It's a process best done in private, with measured consultation and a realistic understanding of likely public concern. Instead, the aftermath has been dominated by Prince William's surprise statement referring to the future of the Commonwealth, written before he left the Bahamas. This helped fuel a largely ill-informed post-mortem on What Went Wrong. Kensington Palace 'sources' have been helpfully trying to explain what the Prince really meant, so prolonging the agony. All of which rather confirms President Reagan's wise words: 'If you're explaining, you're losing.' In truth, Prince William's statement is a bit of a head scratcher. The sincerity is tangible but the tone is neither assured nor reassuring. We're told that the greatest living expert on the Commonwealth, the Queen, was not consulted but informed, by WhatsApp, after the statement was issued. If true, that's an opportunity missed. She of all people knows the danger of knee-jerk reactions to bad headlines. A chance to show the Royal machine functioning smoothly under pressure was lost. Instead, critics at home and in the Caribbean and beyond, were offered (and gleefully seized) an opportunity to add acrimony to an already unfortunate series of events. Post-tour Palace damage control has veered into dangerous territory, especially by encouraging speculation about what kind of Monarchy we can expect not one, but two reigns hence. Prince William's words have been interpreted variously as ripping up the Royal rule book, guessing Commonwealth leadership policy in the 2060s and rejecting of the time-honoured mantra of 'never complain, never explain'. In its place the Prince is said to favour 'healthy debate'. Take a step back and what's at risk here is a shared understanding of what the Monarchy should do and how it should do it. Just look at the breadth of discord ignited by the tour, reflecting divisions by age, background, race, political affiliation and more. This does not bode well for healthy debate, nor does Prince William's interpretation of Royal service: 'For us, that's not telling people what to do. It is about serving and supporting them in whatever way they think best' Royal service, at its best, is an inspirational combination of duty, sacrifice and consistent hard work. Look at the Queen's lifetime of service. Too often, though, it has become a code word for the pursuit of personal agendas. William has only to look at his uncle, younger brother and even at times his father to see how the concept of Royal 'duty' has been degraded. Not by bad luck, or an unfair press or even an old Land Rover, but by plain bad judgment. So what would the Queen Mother say, hopefully between sips of heavenly gin and Dubonnet? Probably nothing at all, at least in public. Which may help explain why she is remembered as one of the most widely loved and admired Royal figures of all time. Patrick Jephson was equerry and private secretary to HRH The Princess of Wales 1988-96. In the first extract from his compelling new book in yesterday's Daily Mail, Norman Scott told the horrifying story of how, aged just 21, vulnerable and mentally unstable, he was raped by the Liberal MP Jeremy Thorpe after appealing to him for help. Today, in the second extract, he explains how, in the belief that the powerful politician would help him recover his lost National Insurance cards, he reluctantly agreed to continue having sex with him. It was a decision that would have nightmarish consequences In 1974, my life became like the plot of a dystopian thriller. Alarming things had started to happen, inexplicable events that had me rushing to my doctor for tranquillisers. I was living in a remote bungalow on Exmoor. First, someone telephoned the local social security office, pretending to be the Conservative MP Michael Heseltine, to ask where I lived. Fortunately, the officer who took the call suspected it was from an impostor. It was: when the real Michael Heseltine was contacted, he denied all knowledge of it. Then, for no apparent reason, helicopters started circling above the bungalow. This went on for some time until, one day, I saw a helicopter land nearby. I watched as two burly men one wearing a rally jacket and the other a shiny mohair suit came walking across the fields to the bungalow. By then, I was so rattled that I'd drawn the curtains and crouched against the front door. Norman Scott explains how in the belief that the powerful politician Jeremy Thorpe would help him recover his lost National Insurance cards, he reluctantly agreed to continue having sex with him They thumped on it, shouting my name. After that, they moved off towards the stables before returning to pound on the door again. Eventually they gave up and left. Another time, as I was driving down a lane in my Morris 1100, the brakes failed. Luckily, I was able to come to a halt in a hedge. When the local garage investigated, they discovered the brake cables had been cut. At best, someone was trying to hurt me. At worst, he wanted me dead. Terrified, I decided to leave Exmoor and move in with some friends, Janet and Chris, in Barnstaple. In my spare time, I'd go for walks with Janet's dog Rinka, a Great Dane. Her gentle nature and huge size comforted me. A few months later, however, I was on my own, walking back from a pub, when I heard a man shout my name. Suddenly another man appeared and the next thing I knew, they were beating me up. They broke my teeth and I was so badly battered that I had to be taken to hospital. I had no doubt who was behind all these threatening events. Jeremy Thorpe, the much esteemed leader of the Liberal Party, was sending me a spine-chilling message: shut up, or else As I recounted in the Daily Mail yesterday, I'd gone to Jeremy for help in 1961 after a suicide attempt landed me in a psychiatric hospital. I'd met him just a few months before that, when he came to visit my employer, a three-day eventer called Van. I was just 21, and he was 11 years older. The total extent of our conversation had been for less than a minute, while I was grooming a horse. Bizarrely, Jeremy had given me his card and asked me to call if I ran into problems. Delusional from the prescription drugs I was taking at the time, I'd eventually gone to find Jeremy at the House of Commons. He'd then taken me back to his mother's flat and brutally raped me. Importantly, however, he'd offered to look after me and promised to get my National Insurance cards back from Van without which I couldn't legally take a job. Why didn't I run away? I loathed the sex, not least because I'd only ever had girlfriends. But I was mentally vulnerable, I had no money, no work and nowhere to go. 'I want to keep you safe. I'll see you this evening,' said Jeremy, the day after he raped me. That night, he took me to the Reform Club. The place was full of elderly and middle-aged men, all with an aura of authority. I had a strong sense that they were looking down their noses at me. When we'd finished our meal, Lord Reith, the dour former director-general of the BBC, came over to join us for a glass of port. He and Jeremy began talking about some Treasury matter, about which I knew nothing. I sat quietly, looking around the room, until Lord Reith said: 'Our young friend doesn't seem very interested. Perhaps he should give his opinion.' Jeremy jumped in quickly: 'Oh, this is my ward. He lives in the country and wouldn't have any opinion.' This was the first time he described me, dismissively, as his ward a lie he repeated many times. Back at my small rented room in Chelsea, I didn't even think of resisting him; sex, it seemed, was something I'd have to endure in return for his friendship and help. That evening set the pattern for our encounters. When Jeremy finished work, he'd drive to my building and toot the horn on his car. I'd throw down the keys, he'd let himself in and then have sex with me. Jeremy Thorpe, Liberal Party leader, and his bride - formerly Caroline Allpass - after their wedding at Lambeth Palace, London I never initiated it and he never asked if I minded. He was undoubtedly fond of me and, at a time when gay sex was still illegal, I was clearly a safer option than casual pick-ups. He also knew that, in me, he'd found someone so damaged, so wretchedly in need of affection, that I'd put up with his abuse. At times, he'd seem caring and I could almost convince myself I loved him, as long as I blocked out the sex. Sitting in the gallery at the Commons, I'd feel proud to be the friend of such a charismatic MP. Only much later did I understand that Jeremy was a Jekyll and Hyde character. I was on the receiving end of affection and manipulation, of rare tenderness and frequent abuse a very unhealthy combination. Weeks turned into months. I helped with constituency work, door-to-door canvassing and delivering leaflets for the Liberal Party. I assumed Jeremy would be paying the all-important 'stamp' on my National Insurance cards but whenever I asked for them back, he'd just say the matter was in hand. Later, he helped find me a job as a groom with a rich family in Somerset, where he'd visit as often as he could. During one encounter, something in me just snapped. I demanded my cards back my employer had been asking for them and said I wanted to finish with him. 'I don't want this any more,' I said. 'I can't bear it.' Jeremy's face turned to stone. 'I've got the Home Secretary and the Director of Public Prosecutions on my side,' he said, a cold saturnine smile on his face. 'You can't hurt me.' Although I wasn't sure what he meant, I felt terribly shaken. My job came to an end. I found another one, at a local riding stable, but without my cards I couldn't continue to work there. Slowly, I spiralled down into clinical depression, at one point trying to slash my wrists. Why did I return to Jeremy? It was the cursed cards again I'd called him about them yet again, and he invited me to town for dinner. As I was too weak to fight off his advances, our sexual relationship resumed. Hugh Grant playing Jeremy Thorpe in BBC One's A Very English Scandal Jeremy Thorpe The only difference now was that I often stayed in Jeremy's flat near Whitehall, to which he'd bring men usually sailors back for the night. His appetite for risk-taking was immense. Whenever he asked me to make up a threesome with some hulking sailor, I'd leave the flat. One evening, it was raining so I asked to borrow Jeremy's overcoat, then headed out for a walk. Later, as I was strolling back through the rain, a car began following me. I heard the window winding down, then Jeremy's voice trying to entice me into the car. Not satisfied with his pick-up, he'd gone out in search of another and hadn't recognised me in his overcoat. The weeks dragged by. I find it hard to believe what I did next, but I was out of my mind. I was a young, broken person, highly medicated and miserable. In my wild, irrational state, I could see only one way out of this awful mess: I must kill Jeremy and then do away with myself. In my deluded state, I rang a friend to tell her what I was going to do and she called the police. I was taken to Canon Row police station, where I told the officers all about Jeremy. The police, probably concluding I was completely mad, kept saying I had no evidence so I showed them a bundle of letters from him, including one where he called me 'Bunnies' and another in which he called me 'my angel' and said all he wanted was to share a farm in Devon with me. After reading these, the officers' manner changed; they were finally taking me seriously. But all they said was that I was free to go. I later discovered that they passed the matter up to MI5, but absolutely nothing was done. By 1965, I was living in Ireland, jobless again and in a bad mental state, yet Jeremy was still blocking all my attempts to get my cards back. In despair, I wrote to his mother, Ursula, who was a justice of the peace. 'For a long time, I believe, it was to ensure I stayed with him. Then after we broke up, they provided a ploy to lure me back. And after that, I think he just kept them out of spite. Perhaps his inherent meanness also played a part. He just didn't want to pay up,' writes Mr Scott (above) In the letter, I was frank about my sexual relationship with her son, which I was convinced she was already aware of and asked for her help with retrieving my cards. I was utterly fixated on them, because I wanted to return to England and get a job. Yes, I could have claimed I'd lost them and got new ones but I would have lost all my accrued benefits including entitlements to a pension and unemployment pay. So why did Jeremy hold on to them? For a long time, I believe, it was to ensure I stayed with him. Then after we broke up, they provided a ploy to lure me back. And after that, I think he just kept them out of spite. Perhaps his inherent meanness also played a part. He just didn't want to pay up. I heard nothing back from Ursula, and my mental health continued to deteriorate. Then, one day, a man called Peter Bessell asked me to have breakfast with him at a Dublin hotel. I'd never met him, though his name was vaguely familiar. Mr Bessell had reddish hair and a deeply lined face. He told me how appalling it was for me to have written to Mrs Thorpe. As a result, he said, the Home Secretary had issued an extradition order to bring me back. It was only when Mr Bessell mentioned he was a Liberal MP that I realised he must be part of some cover-up, instigated by Jeremy. Needless to say, there was no extradition order. Jeremy Thorpe is pictured. Norman Scott writes: 'Jeremy had married a girl called Caroline Allpass, which came as a surprise. He'd once told me that having sex with a woman was like making love to a cold rice pudding' A few days later, Mr Bessell contacted me again. He was doing what he could about my cards, he said, and in the meantime would pay me a retainer equivalent to the unemployment benefit I could have claimed with fully stamped cards. And he kept his word: every week, I received 5 (80 now) in cash in an envelope, along with a note on House of Commons paper: 'Here is your retainer for this week.' Over the next few years, during which Jeremy became leader of the Liberal Party in 1967, my life took a new turn. After doing some test shots for photographers, I'd become a male model (paid in cash) in Swinging Sixties London. I did test-shots wearing Michael Fish's iconic designs, and worked on shoots for various designers and clients including the Irish Wool Secretariat, Guinness, and a wonderful clothes shop called Quincy Jones in Mayfair. I went to glamorous parties, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull. I also had lovers of both sexes and in 1969, when my then girlfriend, Sue Myers, was pregnant, I got married. Meanwhile, Jeremy had married a girl called Caroline Allpass, which came as a surprise. He'd once told me that having sex with a woman was like making love to a cold rice pudding. As modelling jobs were too sporadic to support a family, I asked Mr Bessell once more to get my cards back from Jeremy. As usual, he said he was trying to sort things out. Feeling desperate, I called Jeremy's wife, Caroline. Shocked when I explained who I was, she told me there was nothing she could do and abruptly hung up. Almost 50 years on, the trial of politician Jeremy Thorpe for the attempted murder of Norman Scott remains shocking how the suave leader of the Liberal Party sexually abused and raped a much younger, mentally ill man who he subsequently, it was alleged, tried to have murdered. (Above, Mr Scott in the 1970s) I wonder now if that phone call suddenly made Jeremy see me in a different light: not simply as an inconvenience but as a threat to his marriage, his social standing and burgeoning political career. Indeed, that three-minute call may well have triggered his desire to get rid of me once and for all. Much as I adored my new son Benjamin, my marriage didn't even last a year. I became severely depressed again at which point Mr Bessell stepped in to offer me a world cruise, plus a holiday in Florida. Suspecting something fishy was going on, I declined. In 1971, still hoping to get my cards back, I ended up going to the House of Commons to meet the MP David Steel who later took over as leader of the Liberals. When I told him about my relationship with Jeremy and subsequent dealings with Mr Bessell, he said: 'I just don't believe you. I don't believe this could have happened.' I produced the letters Bessell had sent with the retainers. 'Did I make this up?' I asked, handing them to Steel. I have never seen anyone turn so pale. Even his hair seemed about to go white. Presumably he'd recognised the risk that the truth posed to Jeremy and, by extension, the Liberals. I was invited to a meeting two days later at the House of Lords, where we were joined by Lord Byers, a Liberal peer. After I'd once again told my story, Lord Byers's response was to call me a common blackmailer and suggest I needed medical treatment. I was enraged. Lord Byers had been one of the dignitaries Jeremy and I dined with at the Reform Club, years before, who'd accepted Jeremy's lies about me being his ward. But there was nothing I could do. In the end, I moved to North Devon, working intermittently with horses. It was then that I became subject to a sinister series of events. After the episode with the men from the helicopter, I went to see the local GP, Dr Ron Gleadle. I told him all about Jeremy and he readily upped my already high dosages of tranquillisers and sleeping pills. A few weeks later, on a February evening, Dr Gleadle knocked on the door. His voice was agitated. 'The documents,' he said. 'Where is the file with all your notes from Mr Bessell and the correspondence from Mr Thorpe? There's someone who'll pay really good money.' 'Is this a good idea?' I stammered, completely taken aback. 'It's a very good idea.' Gleadle spoke forcefully. 'How much money do you want? At the moment, I think the sky's the limit.' I was muddle-headed from my pills and could barely speak, let alone ask for any money. But he kept demanding the letters so, as he'd been kind to me in the past, I handed them over. Then I fell into a drugged sleep. I woke up with a muzzy head and gradually recalled what had happened. Without the letters, I realised, I had no proof that my story about the cards was true. I rushed to the health centre and barged into Dr Gleadle's office, demanding my letters back. 'Too late,' he replied, showing me paying-in slips for 2,500 (more than 32,000 today) into my bank account. Not knowing what else to do, I spent the money. I bought a small green Morris 1100 and drinks for everyone at the local pub. It was soon after this that someone cut my brake cables. After all the money had gone, my situation declined rapidly. I lost a job at a Barnstaple menswear shop when it closed, and hating to be a burden to my friends ended up homeless for six weeks. Jeremy was now at the peak of his career and had remarried, following the death of his wife in a car accident. His second wife, Marion, was a concert pianist who'd previously been married to the Earl of Harewood, a cousin of the Queen. To my dismay, I discovered that the Thorpes had a thatched cottage just five miles away, in the village of Cobbaton. By the summer of 1975, I'd found a haven at the Market Inn in Barnstaple, where I helped out at the bar. I also found a new GP, who was horrified by the amount of drugs Dr Gleadle had prescribed for me. (Partly through his efforts, Gleadle was later struck off.) Then I started receiving odd phone calls. One was from a man calling himself Ian Wright. 'I work for Pensiero Fashions in London. Can you get your a**e up here?' he said. 'We want you for two weeks' modelling at 400 a week.' It was years since I'd been on the books of a modelling agency; I said I'd think about it and call back. But when I rang the number he'd given, it was for a phone box at an Underground station. And when I checked the directory for Pensiero Fashions, there was no company of that name. Another caller told the pub landlady he wanted to buy a camera from me. She hung up on him. A few weeks later, I was accosted by two police officers, who insisted on taking me down to the local station. They started by asking me about the payment I'd received from Dr Gleadle. Did I still have copies of the letters he'd taken, they wanted to know. Then one of them said: 'We need your documents or there's somebody not a million miles from Cobbaton who won't be sleeping easy in his bed tonight. If you don't co-operate, I have the power to lock you away and you won't see the light of day for 14 years.' I was bundled into a police car and driven back to the inn so they could pick up any remaining letters. Then, as a final insult, the police flung me into a cell marked Females. Shortly after this, a man with tousled grey hair came to the cell with another officer. 'You've been a very naughty boy, saying these things about a decent man,' he said. 'You're lying about Jeremy Thorpe, aren't you, you nasty little so-and-so?' I gave a nervous laugh and exclaimed: 'I most certainly am not lying!' Exploding with anger, the man whacked my head against the wall, twice, then walked out. My head throbbed with pain for the rest of the night. The next day, I was released and my letters were copied and returned to me. Before I left, one of the officers took me aside to warn me that I didn't realise what danger I was in. Even my solicitor, whom I'd summoned to help me, was concerned. He'd been told by the police that they feared I'd be badly hurt if I stayed in the locality and he advised me to leave the country altogether. I was now seriously frightened jumpy and constantly looking over my shoulder. But never in my wildest dreams could I have predicted what would happened next Adapted extract from An Accidental Icon: How I Dodged A Bullet, Spoke Truth To Power And Lived To Tell The Tale, by Norman Scott, published by Hodder & Stoughton on April 7 at 22. Norman Scott 2022. To order a copy for 19.80, visit mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937 by April 16. UK p&p free on orders over 20. A London-based socialite has made the astonishing claim that her husband, the former son-in-law of Vladimir Putin, has stolen their newborn daughter and is hiding her in Moscow. Zhanna Volkova, a Russian celebrity married to the country's 'youngest billionaire' Kirill Shamalov, says she has been prevented from meeting the baby, born via a surrogate in October. Ms Volkova claims an associate of her now-estranged husband has warned her off attempting to see the child. Shamalov, whose marriage to Putin's youngest daughter Katerina Tikhonova ended in 2013, is thought to remain close to the president. Ms Volkova and Shamalov married in 2018 and started trying for a child. After several failed rounds of IVF, they hired a surrogate through a Moscow-based agency. A London-based socialite has made the astonishing claim that her husband, the former son-in-law of Vladimir Putin, has stolen their newborn daughter and is hiding her in Moscow. Zhanna Volkova (pictured) , a Russian celebrity married to the country's 'youngest billionaire' Kirill Shamalov, says she has been prevented from meeting the baby, born via a surrogate in October. With the pregnancy approaching its final stages, the relationship with Shamalov (left) broke down and Ms Volkova left for London. She claims she was then cut out of the surrogacy. With the pregnancy approaching its final stages, the relationship with Shamalov broke down and Ms Volkova left for London. She claims she was then cut out of the surrogacy. The Moscow agency later informed her they no longer had contact with the surrogate carrying her child. 'I was stuck in London with Covid,' she said. 'As soon as I could, I flew to Moscow.' She went to the vast home they shared on the outskirts of the city. 'I waited for him for three days,' she said. Eventually he came home. 'He told me he has a new girlfriend but he did not want a divorce. He wanted to hurt me.' Ms Volkova, 44, says Shamalov's lawyers demanded she sign away her rights to see the baby. She refused. She says she was afraid and took the first flight out of Moscow. 'I heard he named her Anna, though we had agreed on Elizabeth after the Queen. Russian police don't want to know so I'm opening the case here in London.' Ms Volkova has been told Shamalov is in a relationship with fashion designer Anastasia Zadorina, daughter of a top FSB general. Last week Ms Zadorina was in Dubai at Shamalov's 40th birthday party. Shamalov, whose marriage to Putin's youngest daughter Katerina Tikhonova ended in 2013, is thought to remain close to the president Ms Volkova now lives in London with her twin sister and a teenage son from a previous marriage. She is divorcing Shamalov and has a prenuptial agreement worth 45million. She has only a 3D scan of her child. 'I live with this small picture. I want her to know she has a mother who didn't run away from her. He can keep the 45million. I just want to see her.' Shamalov did not respond to requests for comment. Four years ago I smashed my children's iPads. It had been such beautiful weather in Devon and I'd told the boys, then aged nine and 11, to get their wetsuits so we could head to the beach. But, glued to their screens, they'd ignored me. When I tried again, 20 minutes later, they were still on those flaming devices, and again, another 20 minutes later, they were still on them. So I grabbed one and knocked it against a coffee table, thinking how much I hated them. The screen went 'pop'. Oh God, I thought, I can't smash one and not the other. So that's what I did. There were terrible tears. 'Mum, how could you have done this?' they wailed. It was, without doubt, one of my worst parenting moments. By the age of six, one third of children in the UK own a mobile. It's 90 per cent by the time they hit 11, and by 15 almost every teenager has one, according to figures released by media regulator Ofcom last week. (Picture posed by models) But what ensued was one of those summers from heaven. We hung out together, spending days on the beach, playing chess and Monopoly in the evenings. I can't believe it happened, but it did. So when figures were released by media regulator Ofcom last week revealing the extent to which even very young children have mobile phones of their own, it hit a nerve. The report is truly disturbing. By the age of six, it said, one third of children in the UK own a mobile. It's 90 per cent by the time they hit 11, and by 15 almost every teenager has one. The BBC's economics editor, Faisal Islam, described the statistics as 'incredible' in a social media post, adding: 'Would be interested to know what it's like for those who hold out against it.' Well, as a parent who refused to cave in to my kids' demands for phones until my eldest turned 13, I can tell him it's very hard. I have huge sympathy for every parent waging a war against smartphones. I think the idea of giving one of these things to a child (and, personally, I think ten is the very minimum age) is preposterous. In a nutshell, we're handing our children over to Big Tech. Children are exposed not just to harmful content, such as pornography, but to social pressures of the kind that were unimaginable when we were young. For parents, meanwhile, there is of course the temptation to track their child's every move, adding to what becomes a burgeoning climate of fear (also unimaginable for those of us whose childhoods were more free-range). Kirstie Allsopp (above): I have huge sympathy for every parent waging a war against smartphones. I think the idea of giving one of these things to a child (and, personally, I think ten is the very minimum age) is preposterous There's huge pressure, too, to cave in to the demands of a hormonal pre-teen. In my house, it started when my eldest, Bay, was 11. 'When am I getting a smartphone?' he'd demand. Later, as I held firm, it became: 'Everyone in my class has one except me!' That was close to being true. By the time he was in Year 8 there were only three children without a phone, and he was one of them. Then I discussed the issue with another mother who also has boys, slightly older than mine. Her advice was to hold out until they were 13, and just about to go to senior school. They could then have a mobile phone in order to store all their old friends' numbers. It would help them to stay in touch. So that's what I did. My second son, Oscar, then 11, got one at the same time. (Bay said, charitably, this was fair enough.) But there are strict rules attached. The boys know those phones belong to me and that they use them with my permission. It's a privilege. Mobile phones will tell you where your children are, not who they're with or what they're doing. It's a completely false sense of security. (File image) They have to be handed over in the evenings and left to charge in the kitchen. The phones aren't allowed in their bedrooms with the door closed. We have phone-free days. I know their access codes and can pick them up at any point and look at what they've been doing. I don't invade their privacy but I know I can if they start to worry me. And, importantly, they know I can. That, for me, is essential. I'm always amazed at the number of parents who don't police their use, or check on who their children are talking to. Instead, parents use it to their advantage they suppose by harnessing the smartphone technology to track their children. But what has made us think that sleuthing after our own children is a good idea? When we were children, my brother and I would take a honey sandwich and a bottle filled with orange squash and disappear on our bicycles all day. It would never have occurred to my mother to need to know where we were at every moment. Of course, times have changed. But what is the greater danger something hypothetical happening to your child outside the home, or the well-established risks to children from having constant access to the internet, Big Tech firms and screen time? Mobile phones will tell you where your children are, not who they're with or what they're doing. It's a completely false sense of security. The greater danger to my children comes from spending too much time inside, scrolling on their phones. There's that constant sense of FOMO fear of missing out that comes with being updated all the time about what their friends are up to without them. There are always people on better holidays, with better clothes. They're exposed to filters on social media channels that alter the way they think they're supposed to look. Then there are the algorithms. In my case, I'm bombarded with emotional overload. I'm constantly offered videos of fathers returning home from the Army or deaf babies hearing for the first time. I get pictures of what the Duchess of Cambridge is wearing and chopped salad recipes, because that's what I'm interested in and tend to share with others. For kids, if a sexist joke or silly stereotype makes them laugh and they share it, they'll be sent 20 more poor-taste memes. It reinforces and refines what they can see, and therefore what they believe. I do my best. I don't let my children have notifications or alerts switched on, so their phones don't ring or rattle every single time a new message arrives on social media sites such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. And the phones aren't wholly bad. The boys get a lot of news on them, which means they're well-informed on current affairs. Smartphones allow them access to a world of films and music, and it's a genuine pleasure watching their enthusiasm as they discover new things. But today, when I ask them whether I was right to wait before handing out the mobiles, they agree wholeheartedly. We talk about the dangers we all face online and they understand why the boundaries are there. My children know that I trust them but also that I'll look after them. And that's why it's worth holding out for a while, however much they complain. The Federal Election Commission's investigation into Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's campaign found that it and her former chief of staff did not 'properly' disclose about $1 million in expenses - but a bipartisan panel voted to give them a pass, according to filings. The National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), a conservative watchdog group, had alleged in 2019 that Ocasio-Cortez's former chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti, funneled more than $1 million in contributions to Democrats through two PACs he controlled during her run for Congress in 2018. While the FEC found that Chakrabarti did, in fact, fail to 'properly disclose the purpose of the disbursements' made to the Brand New Congress and Justice Democrats PACs, a panel of three Democrats and three Republicans decided to dismiss the NLPC's complaint, according to filings made public this week. The investigation ultimately found that any cash transfers from the two PACs that appeared to violate the $5,000 contribution limit to federal candidates, including one made to Ocasio-Cortez, were not accepted and returned. According to the FEC's investigation, Ocasio-Cortez's campaign received a $5,650 contribution in 2018, but the campaign, like others who received excessive gifts, refunded the cash. The details of the FEC's decision, however, come more than 30 days after it closed the matter on February 27, in what the NLPC claimed was an effort to avoid a legal challenge by the group, which had filed its charges against the FEC last month. The Federal Election Commission's investigation into U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's (pictured) campaign found it and her former chief of staff did not 'properly' disclose about $1 million in expenses during her run for Congress in 2018 Ocasio-Cortez's former chief of staff, Saikat Chakrabarti (left), was accused of funneling more than $1 million in contributions to Democrats to two PACs he controlled The FEC investigation detailed the monetary contributions Chakrabarti made through his LLC. It dismissed the complaints as they found any improper gifts were returned Paul Kamenar, NLPC counsel, slammed the FEC for its decision, telling the New York Post: 'The FEC has gone after a whole host of people whose violations are dwarfed by the scale of this scheme. It appears to be not prosecutorial discretion, but prosecutorial favoritism.' NLPC Chair Peter Flaherty said he received a letter from the FEC in February stating that the agency had dismissed the group's complaint and closed the case. The watchdog group filed a lawsuit against the FEC last Friday for its dismissal of the case and for failing to provide a proper explanation within 30 days of reaching its decision. Normally a suit would be filed after the details of the case were disclosed, allowing only a 30-day window for the decision to be challenged, but because the FEC waited for more than a month to disclose the details, the FEC filed their suit last week. 'It was highly irregular for the FEC to release its statement of reasons after the deadline for us to file suit,' Tom Anderson, director of the NLPC's Government Integrity Project, told the Post. Ocasio-Cortez has repeatedly denied any allegations of violating campaign finance laws. Chakrabarti now works as president of New Consensus, a think tank based in Silicon Valley. He helped found both the Brand New Congress PAC and Justice Democrats, with the goal of bringing new and progressive members like Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described Democratic socialist, to Congress. After starting Brand New Congress, he formed a Delaware-based LLC, Brand New Campaign LLC. Shifting the funds avoided detailed disclosure requirements of itemized expenses. Chakrabarti (right), a tech millionaire, worked as a leader in Ocasio-Cortez's campaign and served as her chief of staff in 2019 Among those who received disbursements from Brand New Congress LLC in 2018 were Democratic congressional candidates Adrienne Bell, of Texas; Anthony Clark, of Illinois; Chardo Richardson, of Florida; Ryan Stone, of Texas; U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, of Missouri; Hector Morales, of Texas; Michael Hepburn, of Florida; Houston City Councilwoman Letitia Plummer, of Texas; Paula Swearengin, of West Virginia; Paul Perry, of Pennsylvania; Robert Ryerse, of Arkansas, and Sarah Smith, of Washington, according to the filings. Ocasio-Cortez's office and Chakrabarti did not immediately return DailyMail.com's request for comment. One person has been hospitalized and six others suffered minor injuries in a multi-car crash on the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday afternoon. Police say the crash occurred just before 3 p.m. and shut down all eastbound lanes for hours as crews worked to clear the scene of debris. Authorities also told DailyMail.com a 30-year-old male was taken to Bellevue Hospital with critical injuries and six others were treated at the scene for more minor injuries. The victim at the hospital is expected to survive, police said. On Twitter, the New York Police Department warned drivers to steer clear of the area and take alternative routes, as traffic remained at a standstill for hours. Police told DailyMail.com that the scene was still not cleared by 5:30 p.m. Photos obtained by DailyMail.com of the aftermath show at least three vehicles suffering from varying degrees of damage - including one black sedan that was completely overturned. New York City police officers were on the scene of the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday afternoon to assess the damage from a multi-vehicle crash At least three cars were involved in the crash, resulting in one person being taken to the local hospital while six others were treated on the scene for more minor injuries Photos obtained by DailyMail.com show a black SUV with its passenger side and roof smashed in in the aftermath of the crash Another vehicle was completely overturned on the eastbound lanes of the bridge The black sedan's trunk was open, with its drivers' side window smashed and its back bumper strewn across the eastbound lanes Another black sedan suffered major damage to its rear end, with the rearview window completely gone and the front window shattered Police are now investigating the cause of the crash, which remained uncleared through Saturday evening The car's trunk appeared to be smashed in, with its driver's side window broken and an airbag deployed. Debris, including the car's back bumper, were strewn across the eastbound lanes of the bridge - which sees about 116,000 vehicles crossing it each day, according to the New York Department of Transportation. Just a few feet away, a black SUV could be seen with its passenger side door completely smashed in, and broken windows. The top of the car also seemed to be dented inward. Another photo obtained by DailyMail.com seemed to show a third black sedan with its rear end completely smashed inward, leaving the rearview window broken and its back bumper falling off as the front window was shattered. It remains unclear what had transpired in the moments leading up to the crash, which is currently under investigation by the NYPD. Eastbound traffic was in a standstill for hours following the crash Saturday night The Ukrainian teacher who was blinded in a Russian missile attack has had her sight partially restored after an intricate three-hour operation. Olena Kurylo was told she might never be able to see again following the assault on her home in the city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, just hours into the invasion. But after The Mail on Sunday helped her escape the besieged city, skilled surgeons last week managed to restore a significant portion of her vision. 'I felt a joy that I haven't felt since the war started,' the 52-year-old said after hearing the remarkable results of the operation. 'All I could think at that moment was that I would be able to live a normal life and be useful.' Olena Kurylo leaves hospital with her daughter Katya after her successful eye surgery in Katowice, Poland Medics had told her she risked losing her right eye and potentially even her life without the surgery. Astonishingly, after a gruelling three-and-a-half-hour operation, doctors restored almost a third of her eye's sight, and hope it may improve further. Harrowing photographs showing Olena with her injured eye bandaged and her face bloodied were beamed around the world last month. She was injured when a missile exploded outside her home, sending shards of glass from shattered windows into her face. Mail on Sunday reporters helped her flee to the Polish city of Katowice, where she could get the vital medical attention. She braved the surgery at the Medical University of Silesia on Tuesday with only local anaesthetic. 'As the surgeon was taking glass from under my eyelid, I heard the pieces drop into the metal plate below, she said. 'I wanted to cry but I am Ukrainian and I am strong in spirit. Throughout the surgery, I kept thinking that I have become a symbol of hope for many people, so I have no right to be weak and that gave me strength.' Olena Kurylo sits on her bed in a ward of the Ophthalmology Clinic at the University Clinical Centre Katowice as she awaits her surgery to save her right eye after it was severely injured during Russian shelling on her home in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine The operation involved replacing the natural lens in her eye with an artificial one, draining fluid that had built up behind her eye, pinning down her detached retina and filling the eye with silicone oil. Few patients recover any of their sight following the procedure, but Olena said: 'Even before they pumped in the oil, I started to see shapes and the hands of the surgeon. I started to cry with happiness and said, 'I can see.' ' It wasn't until the following day that consultant Dr Michal Bogocz confirmed that some of her sight had been permanently restored. 'This is pretty amazing,' he told her. 'No one expected that you would see 30 per cent. The surgeon's work is a masterpiece.' Olena now faces weeks of recovery and eventually a second operation to remove the silicone. 'I believe I will get most of my vision back,' she said. 'I will be forever grateful to everyone who has helped me.' After being discharged from hospital clutching her daughter Katya's hand, she broke news of the successful surgery to her husband Mykola, 54, who is still hiding near Kharkiv After being discharged from hospital clutching her daughter Katya's hand, she broke news of the successful surgery to her husband Mykola, 54, who is still hiding near Kharkiv. 'It's hard for me to know that he is in danger and that I am here,' said Olena, who is half-Russian. 'And it's hard for him that he can't be by my side. But I want to show people that you shouldn't give up. 'Putin can destroy material things, but he can't destroy our spirit.' Olena added: 'As soon as I am better I will try and be useful for Ukraine maybe by volunteering and perhaps helping people get back to the life they had before the bombings.' Last week a portrait of Olena, drawn by the American artist Zhenya Gershamn, was sold for $100,000 at Heritage Auctions one of the biggest auction houses in the world. All of the money will be used to help Ukraine. Additional reporting: Svetlana Skarbo Sir Keir Starmer has been plunged into a political row over a treasonous Labour frontbencher who said he would be quite happy if Russian hackers knocked out Britains nuclear deterrent. In footage obtained by The Mail on Sunday, Fabian Hamilton, who serves as Sir Keirs Shadow Minister for Peace and Disarmament, tells a political rally that Russian hackers can already hack into the software controlling Trident, our independent nuclear deterrent, adding: Id be quite happy about that. Last night, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace condemned Mr Hamilton, 66, for siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin, who put his nuclear forces on special combat readiness shortly after invading Ukraine in February. Labour shadow peace and disarmament minister Fabian Hamilton said he would be 'happy' if Vladimir Putin's Russian hackers infiltrated Trident the UK's independent nuclear deterrent Hamilton made the incendiary comments during the 2019 Labour party conference in Brighton Mr Wallace said Sir Keir should sack Mr Hamilton, adding: It is one thing to disagree with the UKs possession of nuclear weapons, but to take the side of a man who has deployed chemical weapons and who is responsible for bombing civilians in Ukraine is treasonous. He added that it was a test of leadership for Sir Keir, who faced criticism last year for failing to sack Angela Rayner when she called Tory voters scum. Starmer took no action when his deputy leader called Tory voters scum, Mr Wallace said. Keir Starmer (pictured yesterday) was urged to sack Mr Hamilton for the 'treasonous' remarks Trident missiles (pictured in a 1999 launch) make up the UK's independent nuclear deterrent Mr Hamilton has also been criticised for hosting an antisemitic Jordanian MP in Parliament Will he do nothing when one of his own Shadow Ministers backs Britains enemies? A spokesman for Mr Hamilton described Mr Wallaces demands as ludicrous, adding: Labours historic commitment to our nuclear deterrent is steadfast. Vladimir Putins illegal and unprovoked war in Ukraine cannot be allowed to turn nuclear. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN UKRAINE As Ukrainian forces retook the entire region around Kyiv, the countrys president Volodymyr Zelensky accused retreating Russian troops of rigging corpses with explosive booby traps. The mayor of Bucha, a commuter town outside Kyiv, said 280 bodies had been found in mass graves, adding: All these people were shot, killed, in the back of the head. There was cautious optimism about the prospect of face-to-face peace talks in Turkey between Mr Zelensky and Putin. Officials at Luton Airport seized a Gulfstream jet linked to the leader of the infamous Wagner mercenary group deployed to Ukraine by Putin as it was preparing to leave Britain. Russias ambassador to the UK threatened to target British weapons as they are shipped to Ukraine after footage emerged of a UK-made Starstreak missile shooting down a Russian helicopter. Amid horrifying tales of Russian brutality in the occupied city of Kherson, Putins forces violently dispersed a pro-Ukraine rally in Enerhodar, another southern Ukrainian town and the location of a large nuclear power plant. The Red Cross today hopes to launch another bid to evacuate some of the 170,000 people trapped in the besieged coastal city of Mariupol, where supplies of food, water and medicines are desperately low. Olena Kurylo, a Ukrainian teacher who was blinded in a Russian missile attack, has had her sight partially restored after The Mail on Sunday arranged for her to have surgery in Poland Advertisement Mr Hamilton, who made his remarks at a CND rally in September 2019 when he was both a Shadow Defence Minister and Shadow Foreign Office Minister under Jeremy Corbyns leadership, was quoting a former senior Labour colleague who was in Tony Blairs Cabinet, who had said nuclear weapons were utterly useless because Russian hackers can already hack into the software systems that control these weapons. Now, I dont know enough about this to know whether thats true or not, Mr Hamilton said. But imagine for a minute that it is true. Not that they could actually set the weapons off, but that they could render them entirely useless. 'Well, Id be quite happy about that, he said, before being careful to add: As long as we could do the same to theirs. Mr Wallace said: He is bordering on encouraging criminal activity a dangerous man who is putting ideology above our public safety and playing with fire. Starmer should sack him. In his speech, Mr Hamilton also argued that there was never a better time for Britain to give up its nuclear weapons. On the day Russia invaded Ukraine Putin gave a warning which was widely interpreted as a threat to use nuclear weapons. He said: No matter who tries to stand in our way or all the more so create threats for our country and our people, they must know that Russia will respond immediately, and the consequences will be such as you have never seen in your entire history. Mr Hamiltons appointment in 2016 was ridiculed by the Tories, with one MP saying: Its a complete absurdity to appoint a Minister for Peace. 'What are they going to do, go around and be nice to people? That is not the way the world works. We face a pretty unprecedented time of international tension. Its simply peacenik Corbyn posturing and putting the nations defence at risk. The Trident leak is not the first time Mr Hamilton has been involved in controversy. In 2019, he welcomed Yahya Al-Saud into the Palace of Westminster. Al-Saud is a Jordanian MP who has made virulently antisemitic comments and was notorious for praising terrorism in Palestine. And in 2009, Mr Hamilton was at the centre of an expenses furore after The Mail on Sunday revealed he had spent more than 14,000 of taxpayers money on 13 computers in just four years. Trapped in Ukraine and with her vital supply of insulin almost exhausted, diabetic seven-year-old Weronica was in danger of falling seriously ill. Thankfully, help was at hand from the Red Cross, whose work is partly funded by donations from generous Mail on Sunday readers. Red Cross medics in Poland arranged for emergency vials of insulin to be delivered to Weronica, who was 170 miles away in the town of Dubno, and for a prescription that will provide her with a two-month supply of the drug. 'She is so happy. She is so grateful for the help,' said family friend Tatiana, 39, who appealed for assistance when she arrived at Przemysl train station in Poland, having left Weronica and her distraught mother behind in Dubno. It took Tatiana two days to reach Poland, travelling by car, foot and train. She arrived at the border with two of her sons and her husband, a priest, who returned to Dubno with the insulin. Red Cross medics in Poland arranged for emergency vials of insulin to be delivered to Weronica (pictured), who was 170 miles away in the town of Dubno, and for a prescription that will provide her with a two-month supply of the drug 'My own children are safe now, so I must do all I can to help Weronica,' Tatiana said. 'My husband has taken the medications back to Ukraine. As a priest, he feels it is his duty to stand by the people of Ukraine.' The record-breaking Mail Force Appeal has given the Red Cross 500,000 to support its efforts to get food, water, medicine and other essentials to those affected by the conflict. Readers have inundated the appeal with more than 70,000 cheques and a flood of online donations since it was launched five weeks ago. The total raised has reached a staggering 10.4 million. The appeal was kick-started with a 500,000 donation from The Mail on Sunday and Daily Mail parent company, DMGT, at the personal request of chairman Lord Rothermere and his wife Lady Rothermere. Like many of the four million refugees who have fled Ukraine, Tatiana described the terror of missile strikes. 'We saw our neighbourhood bombarded. We were terrified. Especially the children. They saw missiles dropping from the sky. 'We knew we had to go straight to the basement, but the children just froze. As soon as there was an opportunity to leave, we packed what we could carry and we ran.' Mother-of-three Grazyna arrived at Przemysl with her 18-year-old son Marian on the same day as Tatiana. Marian is a student at the Krakow University of Technology in Poland but was trapped in Ukraine because he was visiting his mother when the fighting started. He was twice refused permission to leave the country but was finally allowed to flee with Grazyna after Ukrainian authorities announced that those studying abroad could return to their studies. 'I have never been so happy,' Grazyna said. 'I have two older daughters already studying in Poland so I know as soon as my son joins them they will be safe.' Mail Force aid to help homesick children By Scarlet Howes for the Mail on Sunday Ukrainian women who fled Putin's invasion are being trained to work as teachers in Polish schools so that they can help child refugees thanks to Mail Force. Olha Borodavka, 32, escaped from the north-west of her homeland a month ago with her seven-year-old daughter and ten-year-old son and is now teaching six-year-olds at a school in the Polish city of Lublin. Speaking to The Mail on Sunday yesterday, she said: 'On my first day a little boy came over to me and asked me if I was from Ukraine. When I said yes he started crying. I told him it was my mission to help him. The children wait for me every morning with a cuddle.' Olha was hired as a teacher as part of a project involving Care International, which has received a 500,000 donation from Mail Force. She is one of 50 refugees who have found jobs in Lublin's schools. 'I am grateful to be accepted into the homes and lives of the Polish, but I need independence,' she added. 'This job has at least given me that and I am so grateful as otherwise I would have nothing.' Care is working with its partner the Polish Centre for International Aid (PCPM) and various city councils. The women work six hours a day, five days a week and are paid the equivalent of 29 per day Care is working with its partner the Polish Centre for International Aid (PCPM) and various city councils. The women work six hours a day, five days a week and are paid the equivalent of 29 per day. A spokeswoman for the charity last night hailed the generosity of readers of The Mail on Sunday and Daily Mail, who have helped raise more than 10 million for Mail Force. 'Thanks to the generosity of Mail on Sunday and Daily Mail readers, Care has partnered PCPM and municipalities like Lublin to hire refugee Ukrainian teachers in Polish schools,' she said. 'This not only gives the teachers a much needed income, but also helps Ukrainian children, who are often vulnerable and in some cases traumatised, to better integrate into school with Polish children.' Tatiana Krasilnyk, 48, from Chernihiv, a town in northern Ukraine, fled the fighting in a truck with 26 other people. 'I was with three other families all teachers during my journey,' she said. 'I am the only one who has a job. I am crying with gratitude.' Natalia Pradko, 35, also from northern Ukraine, said her new job as a teacher was helping her 'get back a sense of normality'. She added: 'It's such a great opportunity for me but also for the children. They have someone to talk to in their native language about their emotions and feelings and us teachers can help them with understanding those thoughts.' Another refugee teacher, Olha Snihur, 42, agreed that it is crucial that Ukrainian children who have fled to Poland are able to speak to others about their experiences. 'They want to speak and communicate with Polish children, but they can't and they are afraid. I can help them with that, which means the world to me. We aren't just teachers, we are a bit of home.' Jacob Rees-Mogg is at the centre of a Government row over plans to make tech giants such as Google and Facebook pay newspapers and other media outlets for using their stories amid claims the Cabinet Minister had been framed for delaying the legislation. The Digital Competition Bill has been drafted to give legal powers to a new Digital Markets Unit (DMU), which is intended to ensure that social media companies pay fairly for news publishers content and dont stifle all competition in digital advertising. The Bill was due to be introduced in the Queens Speech in May and debated in the subsequent parliamentary session, but senior Government sources say it is now unlikely to be passed into law until late 2023. Jacob Rees-Mogg is at the centre of a Government row over plans to make tech giants such as Google and Facebook pay newspapers and other media outlets for using their stories amid claims the Cabinet Minister had been framed for delaying the legislation The sources claimed it was being blocked by Mr Rees-Mogg, the Brexit Opportunities Minister, on the grounds that it was poorly drafted and because he objected on principle to over-regulation. The delay means planned EU regulation to prevent large companies abusing their market power in Europe is likely to become law before the UKs version. However, the claim was denied last night by allies of Mr Rees-Mogg, who said he was in favour of the Bill but was being framed by Government figures who wanted to give priority to legislation paving the way for the privatisation of Channel 4. One ally said: No 10 told Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries that there wasnt enough legislative time for both measures. When he was still Leader of the House, Jacob queried whether the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport could deal with its various legislation from a time-table point of view, but he has no objection to this Bill at all. Because they know the delay will be unpopular with the media, they are trying to frame Jacob for it. Mr Rees-Mogg himself said: I am not responsible for the legislative programme as I am no longer leader of the House. I am not involved with this Bill. The Bill was due to be introduced in the Queens Speech in May and debated in the subsequent parliamentary session, but senior Government sources say it is now unlikely to be passed into law until late 2023 The Digital Competition plans are modelled on a system that has been introduced in Australia under which the platforms are encouraged to negotiate payment deals with news organisations. If the negotiations fail, an independent arbitrator sets a fair price. Ms Dorries said in February that she was looking to introduce Australia plus plus and Australia with bolts on, because regulating so-called Big Tech would help Britains media organisations survive in an era in which most consumers have grown used to getting their news for free online. She added that she had seen the pervasiveness of Big Tech when she was a Health Minister and I see what its doing to our democracy and our press from this department. Ms Dorries has told her officials that the DMU should be given robust powers to drive fair terms between publishers and platforms by introducing a binding arbitration, and be explicitly granted new powers to act swiftly and effectively where the regulator finds that a platform has not offered fair and reasonable remuneration for its use of publisher content. The DMU is also likely to be tasked with investigating the algorithms used by search engines such as Google, which many news organisations believe are manipulated to direct search enquiries disproportionately towards Left-leaning news organisations and filter how people read and access news to the detriment of quality, paid-for journalism. The Digital Markets Unit is also being given powers to levy large fines on online companies to prevent customers or companies from being treated unfairly and to make tech firms give smaller rivals access to their vast troves of data. Google and Facebook took about four-fifths of the 14 billion spent on digital advertising in the United Kingdom in 2019, while national and local newspapers took less than four per cent. Facebook argues that it already helps to support UK publishers by paying tens of millions of pounds to national and local outlets to be part of Facebook News, and as part of the Community News Project, which funds 80 trainee reporters in newsrooms across the country. Princess Beatrice has complained to friends she was blindsided by revelations that an alleged Turkish fraudster provided a 750,000 'wedding gift' ahead of her marriage. The 33-year-old had no idea that anyone outside her family had sought to contribute to the cost of her wedding to Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi in July 2020 before lurid reports making the allegation appeared last week. A friend of the Princess last night insisted: 'She knew nothing about this, poor thing.' The wedding took place at the Royal Chapel in Windsor during the pandemic and, in order to meet Covid-19 rules, was attended by only 20 people. Documents from a complex fraud case last week revealed that the mysterious 750,000 gift was transferred to the Coutts bank account of Beatrice's father, Prince Andrew, at the request of a Turkish businessman called Selman Turk. Documents from a complex fraud case last week revealed that the mysterious 750,000 gift was transferred to the Coutts bank account of Beatrice's father, Prince Andrew, at the request of a Turkish businessman called Selman Turk Beatrice has confided in friends that she is upset at her name is being linked to a fraud case and has no idea who Mr Turk is. The purpose of the 750,000 'wedding gift' payment remains unclear The papers say that, in addition, Beatrice's sister Eugenie was paid 25,000 at the behest of Mr Turk and that her mother, Sarah Ferguson, received payments of at least 225,000 from him for work that she had carried out for a US firm called Pegasus Group Holdings. Prince Andrew received a separate sum of 350,000 from Mr Turk, the papers state. Mr Turk, an ex-Goldman Sachs banker, is being sued by Nebahat Evyap Isbilen, a millionairess who fled Turkey for Britain after her MP husband was jailed. Mrs Isbilen, 77, claims Mr Turk stole 40 million from her. Of that sum, she alleges about 1.1 million went to Andrew and his family. The papers say that, in addition, Beatrice's sister Eugenie was paid 25,000 at the behest of Mr Turk and that her mother, Sarah Ferguson, received payments of at least 225,000 from him for work that she had carried out for a US firm called Pegasus Group Holdings There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by the Prince or his family and they are not central to the case, which is at an early stage. Beatrice has confided in friends that she is upset at her name is being linked to a fraud case and has no idea who Mr Turk is. The purpose of the 750,000 'wedding gift' payment remains unclear. The marriage service was small and there was no large party of the kind that her younger sister had enjoyed after she married Jack Brooksbank in October 2018. In court papers, Mrs Isbilen alleges she was tricked by Mr Turk into paying Andrew because he had helped her obtain a passport to leave Turkey and enter Britain. There is no suggestion the Prince offered such assistance and he repaid the money transferred to his Coutts account to Mrs Isbilen in November 2019. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by the Prince or his family and they are not central to the case, which is at an early stage In court papers, Mrs Isbilen alleges she was tricked by Mr Turk (pictured) into paying Andrew because he had helped her obtain a passport to leave Turkey and enter Britain The Daily Mail revealed yesterday that Mrs Isbilen's bank telephoned the Prince's office before the transfer was made to ask what the money was for. According to a transcript, Andrew's then private secretary, Amanda Thirsk, said: 'It's a gift for the wedding, a wedding gift.' Mrs Thirsk said this weekend that she could not remember the conversation, adding: 'As a person of integrity, I would not be involved in anything improper.' The Prince has so far declined to comment due to the court proceedings, but it has been pointed out that Mr Turk attended an event at Buckingham Palace for Pitch@Palace, the Duke's Dragons' Den-style mentoring network, nine days before the transfer of the 750,000. Mr Turk, 35, who won an award at the event, has strongly denied Mrs Isbilen's allegations. The Mail on Sunday has uncovered that police are still using the drones Ukraine's Vice PM called for DJI to switch off devices being used by Russian military to guide missiles Was sanctioned by US over human rights abuses and deemed a security threat Police forces are using drones made by a Chinese firm accused of supplying the machines to guide Russian missiles, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. DJI Technology, also known as Shenzen DJI Science and Technologies, provides drones to police forces across Britain. The firm, which has been sanctioned in the US over human rights abuses and assessed as a national security threat, has been accused of supplying drones to Russia to guide missiles at Ukrainian targets including civilians. Ukrainian vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov wrote a letter to DJI calling for the company to use its capability to switch off devices being used in Ukraine by the Russian military. Police forces are using drones made by a Chinese firm accused of supplying the machines to guide Russian missiles DJI Technology, which provides drones to police forces across Britain, has been sanctioned in the US over human rights abuses and assessed as a national security threat Now The Mail on Sunday has uncovered that police are still using the drones despite the US Treasury stating in December that DJI, first sanctioned in 2020, was complicit in human rights abuses because it 'has provided drones to the Xinjiang Public Security Bureau, which are used to surveil Uyghurs in Xinjiang'. Separately, the US Department of Defense has deemed the firm's drones a national security threat, citing fears that China could access data collected by the devices. They are used for frontline policing, including monitoring major public events, protests, roads policing and pursuing suspects. Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, of the China Research Group, said: 'First DJI drones callously allows its technology to aid and abet the genocide of the Uyghur people in China, now it has blood in its hands once again as its drones are killing innocent Ukrainians. 'Be in no doubt that DJI fully endorses the Russian invasion and slaughter of innocents: this week it refused to deactivate or divert drones murdering our Ukrainian friends. 'We urgently need to get a grip on biometric surveillance technologies in this country, and I expect the police to launch an immediate review of surveillance procurement policies to rip out those complicit in slavery and human rights abuses.' Ukrainian vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov wrote a letter to DJI calling for the company to use its capability to switch off devices being used in Ukraine by the Russian military Fraser Sampson, the Government's independent Biometrics and Surveillance Camera Commissioner for England and Wales, expressed concern, adding that forces must take into account 'human rights and security considerations' when 'choosing surveillance partners.' Forces using DJI drones include the Metropolitan Police, Nottinghamshire, Kent, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Police Scotland, the Police Service of Northern Ireland, West Midlands and West Yorkshire, among others. In 2020 Derbyshire Police sparked controversy after it tasked drones to monitor dog walkers in the Peak District during the first covid-19 lockdown. A survey last year for UK Drone Watch found 60 per cent of people were worried about the effects of drone use on privacy and civil liberties. Deputy Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, the National Police Chiefs' Council lead for unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) said: 'While procurement remains a matter for each Chief Constable, the security of the drones has been looked at by the service and it is, of course, very important to us. 'We continue to evolve our approach to operational drone use and will always consider security as part of any deployment. 'This is an ongoing process, involving law enforcement and intelligence partners, including the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure. 'Police take all possible steps to protect and keep secure the data obtained by using drones.' A DJI spokeswoman said it was not possible to simply switch off products bought by the Russian military 'as all of these products can be operated without internet connection' and that it 'deplore[s] any use of our products that might cause people harm.' Online pornography is as dangerous to youngsters as handing them a weapon, the Childrens Commissioner has warned. Dame Rachel de Souza said the nation will one day reflect with horror at the ease with which children can currently access extreme sexual images on the internet. Well look back in 20 years and be absolutely stunned that our children were exposed to so much harm online, she said. I wouldnt leave a weapon laying around in the offline world and yet were doing something equally as dangerous in the online world. Dame Rachel de Souza said the nation will one day reflect with horror at the ease with which children can currently access extreme sexual images on the internet Im seeing eight-year-olds and nine-year-olds a massive percentage of underage children on these websites and social media... If parents actually knew what their children were seeing they would be really worried. With almost half of children exposed to inappropriate content on social media and free-to-use websites, Dame Rachel is urging the Government to crack down on porn purveyors. Laws planned as part of the forthcoming Online Safety Bill will require porn websites to verify the age of users, but critics say its not enough. The former headmistress, who has called for tech bosses to face personal fines and even prison if they break such rules, recalled harrowing stories on online abuse. I was so concerned that I got a group of 16 to 21-year-olds and brought them to the Department for Education and asked them about their experiences of online harms, she told The Mail on Sunday. There was one girl who talked to me about her first kiss with a boyfriend and how he put his arms around her neck and tried to choke her. It was her first kiss. He had been watching porn and thought that was what you do. With almost half of children exposed to inappropriate content on social media and free-to-use websites, Dame Rachel is urging the Government to crack down on porn purveyors. A stock image is used above Another young girl described being harassed for naked selfies up to ten times a night. The difference is that when I was at school something might happen... but we could go home and it was over, whereas it is 24/7 now, said Dame Rachel, a mother-of-one who was appointed Childrens Commissioner a year ago. In a wide-ranging interview ahead of the launch of her Cabinet Office-commissioned review into family life in England, she warned that a perceived wokification of schools over issues such as lessons about the British empire should not stymie debate. Its really important that we ensure children are taught really well and know when we are looking at an argument and showing both sides of an argument, she said. We must say, This is a contentious issue and there are two sides to this. We need to be making it really clear if we are teaching something as a fact or a truth... or if there is something where we are having a debate about it and were looking at the two sides. She added: I am very supportive of some of the moves weve made in the curriculum in the last ten years, but we also have to be really careful about I dont want to say indoctrination but we must avoid that at all costs. The daughter of a Scunthorpe steelworker father and Hungarian refugee mother, Dame Rachel, 54, worked in schools for 30 years, carving out a reputation as a traditionalist who insisted on discipline. She banned mobile phones in classrooms and famously deployed teachers to drag children out of bed to attend classes. She is determined to act on the estimated 100,000 ghost children who have vanished from the education system since the start of the pandemic, and is working with the Government to introduce a unique identifier number for each child to help track missing youngsters. Reflecting on her childhood, Dame Rachel said there were times when she and her siblings would rely on free school meals and didnt know where dinner was coming from. She added, however, that what her parents lacked financially, they made up for in love a quality that she believes passionately is the bedrock of family life. When children talk to me about family, thats what theyre talking about, she said. Theyre talking about love and that is what it is all about. I think it somehow inoculates children from some of the harms they face. Dame Rachel whose grandfather was a Ukrainian journalist expelled from his homeland during the Soviet era will this week visit sick children evacuated from Ukraine to Britain. Any child that comes into this country, Ive got an interest in, she said. French President Emmanuel Macron's support has seen a tumble just a week before the election as Marine Le Pen surges in the polls. In the wake of his shrinking lead, Prime Minister Jean Castex went on the attack, warning voters the new 'centrist' image of perennial far-right challenger Le Pen is a 'sham' and that she 'hasn't changed'. Castex told reporters: 'She makes people believe that she has changed. She makes people believe that she has become more flexible, more centrist almost. But it's a sham, she hasn't changed.' 'The election of Marine Le Pen would be a catastrophe for this country'. Recent polling, which had previously put Macron well ahead, suggests he would now win by just 53 per cent to 47 per cent against Le Pen in a second round presidential run-off. Macron had enjoyed a mid-March high of 14 point lead over Le Pen in first round polling, but now it is down to just eight points. Marine Le Pen campaigning on the Haguenau market yesterday. Her support has seen a bounce in recent weeks in a blow for current French President Emmanuel Macron President Emmanuel Macron visiting Dijon at the Maison-Phare for an exchange with associative actors. Macron is still the favourite to win a second term in the French elections this April Le Pen and her National Rally party - formerly the National Front - have moved away from their usual agenda of anti-immigration and anti-EU this election. Instead she has focused on the cost of living crisis and policies such as cutting fuel taxes, and voters have responded. But Castex was dismissive of her new policy shift. 'We are in a serious crisis. It is not easy to govern a country like France.' He added: 'Her programme has changed a lot, because the idea is to attract people, but basically the values that we know in the National Rally, in the Le Pen family, are the same.' Macron delivers a speech during a campaign visit in Fouras, western France, on March 31, 2022. He had enjoyed a mid-March high of 14 point lead over Le Pen in first round polling, but now it is down to just eight points Emmanuel Macron's estimated margin of victory over Marine Le Pen (pictured) is narrowing sharply as the election approaches, polls published this week suggest But with a little over a week to go until the first round elections on April 10, it is looking like it will be Le Pen to face off against Macron in the second round once again, in a re-run of the 2017 elections which Macron won with 66 per cent of the vote to 34 per cent. The French elections are dividied into two rounds, with only the top two candidates advancing to a second round runoff. The nearest other contender is the hard-Left Jean-Luc Melenchon, who trails her by up to seven per cent. The Telegraph report that one survey published by Le Monde this week said the number of people seeing Ms Le Pen as a threat has dropped two points since January, to 51 per cent. Half of all people surveyed said they would not vote for her under any circumstances, but that was fewer than those who refused to back Mr Melenchon and fellow far-right candidate Eric Zemmour, who was seen as Le Pen's likeliest rival. Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine has dealt a blow to the far-right cause across Europe, which is seen to be ideologically aligned with the Russian dictator, and boosted Macron because of his handling of the diplomatic crisis caused by the war. Macron can rest easy to some extent, as Le Pen will still face an uphill battle to unseat him if she does make it to the second round, as the current president is polled to take over fifty percent of the vote. A Ukrainian drone captured what appears to be yet another ambush as a column of Russian armour is decimated, this time outside Kyiv. Numerous tanks can be seen blowing up under a Ukrainian assault on the outskirts of Dmytrivka. A follow up video filmed by a person on the ground driving through the aftermath showed wreckages of what are thought to be BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles and T-72 main battle tanks. The Ukrainians struck as Russian forces beat a retreat from Kyiv and the north of Ukraine, with the Kremlin saying earlier this week it would reduce military activity near the Ukrainian capital and the northern city of Chernihiv. A UAV captures the moment a tank is hit and destroyed near the Kyiv suburb of Dmytrivka A drone captures wreckages of what are thought to be BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles and T-72 main battle tanks The Ukrainians struck as Russian forces beat a retreat from Kyiv and the north of Ukraine More than 30 settlements have been reclaimed with Vladimir Putin's forces retreating up to 25 miles in places. But officials urged caution, saying the movement is part of Russia's 'tactics' to encircle Ukrainian troops in Donbas and split the country in two. Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg said: 'Russian units are not withdrawing but repositioning.' Among the towns back under Ukrainian control last night were Hostomel, where Moscow had hoped to gain the airport to ease taking control of Kyiv, Chernihiv in the north, and Chernobyl, where Putin's forces were heading across the border to Belarus. Another tank explodes in an enormous fireball as Russian forces are ambushed while they withdraw from the Kyiv surroundings Footage captures the general devasation of the region around Dmytrivka as the battle rages A local person captured the aftermath of the destruction as they drove through the shattered tank wreckages Early on Saturday, Zelensky warned his people that retreating Russian forces were creating 'a complete disaster' outside the capital as they leave mines across 'the whole territory,' including around homes and corpses. Zelensky said in his nightly video address to the nation: 'They are mining the whole territory. They are mining homes, mining equipment, even the bodies of people who were killed. 'There are a lot of trip wires, a lot of other dangers.' He issued the warning as the humanitarian crisis in the encircled city of Mariupol deepened, with Russian forces blocking evacuation operations for the second day in a row. Meanwhile, the Kremlin accused the Ukrainians of launching a helicopter attack on a fuel depot on Russian soil. The MoD also gave an update saying a fire destroyed several oil tanks at a depot in the Russian city of Belgorod, which is close to the Ukrainian border. Zelensky has declined to comment on whether he ordered an attack on the Russian fuel depot. In an interview with FOX News, he said he does not discuss any orders he issues as commander in chief. On Thursday, explosions were reported at an ammunition depot in the surrounding area of the city. The department added: 'The probable loss of fuel and ammunition supplies from these depots will likely add additional short-term strain to Russia's already stretched logistic chains. 'Supplies to Russian forces encircling Kharkiv (60km from Belgorod) may be particularly affected.' The comments came as the president's forces drove Russia out of dozens of towns around Kyiv and the north in one of the most extraordinary days since the start of the invasion. The Red Cross is preparing a renewed effort to help evacuate starving civilians from besieged Mariupol today, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced. The plans come after attempts to get people out of the city on Friday failed when they were 'forced to turn around', citing continual Russian bombardment. Ukrainian Presidenial Advisor Oleksiy Arestovych was hopeful about the fresh Mariupol convoy. 'I think that today or maybe tomorrow we will hear good news regarding the evacuation of the inhabitants of Mariupol,' he said. The Friday evacuation attempt was intended to use 54 buses to bring 3,000 people to relative safety until they encountered Russian forces. They were due to deliver essential supplies to families who have been hiding in basements for weeks under relentless bombing with no access to running water, power or fresh food. But Russian forces are alleged to have ignored the ceasefire and continued shelling. A woman holds a child inside an evacuee bus as people flee from Mariupol Ukraine April 1, 2022. People walking along evacuee buses at a collecting point in Zaporizhzhia after fleeing Mariupol and Melitopol Russian artillery has been pounding the city round the clock, which has been encircled and cut off for five weeks, turning it into a heartbreaking husk. Conditions have been described as 'medieval' for the estimated 160,000 civilians still trapped inside the city. They have been reduced to melting snow for water and burning furniture for warmth, and cooking stray animals they can catch in the streets on the fire. People who have managed to get out of Mariupol and through Russian lines to reach the city of Zaporizhzhia described their journey as an ordeal during which Russian soldiers repeatedly stopped them to check for the presence of Ukrainian fighters. Refugees wait inside an evacuation bus having managed to escape the besieged city of Mariupol People stare out of the window of an evacuation bus. Refugees have mainly been evacuated to Zaporizhzhia The evacuation efforts coincide with reports that Russian forces are regrouping for fresh attacks in southeast Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky says Russian forces are massing in the Donbas region north of Mariupol, for a push north towards Kharkiv, a city already battered by Russian shelling. Zelensky said the situation in the east was 'extremely difficult'. The port city of Mariupol, with a pre-war population of 450,000, is a key strategic target for Vladimir Putin. An estimated 140,000 people managed to flee before the Russian siege began in February. It is feared 5,000 civilians have been killed and thousands more 'abducted' to Russian cities. Its capture would allow Russian forces to establish a land bridge between Russia and Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Previous evacuation efforts have been unsuccessful, with Ukraine accusing Russia of refusing to respect the humanitarian corridors by firing upon civilians as they attempt to flee. Having failed to capture the strategic city through conventional military means, Russian strategy appears to now be to reduce it to ashes and starve the inhabitants into surrender, a strategy that served Putin well in Syria. For this reason it is considered unlikely that Russia would ever truly allow a proper evacuation of the city, as it would lessen the leverage of their siege tactic strategy. People wait inside a cargo truck after a dangerous and difficult journey from Mariupol and Melitopol The International Committee of the Red Cross has organised the evacuation convoys out of Mariupol Furthermore, the notorious Azov regiment is based in Mariupol defending the city. The Azov regiment is a far-right paramilitary group that was incorporated into the National Guard of Ukraine. Russia accuses them of being neo-Nazis and thus one of the main justifications for their invasion to 'de-Nazify' Ukraine. Russia has failed to capture a major city since launching its invasion on February 24. Harry Kane has equalled Sergio Aguero's record of winning seven Premier League Player of the Month awards after the Tottenham talisman picked up the gong for March. Kane looks back to his very best for Spurs, which saw him bag four goals and two assists in four Premier League matches last month as Antonio Conte's men picked up three wins out of four. His efforts for Spurs saw him pick up the Player of the Month award on Friday for a seventh time, taking him level with Man City icon Aguero. No player in Premier League history has won it more. Harry Kane has been named as the Premier League's Player of the Month for March Kane scored four goals and bagged two assists in four Premier League games last month Kane has won the Premier League Player of the Month award on seven different occasions Back in top form Harry Kane is your @easportsfifa Player of the Month for a SEVENTH time - no #PL player has ever won more #PLAwards | @HKane pic.twitter.com/77KPOsCX25 Premier League (@premierleague) April 1, 2022 HARRY KANE IN SEVENTH HEAVEN The 28-year-old has now equalled Sergio Aguero's record for Player of the Month awards. Here are the seven times he stood out among the rest: January 2015 February 2015 March 2016 February 2017 September 2017 December 2017 March 2022 Advertisement Kane kicked off the month of March with a superb brace in the 5-0 rout of Everton before going on to score again in the 3-2 defeat at Old Trafford. Four days after that, the England captain would get his fourth goal of the month in a comfortable 2-0 win over Brighton before bagging two assists in Spurs' 3-1 win over rivals West Ham before the international break. Kane's impressive form has helped Spurs get back into the fight for a top-four finish, with the north London outfit now just three points behind arch-rivals Arsenal who are currently fourth. It is the first time Kane has won the award since December 2017, with that calendar year proving to be his month fruitful, given how he won the award on three differ occasions. He also won back-to-back Player of the Month awards in 2015 for the months of January and February, before going on to claim another in March 2016. While Kane got a goal in the 3-2 defeat at Old Trafford, the Spurs striker was trumped on the night by a scintillating performance from Cristiano Ronaldo. The Manchester United star scored a hat-trick against Spurs to take all three points but it was his first strike from long-range that earned him the Goal of the Month for March. Kane will be looking to continue his brilliant form now that he's back from international duty, with the club's academy graduate expected to lead the line when they face Newcastle on Sunday. Advertisement Sunday afternoon at Cala Sa Nau and the two-person band (guitarist and percussionist) are tuning up while the beautiful people hunker down along the narrow sandy beach and on rocks that frame the jagged cove. But not beautiful in the look-at-my-Instagram sort of way. More of a sangria method of relaxation on the sabbath. We make our presence felt because we are eight adults and four children under three. I feel sorry for the Spanish couple reading next to where we plant ourselves just as I felt sorry for those in rows 26 and 29 on the flight from Gatwick (we were in rows 27 and 28). Secluded: The beach at Cala Sa Nau, where Mark and his family spend a Sunday afternoon during their visit to the 'refreshingly unglamorous' south-east of Majorca But, somehow, the children feel the vibe at Cala Sa Nau and respond admirably. It is the first experience of the seaside for some of them and the first encounter for me of the quiet and, it must be said, refreshingly unglamorous south-east of Majorca, the largest and most varied of the Balearic islands. About an hour away is the busy capital, Palma imperative to visit if only for sight of the magnificent cathedral with its modernist interiors designed by Antoni Gaudi. But, here in our nearest village, SHorta, the main activity of the day is waiters laying the tables in the square at the two restaurants serving almost exactly the same food. Its towards the end of September (Majorca rightly wants to be known as an all-year destination) and we dont hear another British voice. Instead, there are lots of Germans and in general they are so surly that we find this strangely uplifting. According to Mark, the Majorcan capital of Palma is 'imperative to visit if only for sight of the magnificent cathedral (pictured centre-left) with its modernist interiors designed by Antoni Gaudi' Together: Mark (centre) and his family on holiday We are staying at a Vintage Travel villa called Sa Marina. Its not luxurious (one evening we find the charming owner underneath the sink fixing the tap, and the wifi wouldnt suit anyone attempting to work on holiday) but it sleeps 12 and all rooms have their own bathrooms. Best of all is the outdoor space: large pool, ping-pong table, a swing, attractive lawns, long table on the veranda for meals, doing jigsaw puzzles or arguing over plans for the day. On a map, I count more than 40 coves within as many miles on this stretch of coast. My idea is to visit as many as possible but soon realise that two of the best are almost on our doorstep: the aforementioned Cala Sa Nau and my undisputed favourite, Cala Mitjana. You can drive to Cala Sa Nau and park but, as with many coves in the Balearics, Cala Mitjana is reached only by boat or on foot, the latter via a path that becomes narrower and rockier the closer you get, the sea offering tantalising glimpses of itself through pine and Cypress trees. The beach is tiny but overlooking it, up on the hill, is a huge house belonging to a Frenchman who lives in Milan or so we are told. We become fascinated by it and press on up a ridge to get a better view. We are rewarded famously, not just of the monsieurs luxurious lair but of the Mediterranean in rumbustious mood, with Algeria somewhere out there in the distance. Catering for a group such as ours means almost daily visits to the Eroski supermarket in Cala dOr. My wife admires the fruit section, which seems to change every day depending on whats available, while Im pleasantly taken with the wine or, rather, the prices for thoroughly decent bottles of local Rioja. Above is Cala Mitjana, Mark's 'undisputed favourite' of the 40 coves that are nestled along the coast TRAVEL FACTS Seven nights villa only at Villa Sa Marina with Vintage Travel from 1,606 (vintagetravel.co.uk; 01954 261431). London Gatwick to Palma returns from 42 (easyjet.com). Vintage Travel can arrange for Hire A Chef Mallorca (hireachefmallorca.com) or a local family cook to cater for all or part of a stay. Car hire from Palma Airport via roig.com. Advertisement One evening, we push the culinary boat out and invite Sergio Rifugio from Hire A Chef Majorca to provide a slap-up paella dinner with all the trimmings, including tapas starters, chocolate brownie with ice cream dessert and, crucially, a helping hand in the form of Maria, who serves us at the table and does the washing up. Whats more, Sergio brings along his own huge circular gas burner and cooks the mixed paella in front of us a base of vegetables, then mussels, prawns, calamari, cuttlefish, pork and chicken, before folding in the rice. Ive made the mistake of ordering paella in restaurants in the UK. Nothing has ever tasted like this one. We send Sergio and Maria off with rousing applause. Next morning, the sun comes over all coy, so some of our group, including two toddlers, head inland to the former Sant Salvador monastery dating to 1348. It was built high on a hill on the orders of King Peter IV of Aragon as a place of pilgrimage when a plague raged across Majorca and many islanders perished. Later, the little chapel could not cope with the huge number of pilgrims visiting and it was replaced in 1715. With a statue of the Virgin Mary from the 13th century and a high altar from the 15th, it is extraordinarily sumptuous. The toddlers look up at the massive silver candelabras on either side of the altar open-mouthed. The good old Church of England always hopes to attract the young by trying to be more secular, introducing guitars and such-like but nothing works better than ratcheting up the mystery. At our last supper we all agree that weve developed a strong affection for our villa and for this lesser-known part of Majorca. We havent ventured too far and wide and the littlest ones wont remember a thing. But their parents and grandparents certainly will. Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson are set to reunite onscreen in the forthcoming comedy-thriller The Kill Room. The news about the performers, aged 51 and 73, respectively, was originally revealed by The Hollywood Reporter on Friday. The pair previously costarred in the highly influential 1994 crime comedy feature Pulp Fiction, and they recently reunited with their castmate, John Travolta, at last Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony. Back at it: Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson are set to reunite onscreen in the forthcoming comedy-thriller feature The Kill Room. It was also noted that the two would return to their darkly comedic roots; they are seen at the 94th Academy Awards The Kill Room will be centered on a hitman and his boss - with the latter being played by Jackson - who come into contact with an art dealer, played by Thurman. The three then become involved in a money-laundering scheme that inadvertently turns the assassin into an overnight sensation. The hired gun is then forced to pit the benefits and connections of the art world against the seedy criminal underworld. Director Nicol Paone gave a statement to the media outlet to express his excitement about being able to work with the Pulp Fiction stars. First flick: The pair previously costarred in the highly influential 1994 crime comedy feature Pulp Fiction; Thurman pictured in Pulp Fiction (1994) Reunion: They recently reunited with their castmate, John Travolta, at last Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony; Travolta and Jackson pictured in Pulp Fiction (1994) 'Getting to make The Kill Room an already incredible script with Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson is beyond my wildest dreams,' he said. The filmmaker also noted that the pair had impressive chemistry and that he was grateful for their involvement. 'Every moment they're onscreen, they are both enviable and eye-catching. I am eternally grateful to both of them for saying yes, and I am thrilled to bring this to life,' he said. Producers Jordan Yale Levine and Jordan Beckerman also spoke to the media outlet to show their enthusiasm for the forthcoming project. 'The combination of Uma and Sam for this project is a dream come true,' they stated. Front and center: Thurman and Jackson appeared with Travolta to present the Best Actor award at the 94th Academy Awards The pair went on to note that the project was in good hands with Paone as its director. 'We are certain that Nicol is going to deliver a special film, and one that strikes the perfect balance between dark humor and edge-of-your-seat thrills,' they said. Thurman and Jackson appeared with Travolta to present the Best Actor award at the 94th Academy Awards, which took place this past Sunday. During the presentation, the Snakes on a Plane made several jokes about Pulp Fiction's legacy while the actress and her former castmate danced on stage. At one point, the three looked into a glowing briefcase, which was the main point of contention in the 1994 movie. Jackson went on to pull an envelope containing the name of the award's winner, who turned out to be Will Smith. Carpool Karaoke is finally returning after a two year hiatus. Late Late Show host James Corden took to Twitter on Friday to reveal that his popular singalong sketch was returning on April 6 after being put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting social distancing restrictions. In a clip teasing the recurring segments return, the TV presenter revealed his first guest as singing superstar Nicki Minaj as the duo sang along to the rapper's 2014 hit 'Anaconda' in the teaser. Carpool Karaoke is BACK! The Late Late show segment is set to return after a two-year Covid-induced hiatus with Nicki Minaj enjoying a ride with James Corden The short video announces that after two years of being unable to sit in a very confined and closed space, 'social distancing is over.' James also revealed that Camila Cabello will feature on the segment, making her appearance in a show set to air on April 18. The TV stars old friend Niall Horan last the last star hop in for a carpool across Los Angeles in March 2020 before the pandemic put a pause to the cultural phenomenon. Superstar: The short clip announces that after two years of not being able to sit in a very confined and closed space 'social distancing is over,' before revealing the rapper Karaoke: The duo sang along to the rapper's 2014 hit 'Anaconda' in the teaser Guest: James also revealed that Camila Cabello will feature on the segment, making her appearance in a show set to air on April 18 The close pals sang songs from Niall's new album, Heartbreak Weather as James help the Irish singer confront his fear of pigeons. International singing sensation Justin Bieber also featured in the hot seat in February 2020 as the duo chatted about his marriage to Hailey Bieber and of course, sang some of Justin's new music and even a couple classic tunes. Beatle icon Paul McCartney jumped into the passenger seat in June 2018 as the legendary crooner visited his childhood home and dissected the band's iconic fashion in the late-night host's special London edition of The Late Late Show. In December 2019, James went on to invite superstar Billie Eilish for a spin as they headed for carpool lane, singing her hits Ocean Eyes and Bad Guy. The pair ended up taking a detour to visit her home and pet spider. Guest: The TV stars old friend Niall Horan last the last star to hop in for a carpool across Los Angeles before the pandemic put a pause to the cultural phenomenon Crooners: International singing sensation Justin Bieber also featured in the hot seat in February 2020 as the duo chatted about his marriage to Hailey Bieber Special: Beatle icon Paul McCartney jumped into the passenger seat in 2018 as the legendary crooner visited his childhood home and dissected the band's iconic fashion Hot seat: In December 2019, James went on to invite superstar Billie Eilish for a spin as they headed for carpool lane, singing her hits Ocean Eyes and Bad Guy The English actor has become a huge hit in the US since landing roles in Hollywood movies such as 2014's Into the Woods and eventually becoming the host of The Late Late Show from 2015. Earlier this year, the comedian was forced to cancel recordings of his hit CBS show after testing positive for coronavirus. On January 6, he took to Instagram to reveal that he has tested positive for a case of breakthrough COVID-19 . He wrote: 'I just tested positive for COVID 19. I'm fully vaccinated, boosted, and because of this, am fortunate enough to say I feel completely fine.' James told his followers that his CBS program 'will be off the air for the next few days' as he quarantines. The latest: On January 6, James took to Instagram to reveal that he has tested positive for a case of breakthrough COVID-19 (pictured on the show last month) He wrapped up the post in writing, 'Stay safe everyone. All my love, James x.' Prior to his coronavirus diagnosis, the British funnyman welcomed guests Aaron Sorkin and Sophia Bush, Lily Collins, William Jackson Harper and St. Vincent and Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz and Andrew Sleighter. The Late Late Show is taped in Los Angeles, where Los Angeles County officials on reported a record 37,215 new cases in the area on the same day. The announcement came after a number of his fellow late night hosts have also revealed they had tested positive for COVID-19, including The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon and Late Night with Seth Meyers host Seth Meyers. I'm positive! The Late Late Show host updated fans on his health on the social media site Guests: The British funnyman welcomed guests Penelope Cruz and Jessica Chastain days before testing positive (pictured) Pals: He snapped a selfie with St. Vincent during an episode of the late night program Fallon, 47, took to Instagram Monday to detail his health battle, along with a photo of himself seated in a testing room. 'Hey guys, on the first day of our holiday break I tested positive for Covid,' Fallon said. 'I was vaccinated and boostered which made me lucky enough to only have mild symptoms. 'Thank you to the doctors and nurses who work so hard around the clock to get everyone vaxxed. Thank you to NBC for taking the testing protocols so seriously and doing a great job.' Meyers, 48, revealed his diagnosis Tuesday, writing, 'The bad news is, I tested positive for COVID (thanks, 2022!) the good news is, I feel fine (thanks vaccines and booster!). We are canceling the rest of the shows this week, so tune in next Monday to see what cool location we will try and pass off as a studio!!!' Jasmine Stefanovic and her business partner Tamie Ingham are closing their luxury footwear line, Mara & Mine. The wife of Today host Karl Stefanovic announced the news on her Instagram page on Thursday, saying they have decided to take a break to 'pursue other interests'. Jasmine, 38, and Tamie launched the company in Los Angeles a decade ago, with the embellished flats and slippers seen on the likes of Kendall Jenner, Margot Robbie and Cara Delevingne. New chapter: Jasmine Stefanovic (pictured), 38, has announced she's closing her luxury footwear brand Mara & Mine - seen on the likes of Kendall Jenner and Margot Robbie - to 'pursue other interests'. Pictured with daughter Harper May, one 'Ten years after successfully establishing Mara & Mine, we have decided to take a break from our business that we cherish, to pursue other interests,' Jasmine began. 'Building Mara & Mine has taken a huge amount of our passion, time, and energy over the past decade. 'Ignited by a special friendship that was formed in Los Angeles, the brand took shape from the comfort of our living rooms, and found its home in Australia at our Paddington boutique in Sydney. Popular: The wife of Today host Karl Stefanovic, 47, launched the line of embellished flats and slippers with Tamie Ingham a decade ago in Los Angeles. Pictured together in August 2018 Heartfelt: In an Instagram post on Thursday, Jasmine said they are 'extremely proud of what we have accomplished' and went on to thank their stakeholders, creative teams they've collaborated with over the years, and their loyal customers for their 'unwavering support' 'We are extremely proud of what we have accomplished, and it has been an incredible honour to see our designs adorn the feet of some of the most incredible women across the world.' Jasmine went on to thank their stakeholders, creative teams they've collaborated with over the years, and their loyal customers for their 'unwavering support'. Proud husband Karl Stefanovic, 47, was quick to comment, offering his support by writing: 'What an enduring incredible relationship. You girls built something from nothing. Can't wait for the next chapter. So much experience. So exciting.' Sweet note: Proud husband Karl was quick to comment, offering his support by writing: 'What an enduring incredible relationship. You girls built something from nothing. Can't wait for the next chapter. So much experience. So exciting' Friends and business partners: The line is stocked in David Jones, as well as a store in Sydney's Paddington and at Birkenhead Point. Jasmine told Domain back in 2019 the secret behind their lucrative business. 'We always put friendship before business,' she said. Pictured in July 2015 The luxury footwear line is stocked in David Jones, as well as a store in Sydney's Paddington and at Birkenhead Point. Jasmine told Domain back in 2019 the secret behind their lucrative business. 'We always put friendship before business. That will never change and is the reason why it actually works. We have each other's best interests at heart,' she said. Power couple: The entrepreneur married Karl in a lavish four-day wedding ceremony in Los Cabos, Mexico in December 2018 Jasmine added that having their shoes stocked alongside credible designers is a 'pinch-me moment'. The entrepreneur married Karl in a lavish four-day wedding ceremony in Los Cabos, Mexico in December 2018. They welcomed their first child together, daughter Harper, in May 2020. Ashley Banjo has admitted that he is still a victim of online abuse 18 months after his group Diversity debuted their Black Lives Matter inspired routine. The dance troupe sparked controversy with their Britain's Got Talent performance, which featured the portrayal of a policeman kneeling on Ashley's neck. It accumulated approximately 24,500 Ofcom complaints. The group's leader Ashley, 33, recently appeared on Good Morning Britain to discuss the dance, which triggered the trolls to rush to their keyboards once again. 'It happens all the time': Ashley Banjo admitted that he's still subject to social media abuse following Diversity's BLM routine which sparked over 24,000 Ofcom complaints (pictured 2021) Admitting the abuse is something which 'happens all the time,' Ashley added to The Mirror: 'I did this slot on GMB to talk about how life-changing it was winning a BAFTA for the routine and I went on Twitter afterwards, and it was just like a stream of comments. The negative ones always cut through.' The street dance group, who were triumphant on Britain's Got Talent in 2009, are currently on their nationwide Connected tour. They have incorporated the famous routine into their set and Ashley admitted there is still an element of nerves when it comes to performing it. Sparking debate: The dance troupe sparked controversy with their Britain's Got Talent performance (September 2020) which featured the portrayal of a policeman kneeling on Ashley's neck 'Every night, I go down and take that knee and theres a little part of me that just kind of goes, "I wonder whats gonna happen". You just dont know,' he said. The London-based group never got to perform it to a crowd before now due to Covid, but has been well-received by fans. The remainder of the tour comprises 75 shows and wraps up in mid June. Next week they'll complete a stint of shows at The London Palladium. Talking point: The street dance group, who were triumphant on Britain's Got Talent in 2009, are currently on their nationwide Connected tour. They have incorporated the famous routine into their set Ashley has previously described the dance routine in full, stipulating that Diversity were giving a 'summary of 2020' with their performance tackling topics like lockdown, COVID-19, the NHS, George Floyd's death and the Black Lives Matter movement. 'It was layered, it was something we wanted to bring to the stage to bring hope but also not to shy away from difficult conversations and difficult issues that have arisen,' he said of the dance. 'That's exactly why the question whether Britain's Got Talent was the right platform was one that I just can't get on board with. Nerves: 'Every night, I go down and take that knee and theres a little part of me that just kind of goes, "I wonder whats gonna happen". You just dont know,' Ashley said 'If an artist or creative can't use real world issues, universal issues, to inspire their art and come through how they express them then what's the point? 'Britain's Got Talent has been a stage for so many incredible performers, artists and talents who want to express all different kinds of emotions and views, and stories, human ones. 'Of course political ideas are going to work into performances because it affects us every single day, universal things that affect us, that is what art is; it's an expression of how we feel and this set of 2020 is exactly that,' he said. Khloe Kardashian laughed off claims she has had buttock implants in the comments of an Instagram fanpage this week. The page posted a video of Khloe, 37, doing stretches with a suspicious outline in her leggings, setting off a storm of speculation in the comment section. Eventually Khloe entered the comments herself, blaming the outline on 'the seam design of the leggings' and calling the conjecture 'so funny ha!' 'That's so funny ha!': Khloe Kardashian laughed off claims she has had buttock implants in the comments of an Instagram fanpage this week One comment read: 'Omg u can see her implants when stretching. A 2nd layer of her bum on top of her bum,' prompting the reply: 'Are they implants or padded tights?' Khloe then replied to the initial comment: 'lol silly goose. It's the seam design of the leggings. that's so funny ha! You guys just want to believe anything bad.' Last year on the Keeping Up With The Kardashians finale special Khloe insisted that the only plastic surgery she has ever had was a nose job. 'I've had one nose job - Dr. Raj Kanodia,' she told Andy Cohen, who was hosting the Final Curtain specials that closed out the series. Details: The page posted a video of Khloe, 37, doing stretches with a suspicious outline in her leggings, setting off a storm of speculation in the comment section Allegations: One comment read: 'Omg u can see her implants when stretching. A 2nd layer of her bum on top of her bum,' prompting the reply: 'Are they implants or padded tights?' Khloe also confessed that she has gotten 'injections' but 'not really Botox' because 'I've responded horribly to Botox.' Rumors have been swirling for years about various cosmetic procedures she is said to have had done, with a particular focus on her rear end. She has always denied having her behind augmented, writing on social media years ago: 'Sorry 2disappoint.... I've always had an a**. I know it's more fun 2believe it's not real, kind of a compliment since I kill myself in the gym.' Over time: Khloe is pictured at a Beverly Hills party in 2013 (left) and in her recent workout Instagram video (right) Remember when: Khloe bared her derriere for one of PETA's famous 'Fur? I'd Rather Go Naked' advertisements all the way back in 2008 Changes: Fans have watched her figure evolve over the years, from 2008 (left) to 2011 (center) to 2016 (right) all the way to the present Fans have watched her figure evolve over the years, including with a stunning weight loss journey that led her to host a show called Revenge Body With Khloe Kardashian. Cosmetic surgeon Dr Benji Dhillon once told the MailOnline that 'Khloe's buttocks could simply be down to a strong squat routine.' Said he: 'Although buttock lifts were one of the fastest growing surgical procedures in the US (according to the American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons), it is difficult to tell if Khloe has had this done.' Maksim Chmerkovskiy looked happy to be back on U.S. soil as he took his mom shopping in Los Angeles on Friday. The Dancing With the Stars pro, 42, had just returned from Poland on Wednesday, following his efforts to help out those affected by the war in his native Ukraine. The choreographer sported a casual look for the day, wearing a black T-shirt, grey and white shorts, and a pair of checkered Vans. With mama Chmerkovskiy: Maksim Chmerkovskiy looked happy to be back on U.S. soil as he took his mom shopping in Los Angeles on Friday The Ukrainian-American Latinballroom dance champion accessorized with a pair of round sunglasses and beaded bracelets on his wrist. In his hand he carried a blue shopping bag from Kitson - a celebrity beloved clothing boutique. Maksim appeared to be in good spirits and even cracked a smile while talking on his cellphone, while walking next to his mom. Casual: The Dancing With the Stars pro, 42, sported a casual look for the day, wearing a black T-shirt, grey and white shorts, and a pair of checkered Vans Meanwhile his mom Larisa looked chic in a white zip-up top, black pants, and white sneakers. She shielded her eyes from the sun with a pair of black sunglasses and accessorized with dangling earrings. Her blonde tresses were pulled back into a neat bun. Mrs. Chmerkovskiy is also the mother of the star's younger brother, Valentin Chmerkovskiy, 36, who is a Dancing with the Stars pro like Maksim. It's good to be home: Maksim appeared to be in good spirits and even cracked a smile while talking on his cellphone, while walking next to his mom Peta Murgatroyd announced Maksim's return to the U.S. on Wednesday via her Instagram Stories. The Auckland, New Zealand native, 35, shared a brief clip in which she revealed she was headed to pick up her spouse from the airport. 'I'm gonna go pick up my husband from the airport,' she said, with a sigh of relief. 'I am so excited, can't tell you.' The latest: On Wednesday Peta Murgatroyd, 35, said Chmerkovskiy was returning to the U.S. after his efforts in Poland The Dancing with the Stars alum, who shares son Shai, five, with Chmerkovskiy, sang, 'Come home to me.' In the social media clip, Murgatroyd had her blonde locks pulled back with a long-sleeved white top, earrings and a pair of sunglasses resting atop her head. Chmerkovskiy was initially in Ukraine's capital Kyiv to film a dance show when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, before he made his way to Poland and later back to Los Angeles. He subsequently returned to Poland to use his platform to help people impacted by the invasion, teaming up with businessman-humanitarian Michael Capponi's Global Empowerment Mission and Bethenny Frankel's BStrong foundation to help provide the people of Ukraine with aid amid the invasion from Russia. The Auckland, New Zealand native posted a brief clip in which she revealed she was headed to pick up her spouse from the airport In the social media clip, Murgatroyd had her blonde locks pulled back with a long-sleeved white top, earrings and a pair of sunglasses resting atop her head The Dancing with the Stars alum, who shares son Shai, five, with Chmerkovskiy, sang, 'Come home to me' Murgatroyd opened up in an Instagram Stories Q&A last week as she fielded a number of questions from fans about dealing with the stressful family situation. Murgatroyd said she had used a number of activities to channel her energy toward amid the difficult stretch, including prayer, focusing on her son, and 'keeping Maks calm and in a place where he is still actively working on helping people but also spending time with family.' Other activities she listed included: 'Finding the balance. Breathing. Meditating. Talking it out to friends and family. Having gratitude for what we have here in US. We are so blessed.' Murgatroyd, who wed Chmerkovskiy in July of 2017, said in her Q&A that while she has had her 'anxious days' watching her husband travel abroad amid the crisis in Ukraine, she feels 'he made the right decision' to return to Europe to help. 'There wasn't a way that he could stay and watch,' she said. 'I'm just proud.' Chmerkovskiy took to Instagram earlier this month from a warehouse in Rzesow, Poland in a clip alongside businessman-humanitarian Michael Capponi, 49, whose Global Empowerment Mission is working to help the people of Ukraine amid the invasion Chmerkovskiy and Murgatroyd were snapped in December in LA Chmerkovskiy's younger brother Val Chmerkovskiy opened up to former DWTS partner Olivia Jade Sunday about the family ordeal amid the tumultuous time Chmerkovskiy's younger brother Val Chmerkovskiy, appearing on Conversations With Olivia Jade Sunday, opened up about the family ordeal amid the tumultuous time. 'My brother was in Kyiv when the invasion started, and we were all really nervous, obviously,' Val, 36, said on the podcast. 'He was petrified, we talked about it, and he was grateful to get out. He is now right back at the Polish border trying to do whatever he can.' Val emphasized how he hopes the situation abroad does not get normalized in the U.S. more than a month into the invasion. 'It's good that were safe here - the privilege of living in this country - but there are a lot of our friends and family and peers that are in Ukraine right now that are, like I said, in bomb shelters,' he said. 'And I think were getting a little used to hearing that word, and were kinda like, "Ok cool." No, no, no, you don't understand what that is. That means you don't have a home, and you have to hide in a shelter with nothing there.' Rumer Willis posted a sweet throwback picture to honor her famous father Bruce Willis in wake of his devastating aphasia diagnosis and retirement from acting. The snapshot showed the 67-year-old Hollywood heavyweight cradling one of his daughters in his arms while Rumer, now 33, flashed a 'silly' face for the camera. 'I love you Daddio, to the (Moon) and Back. Thank you for teaching me to be so silly. I love laughing with you,' captioned the actress. Evan Rachel Wood, Aaron Paul and Bruce's wife Emma Hemming, all posted hearts in the comments section. Good times: Rumer Willis posted a sweet throwback picture to honor her ailing father Bruce Willis. The actress shared a photo of herself, her dad and one of her sisters on Instagram Friday with the post 'I love you Daddio, to the (Moon) and Back. Thank you for teaching me to be so silly. I love laughing with you' Rumer announced, with her family on Wednesday, March 30, that Bruce was suffering from a condition called aphasia, and the Die Hard actor would be stepping back from his career. The Mayo Clinic reports aphasia is a condition that affects your the ability to communicate, affecting speech as well as the way a person writes and understands both spoken and written language. No cause for the condition has been revealed, but the clinic says Aphasia is typically the result of a stroke or head injury. Once the cause is determined, treatment includes speech and language therapy. Fallout: The family have been flooded with support after announcing the 67-year-old Die Hard star had been diagnosed with a degenerative brain condition called aphasia, which affects a person's ability to communicate; (L-R) Rumer Willis, Bruce Willis, Tallulah Belle Willis, Demi Moore, Marlene Willis and Scout LaRue Willis pictured in 2018 It was reported that The Sixth Sense actor's friends and family believe a head injury he suffered on the set of the 2002 action movie Tears Of the Sun may have contributed to his condition. Willis sued the production company, Revolution Studios, in 2004, claiming he had suffered 'substantial mental and physical injuries' after he had been hit by a 'squib' - a special effects explosive meant to look like the impact of gunfire, during the October 2002 production. The lawsuit was settled in 2005, but details of the agreement were not released. Sending love: Friends and family have been responding with thoughts and prayers since the announcement explaining why The Sixth Sense actor would be stepping away from his career Sources claim the actor has worked to camouflage his condition as best as he can relying on assistants and technology to work on movie sets. He was pictured wearing what seemed to be an earpiece to feed him lines on the set of American Siege in 2020. The father of five is being cared for at home by his wife, Emma Heming as well as several medical professionals. Ashley Greene looked cozy while attending a meeting in Van Nuys on Friday. The 35-year-old pregnant Twilight star sported a comfortable brown ribbed two-piece set and black flats for the outing. The actress was glowing after recently announcing that she was pregnant with her first child with husband Paul Khoury. Pregnancy glow: Ashley Greene looked cozy while attending a meeting in Van Nuys on Friday Greene who found fame starring as Alice Cullen in the Twilight series wore her dark brown loosely curled strands parted down the middle and cascading across her shoulders and back. The Florida native accessorized the matching ensemble with an oversized brown purse slung across her shoulder. The busy brunette beauty spoke on her cellphone while making her way across the street, and flashed photographers a coy smile. Comfortable: The 35-year-old pregnant Twilight star sported a comfortable brown ribbed two-piece set and black flats for the outing The actress and her spouse shared their exciting baby joy through a statement from a representative that was published by PEOPLE last Friday. 'The couple is over-the-moon with excitement about expecting their first child together,' said their rep. The star also took to Instagram last week to share her giddiness about witnessing her husband become a father, with a snap of the couple holding a photo of the babys ultrasound. Expecting: Last week the star announced that she was pregnant with her first child with husband Paul Khoury; Pictured on December 10, 2019 in Westwood, California 'I love you more than I've ever loved anything and somehow my heart just keeps expanding to love you EVEN more. I cannot wait to watch you share your light, love, and passion with our baby,' she wrote. Her husband echoed her sentiment, sharing a post to his Instagram that said: 'I find it so amazing that we can make life through love. Ive never been more in love with you and Im so ready for this next chapter in our lives. Thank you giving me the best gift in the world @ashleygreene.' Greene and the Australian and Lebanese TV personality were first spotted together in 2013 when they held hands while strolling around in Los Angeles. Happy together: Greene and the Australian and Lebanese TV personality got engaged in 2016 and tied the knot in 2018 The happy couple dated for three years before the television personality popped the big question during a trip to New Zealand in 2016. The actress notably said yes while standing underneath Bridal Veil Falls, and she later shared a video of the proposal to her Instagram account. The pair waited for two more years before they tied the knot during a wedding that was held in San Jose, California in 2018. Jaden Smith was seen smiling cheerfully while indulging in a spot of retail therapy in New York City this week. The 23-year-old showbiz legacy was accompanied by his pink-haired rumored girlfriend Sab Zada, whom he was first linked to in 2020. His outing comes before his father Will Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in the wake of his onstage assault of Chris Rock during last Sunday's Oscars show. Looking fab: Jaden Smith was seen smiling cheerfully while indulging in a spot of retail therapy in New York City this week Stepping out: The 23-year-old showbiz legacy was accompanied by his pink-haired rumored girlfriend Sab Zada, whom he was first linked to in 2020 Will, who slapped Chris over a joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, went on to win best actor and received a standing ovation for a tearful speech in which he called himself a 'vessel of love' and portrayed himself as a defender of his family. After the end of the ceremony Jaden raised eyebrows by writing on Twitter: 'And Thats How We Do It.' Jaden appeared similarly upbeat while stepping out in New York days later, wrapped in a blue anorak with a fashionable paint splotch print. He made a style statement in a pair of trendily faded jeans that featured a print of a shooting star streaking across the front. Stepping out: His outing comes before his father Will Smith resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in the wake of his onstage Oscar night assault of Chris Rock Out and about: Jaden appeared similarly upbeat while stepping out in New York days later, wrapped in a blue anorak with a fashionable paint splotch print Meanwhile Sab, a model, threw a brightly colored jacket over a plunging tan top for her latest excursion with the city that never sleeps. After more than a year of rumors, she and Jaden appear to confirm their romance on Valentine's Day by engaging in public displays of affection at Disneyland. Smith, in a statement obtained by Variety on Friday, called his actions during the ceremony 'shocking, painful and inexcusable,' adding that he would accept any additional consequences issued by the Academy's Board of Governors. 'The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris, his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance, and global audiences at home,' Smith said. 'I betrayed the trust of the Academy. I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work. I am heartbroken.' Meanwhile: Sab, a model, threw a brightly colored jacket over a plunging tan top for her latest excursion with the city that never sleeps Backdrop: After more than a year of rumors, she and Jaden appear to confirm their romance on Valentine's Day by engaging in public displays of affection at Disneyland The actor also acknowledged that slapping Rock during the ceremony caused other award winners to be overshadowed. 'I want to put the focus back on those who deserve attention for their achievements and allow the Academy to get back to the incredible work it does to support creativity and artistry in film,' Smith, 53, said. He also shared how 'change takes time' and he is now 'committed to doing the work to ensure that I never again allow violence to overtake reason.' Smith's resignation came two days after the academy met to initiate disciplinary proceedings against him for violations of the group's standards of conduct. Will Smith has resigned from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in wake of his onstage assault of Chris Rock during the last Sunday's Oscars show (pictured) In a statement released Friday, Smith called his actions during the show 'shocking, painful and inexcusable' and said he would accept any additional consequences issued by the Academy's Board of Governors. Smith is pictured accepting the award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for King Richard during last Sunday's Oscars How does one become an Academy member? Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences membership is available to qualified artists - ranging from actors, writers, production members and more - working in the production of theatrically-released motion pictures. The obtain membership, an artist must be sponsored by two Academy members from the branch to which the candidate seeks admission. There are 17 branches of the Academy. Oscars nominees are automatically considered for Academy membership and do not require sponsors. After being nominated or sponsors, candidates are then reviewed by branch committees who will make recommendations for membership. Those recommendations are then considered by the Academys Board of Governors, which ultimately decides who will receive an invitation to become a member. Membership review occurs annually. Specific requirements for each membership category and Academy branch can be found on the organization's website. Source: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences Advertisement Smith's shocking move comes just one day after sources close to the actor confirmed to The Sun that he and his lawyers had planned to write to the Academy to plead his case ahead of his upcoming hearing on April 18. 'Things are hanging in the balance. He will write an official letter to apologize, and effectively beg for their forgiveness,' the source revealed Thursday. 'He is also expected to hold a call with show bosses in the next 24 hours. April 18 is D-Day, though he will find out if he still has an Oscar, and quite possibly, a career.' Sources familiar with the situation also claim the fate of his upcoming projects, including the Apple-funded slave escape drama Emancipation, remains in question. 'Production executives and studio chiefs do not want to be seen picking a side too early,' the insider said, noting that Smith was expected to return for a fourth installment of the Bad Boys franchise although no start date has been set yet. News of the actor's resignation also followed a Good Morning America interview with Oscars producer Will Packer that aired Friday morning and detailed the Academy's immediate response to the attack. After the actor onto the Oscars stage on Sunday and hit Rock, Academy officials asked Smith to leave the ceremony, Packer said. The producer claimed they were considering physically removing Smith, an option that he successfully lobbied against. Packer said that his co-producer Shayla Cowan informed him that Academy officials 'were about to physically remove Will Smith.' 'I had not been a part of those conversations, and so I immediately went to the Academy leadership that was on site and I said, "Chris Rock does not want that. Rock has made it clear that he does not want to make a bad situation worse",' said Packer. Los Angeles police were prepared to arrest Will Smith after he slapped Chris Rock during the Academy Awards on Sunday night, but didn't at the request of the comedian, Oscars producer Will Packer claims Smith was presented with his first Academy Award after the onstage attack 'I was advocating what Rock wanted in that time, which was not to physically remove Will Smith at that time. Because as it has now been explained to me, that was the only option,' he said. 'There was a conversation, that I was not a part of, to ask him to voluntarily leave.' However, a source close to Rock told TMZ denied that the comedian was ever asked about removing Smith from the theater. 'Chris told Packer 'I'm not pressing charges. All I want to do is leave.' He was never asked if he wanted Will removed. This is the Academy covering itself.' Packer also said police told Rock they would remove Smith from the audience and arrest him for battery. 'We will go get him, we are prepared to get him right now,' the cops said to Rock, Packer recalled. 'You can press charges. We can arrest him.' Packer claimed Rock was dismissive towards police, but he encouraged the comedian to hear them out before making a decision. 'They were laying out the options, and as they were talking, Chris was being very dismissive of those options. He was like, "No, I'm fine." He was like, "No, no, no,"' the producer said. Ultimately, Rock declined to press charges, however police said in a statement Sunday 'if the involved party desires a police report at a later date, LAPD will be available to complete an investigative report.' Chris Rock looks shocked during the Oscars Sunday after Smith came onstage and slapped him for making a remark about Jada Pinkett Smith's haircut As evidenced by her unamused expression, Pinkett Smith did not appreciate the joke Smith marched onto the Oscars stage on Sunday and hit Rock, after the comedian told a joke about his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Rock's wisecrack was targeted at Pinkett Smith's buzzcut, a style she has embraced in wake of her alopecia diagnosis. 'Jada, I love you. 'G.I. Jane 2,' can't wait to see it,' Rock said to Pinkett Smith, whose close-shaven head looked similar to Demi Moore's in the 1997 movie, during his presentation of the award for best documentary. Whether Rock was aware that Pinkett Smith suffered from a hair-loss condition is unknown, but Smith reacted with the smack and an angry warning 'to keep my wife's name out your f***ing mouth!' Shortly after, Smith was announced as the winner of the best actor award and went up to collect his statuette to a standing ovation from many of his peers. In his acceptance speech, Smith apologized to the Academy - whose members vote for the awards, and who stages the ceremony - but stopped short of apologizing to Rock. Smith initially laughed off the attack, writing on Instagram on Sunday evening: 'You can't invite people from Philly or Baltimore nowhere!!' Yet as the gravity of the situation became clear, Smith then posted a public apology to Instagram 24 hours after the ceremony, saying he wanted to say sorry formally to Rock. He said his behavior was 'unacceptable and inexcusable' and left him 'embarrassed'. 'I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris,' he wrote. 'I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.' Pinkett Smith's first public comment came in an Instagram post Tuesday in which she said: 'This is a season for healing and I'm here for it.' Chris Rock stopped his fans from cursing out Will Smith during his comedy show in Boston Thursday night Rock, seen on Thursday, has been performing to sold-out crowds in Boston, but has not spoke at length about the incident Rock, who held comedy shows in Boston on Wednesday and Thursday, has refused to go into any detail about the 'Slap Heard Round the World.' After being met with 'Will Smith' chants from the audience, the comedian did briefly address the slap during the show, noting that he still needs time to 'process' the assault. He also told the crowd: 'I haven't talked to anyone, despite what you heard,' referencing rumors that Rock and Smith had made amends. But come Thursday night, Rock had to stop his fans from cursing out Smith. 'F**k Will Smith!' a fan shouted, likely in an attempt to show support for Rock. 'No, no, no, no, no...' the comedian replied, according to People, putting an end to the verbal attacks. The comic, 57, took to the stage at the Wilbur Theatre on Wednesday and asked: 'How was your weekend?' The rhetorical question got a big laugh from the crowd, which occasionally heckled the Emmy-winning comedian about Will Smith's on-screen strike. But Rock warned those at the sold-out venue that the show would go on as planned. 'I don't have like a bunch of s*** to say about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I had like a whole show I wrote before... this weekend...' he said to more laughs. 'And I'm still kind of processing what happened. 'So at some time I'll talk about that s***... and it'll be serious. It'll be funny,' he said before an audience member shouted, 'F*** Will!' 'I'm gonna tell some jokes,' Rock concluded, later revealing that he hasn't spoken to 'anyone' since the incident, alluding to reports that he and Smith have reconciled. But some of the 3,000 fans in the audience - who paid up to $1,000 per ticket - are disappointed that the stand-up comedian avoided the topic on everyone's mind. 'We want our money back, I didn't pay $400 to see nothing,' one person told Fox News. Chris Rock posed with fan Gerard Cole at the AMC Boston Common in Boston, Massachusetts, just days after being slapped by Will Smith at the Oscars Despite the chatter surrounding the Oscars incident, Rock has seemingly been maintaining a sense of normalcy. The comedian showed up solo at the AMC Boston Common movie theatre in Massachusetts on Thursday, TMZ reported. Rock strolled in to the theatre, got some popcorn, a hotdog and a water, and then headed off to see a film - though, it is not known which one. But not before fan Gerard Cole stopped Rock and asked him to pose for a photo, which the comedian happily obliged while balancing an armload of movie snacks. Smith has yet to be seen on a public outing. David Hasselhoff donned his iconic Baywatch costume while appearing in a video for SodaStream's 2022 Earth Day campaign, which was shared to the company's official YouTube channel earlier this week. In the video, the 69-year-old actor stepped back into character as hunky Los Angeles County lifeguard Mitch Buchannon while promoting the brand's environmentally-minded initiative. The company partnered with SeeTurtles.org in an effort to raise funds for the protection of sea turtles from plastic waste products in our oceans. In character: David Hasselhoff donned his Baywatch costume while appearing in a video for SodaStream's new 2022 Earth Day campaign, which was shared to the company's official YouTube channels on Wednesday The video began with Hasselhoff speaking about the initiative, and he announced that a portion of proceeds from each sale would go towards saving a baby sea turtle. At one point, an alarm button was pressed, and the actor tore off his suit to reveal that he had been wearing lifeguard's attire while making his statement. The performer then grabbed one of the company's products and was joined by two other lifeguards while removing trash from a baby sea turtle's path on a beach as it made its way towards the ocean. The clip ended with the performer receiving another notice about a sea turtle and running off to render assistance. Doing it again: In the video, the 69-year-old actor stepped back into character as Los Angeles County lifeguard Mitch Buchannon while promoting the brand's environmentally-minded initiative; pictured in 1995 Hasselhoff previously issued a statement to speak about the initiative, and noted via Markets Insider that he was happy to be its spokesperson. 'I am honored to work with SodaStream on their commitment to protecting the environment by calling attention to the threat to sea turtles and our beaches,' he said. The performer pointed out that he was personally invested in the well-being of sea turtles and that he wanted to bring greater exposure to the issue of their survival. Charitable effort: Hasselhoff previously issued a statement to speak about the initiative, and noted via Markets Insider that he was happy to be its spokesperson Dedicated: The performer pointed out that he was personally invested in the well-being of sea turtles and that he wanted to bring greater exposure to the issue of their survival 'This is a cause that I deeply believe in. I hope that we will raise worldwide attention about this urgent issue,' he said. The Night Rider star expressed that the campaign would be 'crucial in helping to address world attention about the importance of ensuring the survival of the globe.' Hasselhoff concluded by remarking that he hoped that the initiative would inspire others to pay more attention to environment-centric issues. Doing his part: The Night Rider star expressed that the campaign would be 'crucial in helping to address world attention about the importance of ensuring the survival of the globe' Looking to the future: Hasselhoff concluded by remarking that he hoped that the initiative would inspire others to pay more attention to environment-centric issues 'Each of us needs to do our part in contributing to a sustainable world. Our individual contributions will help to collectively add-up to building a strong foundation to reverse the looming threat,' he stated. The performer previously portrayed Buchannon during the original run of Baywatch, which ran for a total of 11 seasons. He went on to reprise his role as the lifeguard in both Baywatch Nights and the first season of Baywatch Hawaii. Sticking with it: The performer previously portrayed Buchannon during the original run of Baywatch, which ran for a total of 11 seasons Hasselhoff also played Buchannon in three separate television films centered on the show's various characters. The performer departed the series after Baywatch Hawaii's first season, although he remained on as an executive producer. Buchannon was later portrayed by Dwayne Johnson in the 2017 feature based on the series, and the character's original actor also appeared in the movie as The Mentor. Winnie Harlow put on a stylish display while shopping at a Sephora store in Los Angeles on Friday afternoon. The model was there to promote her new sun care line, Cay Skin, which she says is sustainable, environmentally friendly and 'for everyone under the sun.' Winnie dazzled her fellow shoppers, wearing a bright orange mini shirt dress with a plunging V-neckline and matching orange high heel mules. Dazzling: Winnie Harlow dazzled her fellow shoppers at a Sephora in Los Angeles, wearing a bright orange mini shirt dress with a plunging V-neckline and matching orange high heel mules. The model turned entrepreneur was there to support the launch of her new sun care line, Cay Skin The 27-year-old completed the look with an orange bikini top, two gold necklaces, large hoop earrings and a pink purse. Her dark tresses were styled in loose waves and she protected her eyes with a pair of wide square sunglasses. The former America's Top Model contestant has a skin condition called vitiligo, caused by an autoimmune disorder, and characterized by skin depigmentation. I'll have what she's having: Fellow shoppers couldn't keep their eyes off the cover girl who filled her shopping basket with some of her favorite sun protection products Learning from experience: The runway superstar said she decided to launch the sun care line after suffering a severe sunburn after an all day outdoor shoot in 2018 that changed the pattern of her vitiligo She was diagnosed with the condition at the age of four and bullied as a child growing up in Canada. Winnie has confessed she once considered suicide. But the cover girl has since gone on to redefine beauty and become a spokesperson about the condition, having shared information about it on social media and in a TEDx talk. Winnie decided to launch the sun care line after suffering a severe sunburn after an all day outdoor shoot in 2018 that changed the pattern of her vitiligo. Perseverance: The 27-year-old runway veteran was diagnosed with the vitiligo at the age of four and bullied as a child growing up in Canada. But the cover girl has since gone on to redefine beauty and become a spokesperson about the condition, sharing information about in in a YouTube video and in a TEDx talk In addition to being featured on dozens of magazine covers, the 5'9" model has also appeared in many music videos. Her most recent part was in Wizkid's True Love. Winnie also has a small part in the upcoming horror film, 18 and Over, starring Pamela Anderson and Luis Guzman. Earlier this week, former Home and Away star Sam Frost revealed she was dating a younger man. And on Friday, the 32-year-old all but confirmed her new romance with Australian Survivor: Blood vs Water star Jordie Hansen, 25. In a series of Instagram Stories posted over the weekend, the pair shared videos taken during their road trip from Sydney to the South Coast of New South Wales. Romantic road trip: On Friday, Sam Frost, 32, all but confirmed her new romance with Australian Survivor: Blood vs Water star Jordie Hansen, 25, as the two documented a romantic road trip together on Instagram 'Little team of escapees down the coast,' Jordie, 25, captioned a video in which In Sam is smiling from ear to ear in the passenger's seat. A follow-up post shows the pair enjoying a cheeseboard platter and sip of wine once reaching their accommodation, which included a roaring fire. Perhaps the most telling post was a black-and-white photo of Jordie, cuddled up next to four dogs on the couch in which he was tagged by Sam. On their way: In a series of Instagram Stories posted over the weekend, the pair shared videos taken during their road trip from Sydney to the South Coast of New South Wales Romantic getaway? One video shows the pair enjoying a cheeseboard platter and sip of wine once reaching their accommodation, which included a roaring fire The pets appeared to include Sam's two dogs, Sir Gregson and Rocky, and perhaps two dogs belonging to Jordie. Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Jordie and Sam for comment. Sam's getaway with Jordie. who is a landscaper from Victoria, comes one day after she revealed she's dating a friend of her younger brother, Alex, 26. Puppy love: Perhaps the most telling post is a black and white photo of Jordie, cuddled up next to four dogs on the couch 'I am seeing someone, it's really fun and I'm really happy, he treats me really well,' Sam told on The Herald Sun on Thursday. 'I feel really lucky that I've met him at a really great time in my life.' Sam said because her new beau is her brother's friend, he is close to her family already and Alex has given him a 'tick of approval'. Already close: Sam's getaway with Jordie. who is a landscaper from Victoria, comes one day after she revealed she's dating a friend of her younger brother, Alex (left) who is 26 'My brother spoke highly of him and he's a good judge of character and he's got his tick of approval so I'm happy with that,' Sam said. Sam's brother Alex appeared on the seventh season of Survivor Australia - called Australian Survivor: Blood V Water - alongside Jordie and his brother Jesse. The blonde beauty also spoke about her new flame on Nova's Fitzy and Wippa on Tuesday, admitting: 'Yeah, look I'm seeing someone.' The blonde beauty also spoke about her new flame on Nova's Fitzy and Wippa on Tuesday, admitting: 'Yeah, look I'm seeing someone' 'I actually met him he's friends with my brother,' she said. 'I called my brother up and I said, "So, is he single or what?" He's like, "Oh, don't be weird that's so embarrassing,"' she added. Fitzy then asked if her new man was the same age as her brother, to which she responded: 'He's younger!' 'I called my brother up and I said, "So, is he single or what?" He's like, "Oh, don't be weird that's so embarrassing,"' she added Sam's last known relationship was with Instant Hotel star Jay Bruno. They reportedly moved in together during Sydney's Covid lockdown, but had split by November last year, according to Emerald City. Before dating Jay, her last relationship was with navy diver Dave Bashford. Heidi Klum isn't afraid to take a fashion risk. The supermodel looked like she was on the catwalk as she confidently strode onto the set of America's Got Talent wearing a gaudy Moschino tracksuit. The bright blue set was decked out in a vibrant pattern inspired by decadent diner food, including a plate of burger and fries and an ice cream sundae. Risk taker: Heidi Klum looked like she was on the catwalk as she confidently strode onto the set of America's Got Talent wearing a gaudy Moschino tracksuit on Friday She further styled her funky outfit with a pair of sleek black shades and some patent leather combat boots. Heidi's flowing golden hair was worn down and styled in soft, wavy strands. Before heading into the venue, the blonde beauty beamed for shutterbugs and flashed a peace sign in the direction of passersby. Sharing pictures of her eye-catching look on social media, Heidi wrote, 'I want whats (sic) on my @moschino tracksuit.' Funky: The bright blue set was decked out in a vibrant pattern inspired by decadent diner food, including a plate of burger and fries and an ice cream sundae Blonde beauty: Heidi's flowing golden hair was worn down and styled in soft, wavy strands It was the first day of auditions on AGT and both Heidi and co-host Sofia Vergara were so excited to be back on the set they posted pictures and videos on social media to mark the moment. The cover girl quickly put aside her casual attired and glammed up in a floral dress to get down to business at the judges' table, then it was selfie time and Heidi exclaimed 'Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh, look where we are! First Day!!' and then let out a big howl as Sofia joined in. Co-judges Simon Cowell and Howie Mandel can be seen enjoying the moment. Social butterfly: Sharing pictures of her eye-catching look on social media, Heidi wrote, 'I want whats (sic) on my @moschino tracksuit' Reunited: It was the first day of auditions on AGT and both Heidi and co-host Sofia Vergara were so excited to be back on the set they posted pictures and videos on social media to mark the moment This is the German beauty's ninth season with the make it or break it contest. Sofia was equally excited, although it's only her third season with the high profile talent challenge, she released her own social media video, dancing while wearing a glamorous jumpsuit with a rhinestone encrusted bodice and fringe on her black pants. The Colombian beauty also displayed how close she and her co-host are by borrowing some of Heidi's products from the make-up area, writing 'caring is sharing, thank you @heidiklum.' Nitty gritty: Vergara wasn't afraid to answer her own junk food craving, chomping down on a candy bar without ruining her lipstick Say hello: The Modern Family star brought her young cousin with her to the set as the first day of auditions were set to get underway Simon smiles: Tough talking judge Simon Cowell took a moment to pose with the young guest The Modern Family star kept it all in the family, sharing a picture of a star-struck young cousin who was visiting the set. The teen even got to pose with the tough talking Simon Cowell who is still wearing a wrist brace after injuring his arm in a bike accident. Sofia also demonstrated that she could chomp down on a candy bar without ruining her lipstick writing in Spanish, 'I miss them so much.' The Bachelor is heading for the Sunshine State promising surf, sand and lingering romantic sunsets. Producer's of Channel 10's hit dating show told TV Blackbox that after nine seasons based in New South Wales, they will film the 2022 series on 'idyllic locations' on the Gold Coast. Hosted by Brisbane local Osher Gunsberg, the move to Queensland will inject millions into the state economy and boost tourism, said the producers, Warner Bros. Australia. Heading for romance: The Bachelor will film on the Gold Coast for its 10th season leaving its home in NSW behind and promising surf, sand and lingering romantic sunsets Queensland, say the producers, is the perfect setting for 'love and romance' and fans can expect a glimpse into 'the vibrant lifestyle of the Gold Coast'. The reality show, where a collection of beautiful women compete to find true romance with an eligible man, has launched the careers of celebrities like Anna Heinrich, Home and Away actor Sam Frost and Abbie Chatfield. No Bachelor has yet been named for the 2022 season and auditions are still open for female contestants before filming begins in May. Last year's Bachelor couple Jimmy Nicholson and Holly Kingston landed themselves in hot water in February after sharing an Instagram post about swimming with sharks just one day after a 35-year-old man was killed by a great white in Sydney. A Queensland Beach - fans can expect plenty of this in season 10 of the Bachelor Star power: The Bachelor franchise has launched the careers of plenty of celebrities, including Sam Frost (pictured) Nicholson, 32, shared a gallery of photos on Thursday of himself and Kingston, 28, shark-spotting and snorkelling in the ocean off Vomo Island Resort in Fiji, where they are holidaying as part of a sponsored deal. The images showed the pair, who fell in love on the Channel 10 dating show last year, watching sharks from their boat then diving in for a swim with snorkels and flippers. While many of Nicholson's followers praised the photos, some suggested the timing wasn't appropriate given the tragedy unfolding back in Australia. 'Maybe not the best timing for that photo,' one fan commented. The reality star who was born and raised in Sydney acknowledged the tragedy: 'So terribly sad.' Katie Holmes looked chic as she ran errands in New York on Friday afternoon. The actress looked polished but comfortable in a stylish green coat, aubergine pants and white sneakers. The single mom also wore a mask and had her hair twirled in a loose top knot as she strolled through the streets of the Big Apple. Polished but casual: Katie Holmes looked chic as she ran errands in New York. The actress looked polished but comfortable in a stylish green coat, aubergine pants and white sneakers She toted her belongings in a blue tote bag and slipped her feet into a pair of white velcro sneakers for her solo outing. It's been a busy week for The Secret: Dare to Dream actress. On Sunday, Katie stunned as she attended the star-studded 2022 Vanity Fair Oscars Party in Los Angeles. The brunette beauty modeled a simple but sexy off the shoulder pleated black silk Chloe gown with a plunging neckline and cutouts. Easy style: The single mom also wore a mask and had her hair twirled in a loose top knot as she strolled through the streets of the Big Apple carrying a blue shopping bag Labor of Love: The 43-year-old star is currently working on one of the biggest projects of her career. She is starring in the upcoming film Rare Objects and will direct as well Katie had a small part in Coda, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and seemed only too happy to celebrate the film on Hollywood's biggest night. She appeared to enjoy chatting with friends and acquaintances, including Kate Hudson and James Marsden. The 43-year-old star is currently working on one of the biggest projects of her career. Hollywood's biggest night: On Sunday, Katie stunned as she attended the star-studded 2022 Vanity Fair Oscars Party in Los Angeles. The working mom had a small role in Coda, which one the Academy Award for Best Picture Simple but sexy: The Batman Begins actress wore a simple but sexy Chloe gown to the Vanity Fair 2022 Oscars party and seemed to enjoy visiting with peers such as Kate Hudson, James Marsden and Diane Lane She is starring in the upcoming film Rare Objects. It's based on the book by the same name and tells the story of a young woman who tries to rebuild her life after taking a job in an antique job. The movie is a labor of love for the Batman Begins star. Katie helped write the script and will also direct the film. Tim Robards and Anna Heinrich were enjoying a leisurely weekend day off on Saturday. The married couple headed out for brunch in Sydney's upmarket suburb of Rose Bay, along with their daughter, Elle, one. The genetically blessed pair wheeled their toddler along in a pram before sitting down at a local cafe. Out and about: Tim Robards and Anna Heinrich were enjoying a leisurely weekend day off on Saturday. The married couple headed out for brunch in Sydney's upmarket suburb of Rose Bay, along with their daughter, Elle, one. All pictured Anna, 35, looked as if she had just finished a workout, and donned a black tank top with a hoodie tied around her waist. She added a pair of skin-tight leggings and white trainers to the ensemble as well as sunglasses. Tim, 39, was also sporty in a dark grey shirt and shorts, and did dad duty by pushing the pram. Fit! Anna, 35, looked as if she had just finished a workout, and donned a black tank top with a hoodie tied around her waist Eats: The genetically blessed pair wheeled their toddler along in a pram before sitting down at a local cafe Anna told Stellar magazine last month that the couple are hoping to fall pregnant with their second child later this year. Anna told the publication there's a good chance her next pregnancy will involve two babies, as twins run in her family. 'My grandma was a twin, and this is something I've never spoken about, but I was a twin,' she revealed, before adding that her twin sadly passed away in the womb. More babies: Anna told Stellar magazine last month that the couple are hoping to fall pregnant with their second child later this year Anna also shared the secret to her happy 9-year relationship, revealing that she and Tim's 'shared values' have been an intrinsic part of their bond. 'We went in thinking we're going to try to make this work and if it doesn't work then it doesn't work,' she said. 'But it did work. And the best thing about us is that we kept it real. We have arguments, we have fights. We're like any other couple out there; we have ups and downs, especially when you have a kid.' Dame Joan Collins has spoken out after her longtime friend Jane Seymour claimed she is one of the only actresses in Hollywood who has never undergone cosmetic surgery. The actress, 88, took to Instagram on Friday to reveal she was one of 'many' stars who are still natural, as she appeared to take aim after Jane claimed she was 'one of only two' in LA who hadn't had work done. Jane, 71, recently claimed that she had never got under the knife and that her looks makes her stand out from all other actors - despite previously admitting she had breast implants at the age of 40. Natural: Dame Joan Collins took to Instagram on Friday to reveal she was one of 'many' Hollywood actresses who are still natural... after her longtime friend Jane Seymour claimed she has never undergone cosmetic surgery Joan has now responded to Jane's comments, perhaps thinking they were aimed at her, as she wrote: 'I am another #actress in #hollywood who hasn't had any 'work' done @janeseymour. There's many of us!' Joan has denied having plastic surgery in the past though once admitted she tried Botox but it was painful. She said: 'I had it once in my forehead and it hurt like hell.' It comes after Jane insisted it is all natural as she has never had any cosmetic surgery, despite the prevalence of nips and tucks in Hollywood. Hitting back: Joan has now responded to Jane's comments, perhaps thinking they were aimed at her, as she wrote: 'I am another #actress in #hollywood who hasn't had any 'work' done @janeseymour. There's many of us!' Joan has now responded to Jane's comments, perhaps thinking they were aimed at her, as she wrote: 'I am another #actress in #hollywood who hasn't had any 'work' done @janeseymour. There's many of us!' The former Bond girl recently stunned as she party-hopped between Oscar parties, and has now said her natural look is what makes her stand out from other actors. Speaking to the Daily Express this week, Jane said: 'I am unusual in Hollywood in not having any work done, I only know one other actress who hasn't had it - though she might have now!' Jane disclosed that she feels surgery would take away her full acting potential, saying she needs all the 'moving' parts of her body. She continued: 'I felt as an actress I needed to have all the moving parts moving. And I'm at the point in life where it's not all about looking perfect - it's about playing a character.' Natural: Jane has insisted that she's never gone under the knife or had any cosmetic surgery (pictured left at the Vanity Fair Oscar party this week and right in 1977) Going against her comments this week, Jane has previously admitted to having breast implants and an eye lift, as well as trying Botox once. In 2007 the actress said that after giving birth to her twins, she decided to have implants, although they were unusually small by Hollywood standards. 'My plastic surgeon had to special order them,' she told People Magazine. In 2012 she elaborated on the surgery during an interview with the Daily Mail, admitting that she decided to get surgery at the age of 40. 'It was 20 years ago. I'd breastfed my first two children and things weren't what they had been,' she said. 'I'd never had a big bust I always say they had to make smaller implants just for me, but I wanted the shape back. Clothes fit and look better. It was a good move.' Jane has also previously disclosed that she had also had a 'minor' eyelift in the nineties, telling People in 2007: Forgetting something? Jane has also previously admitted to having an eye lift, as well as trying Botox once 'It was more than a decade ago. Genetically, I had baggy eyes and photographers said they didn't want to spend money endlessly having to eradicate them.' Jane rose to fame as Bond girl 'Solitaire', in the 1973 film Live and Let Die, alongside Roger Moore as the MI5 agent, before taking the US by storm and starring in multiple films and TV shows including Dr Quinn Medicine Woman. Her revelations come after all eyes were on her on Sunday, as she slipped into a plunging sequin gown to party hop between events celebrating Sunday's Academy Awards. Show-stopping: Jane looked sensational in a cleavage baring sequined gown as she party hopped between events to celebrate the Oscars in Los Angeles on Sunday The actress looked sensational as she graced the red carpets at both the Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party and the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Los Angeles. She was glowing in a cleavage-baring number as she showcased her incredible figure and posed up a storm at the events. The glamorous green gown hugged Jane's svelte waist before gracefully flaring out in a floor length hem. Earlier this month Jane showed off her incredible abs in a black sports bra and leggings as she shared a picture of herself in the gym using a gyrotonic machine as part of her fitness routine. She wrote alongside the photo: Back at it again with @jeenymiller! No makeup kind of day, only @crepeerase! 'Going to start sharing my wellness journey a little more frequently! Whats something you do often for yourself? #wellnesswednesdayjs.' Incredible: She was glowing in a cleavage-baring number as she showcased her incredible figure and posed up a storm at the events Producers of Channel Nine's Underbelly: Vanishing Act say viewers can expect to see a possible fresh theory behind the mysterious disappearance of the Sydney con artist Melissa Caddick. The two-part series, starring Wentworth actress Kate Atkinson, 49 premieres Sunday night on Nine and 9Now and continues Monday. But Nine's head of drama Andy Ryan warned fans of the franchise that answering all the questions surrounding the high profile fraudster - who vanished in November 2021 - were impossible to answer. Mystery Unsolved: producers of Channel Nine's Underbelly: Vanishing Act (pictured) say viewers can expect to see a possible fresh theory behind the mysterious disappearance of the Sydney con artist Melissa Caddick - seen here played by Kate Atkinson He told TV Tonight: 'We actually don't know what happened to her.' Ryan did not reveal any plot spoilers in the chat but added viewers can expect more than a 're-hash of the facts'. 'This was a story that raised all sorts of issues about things like trust, deception... how somebody could create a second life for themselves.' Many theories have surfaced since to explain the circumstances surrounding Caddick's disappearance including murder, and suicide. Nine's head of drama Andy Ryan warned fans of the franchise that answering all the questions surrounding the high profile fraudster - who vanished in November 2021 - were impossible to answer" 'We just just don't know,' he told TV Tonight Some experts who have examined the case argue that it is possible that Caddick faked her own disappearance, and is in hiding. Ryan did not reveal which, if any of these theories Vanishing Act will dramatise. A financial advisor, Caddick scammed an estimated $30million from 60 clients, most of them friends and family, in order to fund an extravagant lifestyle. Melissa Caddick, financial advisor (pictured) was last seen in 2021 - theories about her mysterious disappearance include murder, suicide, some say she even faked her disappearance after getting caught scamming an estimated $30million from 60 clients Caddick was last seen shortly after the $7m Dover Heights home she shared with her DJ husband Anthony Koletti was raided by the Australian Federal Police and ASIC investigators. Three months after Caddick vanished a severed foot was found on the south coast of NSW near Tathra, about five and a half hours from Sydney. After DNA tests confirmed that the limb belonged to Caddick, 49, it was presumed the high-flying schemer was dead. Produced by Screentime and filmed late last year Underbelly: Vanishing Act has a cast that includes veteran actor Colin Friels (Mystery Road), Home and Away's Tai Hara, Maya Stange and Sophie Bloom from Love Child and Ursula Mills from Out of the Blue. Emily Ratajkowski put on a very busty display as she posed for a sizzling Instagram snap on Friday. The 30-year-old model showcased her sensational figure in a tiny black bra and thong set in the sun-kissed photo she shared with her 29 million followers. The brunette beauty kept the look minimal as she simply accessorises with a couple of silver rings as she stood in front of the beach bar. Wow! Emily Ratajkowski put on a very busty display in a tiny black two-piece as she posed for a sizzling Instagram snap on Friday Emily flashed her bronzed physique in the snap and opted for a natural palette of makeup with a swipe of nude lipstick. The Inamorata CEO wore her brunette tresses down and parted in the middle and captioned the post: 'Las Olas - Tried & True' The London-born model recently brought her one-year-old son Sylvester Apollo Bear to the Cayman Islands where she was doing a shoot for her four-year-old bikini brand. Business trip! Emily brought her one-year-old son Sylvester Apollo Bear to the Cayman Islands where she was doing a shoot for her four-year-old bikini brand Emily - who shares Sylvester with film producer husband Sebastian Bear-McClard - announced the pregnancy in October 2020 and her son Sylvester was born on March 8, 2021. The model and her husband were married during a civil ceremony in New York City on February 23, 2018, with just a few friends as witnesses. The 30-year-old DNA Model shared Instagram snaps of her cherubic child wearing a bathrobe and sitting in the sand at her feet. Cute: The 30-year-old DNA Model shared snaps of her cherubic child wearing a bathrobe and sitting in the sand at her feet Photographer Lauren Leekley captured a beautiful sunset shot of Emily modeling a long-sleeved patterned top with a matching mini-skirt from her next collection. Emily also showcased an underwire bikini version of the same pink pattern for a mirror selfie inside the swanky boutique hotel Palm Heights in Grand Cayman. The London-born SoCal native and her BFF/co-founder Kat Mendenhall have also branched Inamorata out to lingerie, loungewear, and basics. Adorable: The model and her husband Sebastian Bear-McClard were married in New York City in February 2018, and welcomed their son on March 8, 2021 The Blurred Lines star recently threw a birthday bash to celebrate Sylvester turning one last month. The proud mom shared pictures on her Instagram Story of her little one in a stylish brown outfit next to a silver balloon sign spelling out his name. The fashionista was seen holding him in her arms while wearing a chic all-black outfit, featuring a long black dress and boots. 'We love being your parents,' she wrote on the sweet photograph shared with her 29M followers. Lachlan Murdoch has reportedly purchased a new yacht. According to Private Sydney, the media heir is the likely buyer of a 43-metre motor yacht called Istros, which cost him around $30 million. The boat will sit in Sydney Harbour, where it will be docked close to the Murdoch family's $100 million Bellevue Hill estate, called Le Manoir. Fancy: Lachlan Murdoch (pictured) has reportedly purchased a new yacht. According to Private Sydney, the media heir is the likely buyer of a 43-metre motor yacht called Istros, which cost him around $30 million Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Lachlan Murdoch for comment. The new comes amid reports Lachlan and his wife Sarah, 49, along with their three children - sons Kalan Alexander, 17, Aidan Patrick, 15, and daughter Aerin Elisabeth, 11 - are in Australia to stay. In April, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the Murdochs will be in Australia 'for years, not months, as initially believed'. Roomy: The boat (pictured) will sit in Sydney Harbour, where it will be docked close to the Murdoch family's $100 million Bellevue Hill estate, called Le Manoir The family, who are based in their Bellevue Hill compound, have settled in to life in Sydney after Sarah was seen at the Royal Easter Show in Olympic Park with their children. The publication also confirmed that the Murdoch kids are enrolled in Sydney schools. While no reason was given for the family's return to Australia, a report claimed that it was the political climate in the US that helped make the decision for the family to leave LA in favour of their Sydney home. In town: The new comes amid reports Lachlan and his wife Sarah, 49, (right) along with their three children - sons Kalan Alexander, 17, Aidan Patrick, 15, and daughter Aerin Elisabeth, 11 - are in Australia to stay A source said: 'The school communities here are very close knit, and it extends in to the wider families and the circles and parties they all go to. That Hollywood set is very pro-Democratic. 'They are mostly big fundraisers for Biden, so you can imagine how well it went down when one of their classmates' dads is at the helm of the biggest anti-Biden machine in the country.' Despite having their life based in Los Angeles for years, where Lachlan is Executive Chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation, the couple has always maintained their Bellevue Hill abode. Sophie Monk has finally gotten her storybook ending. The unlucky-in-love television host, who once resorted to searching for 'The One' on The Bachelorette, has walked down the aisle with her fiance Joshua Gross. The Love Island Australia host, 42, and her neurosurgical robotics consultant beau, 41, exchanged vows at their Central Coast, NSW home in March, after eloping together - inviting no guests as they held a wedding just for themselves. Married! Sophie Monk has finally had her storybook ending. The unlucky-in-love television host married her fiance Joshua Gross at their Central Coast, NSW home. Both pictured The bride and groom appear on the cover of this week's Stellar Magazine, with Sophie absolutely glowing in a fitted ivory gown with a sweetheart neckline. The J'Aton Couture dress, which showed off her amazing figure, had a split at the thigh, and corseted boning through the midriff. She added long gloves to the look for an operatic flair, and wore a romantic veil atop her flowing golden locks. Wedding day: The Love Island Australia host, 42, and her neurosurgical robotics consultant beau, 41, exchanged vows at their Central Coast home after eloping together and holding a ceremony with no guests. They appear on the cover of this week's Stellar Magazine Joshua meanwhile looked dapper in a black tuxedo with a white dress shirt worn with a small bowtie. Speaking to Stellar Magazine on Saturday, Sophie called the small wedding, 'so beautiful and relaxed.' Joshua agreed: 'We woke up together and it's been a dream. When I'm with her, it's just smooth. I couldn't be happier.' Sweet: Speaking to Stellar Magazine on Saturday, Sophie called the small wedding, 'so beautiful and relaxed.' Joshua agreed: 'We woke up together and it's been a dream. When I'm with her, it's just smooth. I couldn't be happier' Sophie says she chose to have a wedding at home to keep things 'stress-free' while Joshua calls their private home 'our sanctuary' and he was glad to make wedding memories that will last a lifetime there. Another reason they chose to have a wedding on their own - Sophie was happy to keep the guest list to a bare minimum. 'We figured, if you don't invite one person, then no-one could get upset,' she told Stellar. Moved: Josh admits that the moment Sophie walked down the aisle was extremely emotional. 'I started crying as soon as I saw her, which I didn't plan on at all. But yeah, it hit me hard. It really did,' he told Stellar Magazine Despite the relaxed energy of the day, Sophie says the couple's vows were 'quite serious'. Josh admits that the moment Sophie walked down the aisle was extremely emotional. 'I started crying as soon as I saw her, which I didn't plan on at all. But yeah, it hit me hard. It really did,' he told Stellar Magazine. Plans: The pair pulled the whole wedding together in 'two or three weeks' and don't have a honeymoon planned The pair pulled the whole wedding together in 'two or three weeks' and don't have a honeymoon planned. But they are planning to start a family - with Sophie telling Stellar that they don't want to pressure themselves but would love children together. Last year, Sophie said the couple planned to have a low-key and intimate wedding with just the two of them, before celebrating later on with family and friends. Casual: Sophie says she chose to have a wedding at home to keep things 'stress-free' while Joshua calls their private home 'our sanctuary' and he was glad to make wedding memories that will last a lifetime there 'We are going to do it low key,' Sophie old Daily Mail Australia. 'At this stage [it's] just him and I, and then we will invite everyone over for a big party when we can.' The couple announced their engagement on January 15 last year, with Joshua presenting Sophie with a stunning diamond ring. At the time, the delighted bride-to-be gushed on Instagram: 'Joshua and I are so happy. Vowing to be in love: Despite the relaxed energy of the day, Sophie says the couple's vows were 'quite serious' 'Joshua designed a very personal ring with my favourite Aussie designer Luke Rose Jewellery and I LOVE IT.' Joshua actually proposed on Christmas Day last year, a spokesperson for Sophie later confirmed, but they waited until January to announce their happy news. In April last year, Sophie shared video from the couple's small and intimate engagement party at home. Baby love: The pair say they are planning to start a family - with Sophie telling Stellar that they don't want to pressure themselves but would love children together Josh also shared a video of the couple's cake - made by his mother - which featured doll versions of the pair in identical outfits. He wrote in the captions: 'Engagement Party time. Love you sweetheart @sophiemonk. Thanks Mum for the cake'. At the time, Sophie revealed the pair 'do want children' in future, but admitted the topic is 'hard to talk about'. The Beauty and the Geek presenter told Woman's Day: 'We're not not trying. It's hard to talk about. One on one: Another reason they chose to have a wedding on their own - Sophie was happy to keep the guest list to a bare minimum. 'We figured, if you don't invite one person, then no-one could get upset,' she told Stellar 'Everyone's got an opinion on it so I kind of keep it a little bit low-key. But of course, we do want children!' The Love Island Australia host froze her eggs two years ago, a move which she says takes the pressure off 'a bit'. 'I've got them as back-up!' she added. In March 2021, Sophie said on KIIS FM's Kyle and Jackie O Show that the pair would consider adopting a child if they struggled to fall pregnant. Solo date: Last year, Sophie said the couple planned to have a low-key and intimate wedding with just the two of them, before celebrating later on with family and friends She said: 'If you couldn't then we would do a different plan but I have frozen heaps of eggs.' In December last year, the couple welcomed a new member to their family - a puppy named Bluey. 'New addition to the family, Bluey,' Joshua captioned an Instagram photo of Sophie posing with the cute white-coloured pooch. Love: The couple announced their engagement on January 15 last year, with Joshua presenting Sophie with a stunning diamond ring Reposting the clip to her own Instagram Stories, a smitten Sophie wrote: 'I'm so in love.' The couple first met on a flight from Europe to Australia in August 2018, and shared a kiss after enjoying 'three champagnes' in business class. They grew closer when Joshua helped Sophie recover after endometriosis surgery in November that year. Celebrations: In April last year, Sophie shared video from the couple's small and intimate engagement party at home Around this time, she also began the process of freezing her eggs. Back in July 2019, Sophie admitted she was hoping Joshua would propose, sharing a telling message on Instagram on their two-year anniversary. 'Happy anniversary @joshuargross, I can't believe you've put up with me for two years,' she wrote. 'I love you so much and you're my best friend in the world... I can't wait to marry you (hint hint).' Expanding: In December last year, the couple welcomed a new member to their family - a puppy named Bluey In 2018, Sophie split with millionaire pub baron Stu Laundy, 49, six months after she chose him as her final suitor on The Bachelorette in 2017. 'I gave it the best shot I could and my intentions were everything I said I was looking for but unfortunately it just didn't work out,' she wrote on Instagram at the time. The former pop star has often spoken about having bad luck when it came to romance and pining for her happily ever after. 'Living in LA for 10 years, I've dated high-profile people like actors and rock stars, but that's not at all what I've been looking for,' she said to Confidential in 2017. 'I'm so lucky to do what I do... but the one thing you do sacrifice is a really healthy, good relationship.' Newly-single Katie Price kissed her business partner during her first wild night out since her split from fiance Carl Woods on Friday. The former glamour model, 43, took to Instagram to share the flirty video where she locked lips with Jeyda Yilmaz who she introduced as her 'best friend and business partner'. It comes after luxe car dealer Carl, 33, allegedly accused Katie of cheating twice and reportedly ended his 11-month engagement to Katie as he could no longer trust her. Flirty: Newly-single Katie Price kissed her business partner during a wild night out on Friday - just days after her split from fiance Carl Woods On her night out on Friday Katie posed for snaps with Jeyda and her assistant Ryan in a swanky London bar. She wore a plunging orange blouse that showed off her newly-enhanced assets, tight PVC trousers and sky scrapper heels. Katie penned in her caption - perhaps making a thinly-veiled dig at Carl - 'People who believe in me Business and best friends @rymi1 @jeydayilmaz.' Party: She wore a plunging orange blouse that showed off her newly-enhanced assets during the night out Exes: It comes after luxe car dealer Carl, 33, allegedly accused Katie of cheating twice and reportedly ended his 11-month engagement to Katie as he could no longer trust her The reported split came just a day after Katie ditched the engagement ring which Carl gave her, while he has now deleted all trace of their romance from his social media account. Sources told The Sun: 'Katie and Carl have decided to split up. It's been a difficult couple of months and their ongoing court cases have just added even more stress to the situation. 'It really seems to be over for now and they are both very sad about it. But of course no one would be surprised if they got back together.' Fun: The former glamour model, 43, took to Instagram to share the flirty video where she locked lips with Jeyda Yilmaz who she introduced as her 'best friend and business partner' While Carl deleted all photographs of the pair, he and Katie still follow each other on the social media platform. The news came days after Carl appeared before Colchester Magistrates' Court after being charged with 'abusive and threatening behaviour'. The court case was referenced in the comments section of one of Carl's social media posts, as one follower questioned: 'Thought you said you didn't hit her? But up in court today.' While Carl, who was charged with threatening behaviour, replied: 'Why don't you read what the charge is ACTUALLY for.' All smiles: Katie penned in her caption - perhaps making a thinly-veiled dig at Carl - 'People who believe in me Business and best friends @rymi1 @jeydayilmaz' One fan who was heavily defensive of Carl, wrote: 'He's in court for being threatening, not violence. Price admitted she lied about the bruise and getting punched. She should be charged for lying and wasting police time. 'It's disgusting to falsely accuse a man (or woman) of domestic violence, makes a mockery of the whole system and genuine victims. They added: 'I feel sorry for Carl Woods he has been tangled into such a horrible mess. If he leaves her, we all know how vindictive she is and she could lie again to the police. Close bond: On her night out on Friday Katie posed for snaps with Jeyda - a pretty brunette Outfit: Katie was showing off the results of her latest boob job in the orange top as they group sang songs in the taxi 'If he stays, it's a permenant reminder of being with the person who falsely accued you and dragged your name through the mud. 'People are even questioning his dog owning skills because of HER track record with animals, even though it's clear he looks after Sid very well. 'Guilt by association and all that. Wouldn't want to be in his shoes, I tell you.' Appearing to appreciate the supportive comments, Carl tagged the user and posted a couple of praising hands emojis. Carl was arrested last year after Katie was allegedly punched in the face on August 22, 2021. He was subsequently charged under Section 4 of the Public Order Act following an incident at his home in Little Canfield, Essex last year. The maximum sentence he faces is up to six months. The court heard that the charge followed a row that spilled over into the street, disturbing neighbours. At one stage Carl was seen trying to force open a door, the court heard. Where's it gone? A day before their split was reported, Katie 's engagement ring was nowhere to be seen as she took to Instagram to post a series of videos Carl denied using 'threatening words and behaviour' following a row at his Essex home, with Mark Davies, defending, saying that Carl's argument would be that the incident was 'nothing more than a squabble'. He spoke just to confirm his date of birth and address before answering 'not guilty' when asked to enter a plea to the public order charge. Katie sat in the public gallery and watched her fiance during the short session, while he smiled towards her from behind the reinforced glass of courtroom four. Carl was granted unconditional bail and the case was adjourned for trial on June 16 at Chelmsford Magistrates' Court. The car mechanic earlier accused others of creating a 'storyline' - insisting he and Katie only had an argument in public. Carl claims he 'didn't lay a finger' on the glamour model and said he had 'black and white proof' to clear his name after he was charged with using threatening and abusive behaviour towards her in an incident at their house in Essex. A day before their split was reported, Katie's engagement ring was nowhere to be seen as she took to Instagram to post a series of videos. The mother-of-five could be seen as she showed off some sweets to her followers, without the glitzy ring on her left hand. In a later post to her Story, her engagement ring returned, but the video appeared to be a pre-recorded advertisement, though it is unclear when this was filmed. Advertisement Bella Hadid looked casually chic as she stepped out in Rome with her beau Marc Kalman on Saturday as they enjoyed some ice cream. The model, 25, showed off her relaxed sense of style in a leopard-print lined brown coat and baggy jeans as she strolled around the pretty Italian city arm in arm with her art director boyfriend, 33. It comes after it was announced this week that she is breaking into acting with a role on the upcoming third season of the Hulu sitcom Ramy. Day out: Bella Hadid looked casually chic as she stepped out in Rome with her beau Marc Kalman on Saturday as they enjoyed some ice cream Bella completed her look with comfy blue and white trainers and toted a black quilted Chanel bag while wearing a crisp white shirt under her coat. She accessorised her sightseeing look with a silver hair band, huge gold hoop earrings and wore brown-tinted shades to cover her eyes while enjoying the sweet treat. Meanwhile Marc opted for a laid-back ensemble, wearing a white shirt, baggy navy trousers and a black cap while also donning sunglasses. Fashion: The model, 25, showed off her relaxed sense of style in a leopard-print lined brown coat and baggy jeans as she strolled around the pretty Italian Exciting: It comes after it was announced this week that she is breaking into acting with a role on the upcoming third season of the Hulu sitcom Ramy Outfit: Bella completed her look with comfy blue and white trainers and toted a black quilted Chanel bag while wearing a crisp white shirt under her coat Snack: She accessorised her sightseeing look with a silver hair band, huge gold hoop earrings and wore brown-tinted shades to cover her eyes while enjoying the sweet treat It comes not long after Bella spoke about her relationship with art director Marc during an interview. The star spoke about her connection to her boyfriend during a chat with Vogue, where she attributed their success as a couple to their dedication to privacy. The social media personality pointed out that 'I think that's why things have been able to last.' Bella then noted that she and Marc were uninterested in outside views on their relationship. Candid: It comes not long after Bella spoke about her relationship with art director Marc during an interview Cool: Meanwhile Marc opted for a laid-back ensemble, wearing a white shirt, baggy navy trousers and a black cap while also donning sunglasses Honest: The star spoke about her connection to her boyfriend during a chat with Vogue, where she attributed their success as a couple to their dedication to privacy 'When you give other people room to have opinions on things that are so personal to you, it poisons it,' she said. The couple were initially linked last year, when they were spotted having lunch with each other in New York City. Bella was previously in a high-profile relationship with The Weeknd before they parted ways in August 2019. Supermodel Bella is breaking into acting with a role on the upcoming third season of the Hulu sitcom Ramy. The little sister of Gigi will have a recurring part on the series, according to a report in Deadline. Love: The couple were initially linked last year, when they were spotted having lunch with each other in New York City Exes: Bella was previously in a high-profile relationship with The Weeknd before they parted ways in August 2019 Ramy was co-created by the comedian Ramy Youssef, who stars as a first generation Egyptian American in New Jersey. While the title character is the millennial product of a secular western milieu, his Muslim family and roots are more traditional and conservative. Ramy himself is conflicted about his own feelings on religion and spirituality, and the show charts his personal evolution. New project: Supermodel Bella is breaking into acting with a role on the upcoming third season of the Hulu sitcom Ramy Amazing: The little sister of Gigi will have a recurring part on the series, according to a report in Deadline Previous recurring guest stars on the show have included Mahershala Ali, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for Moonlight. The main cast includes such names as Hiam Abbas, who plays Ramy's mother and who can also be seen playing Brian Cox' dramatically younger wife on Succession. As far as her own faith is concerned, Bella shared in a Porter interview in 2017 that her Palestinian father Mohamed Hadid 'was always religious, and he always prayed with us. I am proud to be a Muslim.' History: Previous recurring guest stars on the show have included Mahershala Ali, who won a best supporting actor Oscar for Moonlight Plot: The main cast includes such names as Hiam Abbas, who plays Ramy's mother and who can also be seen playing Brian Cox' dramatically younger wife on Succession When she covered this year's April issue of Vogue she revealed that she has developed a more ecumenical attitude. 'I'm very spiritual, and I find that I connect with every religion. There's that my-way-is-the-right-way thing in human nature, but for me it's not about my god or your god. I kind of just call on whoever is willing to be there for me,' she said. Although Bella has previously acted in such projects as commercials, Ramy appears set to be the largest acting role she has taken. Busy: Although Bella has previously acted in such projects as commercials, Ramy appears set to be the largest acting role she has taken Truth: As far as her own faith is concerned, Bella shared in a Porter interview in 2017 that her Palestinian father Mohamed Hadid 'was always religious, and he always prayed with us. I am proud to be a Muslim' Interview: Bella then noted that she and Marc were uninterested in outside views on their relationship Busy start to the year: Bella is enjoying a holiday after a mad month of fashion weeks And relax: Bella perched on a wall to eat the rest of her ice cream Star: Over the span of four years, Hadid has made twenty-seven appearances on international Vogue magazine cover Impressive: She signed with IMG Models in 2014 and has done major campaigns for Dior, Michael Kors, Versace and Fendi Will Mellor made an emotional appearance on The One Show on Friday night as he opened up about the death of his father. The 45 year-old actor revealed he lost his father during the Covid-19 pandemic, as he wiped tears from his eyes. The star, who played Gaz Wilkinson in sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, appeared on the show alongside his podcast co-star Ralf Little. Emotional: Will Mellor, 45, held back tears as he opened up about his dad's death during an emotional appearance on The One Show on Friday evening The pair were on the show to talk about their ongoing Two Pints Live! tour around the UK, as they discussed what was covered by the stage show. But thinks took a heartbreaking turn, as Will shared that he'd lost his dad, Bill Mellor, just weeks after being diagnosed with cancer in April 2020. The tragedy happened at the height of the pandemic and nationwide lockdown, meaning Will was unable to be with is family during the incredibly difficult time. Heartbreaking: The actor revealed he lost his father during the Covid-19 pandemic, as he wiped tears from his eyes (pictured with his dad Co-stars: The star, who played Gaz Wilkinson in sitcom Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps, appeared on the show alongside his podcast co-star Ralf Little As the actor explained this to host Alex Jones, he seemingly got emotional, while Alex said: 'I'm so sorry, Will' Speaking of the emotional time, Will said; 'It was a really hard time...it was a horrible time. He was my hero, there was never going to be a good time.' Pal Ralf also chimed in to the conversation, saying: 'He was unbelievably open and genuine in talking about it.' Tragic: Will lost his dad, Bill Mellor, just weeks after being diagnosed with cancer in April 2020, calling him 'my hero' (pictured with his mum and dad) Support: Ralf also chimed in to the conversation, saying: 'He was unbelievably open and genuine in talking about it' Will went on to encourage more men to talk about how they're feeling, sharing: 'I realised at that time if I'm going through this, and it really hit me hard, there must be a lot of people out there...Talking does help. 'It does solve a lot of problems for people to talk, especially men / it's ok not to be ok,' he continued. Will and Ralf host the Two Pints with Will & Ralf podcast, and have been touring it from March through until mid April, travelling across England, Scotland and Wales. Sophie Monk walked down the aisle with her fiance Joshua Gross last month - and she was wearing a very special wedding gown. The Love Island Australia host, 42, designed her own dress, and gave J'Aton Couture just two weeks to create it based off her own sketches. 'I wanted something timeless where it doesn't age badly,' Sophie told Stellar Magazine on Saturday. What a frock! Sophie Monk walked down the aisle with her fiance Joshua Gross last month wearing a J'Aton Couture gown which was custom designed for her in just two weeks, after she gave the designer a sketch of her dream dress. Pictured with Joshua on the cover of Stellar 'I sketched it out a couple of weeks ago with my stylist. I wanted to just keep it simple, beautiful and timeless, but still 'bride'' she added. Custom gowns from the Melbourne label, which is a hot favourite with celebrities, can cost as much as $40,000. Prices average at $11,630 for frocks from the A-list brand, and reach as much as $41,370 for bespoke creations. 'I wanted something timeless where it doesn't age badly,' Sophie told Stellar Magazine on Saturday. Custom gowns from the Melbourne label, which is a hot favourite with celebrities, can cost as much as $40,000. Pictured in a different dress Sophie confessed the process was so rushed that she tried her gown on for the first time on her wedding day. 'It fit like a glove, it was perfect it was just how I'd imagined it. The designers, J'Aton Couture, are incredible. We didn't give them long, but they're pros' she told Stellar. The TV star was absolutely glowing on her big day in the fitted ivory gown with a sweetheart neckline. 'I sketched it out a couple of weeks ago with my stylist. I wanted to just keep it simple, beautiful and timeless, but still 'bride'' she added The dress, which showed off her amazing figure, had a split at the thigh, and corseted boning through the midriff, as well as featuring a long train. She added long gloves to the look for an operatic flair, and wore a romantic veil atop her flowing golden locks. The groom meanwhile looked dapper in a black tuxedo with a white dress shirt worn with a small bowtie. Wedding day: Sophie and her neurosurgical robotics consultant beau, 41, exchanged vows at their Central Coast, NSW home in March, after eloping together - inviting no guests as they held a wedding just for themselves Sophie and her neurosurgical robotics consultant beau, 41, exchanged vows at their Central Coast, NSW home in March, after eloping together - inviting no guests as they held a wedding just for themselves. Speaking to Stellar Magazine on Saturday, Sophie called the small wedding, 'so beautiful and relaxed.' Joshua proposed on Christmas Day last year, a spokesperson for Sophie later confirmed, but they waited until January to announce their happy news. The couple first met on a flight from Europe to Australia in August 2018, and shared a kiss after enjoying 'three champagnes' in business class. Holly Ramsay shared an adorable Instagram snap on Friday with her two-year-old brother Oscar during their holiday in France. The daughter of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay beamed as she held her younger brother in the snow as they enjoyed a family trip in the French Alps. The 22-year-old influencer cut a casual figure in an oversized grey sweatshirt, a pair of black shorts and white slippers. Cute! Holly Ramsay shared an adorable Instagram snap on Friday with her two-year-old brother Oscar during their holiday in France Holly looked in high spirits as she frolicked in the snow in front of a breathtaking view and captioned the snap: 'Snow Babies' Earlier in the day, Holly was tagged in an Instagram story with her sister Tilly, 20, as they suited up for a snowboarding session at the resort. The sister duo looked sensational as they donned a light palette of makeup underneath their Balaclava's and snowboard goggles. Family: The daughter of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay beamed as she held her younger brother in the snow as they enjoyed a family trip in the French Alps Adorable: Holly looked in high spirits as she frolicked in the snow in front of a breathtaking view and captioned the snap: 'Snow Babies' The trip comes after Holly enjoyed her first Grand Prix in Saudi Arabian on Sunday with her father Gordon. The celebrity chef, 55, - who recently caused controversy by saying he 'can't stand' Cornish people - cut a casual figure as he held hands with his stylish daughter at the car racing event, proving their close family bond. Holly looked stunning in a bright red jumpsuit which had a high-neck design and cut-out section as she beamed alongside her father. Stepping out: Gordon Ramsay attended the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Jeddah on Sunday with his daughter Holly, where they held hands upon arrival She completed the chic look with chunky black heels, toted a Louis Vuitton backpack and wore Balenciaga sunglasses atop her head. Meanwhile Gordon wore a navy T-shirt and black jeans teamed with comfy trainers and reflective shades. The pair looked in great spirits at the event where they chatted with Dave Redding, the manager of the Williams Formula 1 team. She knows how to make an entrance. And Bella Thorne turned heads once again as she stepped out in a very revealing outfit on Friday evening at Mike Dean and Jeff Bhasker's Pre Grammy Party in LA. The 24-year-old put out a busty display as she barely concealed her assets in a strapless black bra, with a small wire in the middle. Busty: Bella Thorne barely concealed her assets in a TINY bra and textured Gucci suit as she attended a pre Grammy bash in Los Angeles on Friday evening Bella paired this with a textured green Gucci suit, which included high-waisted trousers and a blazer hanging over her shoulders. The actress paired her bold look with a pair of gold bow heels as she clutched a black, white and gold handbag. She styled her creamy apricot tresses in a sleek straight look, as they fell to her shoulders. Happy couple: Whilst the pair weren't pictured together, Bella appeared at the bash with fiance Benjamin Mascolo Opting for a full glam makeup look, Bella looked radiant with a dark winged eyeliner and a peachy lip. She accessorised with stacked silver jewellery on both wrists, small hooped earrings and green nail polish to match her designer ensemble. Whilst the pair weren't pictured together, Bella appeared at the bash with fiance Benjamin Mascolo. Toned: Rita Ora also attended the pre-Grammy bash, putting on an ab-flashing display in PVC trousers The event, which was hosted by record producers Mike Dean and Jeff Bhasker, kicked off the Grammy celebrations, which will take place on Monday April 4. The star-studded party was held at West Hollywood nightclub OffSunset, and also saw other celebrities such as Kate Beckinsale and Rita Ora attend. Rita Ora appeared with her beau Taika Waititi as she put on an ab-flashing display for the outing - donning black PVC trousers and a cropped t-shirt. Taron Egerton has withdrawn completely from appearing in his West End show Cock where he was starring alongside Bridgerton's Jonathan Bailey. The announcement that the Rocketman actor has dropped out 'for personal reasons' comes after he was replaced when he tested positive for Covid-19 and fainted on stage during the opening night of the play. In a statement released by the Twitter account for the play, a revival of Mike Bartlett's 2009 production Cock at London's Ambassador Theatre, it said that understudy Joel Harper-Jackson will take over the role of M previously played by Taron. Oh no: Taron Egerton has withdrawn completely from appearing in his West End show Cock where he was starring alongside Bridgerton's Jonathan Bailey 'Joel Harper-Jackson will take over the role of M in Mike Bartlett's razor sharp, hilarious play Cock until the end of the run,' it said. 'The part was originally played in this production by Taron Egerton, who has had to withdraw from the production due to personal reasons.' The statement added that Joel was an understudy for the role, 'and has been playing the part of M for the past ten days while Taron was absent from the production having tested positive for Covid'. Sad: The announcement that the Rocketman actor has dropped out 'for personal reasons' comes after he was replaced when he tested positive for Covid-19 and fainted on stage during the opening night of the play (pictured on stage with Jonathan) Lower down in the statement: Director Marianne Elliott described Joel as an 'absolute hero', saying that he's a 'brilliant and gifted actor' who took over the role 'at extremely short notice'. 'Audiences have been standing and cheering and so am I,' Marianne added. Jonathan, who has recently been leaving Netflix viewers swooning with his return as Anthony Bridgerton in the second season of the hit period drama Bridgerton, added that Joel is 'an immense talent and we couldn't be luckier to have him on board'. 'I am proud to continue sharing the stage with him,' he concluded in his part of the statement. Announcement: In a statement released by the Twitter account for the play, a revival of Mike Bartlett's 2009 production Cock at London's Ambassador Theatre, it said that understudy Joel Harper-Jackson will take over the role of M previously played by Taron Cock centres around John (Bailey), a man who falls in love with a woman (Jade Anouka) after going on a break from his long-term boyfriend (Egerton). Last week the production team also released a statement after Taron fainted on stage. The statement read: 'During this evening's first preview of Mike Bartlett's play 'Cock' at the Ambassadors Theatre, Taron Egerton fainted towards the end of the performance. 'A doctor who was in the audience attended to Taron immediately after the incident, and whilst he felt fine, it was decided that Taron's understudy, Joel Harper-Jackson would continue in the role to complete the performance.' 'We expect Taron to return to the show next week': The show's producers previously announced the news he had Covid in a statement shared online Taron subsequently wrote on Instagram: 'As some of you may have heard, I passed out during the first performance of COCK last night. 'I am completely fine. Slightly sore neck and a bruised ego, but I'm fine. 'I've decided to put a positive spin on it and I would appreciate it if anyone who was in the theatre last night just said that I gave such a committed, electrifying performance that my body couldn't handle it and check out. 'That being said, apparently you're meant to actually do the full show and not just three quarters of it. [sic]' Taron praised his 'amazing' understudy for stepping in. His post continued: 'I'll be back with a vengeance tomorrow night. That you to the amazing team at the theatre and my wonderful cast mates for being so lovely. 'But mainly I wanted to say thanks to Joel Harper Jackson who stepped in to do the last bit of the play. 'Joel is an amazing actor and a lovely person. Thank you, Joel. T x. [sic]' It comes amid the news that Bridgerton - which stars Jonathan - has continued its reign on Netflix with season two already setting a record on the streamer less than a week after premiering on the platform. Phew! Following his collapse, Taron said he was 'completely fine', and took to Instagram to reassure his fans and announce he would be returning to the stage 'with a vengeance' The romance series has already logged 193 million hours of viewing time worldwide, the most any English-language Netflix series has amassed in its first three days, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Not only that, but the hit series is also in the top 10 in 92 of the 93 countries where rankings are tracked by Netflix, with Japan being the only outlier, adds THR. Season two of Bridgerton sees Lord Anthony (Jonathan) becoming embroiled in a love triangle with Sharma sisters Edwina (Charithra Chandran) and Kate (Simone Ashley) after Edwina is suggested as a match for Anthony. However, he is drawn to her older sister Kate. Daphne (Phoebe Dynevor) returns in season two, though this time her now-husband Duke of Hastings (Rege Jean-Page) does not appear. Good-humoured: When he returned to the stage, Taron informed his 2.6million Instagram followers with a self-deprecating video: 'Got to the second preview, didn't pass out!' Jonathan, who's character takes centre stage in the new season, admitted he felt under pressure to perform and keep viewers enticed for the next instalment. 'Stepping into the shoes Phoebe Dynevor and Rege-Jean Page wore, and led with so gracefully last season, has taught me a lot. 'This season has kept me on my toes. I got really fit, I made sure to eat well and get loads of sleep, and everything else just seemed to fall into place,' he said, according to The Sun. She delighted her fans by dressing up as Lady Gaga and Jessica Chastain ahead of the Academy Awards. But Kelly Ripa took a break from the Hollywood glamour on Friday, when she and her husband Mark Consuelos were spotted on a walk in New York City. The 51-year-old Live! With Kelly And Ryan star looked relaxed in a vibrant tie-dye shirt as the couple strolled past the Greenwich Hotel in Manhattan. On the town: Kelly Ripa, 51, paired a casual tie-dye shirt with a sleek blazer and dark jeans as she took a walk near Manhattan's Greenwich hotel with husband Mark Consuelos, 51 Kelly paired her green, blue and red shirt with a classy black blazer, and stuck to dark colors with her slim jeans. The talk show host and occasional actress rounded out her outfit with weathered white sneakers. She wore her blond tresses parted down the middle and swept back to highlight her black sunglasses. Mark, 51, looked rugged in a black down vest over a navy sweatshirt. Staying fit: Mark looked rugged in a black down vest with a navy sweatshirt, gray sweatpants and gray Asics trainers, plus a silver luxury wristwatch He also had on sporty black sweatpants with gray-and-blue Asics trainers, and he had his sleeve pulled up just enough to showcase his silver luxury wristwatch. The two were taking it easy after Kelly seemed to have a blast impersonating some of the actresses nominated at last month's Academy Awards, including Jessica Chastain and Lady Gaga. In one clip Kelly was unrecognizable as Tammy Faye, lampooning Jessica's big scene where she declares that her exaggerated stage look is 'who I am.' Kelly could also be seen singing onstage as Tammy Faye, who used to perform songs as part of her ministry while her husband Jim Bakker did the preaching. For her TV parody, Kelly was singing one of Tammy Faye's actual stage numbers, Jesus Keeps Takin' Me Higher And Higher. Goofing about: Kelly transformed into Jessica Chastain (playing Tammy Faye Bakker) in a clip last month ahead of her and Ryan Seacrest's post-Oscars broadcast Uncanny: Kelly (left) was spoofing Jessica Chastain's Oscar-nominated performance as the late televangelist in the biopic The Eyes Of Tammy Faye (right) When a makeup lady asks if she wants 'a little remover' for her eyelashes, Kelly as Tammy Faye replies: 'Oh, no, that's it. I mean, they're permanently lined and my eyes are permanently line and my eyebrows are permanently on so there's not a whole lot you can do. This is who I am!' The sequence is a send-up of a scene in The Eyes Of Tammy Faye where the 1980s superstar televangelist, as played by Jessica, explains her look. In another clip, Kelly spoke in an Italian accent as she imitated Gaga's performance in House Of Gucci. Making it happen: Kelly can also be seen singing onstage as Tammy Faye, who used to perform songs as part of her ministry while her husband Jim Bakker did the preaching The latest: Kelly is seen depicting Lady Gaga's House of Gucci character Patrizia Reggiani in another teaser ad for her post-Oscar Live with Kelly and Ryan 'Do we have a demitasse? I have my spoon ... grazie, amore,' Ripa said, mimicking the dialogue from a ski trip sequence in the film in which Reggiani thought her then-husband Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) was cheating on her. Kelly said, 'Father, son and House of Gucci,' a line that Gaga had improvised while shooting the film. She added, 'I just say the words' in the clip, which was set to the Blondie classic Heart of Glass. While Lady Gaga did not get an Oscar nomination for her outing in the Ridley Scott motion picture the film's lone nod is in the category of Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling she appeared as a presenter with Liza Minnelli. Tiger King's Joe Exotic has revealed why he filed for divorce from Dillon Passage days ago, citing a new love interest whom he hopes to marry. Joe's lawyer Autumn Blackledge told TMZ that the Netflix personality has been seeing a man named John Graham as he serves a 22-year sentence for plotting to kill his nemesis Carole Baskin. The former zookeeper, 59, reportedly said about the situation, 'God works in amazing ways.' Moving on: Tiger King's Joe Exotic has revealed why he filed for divorce from Dillon Passage days ago, citing a new love interest whom he hopes to marry, according to TMZ Joe and John originally met more than a year ago in February 2021 at FMC Forth Worth in Texas. John was released last month on March 15, after serving most of his 12-year sentence for burglary and possession of a firearm. He was sentenced in 2012. If they wed, the marriage will be Joe's third. He was formerly married to Travis Maldonado before he accidentally shot and killed himself in 2017. The former animal trainer is hoping he and his ex, 25, 'can both move on with their lives and divorce quickly and amicably,' Blackledge told TMZ. New interest: Joe's lawyer Autumn Blackledge said the Netflix personality has been seeing a man named John Graham, whom he met behind bars Splitsville: Tiger King's Joe Exotic filed for divorce from husband Dillon Passage as he serves a 22-year sentence for plotting to murder rival Carole Baskin The news comes a year after the bartender reportedly pulled the plug on their four-year marriage via a phone call to the Fort Worth, Texas prison. At the time, Exotic (full name: Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage) was said to be heartbroken and 'considering rushing to file a petition to divorce in order to beat Passage.' A source claimed the star emailed a friend while fresh from the phone call, telling them he felt 'abandoned and alone and just wanted to mean something to someone,' per TMZ. Though the past owner of the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park appeared upset about the split, Dillon said, at the time, that there are no hard feelings and he will still support Joe through his prison sentence. The latest: Joe Exotic's ex Passage (L) revealed on Instagram in July 2021 that he's in a new relationship with a man named John Passage reportedly called it quits with Joe because he grew lonely during his husband's time behind bars and wanted to date again. In July 2021, he posted a picture of his new boyfriend John, who he called his 'rock' and said has helped him 'get through it all' during some 'hard' times. Four months prior, Passage detailed his and Joe Exotic's breakup in a social media post, which read, 'To answer the main question the public wants to know, yes, Joe and I are seeking a divorce. Moving on: At the time, Passage said of his new beau, 'John has been my rock and helping me get through it all' 'This wasn't an easy decision to make but Joe and I both understand that this situation isn't fair to either of us. It's something that neither of us were expecting but we are going to take it day by day.' Passage said he would 'continue to have Joe in [his] life and do [his] best to support him while he undergoes further legal battles to better his situation.' The couple initially tied the knot December 11, 2017, months after Exotic's previous spouse Travis Maldonado died after accidentally shooting himself October 6, 2017. Pumping up: Passage shared a shot of himself and John working out on social media Authorities said Exotic in December 2017 attempted to bribe an FBI agent to murder Baskin, and was recorded saying, 'Just like follow her into a mall parking lot and just cap her and drive off.' Exotic was also convicted in connection with numerous wildlife law violations in the deaths of five tigers, and infractions of the Endangered Species Act. He found fast fame while incarcerated amid the release of the popular Netflix doc Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness. Denise Van Outen wrapped up as she paid a visit to Gordon Ramsay's Bread Street Kitchen restaurant in Liverpool on Saturday. The TV personality, 47, braced the chilly temperatures in a black padded coat from Moschino which she teamed up with a coordinating pair of Adidas leggings. Meanwhile, Denise's ex-fiance Eddie, 48, shared a cryptic post following the news she is reportedly back in touch with her former fiance Jay Kay, 52. Emerging: Denise Van Outen wrapped up in a black padded coat from Moschino as she paid a visit to Gordon Ramsay's Bread Street Kitchen restaurant in Liverpool on Saturday Strutting through the city in a funky pair of multi-coloured trainers, she had certainly indulged in some retail therapy and carried a selection of carrier bags. Her bleached blonde locks cascaded down her shoulders in curls and she beamed from ear-to-ear for onlookers. Eddie took to his Instagram Stories and shared an image of two ladders, one with several steps and the other with a handful far apart. The text alongside the image read: 'The importance of small steps! You will get there in the end!!' Happy: Strutting through the city in a funky pair of multi-coloured trainers, she had certainly indulged in some retail therapy and carried a selection of carrier bags Denise previously enjoyed a highly-publicised relationship with Jamiroquai bandmember Jay before they 'painfully' called it quits back in 2001. Denise even wrote about him in her new autobiography A Bit Of Me, and he claimed they called off their plans to marry due to 'conflicting' jobs at the time. A source told The Sun: 'Denise and Jay have been speaking again and it has been good for both of them to have that connection. Post: Denise's ex fiance Eddie shared a cryptic post following the news she is reportedly back in touch with her former flame Jay Kay 'Their split was very painful but a lot of water has passed under the bridge.' Representatives for Denise and Jay have been contacted for comment by MailOnline. It comes after Eddie moved out of her home following their shock split and is now thought to be staying with friends while he works on his career. In an excerpt from her book, she wrote about his alleged infidelities, which she discovered while using his phone. Former flame: The TV star enjoyed a highly-publicised relationship with the Jamiroquai bandmember, 52, before they 'painfully' called it quits back in 2001 (pictured with Jay in 1995) The former West End star penned: 'Her name was Tracy and she had apparently spoken to Eddie over FaceTime and text for a long period often from our home and sometimes from my flat in Hampstead, which she seemed to think was his.' Eddie has certainly been keeping busy on Instagram, giving fans an insight into his day as he hinted at returning to his career as a commodities trader. The commodities trader shared photos from his day in East London, including a snap of a street sign for Old Broad Street. One fan of his former love though added a critical comment to the post, telling Eddie that he cheated on 'the prettiest/charismatic/successful and LIKED ladies around,' prompting a strong response from him. Happier times: Denise announced she had split from Eddie in January after discovering he had cheated on her during their seven year relationship Eddie shared a series of photos under the caption: 'Old city boy meetings!!#bosh #greattobebackinthesmoke #bighandlittlehand #london #city #meetings #ec2 #lovelondon ' One photo showed the former trader making a fist for a mirror selfie before he hit Old Broad Street in London for a meeting. A fan of Denise took umbrage at the post though, writing in the comments: '( B, In a position to cheat on One of The prettiest/charismic/successful/LIKED...Ladies around ... Ok!! eddie .. At least!!! Let it f**king drop now' [sic].' Moving on: Eddie has certainly been keeping himself busy on Instagram, giving fans an insight into his day as he hinted at returning to his career as a commodities trader A dig? Denise's cheating ex shared photos from his day in East London, including a snap of a street sign for Old Broad Street Message: The commodities trader also posted a snap of a British Transport Police poster on the tube which read 'we stand together against hate' Eddie was quick to reply, telling the commenter he wasn't going to rise to her criticism: 'I'm not even going to block you! I want to hear the vile bile that comes from your mouth,' he wrote before deleting the original comment and his reply. 'Keep it coming please as it's people like you that need to get things off your chest. I can take it so I would rather you send it my way than to someone who is vulnerable and break them down to pieces.' 'I don't do hatred and I don't think any less of you as I don't know you personally so I won't make any negative comments Xxxxx.' Prior to getting engaged to Denise in 2018, Eddie worked as a commodities trader but was sacked by SCB & Associates just weeks after he proposed to the TV star - for 'gross misconduct and material dishonesty', according to an employment tribunal hearing at the time. Sticking up for Denise: One fan of his former love added a critical comment to the post, telling Eddie that he cheated on 'the prettiest/charismatic/successful and LIKED ladies around' Reply: Eddie was quick to reply, telling the woman he wasn't going to rise to her criticism: 'I'm not even going to block you! I want to hear the vile bile that comes from your mouth' He was accused of stealing customers and commercially sensitive information from his employers, where he held a 110,000 position, to set up his own rival business. Eddie was hauled before a disciplinary panel after bosses discovered he had sent hundreds of emails containing clients' contact details and confidential information from his work account to a private account. The firm said he then sought to 'cover his tracks' by deleting dozens of the highly sensitive emails. Eddie subsequently sued SCB for unfair dismissal, claiming he was a victim of a scheme concocted by his bosses to cut costs, but his claim failed. Eddie moved out of Denise's home following their shock split and is now thought to be staying with friends while he works on his career. Motto: Eddie also shared a snap of an art installation with the quote 'What's meant for you will find you even if you feel like it has already passed you' On Monday night he was back on Instagram, sharing another scathing post about their relationship. Eddie posted an expletive-filled message on his Instagram grid declaring: 'Unf**k yourself. Be who you were before all the stuff happened that dimmed your f**king shine.' The post comes after Denise broke her silence on how she discovered Eddie had been cheating on her when messages flashed up on his iPad. Message: On Monday night he was back on Instagram, sharing another scathing post about their relationship, declaring 'be who you were before all the stuff happened that dimmed your f**king shine' Moving on: Eddie added the hashtags #don'tchange and #getyourshineback to the post Eddie shared the post on Monday with the caption: 'Be who you were !! #dontchange #getyourshineback'. Denise has detailed the extreme lengths Eddie went to in order to keep his affairs secret in her autobiography, A Bit Of Me: From Basildon To Broadway And Back, but the former commodities trader has since taken to Instagram to 'defend himself.' On Sunday Eddie made a jibe at his ex-girlfriend with a thinly veiled Instagram post after she claimed he secretly stole her phone and blocked a women he had been sexting. Hitting back: Denise has detailed the extreme lengths Eddie went to in order to keep his affairs secret in her autobiography, and he has since hit back with a series of Instagram posts He posted a black-and-white image of Inspector Clouseau, who is described as an 'inept and incompetent police detective in the French Surete' - and the accompanying caption led many to believe he was alluding to his ex's detective skills. It read: 'Inspector Clouseau. The 2nd worst detective in the world !!! [sic]' '#2sides #holdinghandsup #butdefendingmyself #keepprivatelifeprivate #nolongerbeingcontrolled'. Underneath, someone left the comment: 'Someone selling a book [sic]'. Eddie's cryptic response - comprising a book and bag of money emoji - implied he believes Denise's book-writing venture is a ploy for cash. Another penned: 'Don't listen to the noise. No one buys it, especially when someone's driven to sell books,', to which Eddie left a prayer emoji. Despite Eddie's efforts to conceal his infidelities, Denise still found out when she was using his iPad and the messages came up, with Denise splitting from him in January after seven years together. Denise wrote: 'There were also Instagram messages alluding to phone sex with a third woman. I quickly found the woman's profile by her screen name, only to discover I'd previously blocked her on my Instagram account - which struck me as odd.' Hitting back: On Sunday Eddie made a jibe at his ex by posting a black-and-white image of Inspector Clouseau and the accompanying caption led many to believe he was alluding to his ex's detective skills Interesting: Someone left the comment: 'Someone selling a book [sic]'. Eddie's cryptic response implied he believes Denise's book-writing venture is a ploy for cash Fan support: Another penned: 'Don't listen to the noise. No one buys it, especially when someone's driven to sell books,', to which Eddie left a prayer emoji She continued: 'This was a woman I didn't know, who'd clearly had an online connection with my boyfriend. Why would I have blocked her from my Instagram account. Straight away, I unblocked her and sent her a message saying how she knew Eddie.' She added: 'She suggested that Eddie had probably gone into my phone and blocked her so she couldn't message me. 'She has apparently spoken to Eddie over FaceTime and text for a long period - often from our home and sometimes from my flat in Hampstead, which she seemed to think was his. 'They'd never met in person, but she said the conversations had become sexual in nature reasonably quickly - some of the stuff I found on the phone seemed to support that. 'However she was upset with Eddie because he'd apparently ghosted her.' Despite her heartache, Denise has insisted there are 'no hard feelings' and that's she managed to move forward. Speaking on a recent episode of Lorraine, she said: 'I'm feeling really good now because I wasn't in a good place, it was all a bit of a shock. 'These things happen. I'm not the first person it's happened to and I won't be the last, sadly. But it's life, isn't it, Lorraine? 'You just have to get on with it and there are no hard feelings on my side. It's happened and you just accept it. I can't change what's happened.' Sharon Gaffka has revealed she suffered a 'painful' breast cancer scare aged just 19, while her mum Linda was nearing the end of her own treatment for the disease. The Love Island star, 26, admitted that despite the ordeal being a thankful false alarm, she is now on a mission to encourage others to regularly get checked up. She told The Sun: 'I find that young women or anybody, there's a stigma about checking your chest or some who find it weird. So I want to take that stigma away.' Shock: Sharon Gaffka has revealed she suffered a 'painful' breast cancer scare aged just 19, while her mum Linda was nearing the end of her own treatment for the disease 'So, for me it was really important to raise awareness because if I didn't know what to look for, and I didn't know what was abnormal or normal for me, then had it been something more sinister than it ended up being, I could have been in a lot of trouble because I couldn't spot the signs early.' The reality star had discovered the lump in the area between between her breast and underarm, however it soon turned out to be scar tissue. Claiming she 'didn't know that was a potential spot', she continued: 'So knowing how quickly my mum caught on that she wasn't well, kind of pushed me to go check myself, so I went to a GP pretty quickly.' Phew! The Love Island star, 26, admitted that despite the ordeal being a thankful false alarm, she is now on a mission to encourage others to regularly get checked up (pictured with Linda) Fortunately, her doctor explained her how body was trying to fix an injury, which led to the solid lump of tissue, which was 'really painful, even just to move around'. Sharon previously opened up about her shocking experience of being left barely breathing after having her drink spiked while having lunch with her friends. She hit her head on a toilet and was found wedged behind a locked cubicle door after her drink was interfered with while out celebrating one of her friend's birthdays. The influencer said two male paramedics attended but passed her off as someone who had been 'over drinking' rather than a victim of spiking. Candid: She said: 'I find that young women or anybody, there's a stigma about checking your chest or some who find it weird. So I want to take that stigma away' Sharon, who appeared on this year's edition of the ITV dating programme, has collected more than 1,000 testimonies for the Home Affairs Select Committee as part of an inquiry into spiking. Speaking to ITV's Good Morning Britain, the reality star said she has had her drink spiked on 'five or six occasions' since the age of 18. She said, on one occasion, she was spiked with MDMA but most recently a 'date rape drug' was put into her drink when she was out for lunch with friends celebrating one of their birthdays soon after the first lockdown. By 7pm that day, Sharon was taken to hospital after passing out in a cubicle and hitting her head on a toilet. She told Good Morning Britain: 'I think we can recall exactly which drink it was and I can pass myself as quite a responsible drinker, I know my limits. Awful: Sharon previously opened up about her shocking experience of being left barely breathing after having her drink spiked while having lunch with her friends Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world and affects more than two MILLION women a year Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world. Each year in the UK there are more than 55,000 new cases, and the disease claims the lives of 11,500 women. In the US, it strikes 266,000 each year and kills 40,000. But what causes it and how can it be treated? What is breast cancer? Breast cancer develops from a cancerous cell which develops in the lining of a duct or lobule in one of the breasts. When the breast cancer has spread into surrounding breast tissue it is called an 'invasive' breast cancer. Some people are diagnosed with 'carcinoma in situ', where no cancer cells have grown beyond the duct or lobule. Most cases develop in women over the age of 50 but younger women are sometimes affected. Breast cancer can develop in men though this is rare. Staging means how big the cancer is and whether it has spread. Stage 1 is the earliest stage and stage 4 means the cancer has spread to another part of the body. The cancerous cells are graded from low, which means a slow growth, to high, which is fast growing. High grade cancers are more likely to come back after they have first been treated. What causes breast cancer? A cancerous tumour starts from one abnormal cell. The exact reason why a cell becomes cancerous is unclear. It is thought that something damages or alters certain genes in the cell. This makes the cell abnormal and multiply 'out of control'. Although breast cancer can develop for no apparent reason, there are some risk factors that can increase the chance of developing breast cancer, such as genetics. What are the symptoms of breast cancer? The usual first symptom is a painless lump in the breast, although most breast lumps are not cancerous and are fluid filled cysts, which are benign. The first place that breast cancer usually spreads to is the lymph nodes in the armpit. If this occurs you will develop a swelling or lump in an armpit. How is breast cancer diagnosed? Initial assessment: A doctor examines the breasts and armpits. They may do tests such as a mammography, a special x-ray of the breast tissue which can indicate the possibility of tumours. Biopsy: A biopsy is when a small sample of tissue is removed from a part of the body. The sample is then examined under the microscope to look for abnormal cells. The sample can confirm or rule out cancer. If you are confirmed to have breast cancer, further tests may be needed to assess if it has spread. For example, blood tests, an ultrasound scan of the liver or a chest x-ray. How is breast cancer treated? Treatment options which may be considered include surgery, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and hormone treatment. Often a combination of two or more of these treatments are used. Surgery: Breast-conserving surgery or the removal of the affected breast depending on the size of the tumour. Radiotherapy: A treatment which uses high energy beams of radiation focussed on cancerous tissue. This kills cancer cells, or stops cancer cells from multiplying. It is mainly used in addition to surgery. Chemotherapy: A treatment of cancer by using anti-cancer drugs which kill cancer cells, or stop them from multiplying Hormone treatments: Some types of breast cancer are affected by the 'female' hormone oestrogen, which can stimulate the cancer cells to divide and multiply. Treatments which reduce the level of these hormones, or prevent them from working, are commonly used in people with breast cancer. How successful is treatment? The outlook is best in those who are diagnosed when the cancer is still small, and has not spread. Surgical removal of a tumour in an early stage may then give a good chance of cure. The routine mammography offered to women between the ages of 50 and 70 mean more breast cancers are being diagnosed and treated at an early stage. For more information visit breastcancercare.org.uk, breastcancernow.org or www.cancerhelp.org.uk Advertisement 'I don't tend to wander off after I've started drinking and things like that, so the fact that I had been gone from the table for ten minutes was alarm bells to my friends and they remembered that we had gone to the toilet together but I never came out.' Sharon said her friends went into the bathroom to find her and, after receiving no response, managed to pick the lock to the cubicle door with a pound coin. She was found 'wedged between the door and the toilet' inside the cubicle before the paramedics arrived. Host Richard Madeley said: 'But the paramedics basically said 'no, no, she's had too much to drink, she needs to go sleep it off' so it wasn't taken seriously, was it?' Sharon repiled: 'No. I think for me it was that two male paramedics arrived to look at me. 'I think maybe the NHS and paramedics do have a lot of incidences where people have been over drinking and then, you know.' Sharon said the hospital she was taken to did not test for drugs in her system, but she was advised a week later that she should have gone to the police to be tested. 'But, I know what I'm like when I've been drinking,' she added. 'At this point, I couldn't tell you where I was, I couldn't tell you my name, I could barely stand.' From Strictly to The X Factor, the merciless TV talent show judge who savages contestants has been a love/hate figure for audiences for decades. But their days may be numbered as judging panels become more caring and supportive. West End star Samantha Barks, one of the judges on ITVs new celebrity contest All Star Musicals which starts tonight, says the trend for stinging jibes from celebrities such as Simon Cowell will now give way to warmth and empathy. Samantha Barks, pictured on the red carpet in February, thinks primetime TV is getting nicer Simon Cowell said he's got unfinished business in Hollywood - and 'wishes' he made Sing (file) TV presenter Michaela Strachan (right) is one of the celeb contests on ITV's All Star Musicals After coming third in the BBC talent series Id Do Anything in 2008, the 31-year-old, who went on to star in the film version of Les Miserables, said she understood the pressures that hopefuls face performing on television. ...AS SIMON PURSUES HOLLYWOOD DREAM Simon Cowell (pictured) was inspired by smash-hit musical Sing: 'I wish I'd made it' Simon Cowell plans to conquer Hollywood by creating his own animated movie series. The 62-year-old X Factor and Britains Got Talent supremo told The Mail on Sunday that he dreams of echoing the success of the blockbuster cartoon Sing. He said: Its the one thing I have never done and Id love to do. When I watch those Sing movies, as much as I love them, I feel sick. Because its like, God, I wish Id made those. While Cowell, worth an estimated 460 million, said developing and producing an animated hit would be a dream come true, he added: These things are never easy. You have to be persistent. I keep going until I wear somebody down. A source said: Simons been successful in every other field in music and on television. Now hes determined to crack Hollywood.' Advertisement She vowed that contestants on All Star Musicals weatherman Alex Beresford, actress Jacqueline Jossa, wildlife presenter Michaela Strachan, Coronation Streets Lisa George, James Bond actor Colin Salmon and rugby star Danny Care will not face withering put-downs from the judges. Asked if the show would veer away from sharp-tongued critics such as Nigel Lythgoe, Craig Revel Horwood and Lord Sugar, she replied: Yes, its a big part of the show. 'Something I love about the show is the positivity. Its very much a positive space. I mean we are honest and theres times when we will say You know, that could have been stronger, but the more important thing is the positives. Its fun, for me, as I think thats such a beautiful part of the show. 'Its about making people be their best selves and do their best performances. Were sitting there, the three of us on the panel, giving so much love from our seats. Were waiting for them to succeed, not waiting for them to fail. 'We are in a world where the care of each other is now more prominent in our mindset. Each performer will be given the ultimate musical theatre masterclass as they vie to be voted All Star Musicals champion. Their mentors and judges on the show will also include stage legend Elaine Paige and Aladdin star Trevor Dion Nicholas. The celebrities will perform musical hits with a West End ensemble and orchestra, including songs from Frozen, Les Miserables, 42nd Street and Hamilton. Beresford clashed with Piers Morgan live on Good Morning Britain over Meghan Markles interview with Oprah Winfrey, leading to Morgan storming off set and later quitting ITV. Asked what his former colleague would make of his foray into stage musicals, Beresford quipped: Hes going to think Im fantastic. She lives in Kensington so how come the Queens cousin Lady Tatiana Mountbatten has managed to bag Winchester Cathedral for her nuptials in July? I can reveal that the socialite and equestrian has pulled some strings to land the prestigious venue where Bloody Mary Tudor wed more than 450 years ago using the fact that her mother lives in the diocese to secure one of the cathedrals 900-year-old chapels. It does mean Tatiana, 31, has to attend services there and as my exclusive snap below shows, she went last week, turning out with a bunch of daffodils along with her brother Henry Mountbatten, Earl of Medina, and their mother Clare Mountbatten, Marchioness of Milford Haven, for the cathedrals Mothering Sunday service. Tatiana is engaged to entrepreneur Alick Dru who proposed on top of a mountain in Verbier, Switzerland. She tells me that despite the grand venue, itll be a small family affair. Among those expected to attend are Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice. Lady Tatiana Mountbatten, right, will marry Alick Dru, left, in Winchester Cathedral in July Tatiana, pictured outside Winchester Cathedral last Sunday, attended the a service at the venue where Bloody Mary Tudor wed more than 450 years ago Heidi in her sundae best Who says money cant buy taste? Supermodel Heidi Klum splashed out nearly 1,000 on a delicious-looking, if garish, outfit: a tracksuit covered with images of ice-cream sundaes. As the 48-year-old ventured out in LA on the way to judge Americas Got Talent, she said: I want whats on my Moschino tracksuit. Looks good enough to eat but Im not sure it looks good enough to wear Supermodel Heidi Klum splashed out nearly 1,000 on a delicious-looking, if garish, outfit: a tracksuit covered with images of ice-cream sundaes Tracey Emin is having a much deserved holiday after a traumatic few months. Not only has the artist been recovering from cancer treatment, she says her life has been made hell by builders working on a neighbours house. She complains they covered the skylight to her studio in Margate, Kent, in scaffolding. I was crying yesterday. Trying to paint as builders walked on my roof, she said, of their mentally and physically disturbing actions. She named the builders in another post but this was taken down by Instagram, which accused her of bullying or harassment. Simon Gregson was reportedly ordered by bouncers to head home from his on-screen daughter Alexandra Mardell's leaving party in Manchester's Deansgate district in February. In footage obtained by The Sun, the Coronation Street actor, 47, could be seen dancing shirtless on furniture after becoming 'a bit merry.' Simon allegedly directed his fury towards the security staff with an expletive-filled rant, who attempted to kick him out of the venue. 'He was acting pretty wildly': Corrie's Simon Gregson was reportedly kicked out of his co-star's leaving party in Manchester by bouncers after dancing shirtless on furniture An onlooker told the publication 'He was the life and soul of the party but took it a bit far and it annoyed the bar staff and bouncers in the end.' A lip-reading expert told the publication Simon he appeared to be saying 'f**k' and 'f**k you' to the two members of staff before assuring, 'I will get down.' The star - who plays character Steve McDonald in the soap - had been partying with Corrie's Katie McGlynn at the showbiz bash. She allegedly stepped in-between her pal and the bouncer in a bid to cool down the situation, later posting a beaming photo of herself in an unmissable yellow dress alongside Alexandra, who plays Emma Booker in the ITV favourite. Hilarious: An onlooker said: 'He was the life and soul of the party but took it a bit far and it annoyed the bar staff and bouncers in the end' (pictured, centre, with Alexandra and her boyfriend Joe Parker, far left) Gorgeous: Katie McGlynn (left) later posted a beaming photo of herself in an unmissable yellow dress alongside Alexandra (right), who plays Emma Booker in the ITV favourite The source continued: 'Simon was acting pretty wildly but more in the sense that he was in high spirits and getting carried away. 'The crowd were laughing and cheering, with a lot of people egging him on, and most people there saw the funny side. But some clubbers were shouting abuse at him as well, which was unnecessary.' Alexandra's photos from the night saw her party with Millie Gibson (Kelly Neelan), Colson Smith (Craig Tinker), Georgia Taylor (Toyah Battersby), Elle Mulvaney (Amy Barlow) and Mollie Gallagher (Nina Lucas). Simon's representatives have been contacted for comment by MailOnline. Cast night out! Alexandra with her co-stars (L-R) Mikey North, Jordan Ford Silver, Tanisha Gorey, Joe Duttine, Charlie de Melo, Harriet Bibby, Alexandra and Georgia Taylor Gang: Elle Mulvaney (far left) Steve (centre-left), Emma (centre) and Tanisha Gorey (centre-right) appeared to be in high spirits during the star-studded party Looking good: The star posed for another snap with Colson Smith and Julia Goulding It comes after Alexandra revealed that her character is set to leave the cobbles in dramatic fashion as she teased the Rovers barmaid could be sent to prison. Appearing on Friday's episode of This Morning, the actress also detailed her reasons for leaving the soap, explaining that she fancied trying something new. Following a fatal car crash on the show, Emma has been racked with guilt. Although Faye Windass (Ellie Leach) was behind the wheel at the time of the accident, leaving a pensioner dead, Emma was supposed to be teaching her how to drive but she was still intoxicated from the night before. Pals: Emma and her co-star Rob Mallard (who plays Daniel Barlow) put on a friendly display Stunning! The beauty beamed as she posed with Charlotte Jordan known for her role as Daisy Midgeley and Sair Khan who plays Alya Nazir Teasing that this could mean her character is jailed, Alexandra revealed to hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O'Leary that her kindhearted alter ego cannot lie. 'Is she off to prison? What's gonna happen? I dont know how she would get on with that.' Alexandra - who cut a stylish figure for the appearance in a chic fuchsia suit - also revealed that she had originally told show bosses that she wanted to leave a year ago. 'There wasnt a particular reason, I just thought it was my time,' she explained. 'Its a relief they're not killing me off, the door is open which is lovely.' Goodbye: It comes after Alexandra revealed that her character is set to leave the cobbles in dramatic fashion as she teased the Rovers barmaid could be sent to prison (pictured on Friday) Having watched the show since she was a child Alexandra went on to say how she understands why actors stay for 60 years or more. Co-star William Roach has played the role of Ken Barlow since the show's inception in 1960. 'It goes so fast I feel new myself still, it was massive to leave, it's like being at school, I was there for quite a long time,' she said. 'It's right for Emma, I'm happy with it.' She added: 'I've loved every storyline - finding out Steve McDonald is your dad and working with Simon Gregson! He's such a laugh to work with, I miss him so much. 'I grew up with Corrie so it was always in my head as a dream. I auditioned for another role and didnt get it but I always told my mum I would be David Platts (Jack P. Shepherd) girlfriend on the show'. The star who is has been appearing in a play since she left the soap also revealed that she took a few momentous from the set. She admitted: 'A mug that said boss girl, I also took the pink furry coats, because why not.' Jon Hamm and Casey Affleck looked like buddies as they attended Mike Dean and Jeff Bhasker's pre-Grammys party in Los Angeles on Friday. The Mad Men star, 51, stepped out in a light brown jacket over a white t-shirt and a pair of black jeans. The actor also walked in brown boots and wore stylish thick-framed glasses. Star-studded: Jon Hamm, 51, and Casey Affleck, 46, looked like buddies as they attended Mike Dean and Jeff Bhasker's pre-Grammys party in Los Angeles on Friday Hamm's salt and pepper hair was combed over neatly to the right, and he sported a few days worth of stubble on his face. Affleck, 46, kept cozy in a dark blue long-sleeve sweater. The Manchester By The Sea star wore a pair of light blue jeans, cuffed to his ankles, and a dark red beanie over his brown hair. While pictured with the two when they were walking together, Hamm's new leading lady Anna Osceola, 33, reportedly attended the event as well. Comfort and fashion: Hamm wore a brown coat over a white t-shirt and pants while Affleck donned a pair of blue jeans and a long sleeve blue sweater Big step: Hamm and Anna Osceola (who joined them) made their red carpet debut at the Mercedes-Benzs Academy Awards viewing party and the Vanity Fair afterparty during Oscar Sunday Hamm and Osceola made their red carpet debut at the Mercedes-Benzs Academy Awards viewing party and the Vanity Fair afterparty during Oscar Sunday. The couple first started dating in early 2020 though they met while filming the series finals of Hamm's hit television show back in 2014. While Hamm reportedly had his girl at this side during the evening, it's unclear whether or not Affleck's love Caylee Crown made it to the event. The two packed on the PDA on Sunday at Darren Dzienciol & Richie Akiva's Oscar Party. Casey and Caylee have been fueling engagement rumors as of late with the actress being seen wearing a brilliant ring. Years together: The couple first started dating in early 2020 though they had met while filming the series finals of Hamm's hit television show back in 2014 Another happy couple: While Hamm reportedly had his girl at this side during the evening, it's unclear whether or not Affleck's better half Caylee Crown made it to the event Casey and Caylee's romance went public in November when Page Six ran pictures of them passionately kissing in the street. The sighting appeared to confirm rumors that Casey had broken up with his longtime girlfriend Floriana Lima, whom he had been with since 2016. The actor then made their romance official as he posted photos of them donating blood to the Red Cross in late November 2021. Affleck shared in January that they had met a year prior in a loving and heartfelt message. He captioned it, ''A year ago, we met. A few months ago, I got smart. Thank God, it wasnt too late,' he wrote, rhapsodizing that 'you make me a better man every day.' Craig Revel Horwood has confirmed that Anton Du Beke will return as a judge on next year's Strictly Come Dancing - replacing show stalwart Bruno Tonioli. Twinkle-toed star Anton, 55, who was previously a professional dancer on the programme, appeared as a panellist in the 2020 and 2021 series after pandemic travel restrictions prevented Bruno, 66, from flying back from the US. Speaking at his All Balls and Glitter UK tour, Craig, 57, revealed bosses had told the judges that the ballroom dancer, would be waltzing back to the panel this autumn. Big news: Craig Revel Horwood has revealed Anton Du Beke will return as a judge on next year's Strictly Come Dancing - replacing show stalwart Bruno Tonioli He told The Sun: 'I really love Anton. I think he is fantastic. I think last year he did a great job on Strictly as a judge. 'And we have just found out he is going to do it again this year.' Craig, went on to tell the audience that he did miss his co-star Bruno, who had been on the Strictly panel since the show launched in 2004. He's back! Twinkle-toed star Anton, 55, who was previously a professional dancer on the programme, appeared as a panellist in the 2020 and 2021 series after pandemic travel restrictions prevented Bruno, 66, from flying back from the US The choreographer said they remain to be 'great mates' after working side by side for 16 years together. He went on to reveal that while he did miss the Italian's energy - Bruno actually struggled to deal with his dramatic performance. He said: 'He always used to come off and say, ''Darling, I am exhausted.'' Star power: Craig, went on to tell the audience that he did miss his co-star Bruno, who had been on the Strictly panel since the show launched in 2004 (pictured 2015) 'And I used to say, ''Well, you created this character darling.'' I will just sit there. My job is easy. MailOnline has contacted representatives for Strictly for comment. Craig previously branded Anton a 'great addition' to the Strictly judging panel as the pair admitted that they love playing 'Good Cop, Bad Cop' on the show. Dynamic duo: Craig previously branded Anton a 'great addition' to the Strictly judging panel as the pair admitted that they love playing 'Good Cop, Bad Cop' on the show 'Particularly with celebs that haven't been 'gifted', he's had to manoeuvre them around that dancefloor and he's been with great dancers, where he could show off his talents! The stalwart judge cheered: 'long may it continue' of Anton being on the panel, after it was revealed that BBC bosses were split in December over whether to dump the newcomer and bring back Bruno in 2022. Speaking to Best magazine, Craig said: 'Anton's a great addition, he knows the process of working with celebrities inside-out, he's been there. Happy: Speaking about his co-star, Craig said: 'I really love Anton. I think he is fantastic. I think last year he did a great job on Strictly as a judge 'Armed with all that information, he's showing great empathy for the celebs he's more lenient than me. And he's funny. Long may it continue, he's a good egg, Anton. 'We're topping and tailing the ladies on the panel, poor things except we're about five metres apart, plus there are Perspex screens! We have to lean forward to chat to each other, but that just adds to the fun. 'You can say, 'Sorry, Anton, I didn't hear a word you said, darling...' We do love to play Good Cop, Bad Cop.' Earlier this week speculation was rife that Anton would be returning to the judging panel, after he was noticeably absent from the show's professional lineup when it was unveiled by show bosses. It was previously claimed sources at the BBC said that Bruno's decision to choose the role in the States, which is understood to pay him in the region of 800,000 rather than the 250,000 he was getting for his Strictly duties, means that some chiefs think their loyalty should lie with Du Beke. They also fear that Anton might quit the show, which he has appeared on as a professional dancer since its inception, if he is axed from the judging panel. Bruno, who was on the Strictly panel since the show launched in 2004, was a judge on the show's tour alongside Craig Revel Horwood and head judge Shirley Ballas which took place earlier this year. Some suggested that the move could be a 'sweetener' for Bruno so they don't have to invite him back and ditch Du Beke, but others think it is a way of lining up his return. Hollyoaks star Nikki Sanderson cut a glamorous figure as she celebrated her 38th birthday at Menagerie in Manchester on Saturday. The actress was followed just minutes later by Emmerdale star Anthony Quinlan, amid rumours the pair started dating earlier this year. Nikki flaunted her incredible figure in a green sequinned mini dress that flashed a hint of her toned abs as she arrived at the swanky eatery. Dating? Hollyoaks' Nikki Sanderson celebrated her 38th birthday at Menagerie in Manchester on Saturday, arriving at the venue minutes ahead of rumoured beau Anthony Quinlan The Soap star's dress also highlighted her toned pins and she accessorised with black thin-stapped heels as she prepared to mark her birthday in style. Mere minutes later, Anthony, who played Pete Barton on Emmerdale, opted for a smart green jumper and jeans as he headed to the restaurant. It was reported in January that Nikki and Anthony were dating after reportedly bonding over their love of fitness. Stunning: The actress flaunted her incredible figure in a green sequinned mini dress that flashed a hint of her toned abs as she arrived at the swanky eatery Gorgeous: The soap star's dress also highlighted her toned pins and she accessorised with black thin-stapped heels as she prepared to mark her birthday in style The pair are said to have struck up a romance last year following 37-year-old Nikki's split from ex Greg Whitehurst in 2020 and her relationship with Anthony, also 37, has since 'gone from strength to strength'. The Sun reports: 'Nikki and Anthony go to the same gym and are really into fitness, so they bonded over that. A source added to the paper: 'It's been a while now and things are going well. 'Nikki has been having a bit of a tough time lately, and Anthony has been a great support for her.' MailOnline contacted both Nikki and Anthony's representatives for comment at the time. Casual: Mere minutes later, Anthony, who played Pete Barton on Emmerdale, opted for a smart green jumper and jeans as he headed to the restaurant Nikki and her ex Greg went their separate ways in July 2020 after five years together, while Anthony's exes include Michelle Keegan, who he split from in 2008, and Strictly's Dianne Buswell, who Anthony dated from 2017 to 2018. Speaking about their split to the Daily Star in 2018, Anthony said: 'We're still really good friends - it's just distance played a part. 'There were all these rumours about the Strictly curse but it wasn't that.' Nikki broke the news of her and Greg's split to The Sun in 2020 and said they have remained friends, though the publication claimed he has since joined dating app Bumble. Parting ways: Nikki and Greg Whitehurst (pictured) split while in lockdown after five years together Explaining what happened, she revealed: 'Sadly Greg and I have decided to separate. We remain friends and wish the best for each other in the future.' Her relationship with Greg got off to a controversial start, as she started dating him in 2015, just ten months after she attended his wedding as a guest. In an interview with OK! Magazine in 2015, Nikki said of their romance: '[Greg's] been blamed for something he didn't do in reality there was a third party who split them up on the other side. 'It ended through no fault of Greg's. People say, ''Well, I wouldn't want to be her mate because she'd steal my boyfriend.'' I'd never do anything like that.' Romance: Nikki's relationship with Greg got off to a controversial start, as she started dating him in 2015 just ten months after she attended his wedding as a guest She previously confirmed in a statement to MailOnline that they got together not long after his split from Sarah. 'I have known Greg and his family for many years. Greg's marriage ended in January, it was a very difficult time for him during which all of his friends and family supported him,' Nikki explained. Nikki has played Maxine Minniver in Hollyoaks since 2012 and has proved her acting prowess as she received nominations for the Best Actress award at the British Soap Awards 2014 and 2015. The actress also appeared in Coronation Street from 1999 to 2005, where she played Candice Stowe over 397 episodes. HYDERABAD: Sudden shift to online education has impacted learning and writing capacities of students, according to teachers. Apart from reduced concentration abilities and inappropriate behaviour, students started using internet slang and texting language in schools and answer sheets. Parents and teachers complained that students were writing d for the and fav for favourite and so on. Apart from that, the ability to form proper sentences without grammatical mistakes is also a concern. Students do not want to write, they just want to talk. They have lost the habit of writing which slowed down their writing and reading speed. The entire reading and writing basics have gone for a toss, said Venkat Sainath, joint secretary, Hyderabad Schools Parents Association. Many parents said they did not have a choice and could not pay attention as homework was also to be sent through PDFs. Asif Hussain, a parent and member of the Telangana Parents Association said at least the examination time must be increased by 20 to 30 minutes due to poor writing ability of students. However, not all parents agree with Asif Hussain. Shifa Shroff, a parent in the city, said that it was time when students realised the importance of academics and not blame Covid as they were having fun out of schools and visiting several places without masks. Why do parents encourage students to use mobile phones at home and not in school? Why are they okay with this habit of students? Technology has ruined lives of students and has created havoc to brain development. Even the above average students take three months to improve their writing skills provided they practice daily. The switching cost will be painful and time consuming, but will be beneficial for students in the long run, said Diana Monteiro, a counselling psychologist. Gudi Padwa is a spring-time festival that marks the beginning of a new year as per the Hindu calendar. From offering prayers at temples and cleaning homes in the hope of a good year ahead, to making resolutions for the future, there are many traditions associated with the festival, known by different names across the country. Among Marathi and Konkani Hindus, it is known as Gudi Padwa. We speak to some actors in Tinsel Town on how they plan to celebrate the day of new beginnings, and their hopes for the year ahead. A day for resolutions I have a strong belief that God is our source of hope and happiness. I celebrate Gudi Padwa the traditional way. On the auspicious occasion of the onset of the New Year, I follow all the traditions and pray to God to shower his blessings on us. This festival signifies prosperity and victory. Many of us make resolutions on January 1, but I make resolutions on the auspicious day of Ugadi or Gudi Padwa, as it is a powerful and beautiful day for doing so. I wish everyone a very happy Gudi Padwa. May this auspicious day bring solace, peace and harmony in everyone's life. I pray for normalcy this year. Kapilakshi Malhotra, yoga lover and actress Hope for a future full of possibilities For me, Gudi Padwa is always a happy occasion. It fills me with hope, since it marks the Maharashtrian New Year. It fills me with hope that the future is full of possibilities. I hope for the same this year too. Celebrations will be the same, a puja will happen, padwa will be put up and some sweets will be prepared. The celebration will be a sweet one with family. Its personally more special to me because my parents got married on the day of Gudi Padwa. Isha Koppikar, actress, model and politician A food fest I have started celebrating Gudi Padwa only after coming to Mumbai. I just love how unfussy the whole affair is but still manages to bring everyone closer together. I love the simplicity of everything during this festival and the festive food made on this day is just lovely. My hopes for this year are relatively simple too. I just want to find better work and do my best to bring justice to everything I do. Ranjit Punia, Model and actor Health and love "Gudi Padwa is Hindu New Year and we celebrate it with family every year. Its an auspicious day for us. I did griha pravesh (house warming ceremony) in my current home in Mumbai exactly 12 years ago on this day, and its always been a special day for me. The day has always brought prosperity and love in my life and this year is going to be no different. I dont eat things containing sugar so there wont be any sweets this time, but we plan on having special dishes and a healthy lunch filled with a lot of love Mugdha Godse, model and actress Hope for normalcy and better days ahead Gudi Padwa is one of my most favourite festivals. The whole ambience is one of calm and positive vibrations. We pray together and eat together as a family on this day. The best part of the celebration is of course the traditional delicacies. Its so much fun when the whole family is relishing them together. My wish for Gudi this year is already halfway true I wish for life to go back to normal after the rough couple of years we've had. Hope this New Year brings good times for everyone. Tina Ahuja, actress and daughter of Govinda Terming the incident at MGM Hospital unfortunate, the minister said state government has immediately suspended two duty doctors responsible for the incident. Representational image/ANI HANAMKONDA: New superintendent of MGM (Mahatma Gandhi Memorial) Hospital Dr. V. Chandrasekhar on Friday ordered staff to take immediate necessary steps to rid the hospital from the menace of rats. Receiving orders from the superintendent, hospital employees have placed rat traps in Respiratory Intensive Care Unit (RICU) and other nine blocks of the hospital to catch rats. Incidentally, MGM came into state-wide focus on Thursday after an unconscious patient undergoing treatment was found in his bed soaked in blood after having been bitten by rats. Patient Srinivas, with serious injuries, has since been shifted to NIMS Hospital in Hyderabad for better treatment. Additional collector Sreevatsav, who conducted an inquiry, submitted a report to the state government. Based on that, two doctors Dr. Yakub Naik and Dr. Md. Abeedi, who are on contractual services, have been terminated. Meanwhile, panchayat raj minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao, accompanied by Director of Medical Education Ramesh Reddy visited the hospital on Friday. Terming the incident at MGM Hospital unfortunate, the minister said state government has immediately suspended two duty doctors responsible for the incident. In addition, the hospital superintendent has also been transferred. The minister disclosed that action is also being taken against the agency looking after sanitation in the hospital. He asked people to continue visiting MGM Hospital without any worry, as the government has taken all measures to ensure that such incidents are not repeated in future. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday evening told visiting Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov that there should be swift cessation of violence in Ukraine and conveyed India's readiness to contribute in any way to the peace efforts. With India buying Russian oil at highly discounted prices and the Russians apparently willing to offer more, Mr Lavrov had, after talks with external affairs minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar, earlier declared his country would be ready to supply any goods that India wanted to buy from it, adding that the Rupee-Rouble mechanism is a way to bypass trade in dollars and the Western sanctions imposed on Russia. Discussing the Ukraine crisis and its economic impact on trade ties, EAM Jaishankar told his Russian counterpart that as a developing economy, global volatility in different domains is of particular concern to India and that it is important for both countries that their economic, technological and people to people contacts remain stable and predictable. India has close defence ties with Russia spanning decades and these were also discussed on Friday. Interestingly, Mr Lavrov hailed Russia, India and China as three natural partners that have a common approach to resolve problems. The Russian foreign minister wrapped up his scheduled two-day visit to Delhi in the evening after calling on PM Modi. Asked whether Indian mediation was possible to solve the Ukraine crisis, Mr Lavrov at a select media briefing organised by the Russian side in the afternoon also indicated in a somewhat cautious answer that Russia was seeking certain security guarantees from Ukraine and that the West had ignored its responsibilities, adding that if India wanted to support the peace initiatives, Russia was not against this. The Russian foreign minister said, India is an important country. If India sees to play that role which provides resolution of the problem...If India is with its position of a just and rational approach to international problems, it can support such process. Mr Lavrov also said there was no approved plan as yet to resolve the Ukraine crisis. The Russian minister also praised India's foreign policy as independent and not bowing to US diktats. He appreciated that India was looking at the Ukraine crisis in its entirety of facts and not in a one-sided way, adding that both countries always respect and accommodate each others interest. India has not voted against Russia at the UN on the Ukraine crisis and has also not condemned Moscow for its military offensive in Ukraine. During the talks on Friday, EAM Jaishankar also sought to convey New Delhis consistent stand to Moscow that violence and hostilities ought to end immediately, with New Delhi conveying a veiled disapproval by saying that differences and disputes should be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy and by respect for international law, UN Charter, sovereignty and territorial integrity of states. In his media remarks at the start of talks, the EAM said, Our meeting today takes place in a difficult international environment quite apart from the pandemic. India, as you are aware, has always been in favour of resolving differences and disputes through dialogue and diplomacy. In his remarks at the start of talks, Mr Lavrov recalled that bilateral ties and the privileged strategic partnership between both nations had sustained through many difficult times in the past. Mr. Lavrov said, We respect basic Indian principles based on legitimate national interests. Speaking later at the select media briefing, Mr Lavrov said that for gas supplies from Russia to Europe, an honest scheme has been found for payment in roubles since the West had promoted discrimination by freezing Russian accounts in Euros and Dollars. Mr Lavrov blasted the West for forcing others to join their politics and accused the US of acting recklessly in nations such as Libya and Syria. Several priests, vedic scholars from popular temples across Telangana like Yadadri, Bhadrachalam, and Vemulawada participated in the event. (Twitter) Hyderabad: Festive atmosphere returned to Pragathi Bhavan, the official camp office-cum-residence of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Saturday, as the official Ugadi celebrations were held on a grand note after a gap of four years. Rao, cabinet ministers, TRS legislators, MLCs, MPs and other elected representatives in the celebrations. The Janahitha building inside Pragathi Bhavan premises where the celebrations were held was packed with political leaders, top officials from government and police departments. Several priests, vedic scholars from popular temples across Telangana like Yadadri, Bhadrachalam, and Vemulawada participated in the event. The arrangements by the endowments and culture departments earned all-round praise. A mango tree set up on the dais was the centre of attraction. It was under this that noted almanac conducted 'panchanga sravanam' and read out predictions for the Telugu New Year. The decoration made with mango leaves and marigold in Janahitha was a big hit as participants vied with each other to take photographs and selfies. The Chief Minister felicitated several priests and vedic scholars on the occasion. The visitors were given a traditional welcome with silk kanduvas. Participants relished Ugadi pachadi and kheer, prepared especially for the occasion by the endowments department. Yadadri, Bhadrachalam, Vemulawada prasadams were also offered. New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his visiting Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba ramped up Indo-Nepal economic ties in the field of hydro-power generation and connectivity initiatives, even as the two nations reached a general understanding during talks that they need to address the pending border dispute between them in a responsible manner through dialogue and that politicisation of such issues needs to be avoided, foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Saturday. India cleared Nepals power export proposals, paving the way for a major boost in power export to India from Nepal, with both nations also releasing a joint vision statement on power cooperation. The use of the Indian RuPay card in Nepal was jointly launched by the two Prime Ministers which will open new vistas for cooperation in financial connectivity, and is expected to facilitate bilateral tourist flows as well as further strengthen people-to-people linkages between India and Nepal. PM Modi told his Nepalese counterpart that under Indias "Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav" (75th Independence Anniversary) celebrations, India would inaugurate 75 development projects in Nepal this year. The move is being seen as a major one to counter Chinese influence that has grown by leaps and bounds in the Himalayan nation in recent years. Ties between India and its Himalayan neighbour had soured two years ago during the tenure of Nepals then Communist Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli after Nepal unveiled a new map that showed portions of territory in Indias Uttarakhand -- Limpiyadhura, Kalapani and Lipu Lekh -- as part of Nepal. New Delhi had objected to that move. But ties began looking up once again later that year. PM Modi on Saturday said, We also discussed today the issue of open borders of India and Nepal being misused by unwanted elements. We also stressed on maintaining close cooperation between our defence and security institutions. Both Prime Ministers jointly inaugurated the 90 km long 132 KVDC Solu Corridor Transmission line and substation built under the Line of Credit extended by India at a cost of Rs 200 crore. Both sides agreed to expedite progress in the implementation of the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project. In a historic milestone, the first broad-gauge passenger railway service connecting India and Nepal in the Jayanagar-Kurtha section that has been built with grant assistance from India was flagged off by the two Prime Ministers. This section is a 35 km-long cross border rail link from Jaynagar in Bihar to Kurtha in Nepal. Both leaders also reviewed progress in construction of 132 health facilities in Nepal, undertaken with the $50 million post-earthquake reconstruction grant. PM Modi also thanked his Nepalese counterpart for assuring Government of Nepals full support in resolving bottlenecks and facilitating the time-bound completion of all India-assisted projects, including the National Police Academy at Kavrepalanchowk, the Integrated Check Posts at Nepalgunj and Bhairahawa and the projects under the Ramayana circuit. Mr Deuba will visit PM Modis Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi on Sunday, a city that symbolises the deep religious and cultural links between the two countries. He will be received by UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath who will accompany him on that leg of the visit. Welcoming the Nepalese PM in his inaugural remarks before the media after bilateral talks on Saturday, PM Modi said, Deubaji is an old friend of India. This is his fifth visit to India as Prime Minister. Deubaji has played an important role in the development of India-Nepal relations. The friendship of India and Nepal, the relationships of our people, such an example is not seen anywhere else in the world. Our civilisation, our culture, the threads of our exchanges are connected since ancient times. We have been companions of each other's happiness and sorrows since time immemorial... Today, Deubaji and I had a fruitful conversation... We discussed different aspects of our cooperation, reviewed progress of various projects and also discussed the roadmap for the future. We both agreed that we must take full advantage of opportunities for cooperation in the power sector. Our Joint Vision Statement on Power Corporation will prove to be a blueprint for future collaboration. We emphasised the importance of progressing at a fast pace in Pancheshwar Project. This project will prove to be a game changer for the development of the region. We also agreed on the subject of more participation by Indian companies in Nepal's hydro power development plans. It is a matter of happiness that Nepal is exporting its surplus power to India. It will contribute well to the economic progress of Nepal. I am glad to inform that many more proposals to import power from Nepal are also being approved. A statement put out by New Delhi said, Both leaders discussed the wide ranging and robust bilateral development partnership. They reviewed the progress in implementation of Indian projects in Nepal, including the cross-border rail-link projects connecting (a) Jayanagar-Kurtha-Bijalpur-Bardibas (b) Jogbani-Biratnagar (c) Raxaul-Kathmandu. In a historic milestone, the first broad-gauge passenger railway service connecting India and Nepal in the Jayanagar-Kurtha section was flagged off by the two Prime Ministers during the visit. The Jayanagar-Kurtha rail link has been built with grant assistance from the Government of India. The Joint Vision Statement mentioned that Nepal invited Indian companies to invest in the development, construction and operation of viable renewable power projects, including in the Hydropower sector in Nepal, including storage-type projects, including through mutually beneficial partnerships. HYDERABAD: As the world observes Autism Day on Saturday, parents of children affected with the disorder are seeking better medical care and more specialised schools for their wards. Meanwhile, paediatricians in the city warn that the number of autism affected children is silently growing in India. According to a medical study conducted in 2018, one out of 100 children is affected with the disorder. In countries like India, when a child is affected, the family goes through a lot of trauma which can only be managed with different therapies. Dr Pratima Giri, child development specialist at Rainbow Childrens Hospital, said, As per the recommendations by the Indian Association of Paediatrics, the screening of all children should be done at 18 months for autism. It is very important for experienced physicians to assess a child with autism carefully as they often show symptoms like hyperactivity, anxiety and attention problems. Dr Ashish Chauhan, consultant internal medicine and immunisation specialist, said, Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder, which is a genetic disorder. In our society there has to be campaigns to educate people on such myths. Moreover, it must be ensured that families of affected children should not be stigmatised by the society. Seema Shet, mother of an autism affected child said, My son is now 8-year-old. Five years ago, he was diagnosed with autism. As per the feedback given by his teachers, we are taking him to a specialist. Until he was 15 months old, he was a normal kid. In Hyderabad we need more centres and specialists for such children. Many centres are just to make money. Also, there are no good schools for these children. A lot of parents are suffering. so, these children should be given admission in all schools, Seema Shet added. VIJAYAWADA: BJP MP G.V.L. Narasimha Rao on Friday demanded in Rajya Sabha that centre probe irregularities in procurement of paddy by Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments. In his question to union minister for public distribution system Piyush Goyal, Narasimha Rao further wanted to know whether AP was delaying payments to farmers for paddy procurement by up to three months. In his reply, Goyal said such reports had indeed been received, and the union ministry had asked both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments to investigate the lapses in paddy procurement. The union minister maintained that as per directives of Prime Minister Narendra Modi the centre is paying 90 per cent of procurement money in advance to both AP and TS. Goyal assured that his ministry will initiate action if payments are not made to farmers promptly. The BJP MP alleged that both the state governments of AP and TS were hand in glove with scamsters. Hence, asking these governments to probe the lapses will be meaningless. He demanded the centre conduct an independent inquiry into the matter. Narasimha Rao told the union minister that AP government is not paying money to farmers even three months after procuring paddy from them. When questioned, ruling YSR Congress government is alleging that delay in payments to farmers is because centre is not releasing the money in time. The MP warned that BJP will intensify its agitation if farmers are not paid by AP government promptly even after receiving the money from the centre in advance. HYDERABAD: BJP MLA Etala Rajendar on Friday asked Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao to step down from his post if his government was not able to procure paddy produced in Telangana. He said if the state government was broke and did not have funds for such an intervention, he could discuss the financial health of the state with the Central government for finding a way out. Rajendar said all it took to solve the problem of millers purchasing paddy during the current rabi crop for the state government was to offer some subsidy and allow a higher rate for broken rice as sought by millers. It would cost the Telangana government some Rs 600 crore to Rs 1000 crore, he said. The BJP MLA said, The Chief Minister says Telangana is rich. If it is, then finding the money needed to buy the rice from millers should not be a problem, as FCI is willing to purchase milled raw rice from the state. If he finds that the state has no money to ensure paddy grown by state farmers is bought, then he can always admit that the state is actually poor. He said the CM claimed that his government was spending some Rs 30,000 crore for farmers. If this is indeed the case, then he should be able to find the money needed to ensure paddy is procured from farmers. A new bua-bhatija team is emerging. Not in Uttar Pradesh but in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh. Former minister Uma Bharti, who is keen on returning to the political centrestage, is currently warming up to the Bharatiya Janata Partys new recruit Jyotiraditya Scindia. After taking on her old bete noire Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in an attempt to carve a place for herself in state politics, Ms Bharti is on the lookout for allies. She has, therefore, sought out Mr Scindia in the fight for her political revival. Uma Bharti has old ties with the royal family of Gwalior since she was initiated into politics by Rajmata Vijay Raje Scindia. On his part, Jyotiraditya has reciprocated the gesture. On a recent visit to Bhopal for a meeting with the chief minister, Mr Scindia dropped in on Uma Bharti for a lengthy discussion a day before his official appointment. This naturally created a buzz in the states political circles. The bonhomie between the two was evident as the erstwhile Maharaja spoke publicly about his family's ties with Ms Bharti. Uma Bharti also spoke in the same vein. Each time Prime Minister Narendra Modi appears in the attire and headgear of a state he is visiting, it invariably leads to a heated discussion about whether these have any impact on the people of that region. Kumar Ketkar, former journalist and Congress Rajya Sabha member, believes it is difficult to fathom which sartorial choices appeal to people for theres no hard and fast rule about this. He cites Jawaharlal Nehru and Babasaheb Ambedkar in this regard. Nehru, he said, came from a Westernised and privileged background but chose to wear achkan and churidar pyjamas. People accepted him wholeheartedly. Ambedkar, on the other hand, had humble origins and came from a poor disadvantaged family. But after his stint abroad, he opted for the Western suit and tie which was his staple wear. And yet the oppressed castes, whose cause he espoused, revered him. It is tough to explain this paradox, says Mr Ketkar. Emboldened after the Aam Aadmi Partys stupendous performance in Punjab, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has begun preparations on expanding his partys footprint in Himachal Pradesh and Haryana which go to polls next. As a first step, massive advertisements have already started appearing in the newspapers and on television channels in these states. The campaigns focus is on the Kejriwal governments Delhi model and its achievements in the health and education sectors. Media owners are being approached with offers of lucrative deals. Since the AAP is yet to put together a party organisation, it is depending on its ad campaign to attract both workers and voters in the poll-bound states. Meanwhile, Mr Kejriwal is making sure that the new Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann does not overshadow him. It is learnt that Mr Mann has been advised not to hold any press conferences but to publicise his policy decisions on social media or through video messages. Charanjit Singh Channi and Harish Rawat, the two faces of the Congress campaign in Punjab and Uttarakhand, have virtually disappeared after they both lost their seats in the recent election. Mr Channi has not been seen or heard since the election results. He has maintained radio silence over the Centres arbitrary change in service rules for Chandigarh bureaucrats, alleged political violence by AAP workers against Congress workers and the AAP governments recent lathicharge on farmers. Mr Rawat, on the other hand, has been touring different parts of Uttarakhand and taking potshots at his rivals within the Congress, claiming they are blaming him for the defeat to hide their own failures. Mr Rawat has also been inviting newly elected BJP MLAs to his home to congratulate them on their victory while the newly-elected Congress MLAs have to wait for an appointment with Mr Rawat. The formation of the new Yogi Adityanath government has triggered a whisper campaign in Uttar Pradeshs political circles that the second-term chief minister is not his own master and that the Bharatiya Janata Partys central leadership had a major say in picking his ministerial team. Though Delhi agreed to drop its nominees Sidharth Nath Singh and Shrikant Sharma, the second Yogi government has its fair share of ministers who have been labelled as outsiders, be it A.K. Sharma, Jitin Prasad, Brajesh Pathak or Rakesh Sachan. Former Gujarat cadre bureaucrat Sharma is known to be a Modi nominee. The BJP leadership had pushed for his inclusion in the ministry in Yogis first term but he resisted and, finally, as a compromise Mr Sharma was given a position in the partys state unit. Keshav Prasad Mauryas re-appointment as deputy chief minister, despite losing his seat, could not have pleased Yogi Adityanath given their frosty relationship. It is said that Pushkar Singh Dhami was deliberately named Uttarakhand chief minister even though he was defeated in the election, to make way for Mr Mauryas inclusion in the new UP government. A spate of electric scooters catching fire in India, including one made by SoftBank-backed Ola Electric, is sparking safety concerns among some buyers, in an early setback for a nascent sector Prime Minister Narendra Modi is bullish about. India wants electric scooters and motorbikes to make up 80 per cent of total two-wheeler sales by 2030, from about 2 per cent today, and Modi's administration is offering companies billions of dollars in incentives to locally manufacture electric vehicles (EVs.) Sales of electric scooters more than doubled this year, but at least for some prospective buyers, the fires are a reason to think twice. Also Read | Govt waiting for forensic probe into electric vehicle fire incidents: Nitin Gadkari On Saturday, a video of an Ola e-scooter engulfed in flames went viral online, triggering a rare government probe. A scooter from startup Pure EV also caught ablaze and a burning Okinawa Autotech Pvt bike killed two people. The companies say they are investigating the incidents. Three potential buyers told Reuters they were deferring purchase plans, and dozens posted concerns on social media this week with several saying they were reconsidering whether it was the right time to go electric. "I had done a lot of research but I am now reconsidering the decision. I will buy a regular motorcycle," said Praharsh Mahadevia, 28, an engineer from Ahmedabad. Nayeem Quadri, a journalist, is also having "second thoughts due to these repeated instances of fires," he said. Also Read | Electric vehicle makers plan contingencies after e-scooters catch fire: Report The electric mobility push is critical for Modi's climate change and carbon reduction goals. Following the Ola incident, Modi's government told lawmakers in parliament it will take "appropriate action" against the manufacturers once the investigations are complete. Some in government circles say globally vehicles have been recalled by automakers in cases of fires. "This is a sunrise sector and anything negative is bound to have a detrimental impact," said Randheer Singh, director for electric mobility at government think-tank Niti Aayog. "How the situation is tackled will determine how consumer faith and confidence is maintained," he said. 'UP in flames' Video footage of the Ola fire showed one of its popular black-coloured S1 Pro scooters emitting smoke before quickly being engulfed in fire on a busy street in Pune. The Okinawa Autotech incident was more deadly. The company said a man and his daughter died when their e-bike "went up in flames". It cited the police statement which said the likely cause was an electrical short circuit while charging. Jasmeet Khurana, who leads the World Economic Forum's initiative on electric mobility in India and emerging markets, said buyers may forgive one-off incidents given the popularity of the cheap-to-run bikes. But, he said, companies must do more to address the concerns. "The market will continue to grow rapidly but it can grow faster without such incidents," he said. Although most people still use petrol-guzzling motorbikes to travel on crowded Indian roads, E-scooter sales are leading India's clean mobility revolution. Annual sales are expected to cross 1 million units by March 2023, from 150,000 a year ago, industry data showed. Ola Electric, valued at $5 billion, is making 1,000 scooters a day and has plans to manufacture electric cars and battery cells locally. Tarun Mehta, chief executive of Tiger Global-backed e-scooter maker, Ather Energy, told Reuters that despite the fires, his sales had been unaffected. "There is no question of demand derailing. While the incidents are unfortunate, we can't deny the fact that EVs are here to stay and the shift to electric has begun," he said. Check out latest DH videos here The most ambitious effort yet to evacuate civilians from Ukraines devastated port of Mariupol, besieged by Russian forces for weeks, was upended by disruptions Friday, with thousands of residents managing to flee but many more still stuck after the Red Cross judged the exodus too dangerous. A team from the Red Cross that had been en route to Mariupol on Friday had to turn back because it was not guaranteed conditions to ensure safe passage, the organization said in a statement. It said the team would try again Saturday. Sri Lankas former president Maithripala Sirisenas Freedom Party has called on President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to form an all-party government to tide over the worst economic crisis in the island nation and said that it may leave the alliance if its request was ignored. Sri Lanka is currently experiencing its worst economic crisis in history. With long lines for fuel, cooking gas, essentials in short supply and long hours of power cuts the public has been suffering for weeks. Partys general secretary and state minister Dayasiri Jayasekera said that the Central Committee decided on Friday to urge the formation of a government representing all parties in Parliament. Also Read | Sri Lanka's nosedive into economic chaos holds global lessons The Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) with 14 Members of Parliament is the largest group within the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna (SLPP) ruling coalition. Sirisena is the SLPP chair but he is not a minister. We have entrusted the party leaders to make a decision as to whether the SLFP would leave the government if the government ignored our request to form an all-party government, Jayasekera said. The SLPP coalition, an alliance of 11 parties, has been in trouble recently. Two of the 11 party leaders were sacked as Cabinet ministers while another Cabinet member has joined them in criticising the government's handling of the economic crisis. Also Read | Tight security in Colombo as shops open after state of emergency order On Thursday night, a large demonstration opposite the private residence of Rajapaksa led to mass-scale arrests. They held placards calling Gota go home, blaming him for the hardships. In view of the protests, the President declared a nationwide public emergency with immediate effect from April 1. Rajapaksa has defended his government's actions, saying the foreign exchange crisis was not his making and the economic downturn was largely pandemic driven where the islands tourism revenue and inward remittances waned. Watch the latest DH Videos here: EU should stand on the right side of history by upholding autonomy 08:37, April 02, 2022 By China Daily editorial ( China Daily Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen via video link in Beijing, capital of China, April 1, 2022. [Photo/Xinhua] Despite the two sides' divergences on the Ukraine crisis and some other issues, the virtual meeting between President Xi Jinping and European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen late Friday prove they can still focus on their common interests and shared responsibility to the world. This is the first meeting between the Chinese and European Union leaders since the flare-up of the Ukraine conflict. It serves as a good opportunity for the two sides to deepen their mutual understanding and trust on not only the Ukraine issue but also their general bilateral relations. Xi's emphases that the EU should form its own knowledge on China and uphold autonomous China policies, and the bloc should play a leading role in building a balanced, effective and sustainable security mechanism in Europe should have stricken a chord with the two EU leaders, who should know that Xi has hit the nail on the head in pointing out the root cause of the dilemma the bloc is facing at present. The retirement of former German chancellor Angela Merkel, whose tenure saw the EU's effort to seek its status as an independent and responsible power while balancing well its ties with the United States, China and Russia, proves a turning point as after that it started surrendering its hard-earned initiatives in diplomacy, development and security to the US. But what it has reaped from that, over less than three months after Merkel's step-down, should have awaken the EU leaders to the fact in doing so the bloc is quickly downgrading itself into an expendable piece on Washington's geopolitical chessboard. The returns the US paid it back include stalled ties with China, its largest trade partner, major investor and stable partner in addressing global warming, an all-round confrontation with Russia, its largest natural gas provider and major industrial raw material provider, the largest war and humanitarian crisis in Europe since World War II. And the US is seemingly at least gaining an upper hand over almost all stakeholders simply by pulling the EU to its sides to disturb the balance. If the EU leaders really know about that, which even outsiders see clearly, they should give a serious thinking to President Xi's warning that the Cold War mentality, something the US has tried to breathe life into and brainwash the European stakeholders with, should not be adopted to construct world and regional security framework, which could only result in politicization and weaponization of economy, finance, technology, trade, energy and food. With nearly 5 million Ukrainian refugees fleeing to the EU Washington only agrees to accept 100,000 of them in principle at least and nearly all of the bloc's natural gas supplies being disrupted the US only agrees to make up for less than 10 percent of the gap the EU leaders must have a first-hand experience of the justification of Xi's warning. China is doing nothing but encouraging the EU to bear a bigger picture in mind and stand on the right side of history. Also, with Xi reassuring them that China's stance on advancing Sino-EU relations remains unchanged, the EU leaders' plausible positive statements on the bloc's readiness to further promoting bilateral exchanges and cooperation on various fronts should be seen as originating from the EU's pressing needs to find back a reliable partner to help pull it out of its current quagmire rather than only symbolic etiquette. Next year marks the 30th anniversary of the founding of the EU. It is also an original aspiration of its founders, if not a painful lessons they have drawn from the Cold War, that the EU should be a united and responsible player in a multi-polar world. But that will not be viable until it achieves its autonomy on the world stage. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan suggested on Saturday that he might not accept a vote to oust him, a move he alleged was being orchestrated by the United States. Opposition parties say Khan has failed to revive an economy battered by the coronavirus pandemic or fulfil promises to make his government more transparent and accountable, and have put forward a no-confidence motion due to be voted on on Sunday. "How can I accept the result when the entire process is discredited?" Khan told a select group of foreign journalists at his office. "Democracy functions on moral authority - what moral authority is left after this connivance?" Read | In numbers: Imran Khan's allies, foes in no-trust vote "The move to oust me is blatant interference in domestic politics by the United States," he said, terming it an attempt at "regime change". Khan has already lost his parliamentary majority after key allies quit his coalition government and joined the opposition. Hours before he spoke, the head of the army, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, had said Pakistan wanted to expand its ties with Washington. US President Joe Biden has not called Khan since taking office, but the White House has denied that it is seeking to topple him. Bajwa told a security conference in Islamabad that "we share a long history of excellent and strategic relationship with the United States, which remains our largest export market". He noted that Pakistan had long enjoyed close diplomatic and business relationships with China, but added: "We seek to expand and broaden our ties with both countries without impacting our relations with the other." The US embassy in Islamabad did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Watch latest videos by DH here: Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa said that his country is ready to move forward on Kashmir if India agrees, Dawn reported. "Pakistan continues to believe in using dialogue and diplomacy to resolve all outstanding issues, including the Kashmir dispute and is ready to move forward on this front if India also agrees to do so," he said. He had made similar comments at the Islamabad Security Dialogue last year when he had said it was time for both countries to "bury the past and move forward". Also Read | Pakistan army chief calls for dialogue to resolve all disputes with India Gen Bajwa highlighted the importance of keeping conflict away from the region, he said Pakistan wanted the Sino-India border to be resolved soon through diplomacy and dialogue as well, Dawn reported. "I believe it is time for the political leadership of the region to rise above their emotional and perceptional biases and break the shackles of history to bring peace and prosperity to almost three billion people of the region. "Pakistan recognises that it is the regions and not countries that grow. This is why we believe that peace and stability in our wider region are prerequisites for achieving shared regional prosperity and development. In this regard, our doors are open for all our neighbours," the COAS said. During his speech, Gen Bajwa termed India's accidental launching of a supersonic cruise missile into Pakistan on March 9 a matter of "serious concern", saying "we expect India to provide evidence to assure Pakistan and the world that their weapons are safe and secure". "Unlike other incidents involving strategic weapons systems, this is the first time in history that a supersonic cruise missile from one nuclear-armed nation has landed in another," he said. The incident had raised "serious concerns" about India's ability to manage and operate high-end weapons systems, Gen Bajwa said, adding that the neighbouring country's "indifferent attitude in not informing Pakistan immediately about the inadvertent launch" was equally concerning, Dawn reported. Check out latest DH videos here In a historic move to boost connectivity, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday inaugurated the first broad-gauge passenger railway service connecting Bihar's Jayanagar with Nepal's Kurtha region. The two prime ministers virtually flagged off the train service after holding extensive talks that focused on significantly expanding cooperation in a range of key areas including trade, investment, connectivity and people-to-people exchanges. Deuba arrived in New Delhi on Friday in his first bilateral visit abroad after becoming prime minister for the fifth time in July 2021. The Jayanagar-Kurtha section is part of the Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas rail link and the project is being implemented with grant assistance of Rs 548 crore from India. "The introduction of Jayanagar-Kurtha rail line is a part of this. Such schemes will make great contribution to smooth, hassle-free exchange between the people of the two countries," Prime Minister Modi said in his media statement. Following the talks between Modi and Deuba, the two sides also inked an agreement on enhancing technical cooperation in the railway sector. The Jaynagar-Kurtha section is 35 km long 3 km of which lies in Bihar, while the rest is in Nepal. The section consists of eight stations namely Jaynagar in India, Inarwa (border station), Khajuri, Mahinathpur, Baidehi, Parwaha, Janakpur and Kurtha. It is the first broad-gauge passenger rail link between the two countries, opening an entirely new dimension for cross-border connectivity. Till 2014, this was an existing rail service on a metre-gauge rail link between Jaynagar and Janakpur. A train having a capacity of around1,000 passengers is proposed to be run at the average speed of 40 km per hour for the inaugural run and will take one hour to reach Janakpur/ Kurtha, officials said. The train will be operated by Nepal Railway Company (NRC), with the assistance of Konkan Railway Corporation Limited and the IRCON or Indian Railway Construction Limited. In his remarks, Modi said India has been a firm partner in the journey of peace, progress and development of Nepal and will always remain so. "The friendship of India and Nepal, the relationships of our people, such an example is not seen anywhere else in the world. Our civilization, our culture, the threads of our exchanges; are connected since ancient times," Modi said. Check out latest DH videos here Communal clashes broke out in Rajasthan's Karauli on Saturday evening after stones were pelted at a motorcycle rally taken out to celebrate the Hindu new year, prompting authorities to clamp curfew, suspend the internet and deploy 600 police personnel. Around two dozen people were injured in the violence while 30 people were detained, Additional Director General of Police ( Law and Order) Hawa Singh Ghumariya said, adding the situation is under control. The rally to mark Nav Samvatsar was passing through a Muslim-dominated area when some people pelted stones. The violence escalated and a few shops and a bike were burnt. Several others were damaged, the police said. The police control room of Karauli initially said that over 35 persons were injured. The ADG said many of the injured were discharged after primary treatment while around 10 were admitted to a local hospital and one was referred to SMS hospital in Jaipur in critical condition. Mobile internet has also been suspended in Karauli, which is 170 km from state capital Jaipur. Governor Kalraj Mishra and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot spoke to Director General of Police (DGP) M L Lather and appealed to the public to maintain peace. Officials said 600 policemen, including 50 officers of the ranks of deputy superintendent of police and inspector, have been deployed and three IPS officers have been sent from Jaipur to Karauli. Karauli collector Rajendra Singh Shekhawat said that curfew has been imposed in the entire city. ADG Hawa Singh Ghumariya said that some shops were set on fire. The fire has been brought under control by fire tenders. ADG Sanjib Kumar, IG Bharat Lal Meena, DIG (Crime branch) Jaipur Rahul Prakash and (DCP) Mridul Kachawa have been sent to Karauli, he said. Gehlot told reporters in Barmer that he had directed the DGP to take strict action against the culprits. Some miscreants happen to be there...they can be in any religion and anywhere and they should be avoided because they are not harmed, common man is harmed. They are not hurt, common man is hurt, he said. Gehlot said that Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and all other communities need to contribute and play their constructive role in building an environment of peace and development in the state. BJP state president Satish Poonia held the Congress government responsible for the incident. Congress governments appeasement policy is responsible for it. No arrest has been made so far. It was a planned attack on the bike rally which was organised on Hindu new year, Poonia alleged. Former chief minister and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje also condemned the incident and said the "hate mentality" cannot be allowed to flourish in Rajasthan. Watch latest videos by DH here: Pakistan Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa, while addressing the Islamabad Security Dialogue, called for dialogue to resolve all disputes with India. Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the dialogue on Friday. The conference brought together Pakistani and international policy experts to discuss emerging challenges in international security under the theme 'Comprehensive Security: Reimagining International Cooperation.' The Islamabad Security Dialogue is hosting 17 international speakers from the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Russia, European Union, Japan, the Philippines and others. Acknowledging the efforts of the National Security Division for organising the second security dialogue, COAS Gen Bajwa said: "I believe today more than ever we need to inculcate and promote such spaces for intellectual debate and discourse where people from around the world come together to share their ideas about the future of their country and world at large." Also Read Pakistan Prime Ministers: A history fraught with uncertainty He was of the view that the spaces like this hold special importance where great individuals can identify the need for global cooperation rather than confrontation. Regarding the unprecedented challenges faced around the world, he said that the resurgence of inter-state conflicts amid shared global challenges of poverty, climate change, terrorism, cyber intrusion and scarcity of resources poses profound questions for the international system. "The international community's collective security rests in our ability to integrate our shared goals of global prosperity to an equitable international system resisting the external pressures. "Pakistan, as a country located at the crossroads of economic and strategic confronts, is navigating these shared challenges in our immediate region and through our partnership in the international community," Geo News quoted him as saying. Watch the latest DH Videos here: The mass flight of refugees from Ukraine has created a humanitarian crisis that dwarfs anything Europe has seen since World War II. More than 4 million people have poured into neighbouring countries, and as long as Russias savage war continues, millions more will flee. Already, the flow of refugees from Ukraine is far greater than the number from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq who fled to Europe in 2015, upending European politics. Europes initial reaction to the flight from Ukraine has been an impressive show of solidarity, given how suddenly the crisis exploded. Refugees, most of whom are women and children, because most men are required to stay behind in Ukraine to fight, have been welcomed and housed even as their numbers swell. But the scale of this crisis is staggering, and it is still in its early stages. Coping with it will demand more coordination, imagination, funds and determination both within Europe and by the United States and allies elsewhere. Existing refugee centers should receive far more assistance, and ways need to be found to encourage refugees to move on to countries that have more capacity to host them. Preparations should also be made now to help Ukrainians return home, should a lasting peace eventually take hold. Read | Ukraine crisis: PM Modi conveys to Lavrov India's readiness to contribute to peace efforts Opening the doors wide to European refugees raises an inevitable comparison to the treatment of refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and other countries. About 16,000 people remain in refugee camps in Greece, and many of them are going hungry because they lack the same rights that are being guaranteed to Ukrainians. But the answer to a double standard cannot be to close the doors to Ukrainians. To put it in perspective, close to 1 million Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis crossed the Mediterranean Sea to seek refuge in Europe in one year, 2015. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24, nearly 1 million people have left Ukraine every week. Barring a peace agreement, Russia will keep bombarding civilian infrastructure. Ukraine will keep fighting for its survival. Ten million people roughly a quarter of the population of Ukraine could end up leaving the country in the coming months. Cities in Poland, Moldova and Romania have been transformed, putting pressure on schools, housing, hospitals and government assistance programs. Warsaw, a city of about 1.6 million people, is now hosting more than 300,000 Ukrainian refugees, many of whom are sleeping in hastily set up welcome centers. Overcrowded shelters for women and children are targets for human trafficking and criminal exploitation. Refugees are not a design flaw of Vladimir Putins war in Ukraine. Indiscriminate bombing and shelling of civilian infrastructure is part of a broader strategy to demoralize the civilian population and drive residents into neighbouring countries, where their presence can be destabilizing. This became clear during last years episode on the Belarus-Poland border, after Alexander Lukashenko, the autocratic ruler of Belarus, apparently manufactured a crisis by encouraging migrants to cross into Poland. Over time, resentment of Ukrainian refugees may grow. People who started off welcoming the refugees could turn against them, putting pressure on their governments to force Ukraine to end the war on Russias terms. Easing this pressure, by supporting the countries that are hosting refugees, makes this tactic of trying to weaponize refugees less effective. The Council of the European Union has already taken an important step by passing a directive that grants temporary protected status to Ukrainian nationals and certain legal permanent residents of Ukraine for up to one year. Most Ukrainians already had the right to travel without visas to European Union countries for 90 days. The new measure gives them the right to live, work and attend school in EU countries without having to go through the official process of seeking asylum. Read | Putin's popularity up since Ukraine conflict began: Poll But far more needs to be done to assist the places where refugees are clustered, and to help refugees find their way out of overcrowded welcome centers. Britains Homes for Ukraine program, which pays families and organizations to take in refugees, has resulted in the issuing of 2,700 visas so far, while Finland has offered spots in universities to 2,000 Ukrainians. These ad hoc efforts are important but insufficient given the millions of people who are affected. The European Union has established a platform to match offers of help with those in need. Seven countries, including Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, have pledged to take in some 15,000 of the Ukrainians now in Moldova. But thats a small fraction of the estimated 98,000 Ukrainians in Moldova, many of whom are reluctant to leave because a language they know, Russian, is spoken there. The European Union has also identified roughly 17 billion euros in funds for pandemic recovery and programs to promote social and economic cohesion that could be immediately spent on urgent needs, including housing, education, health care and child care. An EU proposal to address the current crisis would distribute more of those funds to countries hosting large numbers of refugees. Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia would receive 45% more funding than they would have gotten. Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Estonia member states that have received the highest number of Ukrainians in proportion to their national populations would get that increase as well. Efforts to humanely accommodate those displaced by the war need not be confined to Europe. Canada, which is home to a large Ukrainian population, has agreed to welcome an unlimited number of people fleeing the war to stay for at least two years. Even Japan, which has long been reluctant to take in refugees, has agreed to accept Ukrainians. President Joe Bidens announcement that the United States would accept up to 100,000 is a good start, but the country can do more, especially when public support for welcoming Ukrainian refugees is strong. The United States has been a key player in Ukraine over the years, from encouraging Ukrainians to stand up to Russia to persuading Ukrainians to agree to the removal of nuclear weapons from their territory after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a decision that many Ukrainians deeply regret today. As the world enters a period of greater instability, its leaders can no longer ignore the need for a coordinated and humane response to all of those fleeing war and other desperate circumstances. Check out the latest DH videos here: After much protest and procrastination, the Nepali parliament has finally ratified the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC)-Nepal Compact. This will pave the way for opening up the country to a $500-million grant from the United States for electricity transmission and road development projects. Nepal and the US had signed the MCC agreement in 2017. Concerns over sovereignty, pressure from China, and domestic politics contributed to the five-year delay in ratifying it. The pacts Section 7.1, for instance, says the agreement will prevail over Nepals domestic laws, prompting critics to claim that that is a violation of Nepals sovereignty. There were also concerns in Nepal that the US aid is part of its Indo-Pacific strategy to contain China. As a neighbour of China and one that has increasingly close ties with Beijing, Nepal was apprehensive that the MCC would draw it into Americas fight against China. Meanwhile, China, whose presence and influence in Nepal has mounted dramatically in recent years not only is Nepal a member of Chinas Belt and Road Initiative, but also Chinese envoys and officials have played a role in the formation and collapse of governments is said to have pressed politicians and parties to resist the MCC. Nepals parties have also been opposing ratification not on any issues of principle but to gain leverage or simply to bring down the government. Mass protests against the MCC, reportedly instigated by politicians close to China, have also roiled the country. Ratification of the MCC compact has therefore not come easily. Some of Nepals apprehensions have been addressed. A declaration attached to the MCC agreement that was ratified by parliament clarifies that the grant is not part of the Indo-Pacific strategy. It also clearly states that Nepals Constitution will prevail over the grants provisions. The funding will enable Nepal to address two major obstacles to economic growth in the Himalayan country inadequate electricity and poor road transport connectivity. This is therefore an opportunity for Nepal to boost its economy. The MCC is a five-year programme. If the grant funds are unspent, they will have to be returned. Nepal must make full use of the funds and meet project deadlines. The clock has started ticking. Nepal will have to contend with cost escalations in the projects due to the inordinate delay in ratifying the compact. The pact is of benefit to India, too. In addition to pushing back against BRI and the clout it has provided China in Nepal, MCC-built infrastructure will facilitate trade with India. New Delhi must support implementation of the MCC. Church organs across Northern Ireland will resound in a simultaneous series of free lunchtime recitals to celebrate 10 years of the Northern Ireland International Organ Competition (NIIOC). The event, set to take place on Tuesday April 5 at 1.15 pm, will see all ten of the competition's first prize winners, from across the globe pull out the stops under the banner Northern Ireland Resounds." Amongst the 10 recitals, 2017 winner, Sebastian Heindl, will play at Christ Church in Derry with other winners playing in a range of venues across the country. Sebastian, originally from Germany, received his fundamental musical education in Leipzigs famous St. Thomas Boys Choir and continued his studies at Leipzig conservatory. After earning numerous competition prizes he has developed a busy performing schedule that takes him frequently to precious historical instruments and illustrious concert venues such as the Philharmonie, Berlin. The recitals are dedicated to the memory of organ builder, the late David McElderry, former MD of the Wells-Kennedy Partnership, who lovingly maintained the organs featured in the performances. Richard Yarr, Chair of NIIOC said: Over the past 10 years the Competition has encouraged many young local and international performers and given them a platform to perform and a great start to their professional careers. "Northern Ireland Resounds is a unique opportunity to hear these young organ stars in churches on Tuesday across Northern Ireland on Tuesday April 6 at 1.15pm. "We hope that as many people as possible will come to enjoy some wonderful playing on some wonderful instruments. Theres also the chance to hear all of the performers at a special Gala Recital introduced by Father Eugene OHagan, of the singing group The Priests, in Belfast Cathedral on April 6 at 7.30pm. Tickets for the Belfast Gala Recital cost 10 (students 5) and will be bookable through the competition website www.niioc.com A gala recital will also take place in Southwark Cathedral on Monday 28 March at 7.30pm. Tickets cost 10 (students 5) and will be bookable through the competition website www.niioc.com More information can be found on the NIIOC website: www.niioc.com Important information for people seeking to travel to Ireland from Ukraine News Visa exemption for Ukrainian nationals The Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister), Micheal Martin TD, announced on 24 February that Ireland would waive all visa requirements for Ukrainian nationals for travel to Ireland. Ukrainian nationals planning to travel to Ireland can do so without a visa. This applies to all Ukrainian nationals, irrespective of their country of departure, i.e. it applies in full to travel from Finland to Ireland. Travel documents In order to facilitate those who have left Ukraine since the outbreak of the conflict, Ireland is taking a practical and humane approach to travel documents, while maintaining appropriate immigration and security controls. Carriers have been asked to accept official identity documents for Ukrainian nationals in lieu of a national passport: for example, national identity cards, birth certificates, internal passports, or expired passports. Al immigration services and airlines must, however, be satisfied of the identity of a person arriving at a border. In addition, the Irish immigration authorities have requested that no one should be denied boarding without first contacting the immigration authorities in Ireland. Visa requirements for non-Ukrainian nationals who have left Ukraine Irelands visa waiver applies only to Ukrainian nationals. All other non-EEA nationals who are ordinarily subject to a visa requirement still need to apply for a visa, even if travelling from Ukraine or travelling with a Ukrainian national. You should not book your travel until you have a visa. You can find out if you need a visa to enter Ireland by consulting the list of visa-required nationalities here. Visas for those who have left Ukraine will be granted only to immediate family members of Ukrainian nationals or Irish citizens. (De facto partners are equivalent to spouses for the definition of 'immediate family' in this context, but will be asked to provide evidence of their partnership.) If you fall into this category, you should apply online here. When you complete your application, you should select either a single-entry D Join Family visa or a D Other visa. When you have completed your online application, you should submit the following documents to the Embassy, either in person or by courier or registered post: Your passport Two (2) passport photographs Your application summary sheet, signed and dated Payment of 60 Proof of your immediate family relation to a Ukrainian national (birth certificates, marriage certificate) Proof of residence in Ukraine (Ukrainian residency card, any other proof of residency, e.g. bank statements, utility bills) Proof that you have left Ukraine in the period since the outbreak of the conflict (if your passport has exit stamps from Ukraine, this is sufficient) We are, of course, conscious of the extreme circumstances applicants who have fled Ukraine have left behind, and we will take a humane and pragmatic approach to these documentary requirements. The Embassy nevertheless reserves the right to request additional documentation if necessary to verify that individuals are eligible for protection under the EU Temporary Protection Directive. While all applications from Ukrainian residents are being treated as urgent, applicants should nevertheless be aware that all visa applications require a minimum of 2-7 working days. When your visa is granted, we will affix it to a page in your passport and return this to you. Previous Item | Where to Watch / Stream Freunde sind mehr Online Freunde sind mehr is not available on any OTT Platform right now. Advertisements About Freunde sind mehr Freunde sind mehr was released on Apr 03, 2022 . This show is available in de language. Freunde sind mehr is available in genre. Season and Episode Details Disclaimer: All content and media has been sourced from original content streaming platforms, such as Disney Hotstar, Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc. Digit Binge is an aggregator of content and does not claim any rights on the content. The copyrights of all the content belongs to their respective original owners and streaming service providers. All content has been linked to respective service provider platforms.This product uses the TMDb API but is not endorsed or certified by Advertisements Cyber security and health were on the agenda at the latest Conference on the Future of Europe in Strasbourg at the weekend, which was attended by Dundalk TD Ruairi O Murchu. The Sinn Fein deputy, who is a member of the Oireachtas EU Affairs Committee said that outside expert witnesses should be brought in on both matters so that working groups are better informed about these issues and policies are better formed. On the matter of cyber and hybrid security, Deputy O Murchu said there was a recognition of the threat to cyber security from AI (Artificial Intelligence) and there should be a greater focus on social media companies. He said he welcomed the conferences holistic view of health across the union, but said drugs, and their impact on communities, also should be examined. Deputy O Murchu said: We are all aware of drug addiction and the pandemic of crime, violence and intimidation that it brings to our communities. "I think an EU response to the issue is necessary. In relation to an EU right to health, we have shown we can co-operate but we will have to put our money where our mouths are and that does mean we will have to look at fiscal constraints. "If we are talking about health in a holistic sense, I think we are going to have to be imaginative. In the case of Ireland, we want to facilitate and play our part in the refugee crisis. We have a housing crisis, so we need to be imaginative and that means financially as well. Energy and fuel need to be added to the health agenda, he said: "There needs to be mitigations at a European level. We need to look at the ability to reduce the VAT rate and also, to look at block buys." He also pointed out to conference chairperson Commissioner Maros Sefcovic that almost everyone at the conference would need an electronic visa to travel from South to North in Ireland, if the British government gets its way which highlights the ongoing madness of Brexit, the solution to which is Irish unity. Louth and Meath Education and Training Board (ETB) is well positioned to meet the skills demands of the green economy. Thats according to Sadie Ward McDermott, Director of Further Education and Training in Louth and Meath ETB, speaking following the inaugural FET Green Skills Summit, hosted by SOLAS and Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI). The Summit was opened by Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science Simon Harris TD, and took place in Wexford Councils County Hall last week. There are currently over 50 green skills programmes being delivered by the 16 ETBs across Ireland, with a particular focus on construction, agriculture and technology sectors. Commenting on their focus on green skills, Director of Further Education & Training in Louth & Meath ETB Sadie Ward McDermott stated: We in Louth & Meath Education & Training Board are well positioned to meet the skills demands of the green economy and support our learners and trainees to access real career opportunities in this area." Programmes include: Prosper Beechmount/Watergate Street - Recycled Art Environmental Science Ore University Environmental Science Skills for the Future Speaking about the Green Skills Summit, Andrew Brownlee, CEO of SOLAS, said: We planned the Summit to take a proactive look at the skills needs of industry and to explore how best further education and training can meet these needs. The Climate Action Plan published in 2021 has set ambitious targets for the decarbonisation of our economy and the transition to this new economy will require significant levels of skills across the country in a huge variety of sectors to come to fruition. At the Summit, we heard some great insights on how the further education and training sector can expand on the work we are already doing to equip people across Ireland with the right skills to contribute to the transition to a greener economy. Fiona Maloney, Director of Further Education and Training, ETBI added: Irelands Education and Training Boards are ideally positioned to meet the skills demands of the green economy. We have over 50 green skills programmes delivered across our sector and NZEB Training Centres of Excellence in Waterford & Wexford and Laois & Offaly ETBs, with three more to follow in Limerick & Clare, Cork, and Mayo, Sligo & Leitrim ETBs. We will work closely with our SOLAS colleagues to support the implementation of the Green Skills for FET 2021-2030 Roadmap, to ensure that our learners and trainees have the appropriate skills to both power Irelands green economy and access career opportunities. A CITY councillor has called for a park ranger to be appointed to patrol Glen River Park after a gorse blaze came close to houses on Thursday. The latest in a series of fires in recent weeks between the Ballyvolane and Glen areas was dealt with by Cork City Fire Brigade, who warned that the lighting of fires in the park could have dire consequences for local residents. Green Party councillor Oliver Moran, who lives in the area, said the local suspicion is that the fires in Glen River Park are being set deliberately. If the fires are set maliciously, thats not a minor issue of antisocial behaviour, he said. A number of fires this week and last weekend have burned the scrubland overlooking the park. Cork City Fire Brigade third officer Gerard Ryan told The Echo that this has become almost a regular event. The kids lighting fires dont understand that its only by the grace of God if the wind is in the right direction, because on a dry day a fire can spread very fast, and it can threaten houses on the periphery too." Mr Moran said he visited the park during the week to view the damage caused by the fires, and he described it as large-scale destruction of one of the citys key green and blue infrastructure assets, which he noted was located right next to peoples homes. It also highlights the need for the city to assign a park ranger to supervise the Glen River Park, he said. The park became a haven during the pandemic and began to enjoy the citywide fame it deserves, and now, as we emerge from the pandemic, we need a constant presence in the park to ensure incidents like this dont become the norm again. Mr Ryan condemned the antisocial behaviour, and has appealed for public vigilance. It does look fairly bleak at the moment from the burning, but its nearly an annual occurrence at this stage, and its down to just pure antisocial behaviour, said Mr Ryan. Last weekend we were in the Glen Park numerous times, mainly on the side of the North Ring Road, but on the Sunday we had fires in the valley too, top and bottom, we had two units battling a fire there for nearly an hour. He said they had similarly battled a fire for an hour last Saturday, and on March 24 there had been two incidents in the park. Its happening year-on-year in the Glen, unfortunately, and the problem is that those ferns and bushes are brittle-dry at this time of the year, he said. A Garda spokesperson said: The area surrounding the Glen River Park is a vast wasteland with many areas of wild gorse, it is surrounded by high-density urban housing. Local gardai will continue to conduct ongoing mountain bike and foot patrols throughout the spring and summer months. Intensifying their drive, Hindu outfits on Saturday too got down on the streets appealing to the Hindus to use only 'jhatka meat'. (PTI/Representational Image) Bengaluru: Five Bajrang Dal activists were arrested in Shivamogga district in Karnataka for allegedly attacking a Muslim trader for selling halal meat, even as the 'Boycott halal products' campaign by Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal intensified in the state. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai appealed to people to celebrate Hindu new year Ugadi and 'Hosa Tadaku' festivals peacefully without disturbing law and order. During Hosa Tadaku, which is celebrated a day after Ugadi, Hindus who prefer non-vegetarian food, cook meat and chicken. The right wing activists have appealed to the Hindus not to buy halal meat as it is already offered to Allah by the Muslims and offering such 'stale meal' would be a disrespect to Hindu Gods and Goddesses. On Thursday, two incidents were reported in Bhadrawati town one in Hosamane Police Station limits and another in old town police station limits, Shivamogga Superintendent of Police B M Lakshmi Prasad told reporters on Friday. In Hosamane police station limits, five people went to the shop and demanded non-halal meat. When it was not provided, the shop was shut. They assaulted one boy in the shop on his head with their hands, he added. Similarly, a case was registered in old town police station where some people went to Janata Hotel and told the owner not to sell halal meat. When a customer questioned, he was assaulted, the officer said. "In both the cases, the same accused have been named. A case has been registered against them and they have been arrested. They are Vadivelu, Srikanth, Krishna, Sawai Singh and Gunda," Prasad said. In Bengaluru, the Chief Minister said he has given directions to the district authorities. "I have asked all the deputy commissioners and superintendents of police of all the districts that people have to celebrate their festivals without disturbing the law and order. Directions given should be followed strictly," Bommai told reporters. He also said peace meetings have been convened with all the people concerned where they were told to ensure peaceful celebration of the festival. Intensifying their drive, Hindu outfits on Saturday too got down on the streets appealing to the Hindus to use only 'jhatka meat', which means killing any animal by stunning it so that the sacrificed animal does not undergo the much sufferings. The campaigners have tied up with Hindu meat vendors and have put up signboards of '100% jhatka certified' on the outlets. Hindu activists have even offered 10 per cent concession on the purchase of meat of Rs 200 and above and free home delivery within eight kms of the outlet. The activists stood outside temples with posters and banners offering Ugadi prasad and appealing to them not to use any halal product especially during 'Hosa Tadaku'. Meanwhile, Hindu Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowment Minister Shashikala Jolle said whatever the Hindu outfits are doing is right. "The issue of halal and non-halal is very much prevalent in coastal Karnataka if not in other parts of the state. I feel that whatever our pro-Hindu outfits are doing appears right. They are spreading awareness about the 'jhatka cut' of the animal because it has to be offered to God. I am in favour of these organisations," Jolle told reporters. Contradictions between ideology and symbolism were quite evident in the recent state elections. As the dust settles around the commotion of opinions about the recently concluded assembly elections in five states in India, the time is ripe for taking stock of the motifs and messages that were communicated to the public by certain political parties. In every election, one notices a huge array or spectrum of symbols, slogans, and messages that are aimed to garner public support and sympathy. Certain symbols used during the time of the elections are etched in public memory for a longer time span than what the political leaders may have intended themselves. For such is the characteristic nature of political communication during the time of electionsthe promises inherent in the persuasive approach of the political parties communicative symbolism outlive their intended use-by date, as it were. Even against the fervent intentions of the politicians, public memory tends to be sharp enough to remember the promises made during the exceptional time of the elections, where the balance of power temporarily shifts in favour of the voters. There is a system of accountability built into the very structure of representative democracies where political parties are hesitant to take decisions that are likely to be harmful to the general public welfare at the time of elections. At the same time, it is also true that such a system of accountability appears to be dysfunctional after the election time has passed, when the ruling parties begin to feel a sense of firmness and solidity in their control of political power for the foreseeable future. . This question has cropped up in the context of the strong sense of generation and its complete absence in a large section of people. There are three vantage points from which this question can be approachedutilitarian, existential or bare material, and normative. The normative is a bit idealistic, which has a total sense of the good life that should be experienced by people from every succeeding generation, irrespective of tensions. In such a sense, it is the great human values such as maitree, or unconditional friendship and peace, and a sense of dignity for all that is transformed from one generation to another. There is no competition to achieve this normative goal. It eschews the generational shift in terms of the bad vices such as hatred, enmity, and violence. The present electoral politics does not provide any favourable context to make any minimum advance towards achieving this goal. So, this question gets superseded by the utilitarian conception of a generation in which the parameter for indexing human progress is in terms of measuring happiness. The editorial in the current issue of Economic & Political Weekly quite convincingly covers this point. Such a conception of happiness concerns the sections of the population who perhaps are more fortunate in terms of possessing the required resources to instantiate this conception by providing evidence from consumerism. This could be considered as an enlightened sense of consumerism that has been rendered relevant even for the succeeding generations. Such a sense of happiness does have a transformative value in the sense that they want to secure happiness for several generations to come. Interestingly, one often keeps hearing that certain families from the fortunate layer of society have amassed so much wealth and property that it would be enough for the consumerist indulgence of several generations. Thus, there is a concrete notion of generation, and it is based on procreation, material production, and accumulation of assets. They define generation in terms of acquiring access into different opportunity fields. This could be called as the modernist conception of generation where, in a generic sense, the more fortunate acquire these material, intellectual capacities to appear in different fields of progress and development. This conception of generation, of course, is based on the ideal inequality produced through the market-based competition. Ironically, this conception has been dished out as the most authentic concept of generation. This, however, raises a question for the deprived section of the population. Cultural narratives of Calcutta (Kolkata) are codified through cinema and literature, othering and invisibilising other parts of Bengal. In my childhood, a distant cousin visited Calcutta (now Kolkata) for the holidays. When he returned to the village, all of us primary schoolgoers rained questions on him: How was Calcutta? What did you see in the city? To which he replied, I saw Mithun (Chakraborty) and (Amitabh) Bachchan roaming around the city on a bike. We were pleased with his answer as if it confirmed our imagined goings-on in the city. When I was in high school, a teacher who had studied at the Presidency College in the city told us the story of his first day in the college, shocking us with details of how a female classmate asked for the lighter to light her cigarette just as he had finished lighting his own. The classmate lit her cigarette and returned the lighter with a thanks, but none of this had registered in our shocked storytellers mind, who snapped back into reality only when his cigarette finished burning between his two fingers. Around the same time, we had some visitors to our village from Calcutta, one of whom had asked the other, after a visit to a paddy field, whether paddy stems were used for making cots! In our schoolbooks, we read completely opposite and extreme descriptions of villages and cities, pitting them against each otherthe village as all that is good with the world, and the city as the dark underbelly of humanity. Bengali movies and songs too, with an overemphasis on Calcutta as a stand-in for Bengal, have led to Calcuttans claiming and proclaiming all Calcuttan identity as Bengali, othering the rest of Bengali culture. Oftentimes, this has led to people from other parts of Bengal coming to the city with a sense of fear and distrust, believing that the city does not belong to them and is owned solely by urban Bengalis of a higher class. As a result, when I first came to Calcutta in 2000, I was very afraid of the city. I felt that I was an outsider to this great, scary, alienating city that was beyond my grasp. I had similar feelings of foreboding and uncertainty when I arrived at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus of Mumbai and the New Delhi railway station for the first time. This was because of the image of these big cities as intimidating, evil, unfamiliar, and alienating, perpetuated by Hindi cinema as well as the administrative/political importance these cities held in our history, taught in schools and colleges. But I never had such feelings for any of the south Indian cities because of their absence from our cultural imagination. None of the films we watched in our childhoodwith our limited knowledge of Bengali and Hindi cinemarepresented south Indian cities in the way Mumbai and Delhi were represented. Most of our exposure to south Indian cities was through school history books, which portrayed them somewhat one dimensionally, as places of rich cultural heritage. Russia accused Ukraine on Friday of carrying out an airstrike against a fuel depot in the Russian city of Belgorod, which it says could jeopardize peace talks with Kyiv. The Russian army has been sowing destruction, death and violence in Ukraine: 4,500 destroyed residential buildings, more than 500 destroyed educational institutions, 261 healthcare, and thousands of crimes against civilians. Commentary From Crisis Management Expert Edward Segal, Bestselling Author of the Award- Winning Book "Crisis Ahead: 101 Ways to Prepare for and Bounce Back from Disasters, Scandals, and Other Emergencies " (Nicholas Brealey) As important as it is for companies to explain the circumstances or reasons that led to a crisis, it is just as important to have others come to their defense or provide their perspective when it is appropriate to do so. Authorities, experts and observers who speak up on behalf of or defend a company that is having a crisis can help combat concerns or criticisms about the organization or its handling of the situation. That certainly appears to be the case in last week's deadly crash of a Boeing 737-800 passenger plane in south China. Voicing Confidence The Washington Post reported that, "As search teams continued gathering wreckage and remains following Monday's crash of a China Eastern flight, the outgoing chief of the Federal Aviation Administration voiced confidence Friday in the type of Boeing plane that went down and in the ability of the international aviation community to learn what went wrong." "FAA Administrator Steve Dickson, a retired airline pilot and Trump appointee who is stepping down next week, pointed to the strong safety record of Boeing's Next Generation fleet of 737 passenger planes in a television interview. "The 737-800 that crashed in southern China's Guangxi province 'is one of the safest aircraft ever produced in commercial operation. It's one of the most widely used aircraft around the world. By all indications, this was an airworthy aircraft,' Dickson said on CNBC's Squawk Box. 'But we'll have to go where the facts take us.'" "Asked about skepticism that Chinese authorities will allow a transparent review of what happened, Dickson said, 'I'm confident we'll get to the root cause of the crash.'" The FAA did not immediately respond to a request to comment on why Dickson defended the safety record of the 737-800 during the CNBC interview. Statements From Boeing According to the BBC, "Boeing's chief executive David Calhoun said: "We have been in close communication with our customer and regulatory authorities since the accident, and have offered the full support of our technical experts to the investigation led by the Civil Aviation Administration of China." "He added that the company would do 'everything we can to support our customer and the accident investigation during this difficult time, guided by our commitment to safety, transparency, and integrity at every step.'" On Boeing's website, the company said, "We extend our deepest condolences for the loss of those on board China Eastern Airlines Flight MU 5735. Our thoughts and prayers are with the passengers and crew, their families and all those affected by this accident. "Boeing will continue to support our airline customers during this difficult time. In addition, a Boeing technical team is supporting the NTSB and the Civil Aviation Administration of China who will lead the investigation." Better Safe Than Sorry China Eastern Airlines quickly decided to ground hundreds of the aircraft that are in their fleet. CNN reported that, "The airline and its subsidiaries have temporarily grounded 223 Boeing 737-800 aircraft, airline spokesperson Liu Xiaodong said in a press conference on Thursday. The same type of plane was involved in the crash. "The grounded aircraft are undergoing safety inspection and maintenance to ensure that they are safe to fly, Liu said. The airline launched a sweeping safety overhaul after the crash, he added." Forbes reported that, "The jet is one of the most popular aircraft in the sky and has a good safety record. Its successor, Boeing's beleaguered 737 MAX, has only recently been allowed back into service in China after it was grounded there for three yearsand by regulators worldwide for more than a yearafter two crashes in Indonesia and Ethiopia which killed 189 and 157." No Quick Or Easy Answers By their very nature, some crises can take longer to investigate than others. Forbes wrote, "Generally speaking, airplane crash investigations tend to take a long time. "Indeed, the cause may not be determined for 12 to 18 months after the accident," according to the website of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the independent agency that investigates civil aviation incidents within the U.S." "If investigators recover [a] second black box, the public will still wait many months for answers. "The industry does not like to be a talking head and risk coming to unfair conclusions on either behalf of the aircraft or the crew," according to Mark Baier, CEO of AviationManuals, a leading provider of aviation development manual services and safety management system software. Learning From History He said, "We ought to learn from history. The initial reactions to the 737 Max accidents were to say that Indonesia had a poor safety record and to try to denigrate the pilots in Ethiopia, prior to us all realizing that it was actually an aircraft issue and not a pilot issue." Advice For Business Leaders As a crisis unfolds at your company or organization, do not wait to reach out to others who can come to your defense about different aspects of the crisis or your management of the situation. The authorities, experts or observers should have relevant knowledge, expertise or experience relative to the nature of the crisis. Ask them to issue appropriate statements to news organizations and on social media. Do not assume that news outlets will seek them out on their own. The sooner they speak up, the better. Boeing's Latest Crisis The crash of the 737-800 is the latest crisis or controversy to hit Boeing. Allegations Of Fraud In October, CNN reported that a federal grand jury indicted a former key executive of Boeing for fraud. They alleged, "he deceived the Federal Aviation Administration while it was first certifying the 737 Max jet that would go on to have two fatal crashes caused by design flaws." "The charges were not against a top executive. Instead, they were against Mark Forkner, 49, who was the chief technical pilot for Boeing during the certification process for the jet and is accused of deceiving the FAA during that process in 2016 and 2017." Update: Forbes reported yesterday that, "... his trial ended swiftly after less than four days. With just one defense witness testifying, the jury found Forkner not guilty less than two hours after the two sides rested their cases on Wednesday in Fort Worth, Texas." Potential Electrical Issues Last April, Boeing faced another crisis involving its 737 MAX. As reported by Forbes, the airline manufacturer has recommended that a potential electrical issue in a specific group of 737 MAX airplanes be addressed before they fly again. Update: A month later, Boeing said it expected to resume deliveries of 737 Max planes "within the week" after federal officials approved a fix for an electrical problem while U.S. airlines are starting repairs on dozens of grounded jets. The Federal Aviation Administration approved the repairs for the manufacturing flaw, which grounded more than 100 planes in service last month." Engine Explosion In February 2021, an engine on a United 777 exploded over Denver, raining debris on a neighborhood below. Update: Earlier this month, Newsweek reported that "the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is moving ahead with new regulations intended to prevent engines on some Boeing 777 planes from breaking and potentially catching on fire midair." Overcoming Stigma In November 2020, I reported that "the Federal Aviation Administration's decision to lift its ban on Boeing's 737 MAX marks the end of one chapter of this crisis for the airplane manufacturer and the beginning of another. The company must now convince airlines that it is safe to return the planes to service, buy new ones and overcome the fear people have in flying in them." Update: According to Boeing, as of mid-March, "since December 2020, more than 185 out of 195 countries have approved a service return. More than 35 airlines globally have safely operated the 737 MAX for more than 400,000 revenue flights and more than one million hours, with schedule reliability above 99%. ### Saturday, April 2, 2022 Were pleased to inform you that Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), Peoples Vaccine Alliance (India) and Campaign for Access to Medicines, Diagnostics and Devices (CAMD-India) would like to invite you to a webinar on Is the leaked TRIPS Waiver text a loss for India? to discuss the critical issues in the leaked text on 30th March, 2022. For further details, please see the announcement below: Webinar on Is the leaked TRIPS Waiver text a loss for India? The World Trade Organization (WTO) has been discussing the TRIPS Waiver proposal for Covid-19 medical products for the last 18 months. The proposal by India and South Africa received widespread support by developing countries in no time. On the other hand, the rich countries have been opposing it tooth and nail, especially the European Union (EU). The WTO Secretariat facilitated negotiations between a group of four countries India, South Africa, the EU and the US to arrive at a solution. A leaked text, allegedly agreed upon by the four countries, has become a major concern for health activists and civil society across the world. It is a heavily compromised text which limits the use of even existing mechanisms to break the monopoly of Big Pharma. It is confined only to Covid-19 vaccines and suggests a compulsory license mechanism rather than a waiver. Even for vaccines, it calls for waiving of only patents, not other forms of intellectual property such as copyright and trade secrets. It extends till the continuation of the pandemic, but does not clarify when the pandemic situation will cease. India has shown leadership in proposing and advancing the TRIPS Waiver proposal. It ought not to succumb to the pressures of the developed countries like the US or regional blocks like the EU. In this background, Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA), Peoples Vaccine Alliance (India) and Campaign for Access to Medicines, Diagnostics and Devices (CAMD-India) would like to invite you to a webinar on Is the leaked TRIPS Waiver text a loss for India? to discuss the critical issues in the leaked text. Following are the details of the programme: Date: Wednesday, 30 March, 2022 Time: 6.00 pm-7.30 pm IST Platform: Zoom Speakers: Leena Menghaney, Medecins Sans Frontieres Prof. Dr. Biswajit Dhar, Jawaharlal Nehru University Discussants: Priti Patnaik, Geneva Health Files Anjela Taneja, Peoples Vaccine Alliance Register in advance: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Q1BZUsmiTd-5AtB93H8GwA After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar. Intelligence officials said the detention of the youth, identified as Suleiman from Hyderabad, was a precaution as he allegedly appeared to be trying to get the attention of the ISIS. (Representational Image/DC) HYDERABAD: An 18-year-old student from Falaknuma was detained by the intelligence wing of Telangana police after he was reportedly found browsing terrorist websites in an attempt to get in touch with them. Intelligence officials said the detention of the youth, identified as Suleiman from Hyderabad, was a precaution as he allegedly appeared to be trying to get the attention of the ISIS among other banned terror groups and might be inclined to join terror outfits through cyberspace. Though the Intelligence officials confirmed that the youngster was detained and booked, the city police denied it said that no such thing has happened. Intelligence wing commissioner Chaitanya Kumar confirmed the investigation against the student. However, DCP, South Zone, S. Sai Chaitanya, said, No one was picked up by the police for questioning or detention. Even the station house officers and assistant commissioners of police said that they had received multiple calls and that nothing of this sort had taken place. Officials are investigating and questioning him about his motives behind the searches and the usage of social media applications to draw their attention to him. His call data record is being accessed and the cybercrime officials are tracking his online activities by seizing his mobile phone. Further links are yet to be established. It will be done in due course of time. The cybercrime police, with the help of the Internet Protocol (IP) address, had tracked him down and took him into custody, the officials added. Senior officials from the state police department, requesting anonymity, said, He is very young and we are figuring out his excitement behind this online radicalism. Usually, browsing and contacting terror groups is the basic step for the enthusiastic lot, which is followed by mobilisation of funds and third stage is forming groups and lobbying, shared the official. Earlier, in 2018, National Investigation Agency (NIA) had arrested eight youths from Hyderabad for planning terror attacks on the instructions of ISIS. The same year, NIA sleuths arrested two more from the city in a separate case for planning terror attacks in the country and for their links to ISIS. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Darren Almendarez was just trying to buy some food for his sisters birthday party. But as he and his wife were leaving the Joe Vs Smart Shop, he saw a black Nissan Altima backed up to his maroon Tundra and men underneath trying to remove its catalytic converter. He told his wife to run. Then, the off-duty Harris County sheriffs deputy approached his truck to confront the three would-be thieves. Moments later, the men began firing. One bullet struck Almendarez in the torso, police said. Despite the injury, the 51-year-old auto theft investigator shot back, striking two of the men, before collapsing. Paramedics rushed the injured deputy to Houston Northwest Hospital, where he died. Almendarez is the fourth peace officer killed in Greater Houston in the last three months. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said he was devastated to learn of Almendarezs death. It came as no surprise that Almendarez, who spent 23 years in the department, had the presence of mind to protect those around him during his last moments, he said. More on Almendarez: Harris County deputy who died protecting wife was Milby HS alum: A shock to everybody He was really a hero, Gonzalez said, because as all of this unfolded, he had the mindset to make sure he was protecting his wife, he told her to run and get way from danger as he put himself in harms way to protect the rest of the community. He is survived by his wife, Flor Zarzoza, and a teenage daughter. Almendarezs assailants fled, shortly before paramedics arrived, but the two men he shot showed up at the same hospital and were quickly detained, Chief Deputy Edison Toquica said. Joshua Stewart, 23, and Fredarius Clark, 19, now face capital murder charges. One of the men was in stable condition late Thursday; the other was listed in critical condition. Fredrick Tardy, 17, is also expected to face charges, Gonzalez said Friday night. As word of Almendarezs death spread, Texas highest elected leaders and hundreds of other people offered condolences on social media and elsewhere. Gov. Greg Abbott said Almendarezs death was reminder of the sacrifices peace officers make on and off duty. Deputy Darren Almendarez lost his life while answering the call to serve and protect his fellow Texans, his statement said. The State of Texas is ready to provide all resources necessary to bring justice to the family and loved ones of Deputy Almendarez. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo said in a tweet that she was absolutely heartbroken about the deputys death. My heart goes out to all our law enforcement family and to his loved ones, she said, in the brief statement, while Mayor Sylvester Turner called the killing unacceptable. It is a terrible day when a family trip to a grocery store ends in violence and loss of life, Turner said. A bloody week: 6 Harris County police officers wounded, killed in one week Almendarez is the fourth law enforcement officer slain in Greater Houston in 2022. The first killing came on Jan. 23, when Harris County Pct. 5 Cpl. Charles Galloway was shot and killed while conducting a traffic stop. The next day, Harris County Sheriffs Sgt. Ramon Gutierrez was struck and killed by a motorist during a traffic escort. A month later, San Jacinto County Deputy Constable Neil Adams was shot and killed while working at an off-duty security job at the PlazAmericas mall in Sharpstown. A three-week period in late 2020 saw three peace officers slain Houston Fire Department arson investigator Lemuel Bruce, and Houston police Sgts. Harold Preston and Sean Rios by criminal suspects. All told, 24 peace officers have died in Harris County in the line of duty since the beginning of 2017, including a Harris County constable deputy gunned down during an ambush outside a north Houston bar last fall and 10 peace officers and jailers who died during from COVID, heatstroke or drowning. Those are not the only dangerous circumstances local peace officers have faced recently: three Houston police officers were wounded Jan. 27 in a chaotic domestic disturbance call that ended in a shootout. And on Wednesday night, an off-duty Surfside Beach officer was stabbed in southeast Houston. A lean, muscular auto theft investigator who kept his hair cropped close, Almendarez grew up in the East End, attending Austin and Milby high schools, and joined the department 23 years ago. Colleagues recalled him as a jovial and friendly deputy who worked hard and loved the job. Patrol Deputy Francisco Prado met Almendarez as a teenager they worked together at the same Whataburger. Almendarez had a playful side, which made the hours flipping burgers pass a bit more pleasantly, he said. When Prado joined the sheriffs office in 1998, he was surprised to find Almendarez there, too his old burger-flipping friend had joined the year before, he said. He was a very smart individual, he said. A lucrative black-market business: As metal prices rise during COVID, theft of catalytic converters skyrockets Other colleagues echoed the sentiment. This one hurts, Harris County Deputies Organization President David Cuevas said. Its a shock to everybody. Cuevas first met Almendarez when the two were detention officers working in the jail. The two men yearned to become full-fledged deputies, and frequently studied together as cadets. Cuevas and many of their classmates filled journals with notes, but Almendarez just listened, Cuevas said. They sometimes asked him why he wasnt taking notes, but he always assured them hed remember, Cuevas recalled. And sure enough, when it came time for their exam, he passed without issue. He had an uncanny way about himself, Cuevas said. When they finally started working as patrol deputies, they often ate together at a nearby Lubys. After graduating from the academy, Almendarez spent time in patrol in north Harris County and then worked in the departments gang division. Its tragic, said Cuevas, who had spent the night fielding texts from their academy classmates. Deputies are getting shot down, violence is rising, and the bright lights of the world are a little dimmer because hes gone. Eventually, Almendarez decided to become an investigator and joined the auto theft division. In October, the sheriffs office released a video of Almendarez searching for auto thieves. One call took him to far east Harris County, where he and other deputies found a chop shop in a small, dilapidated warehouse. A red, partially cannibalized red pickup truck sat inside. Two of the people they found were charged in cases involving other chop shops, Almendarez said. Here they are again, stealing vehicles, cutting up peoples valuable property, he said, gesturing at the red pickup. Its horrible what they do. I cant imagine losing my truck that I take such good care of that I work for every day for crooks to chop it up and make it look like this. Its just horrible. st.john.smith@chron.com joel.umanzor@chron.com leah.brennan@chron.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A San Antonio teenager has been indicted on a murder charge in connection with the fatal shooting in December of a man who allegedly had argued with his mother at a South Side bar. The case involving Bryan Gonzalez, 18, was among 248 felony indictments handed down this week by two Bexar County grand juries. A fight Dec. 6 at the Tres Amigas Bar at 10703 Pleasanaton Road turned to gunfire and spilled outside, Arriving police officers found Santiago Sanchez, 37, with multiple gunshot wounds. He later died at a local hospital. On ExpressNews.com: Teenager arrested in deadly shooting outside South Side bar According to an affidavit supporting Gonzalezs arrest, his mother, listed as a witness in the document, told police that he and another of her sons, an unnamed 16-year-old, were responsible for the shooting and that she had summoned them there. Sanchez and Gonzalez had a prior history of enmity, and Sanchez had threatened her in the bar because of it, the woman told authorities. Video footage captured from inside the bar shows Gonzalez and a juvenile arriving at Tres Amigas with guns and talking to their mother and another witness, who point out Sanchez, who is standing nearby, the affidavit states. A verbal altercation between Gonzalez, the juvenile and Sanchez ensued before Sanchez was struck by gunshots, the affidavit states. The pair then left the scene. On ExpressNews.com: Two teenagers suspected in the shooting death of a man outside a South Side bar, police say The case is being prosecuted in the 175th District Court. If convicted, Gonzalez faces up to life in prison. It is unclear if the juvenile was charged. Also indicted was Edwin Sanabria-Pena, 26, charged with intoxication manslaughter in the death of Gabriella Padilla on Jan. 1. According to TV reports, Sanabria-Pena was driving a Dodge pickup on Culebra Road at Zarzamora on the evening of New Years Day when he ran a red light and hit a Chevrolet pickup. The force of the crash caused the Chevrolet to hit a Jeep Patriot. Padilla, 53, a back-seat passenger in the Chevrolet, died at the scene. Three others were hospitalized with serious injuries, as was a passenger in the Jeep. The suspect also was hospitalized with minor injuries. Police later determined Sanabria-Pena was intoxicated, and he was arrested on charges of intoxication manslaughter and three counts of intoxication assault. The case is being prosecuted in the 437th District Court. If convicted of the second-degree felony, he faces up to 20 years in prison. ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863 Ken Branca Law officers on Friday were searching for the driver of a stolen truck that crashed in South Bexar County during a chase that resulted from an apparent immigrant smuggling attempt. The chase began around 11:30 a.m. in Medina County, near the Bexar County line, as deputies there pursued a Ford F350 that had been reported stolen, according to the Bexar County Sheriffs Office. An AR-15 rifle was in the vehicle when it was stolen. The San Antonio Police Department on Friday released body camera video that shows three officers fatally shooting a 28-year-old man who was fleeing from them, as well as a gun beside his body after the firing ceased. The release of the footage comes almost three weeks after officers opened fire on Kevin Johnson Jr., 28, while trying to execute warrants for his arrest in a West Side neighborhood. Police officials initially said that Johnson reached for a gun in his waistband while he was trying to run up the bank of a creek, but his family has repeatedly disputed that account saying Johnson was shot several times in the back while running away. Police officials later added that the officers saw Johnson turn and point the firearm in the officers direction. The six-minute video released by police, meanwhile, shows Johnson stumble as he exits the creek, and its possible that his body turned because he was breaking his fall rather than trying to fire on police. Courtesy of the San Antonio Police Department The video, which includes body camera and dashboard camera footage, is heavily edited and is narrated by Deputy Chief Chris Benavides. On ExpressNews.com: Man fatally shot in West Side clash with police; crowd confronts line of officers At about 3:45 p.m. on March 14, three officers assigned to the SAPDs Street Crimes Unit attempted to stop Johnson, who was riding his bicycle on the 200 block of Carter Street. Benavides said the officers had been searching for Johnson for several days because he was wanted on warrants for felony possession of a firearm and violation of parole. Johnson fled on his bicycle when officers turned on their emergency lights, the video shows. He then got off his bicycle and ran on foot as police chased him, Benevides said on the video. The body camera footage shows the officers later identified as Adam Rule, Gus Vallas and James Quintanilla chasing Johnson through the West Side neighborhood and into Alazan Creek between north Elmendorf Street and Hamilton Avenue. Johnson can be seen on camera running down into the creek as one of the officers shouts, Get down, boy. Johnson wades through the shallow water to the opposite bank from police when officers said they spotted a gun in his right hand. One officer shouts for him to drop your hands before Johnson appears to stumble and fall on the grass. He rolls on the ground and briefly faces police, the video shows. Officers can be heard on the video shouting: Gun. Hes got a gun. Three officers open fire, shooting at Johnson at least a dozen times. The video shows a black object in Johnsons right hand. At that point in the video, its difficult to determine what the object is and whether Johnson pointed it at officers, as portions of the video are inaudible and blurry often the case with body camera footage. But as officers approached Johnson immediately after the shooting, they could see a gun beside him. SAPD officials included a still image of the gun, covered in grass with a bullet in the chamber, in the video release. On ExpressNews.com: Family of man shot by police demands bodycam footage Benavides said the firearm found beside Johnson has been forensically linked to multiple violent crimes, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The release of the body camera footage on Friday comes after media reports were published earlier in the day showing Johnson posing with multiple handguns on social media hours before the chase. An SAPD official told KSAT 12 that officers working to locate Johnson on March 14 were aware of the social media posts, which appear to have since been deleted. Jasmine Johnson, Kevin Johnsons sister, criticized the department for not releasing the videos in their entirety. They continue to try and push (a) false narrative instead of the truth, Johnson wrote on Facebook. All we are asking is transparency. No one deserves what my family and I are going through. Police declined to comment about why the footage was not released in its entirety. An unnarrated, though also edited, version of the body camera footage plays after the narrated version. All three officers are on administrative duty pending a police investigation into the shooting. Benavides said the investigation into the shooting is active. Investigations into deadly force are comprehensive and can take over a year, Benevides said. This is our current understanding of the situation and could change as investigators gather more information. The San Antonio Police Department does not make any determinations as to whether procedures were followed until all factors are known. Staff writer Jacob Beltran contributed to this report. eeaton@express-news.net 21 Pro Video A San Antonio man was arrested Thursday for allegedly taking a 13-year-old neighbor from an apartment complex and sexually assaulting her. Police charged Steve Terrazas Jr., 20, with aggravated sexual assault of a child. He is being held on $100,000 bail. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A man was killed by San Antonio police Monday afternoon on the West Side after police said he pulled a gun on officers attempting to arrest him. Police Chief William McManus said the shooting occurred after three officers on patrol spotted the man near North Hamilton Street and West Laurel. McManus said the officers approached the man, whom police did not immediately identify, to execute warrants for his arrest related to assault on a police officer and felon in possession of a firearm. The man fled and police chased him, said McManus, who spoke to news media after tension subsided somewhat between police and family members of the dead man, as well as area residents. At some point, McManus said, the man began to pull a handgun from his waistband, the chief said. All three officers fired, he said, though he said he could not provide details of the exchange since he had not reviewed body camera footage. Jacob Beltran / San Antonio Express-News On ExpressNews.com: Family of man shot by Bexar County deputy sue over his killing The man was struck and died at the scene, police said. A handgun was recovered, police said. McManus said the officers have four, five and 16 years with the force. Jasmine Johnson, who identified herself as a sister of the man killed, said her brother was fatally shot several times at the scene. She identified him as Kevin Johnson, 28. Witnesses told the family that he was shot nine times from behind. William Luther /San Antonio Express-News Jasmine Johnson said a relative called just before 2 p.m. and told her they shot Kevin, and they kept shooting, and that they shot and shot and shot again. She said he had been staying in the area with a friend. They see anyone bad out here and they wanna harass them and say, Oh, youre drug-related. Youre gang-related, Johnson said. On ExpressNews.com: Ex-San Antonio police officer indicted for firing gun at two teens She and other relatives were angry with police, who they said are not letting them see their deceased family member. The incident caused an uproar among family and friends who gathered at the scene. Johnson said an officer spat at her at the scene. Officers pulled that officer back and began pepper spraying a group of people who were reportedly moving a police vehicle. Johnson said her mother, a cancer survivor, was sprayed during the confrontation. jbeltran@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Her eyes fixed on the heavily pregnant tuxedo cat emerging from a thicket about 20 feet away, Monica Caballero said the fetuses would be aborted. She said death would be more merciful than life in a local park. They wouldnt survive out there, she said. Theyd be picked off by predators owls and hawks and raccoons and coyotes. Despite city ordinances that regulate pet ownership practices, San Antonio is awash in stray cats. Caballero, vice president of the San Antonio Feral Cat Coalition, is one of many volunteers putting in time and resources to slow their proliferation. The tuxedo cat tentatively approached the trap, a conglomeration of mesh and PVC piping propped up by a narrow wood plank set by Caballero. The felines desire for a full belly had overcome her initial suspicion. Hunger, Caballero knew, is a powerful motivating force. Given the opportunity, no animal especially not an expectant mother will pass up a meal. Placing one white paw inside the trap, she hesitated. When nothing happened, she wasted little time digging into the pile of sardines that had tempted her out of hiding. With a swift backward motion, Caballero pulled on the rope extending from the plank. The trap slammed down with a hard thud. The cat, sensing she had been tricked, spun and hurled herself against the mesh in a futile attempt to escape. Perhaps 200,000 stray cats inhabit the metro area, according to Sherry Derdak, president of the cat coalition. Their numbers perpetually increase because the warm, dry weather endemic to the Southwest is conducive to breeding. Its an overwhelming problem for the community, Derdak said. The nonprofit organization was founded in 2005 to promote TNR or Trap, Neuter, Return a method of population control that has been widely adopted by many major U.S. cities. Coalition volunteers capture and sterilize the cats before listing the domesticated ones for adoption and releasing the feral ones back into the wild. That way, Derdak explained, the existing clan dies out naturally. Since Derdak began keeping records in 2010, she said the coalition has subsidized surgery on more than 37,141 cats, preventing an untold number of births. Jerry Lara /Staff photographer Without organizations such as the coalition, Lisa Norwood, public relations and outreach manager for Animal Care Services, said, thered be cats on every corner. The city agency runs its own TNR program. In fiscal year 2021, they operated on 3,645 cats through the program, according to Norwood. One single female can produce as many as four litters annually. Those kittens, in turn, can become sexually active as early as four months old. Keeping up with the exponential growth rate is a challenge. Were just making a very small dent in the problem, Derdak said. Cue the formation of one of San Antonios most fascinating niche communities: cat caregivers. They provide food, water, shelter and veterinary care to one or more stray cats. Devotion to their feline charges, many of whom repel physical affection with bites and scratches, transcends financial stability. They might be just one step from being homeless themselves, Derdak said, adding, I know people that buy tuna with their food stamps. While the overwhelming majority of caregivers work alone in the comfort of their homes and backyards, the most dedicated are among the feral cat coalitions 200 or so volunteers. Some commit hundreds of dollars a month or tens of hours a week to their duties. Caballero was taking a walk one day in fall 2010 through the same park where she would eventually trap the expectant mother when she saw a flurry of cats running toward a car. It was clear, Caballero said, that they recognized the driver, a woman who distributed food as Caballero watched. Inspired by her altruism, Caballero took a class on TNR methodology and started caring for stray cats herself. She now spends two to three hours a day at it. In the nearly 12 years since Caballero took the plunge, the number of cats in the park has been reduced from 120 to about 24, divided among five colonies small packs of sterilized cats that stick to one specific site and socialize among one another. Theres Freddy, a stocky orange tabby; theres Jimbo, who likes to hang out by the train tracks that traverse his territory; theres Blossom, who is so petite that Caballero worries she will be picked off by a hawk or other bird of prey. They see our cars, they hear our voices, they come out, theyre real happy to see us, Caballero said. You can see how they build a relationship with us. Caballero has seven cats of her own, not counting the two she is currently fostering for the coalition. Like many caregivers, Caballero and fellow volunteer Yvonne Saldivar were raised around animals Caballero as the daughter of a farmer and Saldivar as a former vet tech for the military. It troubles them to see people wantonly killing cats or police officers dismissing such killings as inconsequential. The similarities often end there. Caregivers are as diverse a community as any other, according to Derdak. Many are suburban moms and dads who bear little resemblance to the stereotypical cat lady. United by no commonality other than their commitment to alleviating suffering, they have formed strong professional and personal bonds. Jerry Lara /Staff photographer We all know each other, Caballero said. Its like a little network of people that can be counted on to take in dumped animals. This work and it is work it does bring people together, and there is a sense of family, Derdak said. And we do try to watch out for each other and care for each other and help each other. Whenever it feels like the world is against us, we know that our tribe, our like-minded people, are ready in the coalition, Saldivar said. What Caballero calls a network, Derdak calls a sense of family and Saldivar calls a tribe is all but a necessity in a line of work that demands physical and emotional fortitude. To be a cat caregiver is to be inundated with tales of woe. Caballero has seen or heard about some terrible sights: cats poisoned, cats hit by cars, cats mauled to death, cats hanging from trees, kittens carried off by hawks, kittens torn limb from limb by raccoons. The coalition has received reports of a man who bred cats to bait wild hogs and another accused of leaving a bagful of dead kittens on his neighbors car hood in retaliation for feeding the neighborhoods stray cats, according to Saldivar. Sometimes it makes me question humanity, and I hate that thats sometimes what it comes down to, she said. But then I remember there are more like-minded, good-hearted people out there than there are those bad guys, and thats kind of what keeps me going. Because, if not, Id lose my mind. Even cases that dont involve cruelty can force heartbreaking decisions. When a volunteer rescues a cat that needs thousands of dollars in veterinary care, for example, the coalition is faced with a tough choice: save that cats life or feed dozens of others for several months. Some volunteers, Caballero said, resign almost immediately because they cant cope with the emotional wear and tear. However, she cannot see herself ever permanently throwing in the towel exchanging the bloody wounds, raging infections, overflowing litter boxes and Sophies choices for a more mainstream hobby. We spend more money than we probably should, all of us, personally, Caballero said. But, she added, It makes me happy. Once Caballero ensured the pregnant tuxedo cat was secure in her carrier, she drove into the park to check on Freddy, Jimbo, Blossom and their colony mates. The felines watched her from a safe distance as she inspected the clearing for any safety hazards. Caballero tut-tutted when she saw open cans in one corner. Well-meaning people often put out food for the parks cats, she said, but the act of kindness actually hurts the feral cat coalition, as hunger is an incentive to enter traps. Satisfied the colony was stable, Caballero set out for her next destination: an abandoned church on the North Side. Weather-beaten and deserted, it has become a popular encampment for homeless people, Caballero said. While the windows had been covered by sheets of plywood at some point, one in the rear had been forcibly removed, exposing a dark passageway. Rusty nail heads surrounded the makeshift entrance. No one seemed to be inside. No one seemed to be on the property at all, except for the cats. Seeing Caballero approach, they fled, hurdling fences, squeezing through cracks in the churchs clapboard walls and disappearing into the tall grass of the neglected lawn. Within minutes, the only obvious sign that the property harbored any inhabitants was a pair of cat beds on the porch, one white and one zebra-striped. Turning away, Caballero headed back to her blue convertible. She had other matters to attend to before she could resume trapping. Shaking her head, she said she planned to beg Animal Care Services to take the pregnant cat that is, perform an abortion Saturday morning. It was already Friday, but the feline had no intention of cooperating with her captor. That afternoon, Caballero checked on her to discover San Antonios population of stray cats had increased by two. caroline.tien@hearst.com 21 Pro Video After hitting a patrol car, a man sped away from the scene Friday night, at one point driving the wrong way on Frio Street to get around traffic, before losing control, hitting two light poles and flipping his car, San Antonio police said. The man, who was in his 30s, was driving northbound in a Toyota Camry on South Frio Street around 10:20 p.m. when he struck a patrol car driving southbound, according to police. The man fled the scene heading north and was seen driving at a high rate of speed by a UTSA Police Department sergeant. He then drove into the southbound lanes to evade traffic in the northbound lanes and ran a red light at the intersection with West Commerce Street, police said. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A bell tolled 14 times Friday under blue skies to remember the children lost last year to violence in Bexar County, as elected officials, advocates and community members pledged to make San Antonio safer. Thirteen local children died of child abuse and neglect but organizers rang a bell one more time for those who may have been missed. More than 250 people marked the start of Child Abuse Prevention Month on the steps of the historic Bexar County Courthouse to listen to elected officials, law enforcement leaders and volunteers with Child Advocates San Antonio, known as CASA, and two chapters of Guardians of the Children, whose motorcyle-riding members work with abused children. The Docket: Local crime and courtroom news, delivered to your inbox weekly They took turns addressing the need for everyone in San Antonio and Bexar County to act, to alert authorities if they witness a child in distress. Every child needs to be safe, and not just at home, said CASA President and CEO Angela White, who marveled at the events attendance, stating, This community cares. Thats all you need to see. It takes everyone who looks like everybody to solve this problem, she said. Childrens Court and its numerous specialty courts and dockets have helped chip away at the numbers of children taken from parents by the state a sometimes necessary but drastic outcome that has decreased over the years, Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff said. We are strengthening families, not weakening families, he said. Mayor Ron Nirenberg spoke of the children being our future, and reiterated a commitment to secure their future through support and initiatives. Top hits: Get San Antonio Express-News stories sent directly to your inbox We want this problem to stop, he told the crowd. Our commitment remains unwavering. The San Antonio and Von Ormy chapters of the Guardians of the Children brought nearly 100 of their members. Sandy JG Mazz Encina, the Von Ormy groups events coordinator, said its volunteers work in partnership with CASA, paired with children to provide things like school supplies and clothes, if needed. But the big thing they do, she said, is to attend court hearings with them, to encourage them and make them feel protected. We get them ready when we go to court and let them know it is safe to testify, said Terrie Suarez, the groups treasurer. Josie Norris /San Antonio Express-News As CASA volunteers passed out cards with instructions on how to report abuse, Justin Tex Mire, president of the San Antonio Gueardians chapter, led the crowd in reciting a pledge written on the back: I pledge to protect the innocence of all children in my world. To use my voice for the vulnerable. To support efforts to end child abuse in my community. To believe a child, intervene, and above all else, report if I suspect child abuse. Mire told a story a little boy who while walking a beach filled with starfish began to throw them back into the ocean, one by one, so they could live. Although the child could not possibly save each one, he made a difference in the lives of the ones he touched, he said.. You can make a difference in the life of a child, and convince your neighbors to pick up a starfish, too, Mire said. ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863 In the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his Austin-based Infowars headquarters were busy. Jones, a product of paranoia and public-access TV, hosts a nationally syndicated radio show on a dwindling number of stations. He also spawns conspiracy theories and hawks a lot of dietary supplements and survival gear on his Infowars website. Its where Jones announced that Russian forces invaded Ukraine to shut down U.S. bioweapon manufacturing labs there. Its also where he declared that Dr. Anthony Fauci was creating a virus deadlier than COVID-19. No reputable media outlet carried the story because its thoroughly untrue. As are the stories Jones and Infowars provide ultra-right U.S. listeners who are anti-government, anti-immigrant, anti-people of color, anti-intellectual, anti-gay, anti-womens rights and against other issues viewed as liberal or progressive especially if you put health, safety and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in that category. Infowars most appeals to people who long ago stopped watching and reading mainstream news sources. They include some who now even see Fox News as a liberal sellout. Jones fans are all about their faith, their guns and their white supremacy. On Friday morning, Infowars featured Jones touting products that promise better sleep, pain-free joints and a supercharged immune system. The latter was 25 percent off and earned patriot points, no doubt toward more scheming purchases. Jones said such sales support the fight against the infowar, or information war, being waged against patriots like him. Theres some truth in the latter. He has been sued by people whove been harmed by his falsehoods. Much of what Infowars has done in the last two years has focused on the big lie that Donald Trump won the 2020 election and that COVID-19 vaccines either dont work or pose a danger. Jones has been banished from mainstream online venues for providing inaccurate coronavirus information. Infowars has reported that Fauci, one of the nations top infectious disease experts, admitted COVID-19 vaccines dont work. He didnt. The site also said Trump was in great danger while being treated at Walter Reed military hospital for COVID-19. He wasnt. In 2017, Jones and Infowars cited emails that purportedly showed Democrats, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and philanthropist George Soros, orchestrated the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., to defame alt-right groups. Many of Jones worst claims were investigated by the fact-checking website PolitiFact. Theyve been deemed false, and some received its top pants on fire rating. In 2019, Infowars came to San Antonio to stoke fears of Ebola among Central African asylum seekers making their way to different parts of the country from the downtown bus station. Theyd been released by the Trump administration and U.S. Customs and Border Protection after they were screened various times. No evidence existed that they carried the deadly disease. City officials rebuked Infowars lies already spreading across the country with factual information and data. Id like to think San Antonio sent them packing back to Austin. If Jones peddles any truth at all its that some people really are at work to stop his business and to hold him accountable for the damage and pain he has inflicted. Chief among them are the parents of 20 first-graders and the families of six educators killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Newtown, Conn., in 2012. In various lawsuits, Jones has been sued for defamation. Plaintiffs have cited the painful encounters theyve endured with Jones supporters whove confronted and badgered grieving families who lost 6- and 7-year-olds to an assailant armed with an assault rifle. To be clear, Jones has already lost the most recent lawsuit against him in Connecticut and was found liable for damages by default. He failed to produce documents pertaining to Infowars business side, which reaped rewards by telling Sandy Hook lies. One news investigation found Infowars online store made $165 million from September 2015 to late 2018. Sandy Hook proved to be a profitable lie. The report also found sales climbed when Jones talked about it. In a previous deposition, Jones did acknowledge the shooting was real. Last week, he failed to show up for two days of deposition in Austin, citing health reasons. Yet he did his four-hour radio show from a studio on one of those days. He has agreed to be in Connecticut on April 11. Until then, Jones will be fined $25,000 for each business day that he fails to show, making his total fine $525,000, according to news reports. On Friday, the judge denied a motion to halt the fines. Lies, indeed, will catch up to you. eayala@express-news.net Hyderabad: A division bench of Telangana High Court, comprising Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Abhinandan Kumar Shavili, on Friday disposed off a PIL seeking a CBI probe into the Miyapur land scam that runs into thousands of crores. The PIL was filed in 2017 by Madhavaneni Raghunandan Rao (presently a BJP MLA) alleging that government land to an extent of 682 acres in survey numbers 20, 28, 100 and 101 of Miyapur village, Serilingampally mandal were registered illegally by real estate companies and others. This was despite restraint orders issued by the Supreme Court, which said that no documents pertaining to the said lands should be registered. He alleged that the infringement had taken place with the tacit support of government officials, who dance to the tunes of ruling party (TRS) leaders. Collecting fictitious documents, revenue and registration department officials played a key role in transferring the land to Trinity Infra Ventures Limited, the petitioner mentioned. He also brought to the notice of the court that Kukatpally police had filed an FIR and a charge-sheet before the trial court when the issue came to light and it triggered several protests. Apprehending that the real culprits could have fled, Raghunandan Rao urged the court to transfer a criminal case pending with the SHO Kukatpally to the Central Bureau of. Advocate general B.S. Prasad on Friday informed the court that a charge-sheet has been filed against 24 persons of whom some have filed quash petitions before the High Court and that such petitions have been allowed. The court was also apprised of the present stage of the criminal case. After taking all facts into consideration, the bench closed the PIL while also giving the petitioner the liberty to seek appropriate legal recourse, if he remains aggrieved. The Texas Organizing Project has officially endorsed Ina Minjarez in the Democratic runoff for Bexar County judge. The nonprofit advocacy group, which organizes in Black and Latino working-class communities across the state, announced on Friday that it will back Minjarez, a four-term state representative, in her May 24 race against former District Court Judge Peter Sakai. TOP works every day to build power for Latino and Black families and Ina Minjarez is the best candidate to bring the change we need in Bexar County, so that everyone in our community can thrive, said Michelle Tremillo, TOPs executive director. TOP endorsed her because shes committed to creating a more equitable and transparent county government, increasing access to health care and affordable housing and also working with us to codify misdemeanor bail reform. Political endorsements often carry little weight with voters, but the backing of TOP falls into a special category, because its not merely a statement of support. It comes with a commitment from the organization to deploy its considerable on-the-ground political muscle. TOP displayed that muscle in 2018 when it led a coalition on a petition drive to get a paid sick leave initiative on the San Antonio ballot. The coalition succeeded in securing 140,000 signatures. Given the choice between putting it on the November ballot or passing a paid sick leave ordinance of its own, City Council reluctantly passed its own ordinance. The citys paid sick leave ordinance came under legal challenge from various business groups. In November 2019, a week before the ordinance was set to take effect, Sakai issued a temporary injunction to block its implementation. TOPs local impact was felt again in 2019. That year, TOP stayed out of the first round of the mayoral election between incumbent Ron Nirenberg and then-Councilman Greg Brockhouse. Brockhouse forced Nirenberg into a runoff and Nirenberg supporters feared the election was slipping away from the mayor. A week before early voting began for the runoff, TOP endorsed Nirenberg and sent its forces out to knock on doors. The mayor prevailed by a margin of 2.2 percentage points. Minjarez said Friday she believes TOPs endorsement will have a major impact on the county judge runoff. I have great respect for the Texas Organizing Project, Minjarez said. I know that they dont take their endorsements lightly. They are a voice for those Black and brown communities that have been disenfranchised for so long. This is one of the endorsements Im most proud of, and Im happy theyre getting involved in this race. In assessing the race for county judge, TOP sent questionnaires to the three major candidates in the first round of the Democratic primary: Minjarez, Sakai and former mayoral staffer Ivalis Meza Gonzalez. The questionnaire probed for the candidates positions on the organizations six main policy priorities: housing, health care, immigration, criminal justice reform, economic justice and education. We dont just do politics, Tremillo said. Our politics is in the service of our larger, value-driven policy platform. While TOP held off on making an endorsement in the first round, organization members ultimately concluded that Minjarez best aligned with the groups positions. As we do for each candidate that we endorse at TOP, our members will be knocking on doors, phone banking and texting other TOP supporters and voters to show their support for Ina Minjarez, Tremillo said. Sakai finished first in the March 1 primary, with nearly 41 percent of the vote. Minjarez received nearly 31 percent. Given Bexar Countys blueish political tint and the fact that a Democrat, Nelson Wolff, has held the county judge post for the past 21 years the winner of the Sakai/Minjarez runoff will be a favorite in the general election against Republican nominee Trish DeBerry. During her tenure in the Legislature, Minjarez established herself as someone skilled at working across the political aisle, particularly on the issues of foster care and cyber bullying. She grew frustrated last year, however, as GOP lawmakers pushed a culture-war agenda that included a restrictive new voting law seemingly inspired by former President Donald Trumps false claims that the 2020 election had been stolen from him. After Wolff announced last October that he wouldnt be seeking another term, Minjarez decided to leave the Legislature and declare her candidacy for county judge. If she wins, shell be following in the footsteps of Wolff, who served four years in the Texas Legislature before his stint as county judge. ggarcia@express-news.net | Twitter: @gilgamesh470 Aided by Attorney General Ken Paxton, Houston conservative activist Steve Hotze is planning to again enlist private sleuths to uncover evidence of voter fraud in Harris County this year, even after one of his own investigators was indicted last year for allegedly holding an air conditioning repairman at gunpoint while in search of phony ballots. The investigator, former Houston police captain Mark Aguirre, said he was surprised to find the A/C repairmans truck contained only parts and tools, and not thousands of phony ballots, after allegedly running him off the road in the run-up to the 2020 election. The repairman later sued Hotze and his organization, Liberty Center for God and Country, for hiring and paying Aguirre. Undeterred, Hotze is raising money to again support his groups so-called voter integrity efforts. On Saturday, Paxton and Mike Lindell, the MyPillow CEO who has spread incendiary false conspiracies about the 2020 election, are headlining a Freedom Gala at the Hyatt Regency hotel in downtown Houston that will fund, in part, the hiring of private detectives to investigate, identify, and expose the criminal vote fraud scheme in Harris County and across Texas. The funds also will go toward hiring poll watchers for the midterm elections in November, broadcasting radio ads offering rewards for evidence of voter fraud, and funding legal defensive and offensive efforts to Stop Vote Fraud, according to a website for the event. It is unclear if that includes Hotzes own legal fees, though in a video previewing the event, he mentioned the lawsuit stemming from the Aguirre incident. Ive already been sued, sued over this whole issue of trying to stop and expose voter fraud by the Democrats, said Hotze, who could not be reached for comment Friday. Nobodys going to back me down. Im going to be the tip of the spear in Harris County. Were going to expose and stop it here. And were also going to provide poll watchers across the county and across the state to watch the Democrats, to keep our eyes on them. On HoustonChronicle.com: Former Houston cop who thought A/C repairman was a voter fraud mastermind indicted on felony assault charge Individual tickets for the sold-out event were listed at $100, with packages for up to $100,000. The proceeds are going to Hotzes Liberty Center for God and Country group, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that is exempt from paying federal income taxes and generally is not required to disclose its donors. A longtime activist, Hotze has supported numerous far-right causes and candidates over the last few decades, and is, perhaps, best known for opposing LGBTQ issues. During the March primary, his political action committee, Conservative Republicans of Texas, sent out a mailer touting its support for Christians, conservatives, patriots who promote Biblical marriage, school choice and the right to refuse vaccines. The mailer cast other candidates as socialists and communists who censor Christian and conservative views and support gay marriage, which the mailer described as a mirage. Hotze and Aguirre have not provided any proof of their allegations that prominent Houston Democrats were orchestrating a massive ballot harvesting scheme during the 2020 election. And while minor cases of voter fraud have been uncovered in Texas and elsewhere, multiple academic studies, an investigation by the Trump-controlled Justice Department and Paxtons own Election Fraud Unit have yet to discover widespread, systemic fraud on the scale alleged by Republicans in Texas and elsewhere. The Trump administrations cybersecurity agency and other top election officials called the election the most secure in American history and said there was no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes or was in any way compromised. Last month, however, Harris Countys elections office came under fire for a number of issues that arose during the March 1 primary, including the discovery of some 10,000 uncounted mail-in ballots the weekend after the election. Harris also was the only one of Texas 254 counties that failed to fully tally and report the results within 24 hours, according to the secretary of states office. County officials finished counting votes 30 hours after the polls closed. On HoustonChronicle.com: Longoria resigns as Harris County elections chief, takes the blame for bungled primary elections The series of problems led Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria to tender her resignation. The Harris County Republican Party also sued Longoria for the delay in counting the results and allegedly failing to supply some poll workers with necessary equipment. Despite the issues, however, no evidence has emerged of widespread fraud in the Harris County primaries. Harris County Republican Party Chair Cindy Siegel, who also is scheduled to speak at Hotzes gala, said she was asked to attend and speak for a few minutes about the fiasco with March 1. "From our standpoint, we're separate from Dr. Hotze, Siegel said. But I think 90 percent-plus of Republicans are very concerned about the election and the integrity of the election process. And the party is especially concerned about it in light of how badly the March 1 primary was mismanaged." Siegel said the party, like Hotze, plans to hire poll watchers for the November election and is anticipating the need to file further litigation if more problems arise. She declined to weigh in on Hotzes stated intent to hire more private investigators after his efforts in 2020 went awry. Any time you hire someone, you want to make sure you get people that are going to do the job the right way. But I cant really speak to that, because I wasnt involved, and I wasnt the chair. jasper.scherer@chron.com Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release SubCategory Select Sub-Category Arjun Rampal makes a comeback on the OTT platform after a year of being seen in Nail Polish alongside Manav Kaul. There are repeated visuals of a curved snake in the teaser and it zooms in on a back shot of Arjun Rampal looking at a map of London. The teaser shows interesting glimpses. Arjun Rampal is seen in a rugged look as he solves a mystery case with layers of underlying secrets.There are repeated visuals of a curved snake in the teaser and it zooms in on a back shot of Arjun Rampal looking at a map of London. The series also has Sapna Pabbi, Medha Rana, Gopal Datt, Sagar Arya, and Eva Jane Willis playing parallel roles. It is slated to release on April 21 on an OTT platform. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Arjun (@rampal72) Arjun Rampal is playing the role of a homicide detective Om Singh in the series. As he battles through the evil thoughts that make his mind cave in, he is forced to get involved in the case of Amar Roy played by Purab Kohli, who is looking for his missing daughter. The more Om gets involved in solving the case, the more hidden secrets come to the surface and a blast from the past that Om is forced to face.The series also has Sapna Pabbi, Medha Rana, Gopal Datt, Sagar Arya, and Eva Jane Willis playing parallel roles. It is slated to release on April 21 on an OTT platform. The teaser of Arjun Rampal and Purab Kohli starrer web series - London Files was recently released and the gripping storyline has gotten viewers excited. The teaser showcases a detective on duty who has to combat his own inner demon whilst he gets involved in solving a case of a missing child. Prabhakar had given his statement earlier that the Aryan Khan cruise case was strategically planted by NCB's former director Sameer Wankhade who was at that time the lead overseeing the case. He had allegedly mentioned how Sameer Wankhade's team had the intention of extorting 25 crore from Bollywood superstar and Aryan Khan's father - Shah Rukh Khan. Prabhakar was given special protection after recording his statements. Sail had also gone on to record a statement where he had overhead KP Gosavi, another key witness in the drug case having a word with Sam D'Souza on the extortion plans of an amount of 25 crores, out of which 8 crores were supposedly for Wankhade.Prabhakar was given special protection after recording his statements. Mega Star Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan Khan got arrested on October 3 as police raided a cruise based on a drug racket in Mumbai. Bombay High Court granted him bail on October 28. Aryan Khan was booked under numerous allegations by the central agency - Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act for possession, consumption, sale/purchase of banned drugs, and conspiracy and abetment. Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha were the other accused in the same case along with Aryan Khan. They were also granted bail which came with a horde of conditions to abide by. The conditions mentioned how the accused had to give up their passports to NDPS court and were not allowed to leave the country. They also had to mark their presence at the NCB office every Friday between 11 AM and 2 PM. Arbaaz Merchant and Munmun Dhamecha were the other accused in the same case along with Aryan Khan. They were also granted bail which came with a horde of conditions to abide by. The conditions mentioned how the accused had to give up their passports to NDPS court and were not allowed to leave the country. They also had to mark their presence at the NCB office every Friday between 11 AM and 2 PM. Prabhakar Sail, who was a key witness in the Aryan Khan drug case has passed away. His lawyer Tushar Khandare commented that he died of a heart attack. Fort St. John, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 1, 2022) - MACRO ENTERPRISES INC. (TSXV: MCR) (the "Company") announces that, further to its press release of March 28, 2022, the Company, together with 1325996 B.C. Ltd. ("AcquireCo"), have agreed to amend the terms of the arrangement agreement between the Company and AcquireCo dated February 14, 2022 (the "Arrangement Agreement") and the terms of the plan of arrangement under Division 5 of Part 9 of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the "Arrangement") in light of the untimely passing of Ken Mastre ("Mastre"), the former Vice President, Pipelines of the Company. Under the terms of the amending agreement entered into as of April 1, 2022, among the Company, AcquireCo, Frank Miles and Jeff Redmond: (i) Mastre's estate will no longer be a "Participating Shareholder", a "Participating Class B Shareholder" or a "Participating Incentiveholder" (in each case as defined in the Arrangement Agreement) for purposes of the Arrangement; (ii) Mastre's estate will participate in the Arrangement on the same terms as holders of shares in the outstanding capital of the Company who are not Participating Shareholders and holders of options of the Company who are not Participating Incentiveholders; and (iii) Mastre's estate will be released from his obligations as a "Guarantor" (as defined in the Arrangement Agreement). About Macro Enterprises Inc. Macro's core business is providing pipeline and facilities construction and maintenance services to major companies in the oil and gas industry in northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta. The Company's corporate office is in Fort St. John, British Columbia. The common shares of the Company are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") under the symbol "MCR". Information on the Company's principal operations can be found at www.macroindustries.ca. Forward-Looking Statement Cautions: This news release contains certain forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, "forward-looking statements"), as such terms are defined under applicable securities law, regarding the Company's business and operations. Forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future, not past, events. In this context, forward-looking statements often address expected future business and financial performance and often contain words such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "expect", and "intend", or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are beyond the Company's control, that could cause actual results, performance, prospects and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements (including execution risk, market risk, industry risk, market sentiment, the impact of general economic conditions and competition from other industry participants, as well as stock market volatility). Readers are referred to the Company's public disclosure record, including the Company's management information circular dated February 28, 2022 which is available on SEDAR (www.sedar.com). While such forward-looking statements are expressed by the Company, as stated in this release, in good faith and believed by the Company to have a reasonable basis, they are subject to important risks and uncertainties including, without limitation, risks relating to stock exchange, court, regulatory and other approvals required in connection with the Proposed Transaction, risks relating to the satisfaction or waiver of the conditions precedent to the Proposed Transaction (if at all) and adverse changes in applicable laws or regulations, which in each case could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by the forward-looking statements. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the proposed transaction could be modified, restructured or not be completed, and the results or events predicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, given that they involve risks and uncertainties. The Company is not affirming or adopting any statements made by any other person in respect of the proposed transaction and expressly disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except in accordance with applicable securities or to comment on expectations of, or statements made by any other person in respect of the proposed transaction. Investors should not assume that any lack of update to a previously issued forward-looking statement constitutes a reaffirmation of that statement. Reliance on forward-looking statements is at investors' own risk. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed timeframes or at all. In addition, this news release contains future-oriented financial information and financial outlook, as such terms are defined under applicable securities laws. The future-oriented financial information and financial outlook contained herein are made solely based on information available to the Company as of the date hereof and are subject to the same assumptions, risk factors and other qualifications as all other forward-looking statements, and are presented solely for the purpose of conveying the current anticipated expectations of the Company and may not be appropriate for any other purposes. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and, except as required by applicable laws and the policies of the TSXV, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative. There can be no assurance that Company will be able to achieve all or any of its proposed objectives. For further information please contact: Frank Miles President and C.E.O. Phone: (250) 785-0033 Bob Fedderly Special Committee Phone: (250) 787-0398 Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/119028 Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - April 1, 2022) - Altan Rio Minerals Limited (TSXV: AMO) ("Altan Rio" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has closed a first tranche (the "First Tranche") of its previously announced non-brokered private placement of units (the "Private Placement"). The First Tranche raised gross proceeds of approximately C$927,226 through the sale of 7,726,885 units (each a "Unit") at a price of C$0.12 per Unit. Each Unit consisted of one common share of the Company (each a "Common Share") and one Common Share purchase warrant (each a "Warrant"), with each Warrant entitling the holder thereof to acquire one Common Share at a price of C$0.18 per share until April 1, 2025. The Company is entitled, in its sole discretion, to accelerate the expiry date of the Warrants upon the occurrence of the Common Shares trading at a VWAP of at least C$0.25 on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") on ten (10) consecutive trading days. The Company intends to use the proceeds from the Private Placement to advance its interest in and the drilling program at the Southern Cross North Property, evaluation and exploration of "E" tenement (E77/2691) pursuant to its recently executed option agreement to purchase a 90% interest in "E" tenement and potentially increase the Company's landholding to ~140km2 in the Frasers Corinthian Shear Zone (see the Company's press release dated September 13, 2021), for cash payments to be made under the "E" tenement option agreement, payment of certain outstanding invoices for professional services and for general working capital and administrative expenses. Subject to approval of the TSXV, the Company will pay certain persons (the "Finders") finder's fees in connection with the Private Placement, consisting of, in the aggregate: (i) cash payments of C$25,391.20, being an amount equal to 8% of the gross proceeds raised from subscribers introduced to the Company by the Finders; (ii) 264,492 broker warrants, with substantively the same terms as the Warrants, being an amount equal to 10% of the Units sold to subscribers introduced to the Company by the Finders; and (iii) a cash payment of C$8,856.00 to a Finder, being an amount equal to 6% of the gross proceeds raised from a subscriber introduced to the Company by such Finder. The securities underlying the Units sold in the Private Placement are subject to a statutory resale hold period under applicable Canadian securities laws which expires on August 2, 2022. About Altan Rio Altan Rio is a West Australian-focused gold exploration company primarily focused on the Southern Cross Greenstone Belt, a prolific gold producing region. The Company is focused on applying world-class exploration technologies and experience to proven mineralised tenure to generate shareholder wealth through discovery and production. Altan Rio holds 15 granted Prospecting Licenses covering an area of 23.7 square kilometres, representing a large position in one of Western Australia's premier producing gold belts. Project tenure is centrally located within the greenstone belt and occurs adjacent to numerous high-grade past producers including Frasers, Golden Pig and Copperhead. To learn more about the Company, visit our website at https://www.altanrio.com/. On behalf of Altan Rio For more information contact: Paul Stephen Chief Executive Officer Email: ps@altanrio.com +61 9322 1788 David Tasker Chapter One Advisors Email: dtasker@chapteroneadvisors.com.au +61 433 112 936 Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Information This release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of Altan Rio to be materially different from any future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs but given the uncertainties, assumptions and risks, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements or information. Actual results may differ materially from those currently anticipated in such statements, and Altan Rio undertakes no obligation to update such statements, except as required by law. Neither the TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/119029 "Let us sow the seeds of conscience in education, saving the world with conscience education." ~ Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze, president of FOWPAL LOS ANGELES, April 02, 2022from 3:00-5:00 pm GMT on that day, with a focus on conscience education , integrating the balance between the development of technology and spirituality to build character in younger generations and help the world move toward a better and more stable future. FOWPALfirmly believes that conscience is the key to resolving all problems. It launched the movement of An Era of Conscience in 2014, and beginning in 2018, it collaborated with the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of Bahrain, Kiribati, Equatorial Guinea, and other countries on a draft resolution titled "Promoting the Culture of Peace with Love and Conscience." On July 25, 2019, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the draft resolution submitted by the Kingdom of Bahrain, declaring April 5 as the International Day of Conscience. Thereafter, FOWPAL has been engaged in activities each month to honor various UN-designated days, with an emphasis on conscience, uniting global citizens to act with conscience, transforming their communities, countries, and the world. To date, it has held more than 60 such events, where leaders from all walks of life from around the world have shared their insights on fostering sustainable development through conscience, urging the world to work together to promote a culture of peace with love and conscience. The promotion of International Day of Conscience is gaining momentum around the world. Last month, a webinar on the International Day of Education organized by FOWPAL was broadcast on MNN titled "Transforming Education with Love and Conscience," highlighting, "The core value of education lies in inspiring people's conscience and self-awareness, thereby shaping individuals and the landscape of future society. The most important education for everyone from birth to death is conscience education." Through the power of education for all, the promotion of the movement of An Era of Conscience is expected to inspire global citizens' conscience and good deeds to create a future of love and peace together. To commemorate the third International Day of Conscience, FOWPAL not only will host online events on April 5, but also has organized a series of activities with various organizations around the world since April 1, aiming to gather conscience advice from all walks of life and inject positive energy for the sustainable development of the Earth. The International Day of Conscience is a day for all of humanity, and everyone's conscience and good deeds, great or small, are powerful forces in changing the world. FOWPAL invites everyone to send their conscience words and actionsor post them on its social media pages, such as Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram . FOWPAL also invites schools of all levels worldwide to observe this day during the week of April 5, and the citizens of the world are welcome to use them to foster positive values. They are also encouraged to send FOWPAL recordings (videos, articles, photos, etc.) of their practice and promotion of conscience-driven education. As a result, thoughts and actions of conscience will spread throughout the world, positively impacting everyone. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has shocked the entire world. The global community shares a common destiny, and the war's brutality and casualties have deepened global citizens' aspirations for peace. With a song titled " A Prayer for Peace " and another prayerfor the world, FOWPAL hopes that the deceased will rest in peace and the survivors will be comforted. It prays for an end to the war and people's suffering so that people can return to their safe and stable lives as soon as possible and work together to bring about world peace. The pandemic is still raging around the world, so people must exercise caution. FOWPAL has been sharing a one-minute video, featuring useful tips for epidemic prevention titled " 3 Don'ts, 5 Do's and 6 tips ," encouraging everyone to share it widely through their platforms to benefit the people of the world. FOWPAL's President Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze emphasizes, "With conscience, comes a peaceful world; with happiness, comes a joyful family." FOWPAL hopes that everyone's conscience will be awakened and that everyone will work together for a peaceful and sustainable future! About the Federation of World Peace and Love: Established in 2000 in the United States by Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze, FOWPAL is an international love and peace organization, with members from around the world. Guided by the principle of "Changing the world for the better starting with one good thought," it aims to promote world peace and love through various activities such as world summits of love and peace, ceremonies of ringing the "Bell of World Peace and Love ," and cultural exchange performances . To date, 399 prominent figures from 122 countries have rung the Bell, made their wishes for love and peace, and pledged to work for the world's sustainable future. Among them are 43 heads of state and government, seven Nobel Peace Prize laureates, UN ambassadors, and other visionary leaders. Media Contact: Lily Chen Representative info@fowpal.org 626-202-5268 www.fowpal.org A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/39aef07a-a15a-4451-9fca-f99e21017c2d The photo is also available at Newscom, www.newscom.com, and via AP PhotoExpress. Peru's participation in Expo 2020 Dubai culminated with a major achievement at Expo 2020 Dubai: the Peru Pavilionwas awarded Gold for Self-Built Pavilion in Category B (between 1,750 and 2,500 M2). This top prize rewarded the "Timeless Peru" concept, an exciting synthesis of Peru's historical, multicultural and mega-diverse richness, reported the Commission for the Promotion of Exports and Tourism, PROMPERU. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220401005526/en/ BIE Day Ceremony of Prizes and Awards at Expo 2020 Dubai: Peru wins the Gold Award of Self-built pavilions Category B (between 1,750m2 and 2,500m2). The Peru Pavilion welcomed over 1.7 million visitors presenting the concept "Timeless Peru", an exciting synthesis of Peru's historical, multicultural and mega-diverse richness. (Photo: PROMPERU) The BIE Day Awards Ceremony, held in the Jubilee Park of the Dubai Expo, was organized by the International Exhibitions Bureau. A total of 51 Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards were handed out and Peru was the only South American country in the event awarded with Gold. "The selection of the winners of the Official Participants Awards fell to an international jury of nine international and Emirati experts, who made two visits to each of the national pavilions, in January and March 2022. These awards celebrate those who have made significant contributions to the success of the Universal Exhibition," said Antoine Bourdeix, director of communications at the BIE. The 2500 meters of built area of ??the Peruvian pavilion were visited by influencers, Emirati television, and international reporters, who were pleasantly surprised by the compendium of Peruvian culture and biodiversity. The reports from CNN, Khaleej Times and Gulf News highlighted the valuable concept of the Peru pavilion and the cultural and musical expressions of the country embodied by the Ayacucho guitar and the scissors dance. Abu Dhabi's The National newspaper included Peru in its article "Expo Dubai: five fantastic pavilions that you should not overlook" and the Emirates Woman magazine mentioned Peru in the list of the most beautiful pavilions of the exhibition. These recognitions were recently endorsed by winning EXHIBITOR Magazine's World Expo Awards in the category People's Choice Voting, where the Peru Pavilion was elected over 550,000 visits from readers and Expo enthusiasts who cast their votes. Likewise, Peru led the positive comments among Latin American countries in the official mobile application of Expo Dubai used by the visitors to rate their experiences in the national pavilions. The participation of Peru was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism (MINCETUR) through PROMPERU, and had the commitment of talented Peruvians, as well as the support of DP World, Pisco 1615, Flo Trading, Modenart Peru, Terracota Lab and Adolf Finseth. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220401005526/en/ Contacts: Jose Carlos Collazos jcollazos@promperu.gob.pe Kiel, Germany--(Newsfile Corp. - April 2, 2022) - Fast-growing blockchain protocol Ariva was highlighted as one of the key drivers of blockchain technology in the tourism sector at the Blockchain For Travel Summit held in Dubai on March 26, 2022. Ariva Set for Major Adoption To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8675/118495_img_9215.jpg A gathering of key stakeholders in the tourism sector for blockchain 'The Global Tourism Forum Blockchain for Travel Summit' was organized by Ariva Digital and World Tourism Forum Institute and was supported by Dubai Tourism, which attracted key stakeholders in the tourism sector and top profile speakers. The core focus of the event was to discuss how blockchain could reshape the tourism sector. Former France President, Francois Hollande, noted that blockchain technology provided an ideal ecosystem to take tourism to the next level. He added that blockchain and cryptocurrency would help governments and private sectors retain important data and shape investment plans in the tourism sector. "More accurate data created by blockchain and crypto currency payment technologies will help governments and private sectors to shape their investment plans and services on tourism effectively. I think this system will evolve worldwide," Holland added. Holland further noted that, 'It's all governments and head of states' responsibilities to make travel easier to access for everyone. They need to develop all the conditions to facilitate not only subjects such as health, transportation and security, but also new technologies like blockchain and crypto currencies. Because these technologies can give some elements that allow lower fees to further support travel.' This sentiment was further echoed by top international development banker, Kaiser Naseem, who noted that blockchain has the potential to improve existing financial products and services. Europe has taken the lead in terms of blockchain regulations, which makes it ideal for blockchain adoption. Ismail Ertug, a member of the European Parliament, believes that a synergistic relationship would benefit all parties. 'My wish is to set the golden standard for regulations on these new technologies, which should be coming and driven by EU,' he added. Jose Ramon Bauza, a member of the European Parliament, also revealed his hope that blockchain can transform different sectors in the EU. Blockchain is an opportunity. The leader of the EU should be advised on these developments. Blockchain can help in every single chain of tourism industry. Haitham Mattar a major stakeholder and managing director in MEA & South West Asia IHG Hotels & Resorts, also added his thoughts on the state of the tourism industry. There is no hotel operator today that is really meeting the speed of expectations of any owner. Hotel owners, like any business, want to operate from a dashboard of quick information. We're now using artificial intelligence, not only to appease the owners, but to also improve our reservations. It allows guests to make bookings and have confirmations faster - and hopefully gives the owners what they want - easy access to information. Mattar further added: I dream about hotels without receptionists. The AI helps self-check-in and save guest's time. In today's world even 5 minutes waiting in a line is very long time. Technology helps improve these experiences. Dr. Michael Gebert, Chairman, European Blockchain Association, also noted the importance of blockchain technology. 'We need to understand blockchain in order to use it." Ariva cited as a major blockchain solution in the tourism sector Ariva received praise from keynote speaker Taleb Rifai, who previously served as the United Nations World Tourism Organization Secretary General. Rifai noted that the blockchain protocol was a perfect example of how crypto payments could work in the tourism industry. 'I am sure that crypto will be the new payment model in the tourism industry in the near future, and ARIVA is leading this movement,' he added. The event was live broadcast on the Ariva digital platform and attracted the attention of the crypto community. Ariva has emerged as one of the fastest-growing blockchain platforms focusing on the tourism industry. The innovative blockchain protocol has developed an ecosystem divided into key areas - Ariva.World (B2C online crypto travel booking portal) and Ariva.Finance (Crypto payment gateway) and Ariva Wonderland (The World' first Travel Metaverse). In recent days, it has also achieved significant milestones with the release of Ariva.World where travellers can book travel services with Ariva Coin and stablecoins. Furthermore, Ariva.Finance payment gateway has also been launched, and users can make reservations on Ariva.World directly from the gateway. Ariva has also developed a mobile application that can be downloaded on the Apple store and Google Play Store. These latest development from Ariva shows the growing popularity of the blockchain protocol. Contact Details: Contact Person: Ana-Claudia Tapardel Address: Kiel, Germany Company: Ariva Co. Email: support@ariva.digital To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/118495 BLOOMING THE INTERNATIONAL CHARM OF THE BRAND, FENJIU IS EMERGING AS THE TOP WINE BRAND OF CHINA Beijing, China--(Newsfile Corp. - April 2, 2022) - Fenjiu, a leading wine making company of China has proudly announced that on March 20, 2022, it entered the Royal Thai Embassy in Beijing to showcase its magical wine and food. This took place in the second episode issue of the high-end life and food program "Ambassador's Gourmet Parlour" exclusively presented by the famous Chinese wine Qinghua Fenjiu came to the Royal Thai Embassy. The Honorable Ambassador, His Excellency Arthayudh Srisamot welcomed the guests to the Embassy, alongside the Director of Thailand Tourism Administration Pan Kenan. Ambassador's Gourmet Parlour Thai chapter To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8457/119048_bf2c195984d6cbfc_001full.jpg "We are delighted to host Ambassador's Gourmet Parlour to the Thai Embassy, and we had a great time with some of the most delicious stimulations to our taste buds," said The Honorable Ambassor, His Excellency Arthayudh Srisamot of Thailand, while welcoming the team at the Embassy. Fenjiu enters the Royal Thai Embassy in Beijing as a guest To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8457/119048_bf2c195984d6cbfc_002full.jpg Qinghua Fenjiu, a famous Chinese wine known for its delicate fragrance, has always aimed to become a carrier of exchanges between Chinese civilization and other civilizations in the world in the new era, and is committed to dialogue with the world in more diverse ways. According to the officials, the Ambassador's Gourmet Parlour program coincides with the event of the Royal Thai Embassy. Ma Xiaodong, deputy general manager of Fenjiu International Trade Co., Ltd., took a photo with Arthayudh Srisamoot, Ambassador of the Royal Thai Embassy to China To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8457/119048_bf2c195984d6cbfc_003full.jpg In addition, the famous Chinese liquor Qinghua Fenjiu has once again entered the field of international consumption, telling domestic and foreign consumers a new story of Chinese liquor, allowing more consumption to visitors, who can appreciate the unique charm of "International Fen" and taste the unique connotation of Chinese wine spirit. National Tourism Administration of Thailand Exhibition Area Meigong Market To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8457/119048_bf2c195984d6cbfc_004full.jpg Themed around Thai railway, the Thai-style event hosted by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Thailand, there were fresh fruit stalls on both sides that attracted everyone to stop and watch. It was themed to look like a railway, and the only "market on the rails" in the world. Thailand Maeklong Railway Fair The re-engraving of the city landscape. This event has simply restored this magical landscape of Thailand as the vendors on both sides of the railway sold all kinds of fresh fruits and food. The event simply brought the rich and diverse Thai culture to China and according to Pan Kenan, director of the Beijing Office of the National Tourism Administration of Thailand, the purpose of this Thai-style event is to let friends who cannot go to Thailand during the epidemic experience the authentic Thai culture here. Ms. Pan Kenan, director of the Beijing Office of the National Tourism Administration of Thailand, and the chief editor of Sohu Food, discharge the water lamp To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8457/119048_bf2c195984d6cbfc_005full.jpg Every November, Thailand holds the Loy Krathong Festival, where people put their own hand-made water lanterns into the river to express their best wishes. At the scene of this windy episode, the editor-in-chief of Sohu Food and Director Pan put the water lanterns carrying beautiful blessings into the pool, allowing the audience to experience a "water lantern" in an immersive manner. Coconut cake, produced by Thailand National Tourism Administration To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8457/119048_bf2c195984d6cbfc_006full.jpg Furthermore, the event was crowded, and the special snacks such as coconut-flavored cakes attracted most of the tourists. The event also included special snacks, Thai special dance performances, and Muay Thai performances. Anna, chef of the Royal Thai Embassy in China, made Thai fried rice noodles To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8457/119048_bf2c195984d6cbfc_007full.jpg "My favorite Thai food is pad Thai rice noodles because it doesn't need a lot of water, and the ingredients in it are very rich, including rice noodles, seafood and various seasonings, and the taste is very rich." The ambassador said. The Ambassador also talked about Thailand's table manners and how the children and adults are served food. Ms. Pan Kenan, director of the Beijing Office of the National Tourism Administration of Thailand, tasted Fenjiu liqueur chocolate To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit: https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8457/119048_bf2c195984d6cbfc_008full.jpg "I want to bring this wine chocolate back to Thailand to share with my friends," said Director Pan, whose heart was instantly captured by this wine chocolate made from Fenjiu. Fenjiu, as the representative of light-flavor liquor, is very close to the internationally popular whiskey and vodka in taste and is very suitable for the liquor-flavor of cocktails. At the same time, the pineapple, apple, pear and other aromas in the compound aroma of Fenjiu make it more acceptable to consumers in terms of taste than other aroma-type wines. Nowadays, in China, Fenjiu often uses limes from Thailand to make cocktails, and gradually formed a unique cocktail culture, which is widely sought after at home and abroad. To watch this entire program, please click the link below: https://youtu.be/cGz-hRcZefs For more information, please visit the website at: www.fenjiu.com.cn Contact: Zheng Xingsheng Tel: +86351 270 9799 Website: https://www.fenjiu.com.cn/ Publisher: TCB To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/119048 Swapin, a Tallinn, Estonia-based EU-regulated crypto payment provider known for crypto-to-fiat solutions, closed a private investment round, raising 1.68M. The backers were not disclosed. The funds, combined with the support of experienced advisers, will allow the company to increase its market share. Led by Evald Hannes-Kree, CEO, Swapin is an EU-licensed, regulated crypto-to-fiat payment processing company. The company allows the conversion of crypto funds into fiat by direct deposit to a selected IBAN account, avoiding accounting and legal compliance struggles. Swapin has launched two innovative crypto-to-fiat solutions designed directly for businesses. CoinCollector, which allows businesses with clients interested in paying with crypto to accept payments without dealing with crypto-related compliance or accounting. Via a shareable payment link, clients can pay via crypto, and an equal sum in fiat will hit the merchants bank account; E-com, a widget that merchants can integrate into any website to dynamically accept crypto that is instantly converted to fiat. FinSMEs 02/04/2022 Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Seattle Cancer Care Alliance have merged, creating an organization that aims to bring scientific advances to patients faster, and deepens longstanding ties with UW Medicine. Under the restructuring formally launched on April 1, Fred Hutch and SCCA are united as a single, independent, not-for-profit organization now called Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. The unified organization will be a clinically integrated part of UW Medicine and UW Medicines cancer program. Todays milestone is a tremendous step toward our vision of decreasing the time between discovery and delivery of the most advanced treatments for our patients, said Fred Hutch President and Director and Raisbeck Endowed Chair holder Dr. Thomas J. Lynch, Jr., who held the same titles at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center before the merger. Although the organization has a new name, Lynch stressed that Fred Hutchs dedication to research excellence remains unchanged. He said those scientific endeavors will only be enhanced by a streamlined organizational structure and tighter integration with clinical care. The organizations commitment to scientific research in vaccines and infectious diseases, basic and human biology, computational science and public health is the same as before the merger, as is its commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, and to reducing health disparities. Lynch, UW Medicine CEO Dr. Paul Ramsey and other key leaders celebrated the formation of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center this morning at an opening day ceremony on the Fred Hutch campus. We are creating a cancer center that is committed to compassionate, connected patient care that puts the patient and family at front and center, Lynch said. We are committed to discovery and science, because the very best care is rooted in science. Noting that more than 600,000 Americans die of cancer each year, he said the way to come up with better treatments is when you connect an extraordinary clinical facility with the best science anywhere. SCCA was formed 20 years ago by Fred Hutch, UW Medicine and Seattle Childrens to provide cancer clinical care services for the three institutions. With todays launch of Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle Childrens will focus on pediatric cancer care, and Fred Hutch and UW Medicine will more tightly coordinate adult cancer care. The SCCA name will be retired later this year, and a new Fred Hutch brand will be introduced to signify the completion of the integration. Although the pediatric clinical care program, including bone marrow transplants, will move to newly completed facilities at Seattle Childrens, Lynch said the research collaborations between the Hutch and Seattle Childrens will continue unchanged. Under a new management services agreement, Fred Hutch will also provide managerial oversight for those services at UW Medical Center that exclusively provide cancer care, such as oncology infusion and radiation oncology. Although Fred Hutch and UW Medicine will continue to operate independent medical centers, cancer care will be clinically integrated an arrangement that allows two medical organizations to coordinate care seamlessly across different settings. Our vision is to make life beyond cancer a reality for our patients. This is really an evolution of our legacy of innovation, focus on clinical outcomes and excellence in care for our patients, said Ramsey, in remarks at the morning celebration. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, together with UW Medicine, will accelerate the development, evaluation, and use of cancer treatments and discoveries in adult patients with cancer, he said. Ramsey explained that this new deeply integrated relationship will help the two organizations align their clinical care teams, leadership teams and business planning. He predicted important, tangible changes for patients, including improved cancer screening, surveillance, early diagnosis, and a focus on treatment, survivorship and broader availability of cancer services. The patient is at the center of what we are doing, he said. Ramsey also stressed the importance of ensuring that the benefits of cancer research be accessible to all. We will be applying a health equity lens to all that we do, to provide the best cancer care services in diagnosis, treatment and prevention of cancer for all patients, he said. A key goal of this clinical integration will be to reduce the duplicative efforts currently required to set up clinical trials, the avenue through which patients have the best opportunity to access advanced, experimental cancer research. Hutch leaders said the streamlining will improve access to these trials for patients, bringing clinical research and care closer together. Dr. Terry McDonnell, chief nursing officer for Fred Hutch, said that being integrated as a single team will provide even more hope for the people we serve. US biggest spoiler of Ukraine situation, European security (Global Times) 08:43, April 02, 2022 Milking the crisis Illustration: Liu Rui/GT After the latest round of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Turkey on Tuesday, both sides said the negotiations released positive signals. Ukraine proposed adopting neutral status in exchange for security guarantees from the international community. Russia said the country would sharply cut military activity around Kiev and Chernihiv. But such positive signals were clearly not what the US wants. On Wednesday during White House press briefing by Communications Director Kate Bedingfield, when she was asked "Is the US willing to become a guarantor of Ukraine's security or considering that option?" Bedingfield said, "We are in constant discussion with Ukrainians about ways that we can help ensure that they are sovereign and secure. But there's nothing specific about a security guarantee that I can speak to at this time." Some Chinese netizens mocked that Bedingfield's remarks was like "We won't give any security guarantee without you falling." It reflects that the US doesn't want to see Ukraine and Russia get along peacefully. Li Haidong, a professor from the Institute of International Relations at China Foreign Affairs University, believes the US takes Ukraine as a tool to make Russia bleed, so Washington will sustain its support to Kiev. "If Ukraine and Russia reconcile, the US won't be able to make Russia bleed to the last drop of blood," Li told the Global Times. In addition to refraining from a security guarantee, which will lead to de-escalation of the situation, the US also urged caution on the Russian pledge that it will reduce military operations. Reports said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky informed US President Joe Biden on the progress of the peace talks on Wednesday in a phone call, during which Biden told Zelensky that the US will send an additional $500 million in aid to Ukraine. It was also reported that Zelensky published a video address after the call, saying that Russia scaled back military operations around Kiev because Ukrainian troops' defense has forced Russia to do so. The conflict has bonded Ukraine tighter to the US, and Kiev will act more in accordance to Washington in the future. Zelensky's video address was already a clue. If we see it from another angle, it was like: The US said, "Ukraine, you need to continue the stalemate with Russia so that I can help you out," and Ukraine answered, "OK, I'll do something." Li said another reason the US doesn't want to settle the Russia-Ukraine crisis soon is it wants to use the crisis to effectively control Europe and marginalize Russia while consuming more of its strength. Given the recent events led by the US, Washington has at least realized part of its goals. For example, the US and the EU signed historic deal on gas - superficially, the deal aims to help Europe reduce dependence on Russia, but essentially it will make Europe more dependent on the US. On March 24, NATO reaffirmed it "will continue to provide further political and practical support to Ukraine" and "allies are substantially increasing their defense expenditures." By enhancing the role of NATO, the US ties Europe more firmly to its chariot; and through its dominant position, the US has forced Europe to take its side by escalating crisis and even war. The ultimate goal is to constantly put Europe under its control. While pouring cold water on the Russia-Ukraine peace talks, the US is stepping up its efforts to stir the conflicts. This is in line with US strategic needs. If Ukraine's appeal for a security guarantee is met, a new model of international security guarantee will be opened up, which will mean weakening the role of the US and NATO. The US clearly doesn't want to see this result. It can be said that the US is the biggest spoiler of the security in the entire Europe. The US is the most reluctant to see a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine. (Web editor: Zhong Wenxing, Liang Jun) Welcome to my genealogy blog. Genea-Musings features genealogy research tips and techniques, genealogy news items and commentary, genealogy humor, San Diego genealogy society news, family history research and some family history stories from the keyboard of Randy Seaver (of Chula Vista CA), who thinks that Genealogy Research Is really FUN! Copyright (c) Randall J. Seaver, 2006-2021. Sydney, March 18, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just released, this edition of BuddeComm report outlines the latest developments and key trends in the telecoms markets. - https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Rwanda-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses/?utm_source=GNW The fund is derived from a 2% levy on revenues. During fiscal 2020-21, the UAF contributions were RWF5.301 billion, while expenditure was RWF3.828 billion. About 91% of expenditure was assigned to building telecom towers to increase network coverage in underserved areas. Some 68 mobile sites were built in the year under the UAF, which contributed RWF2.698 billion to the initiative. In addition, the UAF subsidised the cost of broadband services at 193 sites (including public and private institutions). The UAF gives about RWF100 million annually to the Broadband Systems Corporation (BSC), which provides broadband services in subsidised areas. Read the full report: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Rwanda-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses/?utm_source=GNW Sydney, March 18, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Just released, this edition of BuddeComm report outlines the latest developments and key trends in the telecoms markets. - https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Eswatini-Swaziland-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses/?utm_source=GNW The vast majority of mobile calls made are on-net, which encourages MNOs to offer competitive pricing and discounts on their own networks. With off-net calls, costs are partly determined by the MTR, and so calls are more expensive. On-net promotions are the main driver for multiple SIM card use. Handsets sold in the country commonly allow for dual SIM cards, making its easier for subscribers to switch between networks for each call when required. Recognising that there was no effective competition in the voice call termination market, the regulator determined that the three operators had to adopt various obligations of the 2013 Electronic Communications Act and the 2016 Electronic Communications (Interconnection) Regulations. These collectively will see a reduction in termination rates in stages through to March 2023. In common with most markets globally, subscribers in Eswatini have responded to the particular circumstances of the pandemic by making greater use of mobile voice and data services. The volume of domestic voice calls increased 26% in the year to March 2021, reaching 3.4 billion minutes, and a similar increase is expected to have been maintained for the rest of the year. The country has long had some of the highest charges for mobile data services in Africa, and the lack of affordability held back consumer take-up of services. To help address this, MTN Eswatini in late 2020 reduced the cost of postpaid monthly data bundles by 70% and of prepaid packages by 32%. This greatly supported the development of the sector to coincide with a pandemic-related increase in traffic. Key developments: MTN Eswatini consolidates dominance in the mobile market, expands LTE service reach, reduces the cost of monthly data bundles; Regulator imposes sliding scale reduction in call termination rates through to 2023; Paratus completes 750km terrestrial cable linking Maputo through Eswatini to Johannesburg; Mbabane Internet Exchange Point (MB-IX) is opened to route local traffic; Report update includes operator data to Q3 2021, updated Telecom Maturity Index charts and analyses, assessment of the global impact of the pandemic on the telecoms sector, regulators market report to March 2021; recent market developments. Companies mentioned in this report: Eswatini Posts & Telecommunications Corporation (EPTC), MTN Eswatini, Africa Online, Posix, Real Image, Viettel, Eswatini Mobile Read the full report: https://www.budde.com.au/Research/Eswatini-Swaziland-Telecoms-Mobile-and-Broadband-Statistics-and-Analyses/?utm_source=GNW RENO, Nev., March 25, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ormat Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: ORA), a leading geothermal, energy storage, solar PV and recovered energy power company, today announced that the Company will host its investor day event on March 30, 2022. The event will begin at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, in New York City. The event will include presentations from members of the executive leadership team. Ormat executives will present the Companys long-term strategy, multi-year growth framework, and financial objectives. The prepared remarks will be followed by a question-and-answer session at the end of the presentation. A live webcast, along with the accompanying slides, will be available on the day of the event. The link can be found in the News & Events section of the Ormat Investor Relations website. A webcast replay will also be available on the website following the event. ABOUT ORMAT TECHNOLOGIES With over five decades of experience, Ormat Technologies, Inc. is a leading geothermal company and the only vertically integrated company engaged in geothermal and recovered energy generation (REG), with robust plans to accelerate long-term growth in the energy storage market and to establish a leading position in the U.S. energy storage market. The Company owns, operates, designs, manufactures and sells geothermal and REG power plants primarily based on the Ormat Energy Converter a power generation unit that converts low-, medium- and high-temperature heat into electricity. The Company has engineered, manufactured and constructed power plants, which it currently owns or has installed for utilities and developers worldwide, totaling approximately 3,200 MW of gross capacity. Ormat leveraged its core capabilities in the geothermal and REG industries and its global presence to expand the Companys activity into energy storage services, solar Photovoltaic (PV) and energy storage plus Solar PV. Ormats current total generating portfolio is 1.1 GW with 1,012 MW of geothermal and Solar generation portfolio that is spread globally in the U.S., Kenya, Guatemala, Indonesia, Honduras, and Guadeloupe, and 83 MW energy storage portfolio that is located in the U.S. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 30, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The global wind power coatings market is estimated to expand 11.3% CAGR over the forecast period between 2021 and 2031, finds Future Market Insights (FMI) in a recent market analysis. Increasing focus on alternate sources of energy has led to surge in wind turbine installation worldwide. This has in turn created conducive environment for sales of wind power coatings. Wind Power Coatings Market Size (2020) US$ 1.09 Bn Wind Power Coatings Market Estimated Year Value (2021) US$ 1.2 Bn Wind Power Coatings Market Projected Market Value (2031) US$ 3.5 Bn Value CAGR (2021-2031) 11.3 % Collective Value Share: Top 3 Countries (2021) 50%-55% The installation of wind turbines has risen in tandem with the demand for cleaner energy sources. Application of wind power coatings is the essential step within wind turbine manufacturing. Besides protecting such a large and costly structure, wind power coatings also ascertain longer life span of wind turbines protecting them from corrosion, erosion, and wear and tear. To Remain Ahead of Your Competitors, Request for A Sample @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/sample/rep-gb-14236 However, application of wind power coatings require skilled labor and advance equipment. Unavailability of the same could hamper growth of the market. Key Takeaways: Global wind power coatings market value is expected to surpass US$ 3.5 Bn by the end of the forecast period. The onshore coatings segment is expected to register maximum sales. East Asia is expected to be the dominant region in terms of production and consumption of wind power coatings. Demand from Japan and China will support sales of wind power coatings in East Asia. Demand in the U.S. will grow by 9.8% year-on-year in 2021 backed by surging focus on expanding the renewable energy infrastructure. The U.K. and Germany will emerge as highly lucrative market for sales of wind power coatings within Europe. For critical insights on this market, request to ask an expert here @ https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ask-question/rep-gb-14236 In order to gain competitive edge, the market players are eyeing at strategic collaboration. Besides this, they are expanding their portfolio to include coatings with advanced features. This is expected to aid the expansion of the market in the coming years, says an FMI analyst. Competitive Landscape Key manufacturers of wind power coatings Includes Hempel A/S, PPG Industries, Inc., Covestro AG, Akzo Nobel N.V., BASF, The Sherwin-Williams Company, Jotun Group, Teknos Group Oy, 3M, Sika AG, Thomas Industrial Coatings, Mankiewicz Gebr. & Co. (GmbH & Co. KG), Bergolin GmbH & Co. KG, Duromar, Inc. and others. Wind Power Coatings Market by Category By Type Polymer Coatings Epoxy Polyurethane Acrylic Fluoropolymer Others Ceramic Coatings Metal Coatings By Coating Method Spray Roller Others By Application Offshore Offshore Blade Offshore Tower Offshore Interior Offshore Turbine Foundation Onshore Onshore Blade Onshore Tower Onshore Interior Onshore Turbine Foundation By Utilization OEM Maintenance By Region: North America Latin America Europe East Asia South Asia & Pacific Middle East & Africa For More Information or Query or Customization Before Buying, Visit: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/customization-available/rep-gb-14236 More Insights into the Wind Power Coatings Market Report In its latest report, FMI offers an unbiased analysis of the global wind power coatings market, providing historical data for the period of 2016-2020 and forecast statistics for the period of 2021-2031. In order to understand the global market potential, its growth, and scope, the market is segmented on the basis of type, coating method, application, utilization, and Region Explore wide-ranging Coverage of FMI's Chemicals & Materials Market Insights Landscape Paper Processing Resins Market The global sales of paper processing resins are anticipated to rise at a significant pace over the forecast period from 2022 to 2032. Weighing Agents Market The global weighing agents market is forecast to register significant growth during the forecast period from 2022 to 2032. Flexographic Ink Market Recent downturn of the Chemicals and Materials industry is likely to hinder the growth of the Flexographic Ink market during the forecast period. Bio-Plasticizers Market The higher cost of bio-plasticizers as compared to phthalate-based plasticizers is a challenging factor that is expected to hamper the growth of the global Bio-Plasticizers market during the forecast period. Transformer Oil Market Global Transformer Oil Market demand is anticipated to be valued at US$ 2.02 Billion in 2022, forecast to grow at a CAGR of 7% to be valued at US$ 4 Billion from 2022 to 2032. Ballistic Protection Materials Market Global Ballistic Protection Materials demand is anticipated to be valued at US$ 11.80 Billion in 2022, forecast to grow at approximately CAGR of 6% to be valued at US$ 21 Billion from 2022 to 2032. Wind Turbine Composite Materials Market The global wind turbine composite materials market is expected to be valued at USD 12 Billion in 2022 and secure USD 25.4 Billion by 2032. The projected market growth is 7.14% during the forecast period from 2022 to 2032 Acetonitrile Market Global Acetonitrile Market demand is anticipated to be valued at US$ 277 Million in 2022, forecast to grow at a CAGR of 5.5% to be valued at US$ 473 Million from 2022 to 2032. Acrylamide Market During the forecast period, the acrylamide market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 4%. Polypropylene Random Copolymers Market - The global polypropylene random copolymers market was worth US$ 8.3 Billion in revenue in 2021, and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 5.8% between 2022 and 2032. As of 2022, the market is expected to be valued at US$ 8.8 Billion, projected to reach US$ 15.46 Billion. About Future Market Insights (FMI) Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading provider of market intelligence and consulting services, serving clients in over 150 countries. FMI is headquartered in Dubai, and has delivery centres in the UK, U.S. and India. FMI's latest market research reports and industry analysis help businesses navigate challenges and make critical decisions with confidence and clarity amidst breakneck competition. Our customized and syndicated market research reports deliver actionable insights that drive sustainable growth. A team of expert-led analysts at FMI continuously tracks emerging trends and events in a broad range of industries to ensure that our clients prepare for the evolving needs of their consumers. Contact: Future Market Insights, 1602-6 Jumeirah Bay X2 Tower, Plot No: JLT-PH2-X2A, Jumeirah Lakes Towers, Dubai, United Arab Emirates For Sales Enquiries: sales@futuremarketinsights.com For Media Enquiries: press@futuremarketinsights.com Website: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/ Report: https://www.futuremarketinsights.com/reports/wind-power-coatings-market bioLytical Laboratories Inc. announced today that it is launching a second test on its new platform, iStatis, after receiving Health Canada authorization for the iStatis COVID-19 Antigen Home Test for its immediate market entry into Canada bioLytical has received Health Canada authorization to sell its iStatis COVID-19 Antigen Home Test across Canada for home use The test is portable and can be performed in the comfort and privacy of home with a simple platform and easy-to-understand results Test performance in clinical studies demonstrated industry-leading accuracy bioLytical's quality system is ISO 13485: MDSAP-certified RICHMOND, British Columbia, April 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- bioLytical Laboratories Inc. (bioLytical), a global leader in rapid in-vitro medical diagnostics, announced today that it is launching its iStatis COVID-19 Antigen Home Test after receiving Health Canada Interim Order authorization, allowing its immediate entry into the Canadian market. Building on its innovative INSTI testing platform, the iStatis COVID-19 Antigen Home Test is on bioLyticals newest platform, iStatis. With this additional lateral flow diagnostic technology, bioLytical can continue to reach more people, helping to provide peace of mind to Canadians looking to make informed health choices. We are excited to offer Canadians a COVID-19 test that they can take in the comfort and privacy of their own homes, said Rob Mackie, Chief Executive Officer of bioLytical. With this new test, we can help our home country get access to an accurate test when and where they need one. With the continuing scarcity of available home antigen tests, we saw an opportunity to support our country with a reliable home test from a local manufacturer they can trust. As the world learns to live with COVID-19, rapid testing is a vital tool to help identify infection and reduce exposure and transmission. Conducting regular testing provides an extra layer of defense. Home tests offer a convenient option to help Canadians make informed health decisions at home, at work, and in their communities. To keep Canadians safe and secure, reliable testing access is necessary. Throughout the pandemic, healthcare systems were overwhelmed across the country. Along with the lack of PCR testing and scarcity of rapid antigen tests, it was difficult for Canadians to find and take COVID-19 tests when they needed one. With its high accuracy, portability, and ease of use, the iStatis COVID-19 Antigen Home Test will provide Canadians with a trusted home option. bioLytical will manufacture the iStatis COVID-19 Antigen Tests in its ISO 13485: MDSAP-certified facility in Richmond, British Columbia, to sell and distribute across Canada. As a global leader in ultra-rapid infectious disease diagnostics, bioLytical is working to ensure our iStatis COVID-19 Antigen Home Test kits are available to Canadians so they can know their status faster. Media Contact Communications at bioLytical press@biolytical.com +1-778-238-9340 bioLytical Laboratories Inc. is a privately-owned Canadian company focused on the research, development, and commercialization of rapid in-vitro medical diagnostics using its proprietary INSTI technology platform and its lateral flow line, iStatis. bioLytical has won several local and industry awards, including B.C. Exporter of the Year in 2019. We have been named Lifesciences B.C.s Growth Stage Med Tech Company of the Year and are featured on B.C.s Fastest-Growing Companies for five years in a row, including the Globe and Mails Fastest Growing Companies list in 2020. bioLytical moved to a significantly larger, state-of-the-art facility in Richmond, B.C., in 2020 to accommodate the extraordinary growth achieved through our team. Providing accurate results in one minute or less, the INSTI range includes the INSTI HIV-1/HIV-2 Antibody Test, INSTI Multiplex HIV Syphilis Ab Test, INSTI HIV Self Test, INSTI Covid-19 Antibody Test, and the INSTI HCV Antibody Test. bioLytical sells its products in Europe, North America, South America, Africa, and Asia. In 2022, bioLytical launched iStatis, its new lateral flow testing platform to create additional access to testing worldwide. By delivering accurate results in real-time, INSTI and iStatis generate meaningful outcomes for medical professionals, patients, and public health organizations worldwide and is a key partner in tackling some of the worlds most severe healthcare challenges. Please visit www.istatis.com and www.insti.com and www.biolytical.com for more information. References https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/testing-screening-contact-tracing/workplace.html A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ab1ff29b-b95a-4eb2-b640-2c03ab35d28a This blog covers software patent news and issues with a particular focus on wireless, mobile devices (smartphones, tablet computers, connected cars) as well as select antitrust matters surrounding those devices. BRISBANE, Australia, April 01, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Allkem Limited (ASX|TSX: AKE, the Company) provides an update on expected June quarter pricing for lithium carbonate and spodumene products. Lithium carbonate Strong market conditions continue to positively impact the price received for lithium carbonate from the Olaroz Lithium Facility. The June quarter FY22 average price received for lithium carbonate is expected to be approximately US$35,000/t FOB1 on sales of approximately 3,500 tonnes. The preliminary March quarter FY22 sales price was approximately US$27,236/t FOB, 9% higher than the previous guidance. Spodumene Similarly strong conditions in the spodumene market are supporting advanced discussions for spodumene concentrate pricing in the June quarter of approximately US$5,000/t SC6% CIF on sales of approximately 50,000 tonnes. March quarter sales of spodumene concentrate were completed at a price of approximately US$2,218/t SC6% CIF DMT which includes tonnes that were delayed from the December quarter. March quarter report The March quarter sales prices for lithium carbonate and spodumene concentrate are preliminary and indicative. The final prices will be provided in the March Quarterly Report which will be released on 14 April, 2022. This release was authorised by Mr Martin Perez de Solay, CEO and Managing Director of Allkem Limited. Allkem Limited ABN 31 112 589 910 Level 35, 71 Eagle St Brisbane, QLD 4000 Investor Relations & Media Enquiries Andrew Barber +61 418 783 701 Andrew.Barber@allkem.co Connect info@allkem.co +61 7 3064 3600 www.allkem.co 1 FOB (Free On Board) excludes insurance and freight charges included in CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight) pricing. Therefore, the Companys reported prices are net of freight (shipping), insurance and sales commission. FOB prices are reported by the Company to provide clarity on the sales revenue that is recognised by SDJ, the joint venture company in Argentina IMPORTANT NOTICES This investor ASX/TSX release (Release) contains general information about the Company as at the date of this Release. The information in this Release should not be considered to be comprehensive or to comprise all of the material which a shareholder or potential investor in the Company may require in order to determine whether to deal in Shares of Allkem. The information in this Release is of a general nature only and does not purport to be complete. It should be read in conjunction with the Companys periodic and continuous disclosure announcements which are available at allkem.co and with the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) announcements, which are available at www.asx.com.au. Forward Looking Statements Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and beliefs and, by their nature, are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results, performances and achievements to differ materially from any expected future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, the risk of further changes in government regulations, policies or legislation; the risks associated with the continued implementation of the merger between the Company and Galaxy Resources Ltd, risks that further funding may be required, but unavailable, for the ongoing development of the Companys projects; fluctuations or decreases in commodity prices; uncertainty in the estimation, economic viability, recoverability and processing of mineral resources; risks associated with development of the Company Projects; unexpected capital or operating cost increases; uncertainty of meeting anticipated program milestones at the Companys Projects; risks associated with investment in publicly listed companies, such as the Company; and risks associated with general economic conditions. Subject to any continuing obligation under applicable law or relevant listing rules of the ASX, the Company disclaims any obligation or undertaking to disseminate any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements in this Release to reflect any change in expectations in relation to any forward-looking statements or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based. Nothing in this Release shall under any circumstances (including by reason of this Release remaining available and not being superseded or replaced by any other Release or publication with respect to the subject matter of this Release), create an implication that there has been no change in the affairs of the Company since the date of this Release. Not for release or distribution in the United States This announcement has been prepared for publication in Australia and may not be released to U.S. wire services or distributed in the United States. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, securities in the United States or any other jurisdiction, and neither this announcement or anything attached to this announcement shall form the basis of any contract or commitment. LONDON, April 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- A growing body of research shows that the worst impacts of climate change are being borne by the most vulnerable nations. The Commonwealth of Dominica is one of these nations who due to its geographical location is now experiencing a higher number of the harshest hurricanes resulting from climate change. In 2017, Hurricane Maria made landfall on the southwest coast of Dominica on 18 September as a Category 5 hurricane. Windspeeds of 220 mph took the lives of 68 people and decimated 90% of the housing infrastructure and directly impacted 80% of the population. Power and water supplies were disrupted, and entire crops were destroyed. With a population of just over 70 000 people, Dominica, classified as a Small Island Developing Nation (SIDS), was declared international humanitarian emergency. Five days after Hurricane Maria, the Prime Minister of Dominica, Dr the Hon. Roosevelt Skerritt left the frontlines of the devastation to address the 72nd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA). Here, he reminded the nations, especially developed nations, of how small countries like his who had made a very little to no contribution to global warming were on the receiving end of the ferocious impact of climate change. Heat is the fuel that supercharges ordinary storms and turns them into a devastating force. In the past we would prepare for one heavy storm a year, now thousands of storms form on a breeze in the mid-Atlantic Ocean and line up to pound us with maximum force. We in the Caribbean do not produce greenhouse gases or sulphate aerosols. We do not pollute or overfish. We have made no contribution to global warming that can move the needle, yet we are among the main victims on the war against climate change. In 2019, the worlds six largest carbon dioxide emitters together accounted for 51% of the global population and 67% of total CO2 emissions from fossil fuels. Dominica was not on this list. The U.S. is the second-largest CO2 emitter after China, and the largest historically. In 2019, U.S. greenhouse gas emissions totalled 6,558 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents a two percent increase since 1990, while Dominica represented 0% of the global share of CO2 emissions in the same period according to Worldometer. The recent recommitment of the Biden administrations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris climate agreement and advance research and development for solutions is a step in the right direction from a large CO2 emitter like the U.S and will go a long way in helping to protect the health and well-being future generations. The future of humanity has always been intertwined with that of the natural world. While the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the entire world, it particularly amplified the unique vulnerabilities of SIDS, who are disproportionately bearing the brunt of multiple world crises climate, nature, health and economics and finance. The acute structural challenges and multi-dimensional vulnerabilities of SIDS are being more exposed and intensifying over time. Addressing these vulnerabilities is a significant challenge for the small nations, most of whom are middle income countries and are not necessarily eligible to access concessionary finance based on GDP or other established criteria. Climate change presents unique challenges to SIDS such as Dominica. The associated development challenges from sea-level rise, altered rainfall patterns, and storm-surges threaten to reverse progress made towards the Millennium Development Goals now and in the future. The United Nations Millennium Declaration, signed in September 2000, commits world leaders to combat environmental degradation amongst other things. Key projected risks for SIDS include increased loss of land from sea-level rise, flooding, ecosystem degradation and freshwater stress, to tropical storms of increased intensity, and extreme water level events that may double by 2050. Dominica is one of the countries on the frontlines of climate change. They feel its impacts first and most severely, yet they contribute less than 1% of global carbon emissions. They are vulnerable to hurricanes and cyclones, which are becoming more frequent and extreme, causing economic and environmental devastation, not to mention loss of life. Their dependence on food and energy imports, and tourism revenue, increase their vulnerability to external shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. It must be emphasized that climate change for small island nations is a matter of life and death, added Micha Emmet, CEO at CS Global Partners a leading government advisory and marketing firm. Climate justice is an area of research that frames climate change as a political and ethical issue, and not solely as a problem underpinned by environmental change. SIDS-focused research in climate justice has centred on the shortcomings of existing climate actions to prevent negative climate impacts that affect island states. The so-called North-South divide highlights the difference between developed and developing countries in identifying and implementing ambitious actions that would limit the risks that climate change presents. This divide is exemplified by the contrast between SIDS advocating to limit global average warming to 1.5C and pushback from developed countries to keep to this warming limit, despite the existential risks that increased warming presents for SIDS. A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/5eb2078a-157b-43a1-b9c8-d2bb333bd231 Toronto, April 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- April is World Autism Month, an annual opportunity for a dedicated conversation about autism. Approximately 1 in 66 children and youth are diagnosed with autism in Canada and more than 70 million people globally. Special Announcement: In celebration of World Autism Month, Autism Speaks Canada is launching their documentary Life on The Spectrum by Autism Speaks Canada on April 2, 2022, World Autism Day. In this documentary, they share lived experiences of autistic Canadians and their families, from coast to coast to coast, to increase understanding and acceptance of people with autism. We believe in empowering every autistic member of the community, says Sarah Ahmed, director of marketing and communications for Autism Speaks Canada. This can only be achieved when people truly understand autism and accept autistic people for their unique strengths, challenges, dreams, and goals. At Autism Speaks Canada, we remain committed to building inclusive communities where autistic Canadians can reach their full potential. How to Watch the Documentary: Subscribe to Autism Speaks Canadas YouTube channel at autismspeaks.ca/youtube and be the first to watch Life on the Spectrum by Autism Speaks Canada. Release date: April 2, 2022 at 12PM EST https://youtu.be/seRZ35gNkE8 Watch the commercial https://youtu.be/peGVh1GGD1c In addition to the documentary, Autism Speaks Canada is thankful to all their partners for collaborating on a list of other activities happening in April: Spectrum Works Job Fair, In-person & Virtual Walks, CASDA Submit, Sensory Friendly events at select Chuck-e-Cheese locations, family and friends discounts at Great Wolf Lodge, GoodLife Moves program and so much more. Visit their website to learn more. www.AutismSpeaks.ca/WAM About Autism Speaks Canada Autism Speaks Canada is a national Canadian charity dedicated to promoting solutions, across the spectrum and throughout the life span. www.AutismSpeaks.ca Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn @AutismSpeaksCanada Twitter @AutismSpeaksCan About Life on the Spectrum by Autism Speaks Canada Life on the Spectrum by Autism Speaks Canada is a documentary to increase understanding and acceptance of people with autism. The documentary shares lived experiences of autistic Canadians and their families, from coast to coast to coast. It will be premiered on April 2, 2022, exclusively on Autism Speaks Canadas YouTube Channel and social media outlets. It will be promoted throughout the month of April, to align with and celebrate World Autism Month. Attachment TORONTO, April 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Canadian Gaming Association (CGA), in partnership with the Toronto Stock Exchange and TSX Venture Exchange, will be gathering with representatives from Ontarios iGaming industry to celebrate the launch of Ontarios regulated iGaming market at the TSX Market Centre on April 4 at 8:30am. Speakers include: Paul Burns, President & CEO, CGA Dave Forestell, Chair, iGaming Ontario Jordan Gnat, CEO, Playmaker Capital John Levy, CEO, theScore Inc. Steven Salz, CEO, Rivalry This event will be live streamed at https://youtu.be/3LjQVclHzb4 . Media are welcome to attend. What: Launch of Ontarios iGaming Market Where: TSX Market Centre, 125 Adelaide Street, Toronto When: April 4, 2022, from 8:30am 9:30am ET About the Canadian Gaming Association The Canadian Gaming Association (CGA) is a not-for-profit organization that works to advance the evolution of Canadas gaming industry. The associations mandate is to promote the economic value of gaming in Canada; use research, innovation, and best practices to help the industry advance; and create productive dialogue among stakeholders. Visit www.canadiangaming.ca to learn more about the CGA and gaming in Canada. For further information please contact: Paul Burns, Canadian Gaming Association (416) 579-3922 pburns@canadiangaming.ca "Let us sow the seeds of conscience in education, saving the world with conscience education." ~ Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze, president of FOWPAL LOS ANGELES, April 02, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- April 5, 2022 marks the third UN-designated International Day of Conscience, and the Federation of World Peace and Love (FOWPAL) will host a virtual observance from 3:00-5:00 pm GMT on that day, with a focus on conscience education , integrating the balance between the development of technology and spirituality to build character in younger generations and help the world move toward a better and more stable future. FOWPAL firmly believes that conscience is the key to resolving all problems. It launched the movement of An Era of Conscience in 2014, and beginning in 2018, it collaborated with the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of Bahrain, Kiribati, Equatorial Guinea, and other countries on a draft resolution titled "Promoting the Culture of Peace with Love and Conscience." On July 25, 2019, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the draft resolution submitted by the Kingdom of Bahrain, declaring April 5 as the International Day of Conscience. Thereafter, FOWPAL has been engaged in activities each month to honor various UN-designated days, with an emphasis on conscience, uniting global citizens to act with conscience, transforming their communities, countries, and the world. To date, it has held more than 60 such events, where leaders from all walks of life from around the world have shared their insights on fostering sustainable development through conscience, urging the world to work together to promote a culture of peace with love and conscience. The promotion of International Day of Conscience is gaining momentum around the world. Last month, a webinar on the International Day of Education organized by FOWPAL was broadcast on MNN (Manhattan Neighborhood Network) in New York. During the forum, FOWPAL President Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze delivered a speech titled "Transforming Education with Love and Conscience," highlighting, "The core value of education lies in inspiring peoples conscience and self-awareness, thereby shaping individuals and the landscape of future society. The most important education for everyone from birth to death is conscience education." Through the power of education for all, the promotion of the movement of An Era of Conscience is expected to inspire global citizens conscience and good deeds to create a future of love and peace together. To commemorate the third International Day of Conscience, FOWPAL not only will host online events on April 5, but also has organized a series of activities with various organizations around the world since April 1, aiming to gather conscience advice from all walks of life and inject positive energy for the sustainable development of the Earth. The International Day of Conscience is a day for all of humanity, and everyone's conscience and good deeds, great or small, are powerful forces in changing the world. FOWPAL invites everyone to send their conscience words and actions (video, text, photos, drawings, etc.) to its International Day of Conscience (ICDAY) mailbox at icday@fowpal.org or post them on its social media pages, such as Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram . FOWPAL also invites schools of all levels worldwide to observe this day during the week of April 5 (April 4 to 8) to promote conscience education, allowing the seeds of goodwill to be planted in students' hearts and guiding them to better themselves. FOWPAL has created free materials for conscience education , and the citizens of the world are welcome to use them to foster positive values. They are also encouraged to send FOWPAL recordings (videos, articles, photos, etc.) of their practice and promotion of conscience-driven education. As a result, thoughts and actions of conscience will spread throughout the world, positively impacting everyone. The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine has shocked the entire world. The global community shares a common destiny, and the war's brutality and casualties have deepened global citizens aspirations for peace. With a song titled A Prayer for Peace and another prayer for the world, FOWPAL hopes that the deceased will rest in peace and the survivors will be comforted. It prays for an end to the war and people's suffering so that people can return to their safe and stable lives as soon as possible and work together to bring about world peace. The pandemic is still raging around the world, so people must exercise caution. FOWPAL has been sharing a one-minute video, featuring useful tips for epidemic prevention titled 3 Donts, 5 Dos and 6 tips , encouraging everyone to share it widely through their platforms to benefit the people of the world. FOWPALs President Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze emphasizes, With conscience, comes a peaceful world; with happiness, comes a joyful family. FOWPAL hopes that everyones conscience will be awakened and that everyone will work together for a peaceful and sustainable future! About the Federation of World Peace and Love (FOWPAL) : Established in 2000 in the United States by Dr. Hong, Tao-Tze, FOWPAL is an international love and peace organization, with members from around the world. Guided by the principle of Changing the world for the better starting with one good thought, it aims to promote world peace and love through various activities such as world summits of love and peace, ceremonies of ringing the Bell of World Peace and Love , and cultural exchange performances . To date, 399 prominent figures from 122 countries have rung the Bell, made their wishes for love and peace, and pledged to work for the worlds sustainable future. Among them are 43 heads of state and government, seven Nobel Peace Prize laureates, UN ambassadors, and other visionary leaders. Media Contact: Lily Chen Representative info@fowpal.org 626-202-5268 www.fowpal.org A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/39aef07a-a15a-4451-9fca-f99e21017c2d The photo is also available at Newscom, www.newscom.com, and via AP PhotoExpress. Formula 1 has had nothing to complain about in terms of interested circuits since the fight between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in 2021. In March of this year, a rumor surfaced that Malaysia was also thinking about enticing the FIA to host another Grand Prix in the country, but that is not true, according to Azhan Shafriman Hanif. The Malaysian GP was on the program for many years in the past, but in 2017 the country suddenly disappeared from the racing calendar. With the 23 races scheduled by the teams this season, the calendar seems to be full, but the FIA continues to look for interesting destinations. However, the organization does not have to hope for Malaysia, it seems. Read more Red Bull confirms: Verstappen has escape clause Indeed, the director of the circuit believes that Malaysia should first focus on the corona victims who have fallen, he told Bernama.com. He says he does not think it is an appropriate moment to bring in a Formula 1 race, so he is waiting for the time being. However, when the government indicates to him that this moment has come, he would be open to hosting a Formula 1 race again. Verstappen was last winner Between 1999 and 2017, the Malaysian GP was invariably on the racing calendar. Max Verstappen was the last Formula One driver to step off the track as a winner. Sebastian Vettel won the race no less than four times. Ferrari is making a very positive impression so far this season. With Charles Leclerc it seems to have a driver in house who can fight with Max Verstappen for the world title, while Carlos Sainz also seems to be on his way. Mattia Binotto, however, realizes that the team must continue to develop the car to compete. Whereas last season the Italian racing team was unable to keep up with Mercedes and Red Bull Racing, in the first two races of 2022 it was a different story. Mercedes dropped out and has to settle for a place in the subtop, while Red Bull was on a par with Ferrari. Read more Elkann thinks lineup Ferrari better than Red Bull and Mercedes Binotto does not yet expect any upgrades in Australia Leclerc also showed that he has the level to make things difficult for Verstappen. The Dutchman could not get past Leclerc in Bahrain, while he was able to do so in Saudi Arabia. Binotto knows that there is still enough to do to keep this up all season, although he is not sure when updates will come. "Its not just a matter of when we will be ready but a matter of budget caps, making sure we are not spending all we have got in the first races," the team boss explained to Formula1.com. "We are not expecting significant upgrades for the next race in Melbourne, but as soon as we can bring something, we will do it." Benchmark Mineral Intelligence held its inaugural Battery Megafactories Europe 2022 event in Berlin; the event zeroed in on a number of pertinent points for the continents EV and battery supply chain. Key takeaways from the Berlin event include: Raw materials enter the realm of impossible Even in the most optimistic scenarios where every single raw material project in the pipeline comes on stream and existing operations expand aggressively, there will not be enough raw material for the battery supply chain as we go into 2030. Lack of supply is not due to any geological constraints but to a simple lack of capital investment to build future mines. Benchmark forecasts that lithium chemical supply will be in a deficit of more than 300,000 tonnes by 2030, with nickel sulfate supply set to fall short of demand by nearly 400,000 tonnes, cobalt by more than 75,000 tonnes and flake graphite by nearly 2 million tonnes by the end of the decade. Both lithium and cobalt face medium-term challenges to meeting automotive consumer ambitions; raw material constraints will prevent battery production topping the 1 TWh threshold until 2025. OEMS will need to take drastic upstream action Benchmarks Simon Moores stressed that OEMs will need to become miners and invest to bring new raw material mining capacity, not just refining capacity, to market. Benchmarks Daisy Jennings-Gray warned of the the huge raw material disconnect that has opened up between growing downstream demand for critical battery raw materials from the EV industry and the increasingly limited availability of those raw materials. Benchmark warned that OEM raw material fears have become reality for lithium and nickel after unprecedented price spikes. LME nickel chaos exacerbated industry doubts over existing financial mechanism that do not reflect the realities of the EV and battery supply chain and calls for new pricing mechanism grows. The global battery arms race shows no signs of slowing down. Benchmarks Keynote outlined that the lithium ion battery is going nowhere explaining the underlining trends of lithium ion cells, especially NCM and LFP chemistries, are getting better, lower cost, and abundant. Benchmark warned of more battery capacity to come despite raw material disconnect, with global totals expect to top 10GWh for Energy Transition needs. Global lithium ion battery capacity 10 year pipeline has reached 5,777 GWh. Europe is set to have 15% of this capacity, China 68%, and the USA 12%. The world has 282 Gigafactories at various stages of production and construction as assessed by Benchmark in February 2022. Benchmark warned that short term battery cell price increases of 10-20% due to lithium carbonate and nickel sulfate price spikes will impact EVs but the long term trend towards lower costs is generally positive. Benchmark is launching Battery Gigafactories USA 2022 in Washington DC, 23-24 June 2022. This event replaces The Benchmark Summit Washington DC for 2022 only. Aggressive emission and carbon neutrality targets set by regulators worldwide entails a faster transition from traditional automakers to next-gen electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers. Therefore, automakers are committing operational investments of nearly US$600 billion to secure their position in the future automotive market, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. Broadly, the investments announced focus on the development of production facilities, technology, EV batteries, new product and securing future raw material supply (primarily semiconductors and battery materials). Autonomous vehicle development also remains a closely linked area to the investments. The investments affirm that the future must be electric and there is no turning back for traditional automakers. However, the flurry of announcements from the OEMs could also be interpreted as a high-stakes game of one-upmanship or a corporate PR exercise to boost investor confidence. With all OEMs taking the same path, it is unlikely that any long-term sustainable competitive advantage will be conferred and that visibility over the billions of dollars of planned xEV investment is a price of market participation. Bakar Sadik Agwan, Senior Automotive Consulting Analyst at GlobalData VW Group stays on the top of the list with a US$100.5-billion investment through 2030. Its ambition to surpass Tesla is no secret, says GlobalData, and the company wants four out of every 10 cars it sells to be a BEV by 2030. A further analysis, looking at the contribution to xEV growth of each OEM derived from the latest LMC light vehicle powertrain forecast, sheds further light on the returns expected. VW is estimated to have the highest cumulative contribution to EV growth over the next decade when mapped against the investment announced, amongst the players analyzed. However, there is no apparent correlation identified between the level of investment announced and expected contribution to growth as can be seen in the case of Ford, Stellantis and GM. Bakar Sadik Agwan Despite being a pioneer in hybrid vehicles, Toyota was slow to implement BEV strategies; President Akio Toyoda announced the bZ EV brand only last year. Toyota plans to launch 30 models by 2030. Prior to this, Toyota had only a few BEV models manufactured with its Chinese partner GAC Group. Toyota announced US$70.4 billion investment in EVs to 2030, early this year. The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria and the Council and the Democratic Syria are still appealing to the Damascus government for dialogue to end the long-running Syrian crisis and pay its taxes to the Syrian people, but the intransigence of the Damascus government and its refusal to dialogue closes the door to serious solutions to the Syrian crisis. In this regard, our agency met with the spokesman for the Autonomous Administration in North and East Syria, Luqman Ahmi, who confirmed that since the establishment of the AANES it has been calling for a peaceful and democratic solution to the Syrian crisis, adding, "The solution lies in the Syrian dialogue between all parties in Syria." Ahmi expressed his regret that the other parties in Syria were not ready for dialogue, and said, "Unfortunately, our hands are extended for dialogue, but no other party has raised this hand and held it and communicated with us for the sake of the serious poplar," noting that "there are some meetings, but unfortunately the dialogue did not reach between the two parties to the Syrian interest. Luqman Ahmi added, "The basis for dialogue is dialogue, not for dialogue, and we believe and affirm that there is a Syrian crisis and there are unresolved issues within Syria that led to this crisis. In order to solve this crisis, these issues must be resolved, and there are issues of national, religious and ideological components, and also the form the regime in Syria in the coming days. All these foundations, should be discussed because they will lead to a peaceful and democratic solution to the Syrian crisis. Decentralization and pluralism Ahmi affirmed, "The Autonomous Administration wants to have a pluralistic democratic system that accepts the other and covers all of Syria on the basis of decentralized system. Without that, the Syrian people will remain displaced and and divided in the interests of the regional countries." Ahmi explained, "The issue of dialogue with the political parties is entrusted to the Syrian Democratic Council to represent all Syrians on the Syrian soil, without excluding any party." At the end of his speech, Luqman Ahmi stated that "the Syrian Democratic Council is now in the process of convening a conference of democratic forces, personalities and movements in Syria in order to meet for a united front in order to pressure the opposition and the Damascus government to come to a serious dialogue and resolve the Syrian crisis in a peaceful and democratic way." A ANHA This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GREENWICH Greenwich students claimed top honors at the Connecticut Science and Engineering Fair last weekend. Now, three Greenwich High School students will compete in the national invitational this May. And two Greenwich Catholic School students are invited to the national competition for middle school students. Students from Brunswick School, Greenwich Academy, Greenwich Country Day School and Sacred Heart Academy won titles as well. Prizes vary from meetings with patent attorneys to cash. Andrew Bramante teaches a course at Greenwich High School for students who intend to compete at the science and engineering fair. Students in all grades work from fall to spring honing their project idea and perfecting their presentation. The students apply to get accepted into the class. Bramante said he looks for enthusiasm for the project as well as innovation. These kids really have originated the idea; they design and execute the whole experiment, and then they interpret all the results, and it all happens here at the high school, he said. Theres a sense of ownership and understanding that has to come from that and I think it really speaks volumes when they're delivering their defenses and their talks at a science fair because they really do own it, he said. Greenwich High School has sent 49 students to the national competition in the past 15 years. Only seven high school students from Connecticut are heading to nationals this year: three are from GHS. GHS junior Ambika Grover won the engineering category at the state competition and was awarded the best in the fair in life sciences with Design of a Novel, Dual-Functioning Tissue Plasminogen Activator and Anticoagulant Therapeutic for Rapid Ischemic Stroke Treatment. Her prizes include $2,300, $50 in gift certificates, three plaques and a solid silver medal. Naomi Park, a GHS sophomore, won best in fair in the physical sciences category for her project Biomimetic Removal of Microspheres Water Contaminants, via Calcite-Infused, Coral-like Melamine Sponges. She won $2,000, $75 in gift cards, two plaques and two medals. Ashley Malkin, a freshman from GHS, had the top computer science project for Development of Readily Accessible Machine Learning Diagnostics for Early Stage Mild TBI using Eye Tracking Methods. She received three plaques and $400. A team of two Greenwich Catholic School students, Nicholas Barone and Luke Mannello, received $100 each and plaques and an invitation to compete at Broadcom MASTERS, the national middle school competition. annelise.hanshaw@hearstmediact.com In late 2021, two large regional not-for-profit organizations, The WorkPlace and CONNCORP, came together to form the Alliance for Cannabis Equity for Connecticut. The purpose of the organization is to support minority entrepreneurs, minority communities, minority workers and the state of Connecticuts efforts to make the goal of social equity in the new adult-use cannabis industry a reality. Shortly after forming the organization, my firm, BJM Solutions, was hired to draft a report on what needed to be done to realize these lofty goals. Earlier this month, ACECT released the manifesto and the associated website (www.acect.org). This is a good news-bad news commentary. The good news is that the state of Connecticut through the work of the Social Equity Council and its leadership are making social equity the priority that is stated in the law. Many of the states that legalized adult-use cannabis before Connecticut, like our neighbors in Massachusetts, only paid social equity attention only after the opening of the market when it became apparent that Black, Hispanic and lower-income residents did not have a real stake in the business opportunity legalization created. Connecticut learned from these states that if you do not make social equity a priority in the beginning, it is hard to insert it once the industry gets started. Intentionality is important when it comes to matters of equity. Connecticut deserves credit for this thoughtfulness. Connecticuts definition of social equity is based on residency and household income. Connecticut residents of any race, gender, nationality, household composition or criminal record are eligible if they lived the first nine of their 18 years or the last five of the last 10 years in census tracts that have been determined to be disproportionately impacted areas, and their household incomes are less than three times the median household income in the state. Social equity businesses are businesses that meet the first two requirements and at least 50 percent of the business is owned by a social equity entrepreneur(s). The state will allocate licenses in nine different sub-industries, ranging from large scale cultivators, retailers, shippers, delivery services and manufacturers. There will be one lottery for social equity businesses and one lottery for all other (nonsocial) equity businesses. The plan is that the state will have an equal amount of social equity businesses in the industry as non-social equity (traditional) businesses. Connecticut is about three and a half years behind the adult use cannabis industry in Massachusetts. Massachusetts provides the best guide as to what is possible here. Massachusetts is averaging about $30 million in retail sales per week. The Massachusetts cannabis industry currently hires over 23,000 workers. Cannabis is the fastest-growing industry in Massachusetts and the fastest-growing industry in the country. Connecticut has slightly more than half the population of Massachusetts. This means in a few years; Connecticut could generate $15 million a month in retail sales and over 11,000 good-paying full-time jobs. State sales taxes on cannabis will total about 20 percent including a 3 percent tax that will go to the municipalities that have cannabis operations in their towns. The total state tax revenue generated from cannabis could be about $150 million per year. Cannabis will be big business in Connecticut. The bad news is I am afraid that the supply of legitimate social equity entrepreneurs with the resources and connections is not sufficient to meet the demand. There are similarities in how this industry is being structured and what I experienced in certifying businesses as minority owned and operated. Minority and women fronted organizations were common when large public and private sector buying organizations first implemented preferential buying programs. These were organizations that put a minority or a woman out front as the face of the business, but the business was controlled by nonminority financial backers. Those nonminority financial backers were willing to assume this role if it meant access to markets that they did not have as a nonminority business. In a similar way, there will be non-social equity cannabis investors who will attempt to either participate in the social equity lottery at a lower cost social equity businesses will pay half of the cost of a license as non-social equity licensees or skip the lottery entirely. The confusing array of organizational types social equity partners, equity joint ventures, and Section 149 firms allows entrepreneurs and firms to bypass the lottery, or have lower licensing costs. The states answer to eliminating fronts is to review every social equity applicant and every equity joint venture to ensure that these frauds do not take place. I am not optimistic about the ability of the state at this point to keep these fronts out of the industry, despite their good intentions. And there still are supply and capacity problems for social equity entrepreneurs. Where are these entrepreneurs going to acquire the capital to pay for licenses, and we have not even started talking about operational costs? Who is going to invest most of the money needed to start these businesses if they are allowed to own only 35 percent of the business? How are these businesses going to be able to assure long-term profitability when the state could control the number of competitors by providing new licenses every year? My fear is that social equity businesses might get established, but in five years, Connecticuts cannabis industry is going to have a minimal number of social equity businesses and minority owners. There are some fixes to these problems, but they will require boldness, innovation, and changes in the cannabis law. Fred McKinney is the co-founder of BJM Solutions, an economic consulting firm that conducts public and private research since 1999, and is the emeritus director of the Peoples Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Quinnipiac University. The 4th of April marks the birth of the leader Abdullah Ocalan, who has been struggling for 50 years to solve the Kurdish Cause and for all oppressed peoples, and who has developed a lot of intellectual, social, political and philosophical concepts and concepts. Leader Abdullah Ocalan was arrested following an international conspiracy woven in On October 9, 1998, he was arrested on February 15, 1999, and placed in solitary confinement on the isolated island of Imrali. Despite the difficult circumstances and the applied isolation imposed on the leader, Abdullah Ocalan, he continued his struggle for the Kurdish people, the peoples of Kurdistan and the Middle East. He put forward the concept of the democratic nation, which is based in its core on human values, the will of the peoples, the freedom of women, and the brotherhood of peoples. The continuous struggle of the Kurdish people and the freedom movement and the leader Abdullah Ocalan resonated with a wide segment of regional and global societies, and in particular on the cultural and academic elites. A large segment of Arab intellectuals and academics sees leader Abdul Ocalan as a fighter for humanity and patriotism. There must be effective and continuous action from all free people in the world, human rights and human rights institutions, and from official and non-official Arab bodies to stand with the cause of leader Abdullah Ocalan. Our agency surveyed the opinions of a number of Arab writers, politicians and journalists on the ideas and theses of leader Abdullah Ocalan: Syrian writer and politician Muhammad Issa: There is no doubt that confusion revolves around the views of the leader and thinker Abdullah Ocalan among a large number of intellectuals. The majority of them think that the leader is just a political fighter and leads a peoples liberation movement. He has achieved remarkable creativity in developing a lot of knowledge and intellectual, political and philosophical concepts, making him one of the foundations of a school of thought, rising in its level to the level of intellectual schools known in the history of thought in general. Leader Abdullah Ocalan is the author of a critical approach to the socialist economy, which has turned into a monopolistic state capitalism, thus broke the prevailing laws in the capitalist economy to propose an alternative to both, i.e. the economy of the participatory society, which requires ecological concerns and a clean environment. In the form of society, the concept of a political moral society is presented, which is supported by the democratic climate. Here he introduces the concept of non-state, where he despises the concept of the state and considers it, along with the class, the immoral pole in opposition to the political moral pole. And he sees the possibility that the two poles can coexist under the capitalist system to some extent. In the social field and under the updates of sociology, it develops a science about women called Jinology ( feminology), through which women have been able to play a unique leading role in the world and in the historical sense. In this context, we must not forget the great Ocalan slogan that says... A free country means a free woman. In politics, he is distinguished by his contempt for the concept of the nation-state and creeds, and considers it an immoral model. It means subjugating an ethnic or ideological group to the interest of the culture, values, and identity of another group. In the Arab nation-state, for example, the non-Arab is obliged to deny his ethnic and cultural identity to adopt the Arab identity, so on races and spectra, and presents an alternative to it, which is the model of the brotherhood of free peoples, under the roof of a civil, secular and democratic state, which gives every people or component its right and its role without coercion or absence and on an equal footing. And a bridge to a new free world free of marginalization, alienation and injustice, and the issue of leader Ocalan becomes the issue of the peoples of the whole earth as the author of a cosmic theory and a critical philosophy. Radar Qalab is a Jordanian writer. Freedom for the international leader Abdullah Ocalan. The first leader and founder of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, founded in 1978, which seeks to create a democratic "state" that would give the Kurds a form of independence from power and build a society he describes as an "environmental, democratic, liberal" society. Ocalan presents himself as not representing an identity or a race, and represents "the oppressed and marginalized, minorities, and components of Turkish society from their various religious beliefs and political and cultural orientations." He believes in "fighting exploitation and discrimination, and providing a decent life and equality for all." Thaer Nofal Abu Atiwi, a Palestinian writer and journalist. Abdullah Ocalan, detained in Turkish prisons, is a militant leader and a revolutionary person who seeks to achieve the aspirations of his Kurdish society and legitimate goals within the framework of the Kurdistan Workers Party, which supports the oppressed peoples seeking independence, freedom and sovereignty. The best example here and a guide to support the leader Ocalan He and his party support the Palestinian cause and the belief in its justice, the participation of the PKK with the fighters of the Palestinian revolution in their battles against the Israeli occupation, and the distinguished fraternal struggle relationship that linked the immortal martyr President Yasser Arafat with the liberating humanitarian leader Abdullah Ocalan. The detainee in Turkish prisons, Abdullah Ocalan, is considered an icon of freedom and liberation seeking the independence of his people and society, in order to have a unified national identity that would make him able to build a Kurdish political society with a vision and goals that aspire to unity and oppose the difference between all Kurds on their various political and intellectual affiliations. It is necessary to move effectively and continuously from all free people in the world and human rights and humanitarian institutions, and from official and non-official Arab parties to stand with the issue of the detained leader Abdullah Ocalan, in order to speed up his release and release him without condition or restriction, and also support him in finding a joint Arab-Kurdish formula It makes the Kurdish society a cohesive society with an independent and unified political system that supports the present and future Arab aspirations, according to the Kurdish communitys blood relations and intermarriage with the Arab peoples, and in order for the Kurds to be continuously and continuously supportive of the Arab vision that is not far from the vision with goals and contents, by finding ways For joint Arab-Kurdish cooperation at all levels and fields, in order to establish a general atmosphere of love, harmony and peace, and to combat all forms and doctrines of extremism and terrorism that target the Arab region, which is in its Kurdish orbit. Freedom is all freedom for prisoners and detainees, prisoners of opinion and positions for their constructive ideas and purposeful positions that unite and do not differentiate within the framework of the concept and the promotion of freedom and independence and the establishment of security, tranquility and peace for the peoples of the region and the entire world, and freedom is all freedom for the captive leader Abdullah Ocalan. A ANHA According to Esper, Google is working on an Android 13 feature that would potentially be a game-changer for people using two SIM cards on a single phone. And maybe leave some extra room for smartphone manufacturers to utilize too. Through a feature called Multiple Enabled Profiles (MEP), the search giant wants to assign two carrier profiles to a single eSIM and easily switch between networks. Google is reportedly basing the new feature on a patent filed in 2020, which describes a splitting of the existing SIM interface into two digital connections. There have been reports in the past that Google is testing it on an engineering Pixel hardware. In turn, this could allow manufacturers to get rid of the SIM card slot as a whole leaving room for some extra hardware. We could see the return of microSD cards or we could see slightly bigger batteries too. Even though the source believes that the feature will debut with Android 13, it's actually not intrinsic to Android. It can be implemented on iOS and even Windows. Source About a couple of weeks ago, Samsung first unveiled the Galaxy A73, alongside the A53 and A33. That announcement was devoid of any pricing and availability information for specific markets, however, India included. Thankfully then, earlier today Samsung's Indian arm has outed official pricing information. The entry-level model has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage and will be offered for INR 41,999, while the upgraded version doubles the storage for INR 44,999. If you pre-reserve a Galaxy A73, you'll be able to get a pair of Galaxy Buds Live true wireless earbuds for just INR 499 instead of the usual selling price of INR 6,990. Additionally, as a special introductory offer, you can get up to INR 3,000 cashback via Samsung Finance+, ICICI Bank cards, or SBI credit cards. Samsung is hosting an exclusive sale event on its website on April 8 at 6PM where other extra benefits will be available. The phone will be sold in India in three colors: Awesome Mint, Awesome Grey, and Awesome White. To quickly recap what you're getting, the Galaxy A73 comes with a 6.7-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED screen with 120 Hz refresh rate and Gorilla Glass 5 on top, the Snapdragon 778G chipset at the helm, a 108 MP main rear camera with OIS, a 12 MP ultrawide, 5 MP depth sensor, and 5 MP macro cam on the rear, a 32 MP front-facing camera, an in-display fingerprint sensor, and a 5,000 mAh battery with support for 25W fast charging. It runs Android 12. Via There have been several revealing leaks for the Axon 40 family, with the most recent one being from TENAA. And now, the company's president of the mobile division shared a teaser poster on Weibo suggesting that the Axon 40, and possibly a Pro variant, will be announced this month in China. The teaser poster doesn't reveal much, but past reports (including the TENAA leak) suggest that the Axon 40 Pro is just a re-badged nubia Z40 Pro so we kind of know what to expect. Then again, the Axon family has a history of implementing under-display selfie cameras, so we wonder if the Axon 40 Pro will be a bit different from the Z40 Pro in this regard. We also wonder whether the so-called Gravity Edition with Magnetic Charging will be a default configuration or a separate one like the nubia Z40 Pro. Luckily, we won't have to wait much longer as ZTE will announce it sometime this month for the Chinese market and will probably make its way to the global scene shortly after. Source (in Chinese) | Via PDN Lifestyle reporter Madison Scott takes us behind the scenes of Breaking Wave Theatre Company's "Much Ado About Nothing," which she also co-directed, at the University of Guam on May 3. The play runs May 5-8. Some residents shared their thoughts on the Guam Visitors Bureaus plans to bring tourism back. I think its a great idea since Korea and Japan have always been so good to us in terms of tourism, said Albert Manley, Express Financial vice president. Manley said the lack of tourism has affected Express Financial because the majority of its customers work in the tourism industry and its been difficult for them to make payments if they arent receiving paychecks from tourism revenue. Its a good sign for all of us that things are going to start getting better after this two-year lull, which has pretty well destroyed the economy over here, he said. GVB announced Wednesday that it anticipates about 250,000 tourists from South Korea, about one-third of the pre-pandemic 2019 number, to visit the island this calendar year. On March 21, the Korean government announced the removal of the mandatory quarantine requirement for arriving international travelers who were fully vaccinated in Korea if they test negative for the virus. At the start of March, Japan eliminated the required three-day quarantine period for travelers with a negative COVID-19 test who are fully vaccinated. Since South Korea and Japan began easing their COVID-19 policies for travelers, the GVB is stepping up its efforts to attract them to return to visiting Guam. The two countries provided the lions share of the tourism market before the pandemic. Hesitation Honestly, I dont think its a good idea because of this pandemic, said Austin Valentin, 20, of Sinajana. He said the continuing number of positive cases and deaths on the island show that its not the right time to try and bring back tourists. I think GVB should just wait until this situation dies down because if they bring another 250,000 people from another area, they could bring COVID-19 here and everything is just going to get worse again, said Valentin. Tamuning resident Samara Kloulubak, 32, said she is split on the issue. For me, I think its a good thing, but bad things could happen too, she said. She said the return of tourism would help businesses but would come with the risk of more COVID-19 cases. A new missile defense system for Guam, which already is being evaluated by the Missile Defense Agency, could cost nearly $900 million, according to the proposed defense budget for next fiscal year. The money would be spent to defend Guam against the missile threat from China, according to a summary prepared by the military. Our budget invests $892 million for the defense of Guam, including improved missile defense, command and control capabilities, radar capacity and new construction, Vice Adm. Ron Boxall said during a press briefing earlier this week. The budget also includes $133 million in base defense enhancements throughout the Indo-Pacific region. In addition to land-based defense systems, the budget would provide funding to develop ship-based Aegis systems to defend Guam, budget documents state. The militarys budget for the current fiscal year prioritizes a 360-degree integrated air and missile defense system to defend the island from advanced cruise, ballistic and hypersonic missile threats. The Missile Defense Agency has been assessing potential sites to place the elements of a defense system. The Army already operates a THAAD missile defense system at Andersen Air Force Base. Navy Rear Adm. Benjamin Nicholson, commander of Joint Region Marianas, in February said the defense system must be spread out over several military-owned locations on island. He said that the Missile Defense Agency was evaluating as many as 20 sites on Guam. Nicholson at the time said it was unclear what type of system will be installed. The District Court of Guam, Judiciary of Guam and the Guam Bar Association have a total of 35 different schools that will participate in Plant Toward a More Perfect Union. Partnering with the Guam Department of Agriculture, the courts have distributed 432 seedlings 216 short eggplants and 216 pink and red tomato seedlings to the schools. This will be the second year the event is part of Law Month in April, which has as its theme Toward a More Perfect Union: The Constitution in Times of Change. The event was so well received, it almost immediately ran out of seedlings. Unfortunately, we were not able to accommodate every school specifically in some of their requests, but we are happy to say that we did provide every school that reached out to us with at least one seedling or one entry, said Stacy McDonald Flores, District Court outreach coordinator. Were stoked to see what comes of this. Schools compete Last year, it was an individual contest in which students were able to pick up seedlings. There were more than 400 entries. This year, the court has turned the concept into a school spirit event in which schools compete with one another. Each school can enter up to six teams. Its up to the students on how they want to categorize or separate their teams. Teams must include a minimum of two. A team can consist of friends, a classroom, a club, family, a group of administrators or a parent-teacher organization/association. Winners will be determined by the most harvested, based on how many seedlings a school group had. For each grade level, the winners will get $500 that goes toward their schools, along with other prizes. Something different Last years contest had the courts find new and creative ways to teach children about law. You have to follow rules in everything you do in life and to take a planting project and put it out there during this time, in the most trying times of our lives through the pandemic, was extremely rewarding, especially when we watched the progress of all those who participated, Flores said. We wanted something hands-on and something different that will last and teach the community about sustainability, so this was the perfect project for us to work on, she said. Award Earlier this month, the American Bar Association selected the District Court, Guam Bar and the Judiciary of Guam to receive the Law Day Outstanding Activity Award for the efforts from last years theme, Advancing the Rule of Law Now. Its Guams 10th consecutive year receiving the award. Were super excited. Guam is out there and everyone knows that we give our heart and soul to spread about law day on Guam, and anything we do in Guam is big, Flores said. Honorary Southern High School graduate Floren M. Paulino, then 94, during a ceremony at the Inalahan Senior Citizens Center in May 2019. Paulino, a master CHamoru weaver and active cultural preservationist, died March 22, 2022. China's nuclear train could be another move to befuddle the US by launching ballistic missiles added to the systems to deploy them. A study was conducted to see the viability of using the rail system as a military platform that could work. The conflict in Ukraine is making Beijing move ahead in making plans to foil the US in Asia. Chinese Militarized High-Speed Rails for Counterattack Yin Zihong, an associate professor of civil engineering at Chengdu's Southwest Jiaotong University in Sichuan province, is spearheading a group of specialists collaborating on a federally funded national research study, reported the Eurasian Times. He and his colleagues reported their findings a week ago, asserting that a high-speed railway would beat a heavy-duty industrial railway in some situations, which was initially believed to be more fit for the job, noted SCMP. In addition, high-speed railways run more quickly and smoothly than heavy-haul railways meaning that military vehicles would have more mobility, safety, and camouflage on high-speed tracks. Technical Roadblocks Ballast, such as tiny pebbles and gravel, absorbs shocks on a conventional railway. More ballast is required for a heavy haul line carrying ore and coal. A 2020 study by researchers shows that an ICBM launch should generate a powerful shock wave that might go as far as 8 meters (26 feet) beneath, far beyond the strength of most rail lines' base structure. China's high-speed nuclear train can reach 350 km/h (217mph). They're compact, with up to 16 cars totaling around 60 tons, heavy with ballistic missiles as protection. Read Also: Vladimir Putin Net Worth 2022: Does Anyone Know Russian President's Hidden Wealth? They employed data from previous Chinese military missile tests and computer simulations to simulate the operation of a high-speed rail launch system. The research indicates that extra strength should not be needed for a high-speed railway because the rails are installed and fixed on concrete, and ballast as a buffer zone is not essential. According to publicly accessible data, the architecture of some Chinese high-speed railway substructures is as deep as 60 meters. The researchers' modeling showed that most of the disturbances created by firing a missile would be localized to shallow portions of the rail infrastructure, where damage may be identified and corrected more readily. Risks in Using High-Speed Rails To Launch ICBM Specific extremely low-frequency vibrations produced by the launcher may pose a risk to surface elements such as the rail and concrete slab, remarked the researchers. While a high-speed train can be designed to withstand a launch, the stress created by the launch would mostly pass down to the rail and its foundations, causing infrastructure damage and rendering it dangerous and unusable, per Yahoo News. Military experts contend that such a rail-based ICBM launch system can survive the initial wave of nuclear attack more than conventional land-based systems like silos and trucks. According to some assessments, a train could also transport as many missiles as a nuclear submarine. However, it is uncertain whether or when the Chinese military might deploy a high-speed rail-based nuclear launch platform. China tested the tube launch mechanism for the rail-mobile variant of their DF-41 ICBM in 2016, which entailed launching a DF-41 from a canister with a gas charge without igniting the missile's motor. The nuclear train concept for deploying ballistic missiles is getting somewhere as Beijing moves to find innovative ways to carry its armament. Related Article: Macron Says Biden's Remark That Putin Is a Butcher Makes it Harder To End the Ukraine Conflict @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Vladimir Putin told clients paying for natural gas to pay in rubles or get no supplies soon. The Kremlin raised the demand after the sanctions on Russia; he is fighting back with his ways to counter them. Many bloc countries are dependent on Russia, which is driving members apart because not everyone wants to risk energy security. Russia Wants To be Paid in Ruble Putin has been urging countries who buy Russian gas to pay in rubles in the community to enable the Russian economy to recover following the imposition of harsh sanctions against it, reported the Express UK. Following a phone chat with European leaders, He told allies that if the countries do not change their stance by April 1, all contracts will be annulled. He underlined that if hostile countries do not pay in rubles, it will mean a default on existing gas contracts, resulting in the cessation of existing contracts. One more condition the Russian leader imposes is that accounts should be opened in Russian banks, especially for natural gas. If those hostile bloc countries and the US don't do it by April 1, which is April Fool's Day, they face an energy shortage, noted the BBC. These accounts will be the basis of a continuation of gas deliveries by the date indicated. No payment for the current contract will mean the buyers bails out of the contract, and what happens next is severe. Russian President Vladimir added that nothing comes free and will not give out free gas like a charity; pay up and get the supplies but don't do it, then it's the client's problem. Read Also: Vladimir Putin Net Worth 2022: Does Anyone Know Russian President's Hidden Wealth? EU Needs Russian Gas Energy is the most potent leverage at Moscow's disposal to retaliate against extensive Western sanctions for the incursion of Ukraine, while Russia supplies approximately a third of Europe's natural gas. The sanctions did bite, and then pay via ruble scheme should make the Russian currency more resilient after the February 24 special operation to assist Donbas and Lugansk. The ruble has gained a bit against penalties heaved on the Russian economy despite the odds. Those western firms and governments have called it a breach of contract. Paris and Berlin are looking into if they can survive without energy from Russia. European governments keen on making Putin pay dearly are in a worse situation with an energy crisis that will hit everyone hard. Under the new regulation, foreign buyers are now required to transfer foreign currency to a particular special account, known as the "K" account. The gas buyer is expected to advise Gazprombank to buy rubles on his behalf to transfer rubles to this other special "K" account, cited the Mirror UK. Once the transfer is done for funds in Russian money for the account required, that will be paid to the Russian gas firm. The client could have the special account for energy purchase be made without the buyer present as indicated. Washington just announced more sanctions for new Russian individuals and companies. The US is going all out on sanctions against Moscow. These penalties are only agreed on by Brussels, the UK, and several NATO allies, but China and India have ignored these sanctions. Vladimir Putin has outlined what needs to be done to get a special 'K' account for natural gas. Related Article: India Supports Russia Despite Biden's Comment on Putin, Chooses Energy Security Over Western Sanctions @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Haiti - FLASH : The Biden administration announces 35,000 additional H-2B visas After having granted on December 20, 2021 last 20,000 temporary H-2B non-agricultural worker visas for the 2022 financial year https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35533-haiti-flash-biden-administration-adds-20-000-h-2b-temporary-visas.html the Biden Administration faced with the shortage of labor in the United States, again opening up job opportunities in the service sector. Thursday, March 31, 2022, in a press release, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the allocation of 35,000 additional H-2B visas, for temporary non-agricultural work, for the period between April 1 and September 30, of which 11,500 for citizens of Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. These visas "will help support American businesses and expand legal pathways for workers wishing to come to the United States," said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, adding that the measure responds "to current demand in the labor market." Shopuld be noted that private companies in the United States recorded the creation of 455,000 jobs in March 2022, particularly in the service sector, but the labor market remains very limited by the shortage of workers, according to the monthly survey from the business services firm ADP published on Wednesday 30 March. The government is granting 23,500 visas to workers who have already received such a visa or otherwise obtained H-2B status in any of the past three fiscal years. The remaining 11,500, exempt from the obligation to return, are reserved for nationals of Haiti, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador. See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35533-haiti-flash-biden-administration-adds-20-000-h-2b-temporary-visas.html HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Diaspora Covid-19 : Daily Bulletin #743 GLOBAL SITUATION 2019-2022: Epidemiological situation: Saturday April 2, 2022 the number of people infected worldwide with the Covid-19 coronavirus and its variants since the start of the pandemic (March 11, 2020) amounts to 490,152,870 cases (+1,462,944 in 24 hours ), the day before (+1,487,429) Number of infected countries: 225 *Healings: 424,846,055 people have been cured of Covid-19 worldwide (+1,143,189), the day before (+1,274,265) *Deaths: 6,171,846 people have died of Covid-19 worldwide since the start of the pandemic (+4,599 in 24 hours), the day before (+4,328) *Active cases (less deaths and recoveries) in the world is currently 59,134,969 cases (+315,156 in 24 hours), the day before (+208,836) Average cure rate in the world: 86.67% (-) Average mortality rate in the world: 1.25% (-) World: Number of daily confirmed cases (Day-1) Vaccination: 11.35 billion doses of vaccine injected (+30 million doses injected in 24 hours. Update April 1, 2022 (latest data available). HAITI: Warning: The Ministry of Public Health and Population (MSPP) did not make available after March 26, 2022 daily data on the Covid-19 situation in Haiti. Accordingly, the data below on the situation in Haiti is the latest available. According to the Ministry of Public Health, +16 new cases of Covid-19 and its variants have been confirmed in Haiti as of March 26, 2022 (latest partial data available ) for a total of 30,545 confirmed cases throughout the national territory (48.7% women and 51.3% men), since the first case (March 19, 2020 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30319-haiti-health-origin-of-the-first-2-cases-of-covid-19-in-haiti.html ). Previous update (+7 cases as of March 24, 2022). Healings: 28,431 (+162) Cure rate: 93.07% (+) Deaths: 833 deaths (+0) () Death rate: 2.72% (=) 5th Wave (Omicron Dominant): Total of the 5th wave (starting December 27, 2021) 4,551 confirmed cases and 67 deaths Screening since the start of the pandemic: 188,012 tests (+690 in 2 days) since March 19, 2020, latest data available. Note that the very small number of people screened every day at the national level out of a population estimated at 11.6 million citizens, does not statistically allow us to make a representative estimate of the situation in Haiti, which translates into a < B>number of daily confirmed cases largely underestimated. TOP 5 of the most affected municipalities in the West (2022): Delmas: 740 (+1); Petion-ville 624 (+3); Port-au-Prince 406 (+0); Tabarre 287 (+0); Cross-Bouquets 239 (+1) Confirmed cases by department (2022 / 2021 / 2020): West: 2022: 2,552 cases; (2021: 9.890); (2020: 6,945 cases) North: 2022: 267 cases; (2021: 664); (2020: 677 cases) Center: 2022: 226 cases; (2021: 1.001); (2020: 508 cases) Artibonite: 2022: 184 cases; (2021: 855); (2020: 593 cases) Northeast: 2022: 148 cases; (2021: 404); (2020: 314 cases) Southeast: 2022: 262 cases; (2021: 768); (2020: 274 cases) South: 2022: 214 cases; (2021: 891); (2020: 262 cases) North West: 2022: 255 cases; (2021: 383); (2020: 229 cases) Grand'Anse: 2022: 173 cases; (2021: 861); (2020: 176 cases) Nippes: 2022: 39 cases; (2021: 249) (2020: 149 cases) Cumulative deaths by department (2022-2021): West: 295 deaths (2020: 104 deaths) North: 54 deaths (2020: 34 deaths) Center: 79 deaths (2020: 13 deaths) Artibonite: 42 deaths (2020: 39 deaths) North East: 7 deaths (2020: 6 deaths) South: 51 deaths (2020: 6 deaths) Southeast: 15 deaths (2020: 9 deaths) North West: 15 deaths (2020: 12 deaths) Grand'Anse: 7 deaths (2020: 13 deaths) Nippes: 27 deaths (2020: 5 deaths) Distribution of deaths by age (since the start of the epidemic): 0-9 years: 15 deaths 10-19 years: 10 deaths 20-29 years: 31 deaths 30-39 years: 56 deaths 40-49 years: 80 deaths 50-59 years: 134 deaths 60-69 years: 187 deaths 70-79 years: 183 deaths 80 years and over: 137 deaths Vaccination: 163,369 Haitians (1.4% of the population) +2,205 in 6 days have received a 1st dose of vaccine since July 16, 2021, date of the first injection through 149 open vaccination centers and 111,914 Haitians are fully vaccinated (2 doses, 0.96% of the population) +1.585 in 6 days. Update March 22, 2022 latest information available (source MSPP). List of the 149 Vaccination Centers open in Haiti (and hours) by department: (updated October 20, 2021, latest information available) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-35051-haiti-covid-19-list-of-149-vaccination-centers-open-in-the-country.html DIASPORA: Epidemic situation : USA: *Cases since the first case (February 29, 2020): 81,813,515 cases (+33,012 in 24 hours), the day before (+39,781) *Healings: 65,382,991 healings (+146,151), the day before (+163,741) National Cure Rate: 79.91% (+) *Deaths: 1,007,989 deaths (+669), the day before (+875) National death rate: 1.23% (=) *Active cases (minus deaths and recoveries): 15,422,535 (-113,808), yesterday (-124,835) USA: Number of daily confirmed cases: (Day-1) Vaccination: 561.09 million doses of vaccine injected since December 14, 2020, the date of the first injection in the United States (+420,000 doses in 24 hours). Update April 1 (latest data available). DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Confirmed cases since March 1, 2020: 578,038 cases (+18 in 24 hours) the day before (+38 in 24 hours). First case (March 1, 2020) Healings: 573,524 healings (+79 in 24 hours), the day before (+76) National Cure Rate: 99.21% (=) Deaths: 4,375 deaths (+0), previous (+0) Death rate: 0.75% (=) Positivity rate over 4 epidemiological weeks: 0.91% (-) Active cases: (excluding deaths and recoveries) 139 cases (-61 in 24 hours) the day before (-38) Dominican Republic: Trend of active cases: (minus recoveries and deaths) (Day-1) TOP 5 Provinces with the most new cases in the last 24 hours: Santo Domingo: +5 new cases in 24 hours () Santiago: +5 new cases in 24 hours (=) Distrito Nacional: +3 new cases in 24 hours (-) Puerto Plata: +1 new cases in 24 hours () Duarte: +1 new cases in 24 hours () Vaccination: 15.51 million doses of vaccine injected since February 16, 2021, date of the first injection in the Dominican Republic (+10,000 doses injected in 24 hours). Updated April 1, 2022 (latest data available). QUEBEC: Confirmed cases since the first case (February 27, 2020): 970,951 (+3,182 in 24 hours), previous (+3,319) Healings: 931,800 people (+2,084 in 24 hours) previous (+1,206) Cure rate: 95.96% (-) Deaths: 14,382 (+17 in 24h) previous (+12) Death rate: 1.48% (=) Active cases: (excluding death and recovery) 24,769 cases (+1,081 in 24 hours), previous (+2,101) Quebec: Trend of daily confirmed cases (average weekly trend) Vaccination: 18,669,587 doses of vaccine injected since December 14, 2020, date of the first injection (+20,898 doses in 24 hours), latest data available - MSSS as of March 31, 2022) FRANCE: *Confirmed cases since the first case (January 24, 2020): 25,763,472 cases (+148,629 cases in 24 hours), previous (+169,311) *Heals: 23,311,315 heals (+72,170), previous (+72,250) National Cure Rate: 90.48% (-) Deaths: 142,407 (+134 in 24h), previous (+139) Death rate: 0.55% (=) Active Cases: 2,309,750 (+76,325), previous (+96,922) France: Number of daily confirmed cases (Day-1) Vaccination: 141.84 million doses of vaccine injected since December 27, 2020, date of the first injection in France (+60,000 doses injected in 24 hours. Update April 1, 2022 (latest data available) Previous bulletin : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-36321-haiti-diaspora-covid-19-daily-bulletin-742.html See also : https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30319-haiti-health-origin-of-the-first-2-cases-of-covid-19-in-haiti.html https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-30165-haiti-flash-first-case-of-covid-19-in-the-dominican-republic.html HL/ HaitiLibre By William Schwartz | Published on 2022/04/01 "Business Proposal" will be finishing its successful run this month. Though the romantic comedy had only just finished filming on March 17th, lead actor Ahn Hyo-seop won't be resting on his laurels. The popular actor has already been confirmed to be starting direct work on his next drama "A Time Called You" sometime in April. "A Time Called You" is based on the popular Taiwanese romantic drama "A Time Called You", which has been watched over a billion times worldwide. Advertisement The project is the latest from director Kim Jin-won-I, who has been responsible for such dramas as "Very Good Times" and "Remember You" over the years, with "Just Between Lovers" and "My Country: The New Age" being his most recent projects. Ahn Hyo-seop will be playing two roles- Yeon-joon in 2023, who meets an unfortunate fate, and his apparent duplicate Si-hyeon in 1998. Jeon Yeo-been will play the woman who encounters both men via a time slip. Multiple roles are nothing new to Ahn Hyo-seop, who played triple identitites in "Lovers of the Red Sky" last year. There he was at times an official government functionary, a deep undercover mystic, or the possessed spirit of the demon lord depending on the scene in question. With filming for all three dramas taking place with a single year, Ahn Hyo-seop is also showing himself to be an actor of tremendous work ethic. "A Time Called You" is expected to be released on Netflix sometime in 2023. Written by William Schwartz Login or sign up to follow actresses, movies & dramas and get specific updates and news Login Sign Up Email Password Password Username Your E-mail will only be used to retrieve a lost password. Stay logged in Help First UN aid convoy in 3 months enters war-ravaged northern Ethiopia Xinhua) 08:47, April 02, 2022 ADDIS ABABA, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) announced Friday evening that the first aid convoy in three months has entered Ethiopia's northern Tigray regional state. WFP Ethiopia said on social media that "13 trucks have arrived safely in Mekelle, capital of Tigray regional state." "More trucks and fuel will follow in the morning," it said, noting a need for daily convoys to meet the needs of 5 million people in the war-ravaged region. The arrival of the WFP aid convoy in Tigray came a week after the Ethiopian government and the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) conditionally agreed to a cessation of hostilities and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid into the region. The TPLF and the Ethiopian National Defense Force, backed by allied forces, have been engaged in a nearly 18-month conflict that has reportedly left tens of thousands of people dead and millions in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The Ethiopian parliament designated the TPLF as a terrorist organization in May 2021. (Web editor: Peng yukai, Liang Jun) French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have led Europe since the start of the Ukraine crisis compared to other leaders. Expert on French politics, Professor David Lees, spoke about the impact of leadership of these two from day one of the Russia- Ukraine conflict. Macron and Scholz have taken heat for others not being convinced they can sway Russian President Vladimir Putin. Macron Diplomatically Leads the EU The French president has played a crucial role in diplomatic efforts to end Russia's invasion of Ukraine, apparently speaking with President Vladimir Putin 17 times in the last four months, citing the Express UK. One goal of such engagement with Putin is to "disrupt his logic" while preserving a line of communication to discuss problems such as humanitarian passages and a potential route out of the conflict. Other diplomatic efforts have also seen him engage closely with US President Joe Biden and have a key role at last week's NATO emergency meeting. Another view is that the French leader in charge of the EU's rotating presidency naturally carries on those tasks. According to Dr. Lees, France is the leading figure in Europe due to the UK's departure from the bloc and Germany's leadership transition. This was reflected in its response to Putin's hostility. President Emmanuel Macron went on to say that things may have changed now, increase in military spending and a sense of seeking to be a leader in NATO, particularly in terms of armaments and other assistance to Ukraine, cited NATO. Read Also: Vladimir Putin Net Worth 2022: Does Anyone Know Russian President's Hidden Wealth? Furthermore, Macron got ahead of everyone in the first few months before the Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic special operations, with France leading Germany in diplomacy. Lees said that Macron is one of the loudest voices in Europe doing negotiations with Putin, noted Radio Free Europe. The Ukraine crisis brought about a chance for Macron to lead the EU. It was the circumstance that Berlin would lead and Paris not far behind; however, France was at the forefront this time. French Leader Macron Could Win Upcoming Elections Macron could win France's two-round general elections; scuttlebutt is that he might be the only one to get a second term in 20 years. While others rattled sabers, Paris would be reaching out to get a stop to the Ukraine incursion peacefully, which would give a boost to his image. It was similar to the support of British PM Margaret Thatcher during the Falklands conflict. The current French leader is campaigning with only two weeks left with a rally last Saturday. Macron's acceptance remarked that Dr. Lees is due to Paris as a world leader and an international statesman. It would benefit him in the next coming elections with a possible victory. He sees that no one does challenge the president in getting the keys to the official residence of French leaders. Suppose everything goes right for the incumbent French leader to show his worth on the world stage as a great leader. But far-right rival Marine Le Pen's campaign is getting traction on the French leader these days. French President Emmanuel Macron is one of the few EU leaders who have a line with the Kremlin, and suing for settlement gives him a boost at home, but has been scarred by his approach but still moves for resolution. Related Article: German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Disagrees With Bloc Members on Total EU Embargo, Calls To Cancel Russian Oil Ban @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. THIS years Chiltern Chase in Ewelme will raise money for Sue Ryder. The multi-terrain challenge, which features race distances of 5km, 10km and 15km, will take place on Sunday, June 12. It was created in 2006 by a group of runners who regularly met to run through Ewelme and has raised more than 100,000 for charity. Organiser and parish councillor Barry Tindall said: As regular runners in the area, we knew how beautiful it is so we created a course and held our first race. We have done it every year since, supporting around 10 different charities along the way, including the John Radcliffe Hospitals special care baby unit, the Thames Valley Air Ambulance and Mind. Every year half of our proceeds go to Ewelme Primary School. We have even helped raise funds for the village pavilion. We have wanted to support Sue Ryder for some time as the palliative care hub South Oxfordshire is local to us and the charity has looked after people we know. A lot of us know about the care Sue Ryder provides so were thrilled to be running the event to raise funds for them over the next two years. Mr Tindall added: We changed the route two years ago to make it less hilly and feedback from runners is that they really enjoy the scenic off-road course and the Ridgeway. Andrew Farrell, 44, who lives in the village, has taken part in the Chase almost every year. He said: It is a really great race and the atmosphere is brilliant. We start on the common and its such a family friendly fun day with a warm-up and music playing to get everyone going. Families of the runners are there to cheer everyone and there is often a bit of competition among the runners as they take on the final 20 yards, which all adds to the atmosphere. With 5km, 10km and 15km options through some stunning scenery, there is something for everyone. We even have Nordic walkers take part. The speed you go at really doesnt matter, it is the taking part that counts. You feel really good at the end knowing youre supporting a charity. This is a race for my local community in my local community that gives something back. Whether youre local to the area or not, theres a really warm welcome to everyone from anywhere who wants to join us. Meghan Bentley, community fundraiser at the Sue Ryder palliative care hub South Oxfordshire, said: Were absolutely thrilled to be charity partners for the popular Chiltern Chase for the next two years and want to thank the organisers for supporting us. Our care relies on the generosity of local people, communities and organisations raising vital funds, so your support makes all the difference. It means we can be there for more families when it matters, helping them to fill their precious last days with love and care. To sign up, visit www.chilternchase.org.uk Russian authorities have accused Ukrainian military forces of attacking an oil depot in the country with the use of an air raid on Friday morning as a United States official confirmed the strike. A Russian regional governor also said that two Ukrainian helicopters staged an attack on the fuel facility found in Belgorod, which is located 20 miles inside Russia's territory. Video footage of the area showed the storage tanks covered in flames. US Claims: Ukraine Attacks Russian Oil Depot The American official who confirmed that the Ukrainian helicopters were behind the attack said they also struck an ammunition depot in the same area. They said that officials in Washington were concerned about how Moscow would react to the alleged aggression. Many see the attack as a significant move by Ukrainian forces if it turns out to be true, but Ukrainian authorities have not yet claimed responsibility for the strikes. The situation comes as Russian forces continue to attack Ukrainian cities and are accused of blocking food and medical supplies from entering the besieged southern port city of Mariupol on Thursday, as per CBS News. Despite the confirmation by the U.S. official, Ukraine's top security official, Oleksiy Danilov, denied that his government's forces were behind the attack. Previously, Ukraine has not fired on Russian targets. Read Also: Russia-Ukraine War: Volodymyr Zelensky Fires 2 Top Generals, Calls Them 'Antiheroes' and 'Traitors' Belgorod Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov was the first one to accuse Ukraine of the strikes and later followed by Russian defense ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov who shared details. The latter said that the attack occurred at around 5:00 a.m. Moscow time. According to BBC, Konashenkov claimed that two Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters entered Russian airspace at extremely low altitude and "launched a missile attack on a civilian oil storage facility" on the outskirts of Belgorod. The official said that the attack damaged some storage tanks and caused the fire. Denying the Allegations Belgorod Mayor Anton Ivanov said that fire services had responded to the blaze and worked on extinguishing the last remnants. He said that the attack caused no threat to human life and health and noted that evacuated residents were allowed to return to their homes. Danilov said that, despite Russian accusations claiming it was Ukraine who was behind the attacks, information that was available contradicted the allegations. Previously, Ukrainian defense ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk did not confirm nor deny Ukrainian involvement in the strikes. But the official said that Ukraine had its hands full with defending against Russian aggression on the mainland and was not responsible for every catastrophe on Russia's territory. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin had been briefed regarding the incident. The official noted that the attacks could jeopardize Moscow's peace talks with Kyiv. On the other hand, Danilov rebutted by saying that while Peskov said the attacks could affect peace talks Russia continued to attack Ukraine's children and women. "These people are kind of sick," Danilov said, referring to Russian officials accusing Ukraine of aggression. Gladskov said that a second blast had damaged a power line found near the village of Nikolskoye but noted that no resident was hurt. He also posted pictures that showed a crater in a field that was presumably caused by the blast, Reuters reported. Related Article: Russian Troops Flee Chernobyl Amid Possible 'Acute Radiation Sickness,' Ukrainian Officials Claim @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has recently discovered the farthest star to ever be seen, but is it also the oldest one? The stunning view of the most distant individual star has made rounds in the astrology community and is thought to show the cosmic body that existed within the first billion years since the Big Bang. Farthest Star Ever Seen The recent finding is a major leap in discovery compared to the previous single-star record holder that Hubble discovered in 2018. At the time, astronomers found a star that existed when the universe was roughly four billion years old. Astronomers refer to the previous record-holder as "redshift 1.5," which is a term used to reference the "shifting" of light from distant objects as the universe expands. This causes the wavelengths to become longer and redder as they travel toward the Earth. Hubble is still rewriting the textbooks! The telescope observed the farthest individual star ever seen to date, nicknamed Earendel! Are you a content creator or just want to learn more about this discovery? You can find interviews and b-roll here: https://t.co/jO3V9rPO6y pic.twitter.com/v6OY2771Ti Hubble (@NASAHubble) April 1, 2022 Experts said that the newly detected star is so far away that it took light 12.9 billion years to reach our planet and was alive when the universe was only 7% of its current age, at redshift 6.2. Astronomers had only previously seen clusters of stars at similar distances while they were embedded inside early galaxies, as per NASA. Hubble made the discovery as part of its efforts of searching for some of the universe's farthest and oldest galaxies. Astronomers were able to find the star, which has been nicknamed Earendel, by coincidence within one of the galaxies. Read Also: Giant Blobs Inside the Earth Were Detected by Scientists Trying To Investigate Their Nature, How it Affects the Planet A graduate student at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, Brian Welch, who is also an author of a paper published Wednesday in the journal Nature that talked about details of the discovery, said that it was an unexpected surprise to find something so small. According to the New York Times, more often than not, cosmic objects that are too far from the Earth are too dim to be seen, but Einstein's theory of general relativity, which describes how gravity bends space, helps at times. A massive galaxy cluster nearby can sometimes act as a magnifying glass to amplify light from much more distant stars and galaxies behind to reach our planet. Oldest Star in the Universe The name of the new star found means "morning star" or "rising light" in Old English and it could be up to 50 times the mass of our sun and several million times brighter. Victoria Strait, a postdoc at the Cosmic Dawn Center, Copenhagen, who is also a collaborator and co-author of the study, said that old stars provide scientists with a glimpse of the past. In a press release, she said that peering into the cosmos allows humans to look back in time, with similar extreme high-resolution observations helping experts to understand the building blocks of some of the very first galaxies in the universe, CBS News reported. While Earendel is the farthest star ever seen, it is not the oldest, that title goes to another star named Methuselah. Earlier estimates from 2000 placed the age of the star at roughly 16 billion years old. Remember Earendel, the farthest star we announced this week? Its distance is the greatest of any individual star seen to date, but its not the oldest. The oldest known star with a well-determined age is Methuselah, which still exists, while Earendel likely died long ago. pic.twitter.com/3lFRhzPcqm Hubble (@NASAHubble) April 1, 2022 Related Article: Argon Gas Trapped in Ice Core From Antarctica Found To Exist in Ancient Earth Atmosphere, Study Says @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced plans to leave her current position and transfer to MSNBC sometime around May, prompting criticism over the "ethical" astuteness of her decision. For weeks, there have been speculations that the official was planning to leave the White House for a TV gig. More often than not, White House communications staffers negotiate TV careers after they have left an administration and not while they are still serving their posts. Jen Psaki Leaving the White House? Psaki has allegedly been in close consultation with the White House counsel's office regarding her departure, two sources familiar with the plans said. It was noted that the press secretary has been treading carefully on the ethics and legal aspects of her plans. Despite the rumors, no contracts have been signed regarding Psaki's transfer to MSNBC as government ethics rules have stipulations regarding how public employees can pursue private-sector job opportunities while in office. It is believed that she has not yet told the White House press team about her departure, an administration source said, as per Axios. Psaki's transfer to MSNBC will have her as the host for a show on the streaming platform Peacock, and she is also expected to appear on the network's shows. On the other hand, MSNBC officials declined to comment regarding the issue. One White House official declined to confirm Psaki's plans and added that the press secretary was working hard every day on behalf of United States President Joe Biden to get the answers to questions that Americans may have. Read Also: Biden Claims Putin Has 'Fired' or Placed Advisers Under 'House Arrest' Over Situation in Ukraine According to CNN, currently, there is no clear indication as to who will be replacing Psaki when she steps down from her post. While the White House declined to comment, deputy press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre is sure to be under consideration. Psaki was grilled by reporters after she refused to confirm the report that alleged she plans to leave the White House for MSNBC. The press secretary's response brought to question the ethics of the situation. Transferring to MSNBC Fox News White House Correspondent Jacqui Heinrich confirmed that the White House official was planning to transfer to the media outlet. MSNBC allegedly beat out CNN in a bidding war to acquire Psaki as a talent. When asked by a CBS reporter, Ed O'Keefe, if it was ethical for Psaki to continue her job at the White House while negotiating with a media outlet, the press secretary said, "Well, I have always gone over and above the stringent ethical and legal requirements of the Biden administration and I take that very seriously." Psaki said that she has received rigorous ethics counseling as it relates to any future employment because it was a standard for every employee at the White House. She noted that she had complied with all ethics requirements and went beyond them to make appropriate decisions. One reporter asked if it was part of White House policy to allow staffers to engage in discussions, whether directly or indirectly, with institutions that could affect their current post. Psaki said the policy ensures that any person who was having such conversations did so through consultation with the White House counsel's office, Fox News reported. Related Article: Joe Manchin Rejects Billionaire's Tax Urging Everybody To Pay Fair Share; Bernie Sanders Slams Senator For Nixing President's Plan @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Invasive Russian malware, specifically spyware masquerading as an Android app, was recently detected by cybersecurity researchers at Lab52. According to the researchers' report, the spyware is linked to the Russian state-backed hacking group, Turla, known for using custom malware to target European and American systems for espionage, per Bleeping Computer. The Google App Store no longer hosts the app in question for download as of the publication of this article. Turla Spyware Details According to Lab52's report, a warning appears informing an Android user about the permissions granted to the application. These include screen unlock attempts, locking the screen, setting the device global proxy, setting screen lock password expiration, setting storage encryption, and disabling cameras. Giving the app permissions will delete the app's icon from the screen and notify the user that it is running in the background. The suspected Russian spyware requires different permissions from the user, but the Process manager app itself will request the user to permit it to access 18 phone features. These are: Access coarse location Access fine location Access network state Access Wifi state Camera Foreground service Internet Modify audio settings Read call log Read contacts Read external storage Write external storage Read phone state Read SMS Receive boot completed Record audio Send SMS Wake log Read More: Instagram DM Upgrades, Adds 7 New Features to Compete With Other Apps The spyware also allows itself to be added to the phone's backup, share info with other apps and be accessed by the device, and access secret content. Bleeping Computer noted that these permissions, when granted, pose a critical risk to a user's privacy as it allows the app to track the device's location, send and read texts, and access the phone storage. The permissions will also let the hackers take pictures with the camera without the user knowing and record audio. It also speculated that the spyware is part of a larger system based on its command and control server infrastructure, per Android Police. It remains to be seen what implications a Russian connection to the malware entails. How to Get Rid of Spyware and Malware Android users must review app permissions already granted and revoke those that appear to expose them to privacy invasion and hacking, among other things. Avast also suggests using a spyware removal tool to remove hidden spies and remove all traces of them from people's Android devices. Although these tools come with antivirus apps, many of them may be fake apps and could even be malware or other spyware in disguise. Deleting suspicious apps can also save users from avoidable headaches in the future, per AVG. To do so, users should reboot their Android phones in safe mode to prevent third-party apps from running. After doing so, they should go to "Settings" and tap "Apps & Notifications" to access the info of the apps installed on the device. Tapping "Uninstall" on any app that looks suspicious will remove the troublesome app and spyware. Performing a factory reset is the last resort for compromised users as it wipes everything the phone has, including the spyware. Before doing so, Avast strongly suggests these people have a backup made before the spyware issues started happening to prevent loss of photos, apps, and other important data on the device. Related Article: BEWARE! These Fake Antivirus Apps on the Google Play Store Have a Banking Malware That Does Unauthorized Transactions A UT Health Houston doctor is helping develop a fully implantable blood pump, which early research shows may have reduced risks for contributing to strokes, infection and rehospitalizations than similar products already available. Dr. Richard Smalling, a cardiologist at UT Health in Houston, has spent nearly two decades helping develop the the Pulsatile Flow Torroidal Left Ventricular Assist Device. He will be in Washington, D.C., on Saturday to pitch the device at a national competition hosted by the American College of Cardiology and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. Dr. Alan Ulert came up with the pumps original design in 2003, but he was in his late 80s and retired, so he enlisted Smallings help. He told me he invented an artificial heart, Smalling said, And he wanted me to build it before he died. Smalling and others at the company he co-founded, Windmill Cardiovascular Systems in Austin, created a device that pumps at a slower speed than other pumps on the market, he said. The pump Smalling helped develop matches the patients heart beat and pumps at 70 to 110 revolutions per minute, compared with other devices that go at a set speed of 3,000 to 9,000 revolutions per minute. When the devices spin too fast over time it could damage the blood cells which result in bleeding complications, stroke and rehospitilazation. I think its going to be the future of artificial hearts, Smalling said. Current left ventricular assist devices, or blood pumps, on the market have been connected to a 32 percent risk of stroke, 41 percent risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, a 73 percent risk of infection and a 96 percent chance of rehospitalization after five years of use, according to the Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support, a national registry of devices used to treat advanced heart failure. Until the device is tested in humans, its difficult to say how much the pump Smalling helped develop will drive down the risks for these side effects, he said. So far, it has successfully worked in sheep and calves, and he is working to raise money so enough research can be done on the device for it to be implanted in humans. He estimates that it will take about two years and about $30 million dollars before it will be able to be tested in humans. Before the pump could gain approval from the Food and Drug Administration, much more testing and more money will be required, Smalling said. On HoustonChronicle.com: 50 years later, artificial hearts still mesmerize So far Smalling and Windmill Cardiovascular Systems have received about $15 million from angel investors and National Institutes of Health grants. Hes hoping the pitch competition will capture the attention of investors. We'll get exposure to a number of potential strategic partners and potential investors and so forth, Smalling said. It's been a long road, but it appears we are on the path to put the pump into humans and prove it's the right thing to do. Windmill Cardiovascular Systems is one of four companies in the competition, each chosen based on their level of innovation, business plan and potential to move the industry forward, said Dr. David Cho, chair of the American College of Cardiology Health Care Innovation Council. An early assistant in the pumps development believes it rises to the necessary level of innovation. Raul Longoria, a mechanical engineering professor at the University of Texas at Austin who worked on an early prototype from 2004 to 2006, said hed never seen anything like ite. He said hed only found one patent for a similar technology, and it was from 1920. No one else had ever conceived of such a pump, Longoria said. Much less built one. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Mike and Martha Flores clearly recall the last time they gathered for worship. It was March 8, 2020, and their Jehovahs Witnesses Kingdom Hall was full. Conversations touched on COVID-19, which was spreading in China at the time and starting to reach beyond. At the end of the day, we were elbowing each other. No hugs, Martha said. Its one of those days, youll never forget, Mike said. The Spring Branch couple did not know it would be their last in-person worship for two years. The Jehovahs Witnesses governing body quickly shut down all Kingdom Halls around the world, as well as public preaching. Even the denominations signature door-to-door ministry went on hold. We had to put our principles ahead of our preferences, said U.S. spokesman Robert Hendriks. There are more than 119,000 Jehovahs Witnesses congregations across the globe with more than 8.6 million members, according to its website. Hendriks said protecting the sanctity of life is a guiding principle for Jehovahs Witnesses, as well as love your neighbor as yourself. Living those principles meant that we had to make tough decisions, he said. That meant making worship virtual. Even the annual global conventions were held on Zoom. Instead of knocking on doors, members wrote letters, made phone calls and held Zoom Bible studies. Were in our 70s, and were not computer savvy, Martha Flores said. The couple asked their granddaughter to teach them Zoom. Now were experts, Flores said. COVID-19 LOCKDOWNS: Jehovahs Witnesses find new paths to connection for prison ministries Youre never too old to learn something new, her husband Mike added. And while he was grateful to have a way to continue meeting online, and to continue reaching others, there was always something missing. We had been longing to see our brothers and sisters, Martha said. Then, earlier this month, Mike got a notice on his JW Library app. In-person meetings were set to resume April 1. Im very happy, Mike said. We can see you in person, hug you and be thankful together. It makes a difference. He plans to wear a mask and remain cautious. Kingdom Halls, where members congregate, have added sanitizing stations and taken other measures to protect worshippers, such as adding touchless paper towel dispensers and water fountains. This happened at just the right time, Mike said. Weve been away from people going on two years. Being able to meet again, it will strengthen our feelings toward one another. It will unite us more. A rush of emotions Bola Owoeye also received word via the app that Kingdom Halls would reopen. He knows exactly when he learned March 9 at 12:18 p.m. As he opened the app, a friend texted him with the same news. You wonder, Is it true? Is he kidding me? Owoeye said. He texted his wife Yemi right away. I was at work when I saw his message, she said. I was so excited. I started jumping up and down. Owoeye also sent a text to his children Jola, 14, and Kanyinsola, 15, at school. It was a rush of emotions, Jola said. We get to go back. And then I thought, How is it going to work? Kanyinsola was thrilled at the idea of seeing friends again. I need new clothes and shoes, she said with a laugh. Its going to be great. The Owoeye family of Fort Bend County was ready for in-person services. This is something we all really missed, he said. As a family, we didnt even have to decide. We never even talked about it. It wasnt a question of whether well go back or not. Bola looks forward to joining in song with his fellow worshippers. Its very near and dear to me to hear others and praise God, he said. And the Kingdom Hall is a place to encourage and support others in ministry. For all these reasons and more, I am excited to be back in person, he said. FLASHBACK MARCH 2020: Abbott says churches can open again but many say they wont His son Jola said theres no substitute for being together with his Kingdom Hall family. Theres something about the mood when all your brothers and sisters are together, he said. Its very energizing. In time for the Memorial The return to in-person gatherings comes in time for the annual commemoration by Jehovahs Witnesses of Christs death, or Memorial, scheduled for April 15. This service is considered the most sacred, Hendriks said. Weve never canceled that, ever. When in-person meetings were halted in 2020, the Memorial quickly became virtual. We had faith it was going to happen, Hendriks said. It was more a question of how it was going to work. We had only been using Zoom for a couple of weeks. The denomination was able to quickly pivot to reach members in new ways. In countries where no internet was available, radio and television broadcasts filled the void. In total, about 20 million individuals around the world were able to participate. To find a way to come together, even virtually, to celebrate Christ was meaningful, especially in the beginning of the pandemic, Hendriks said. Coming back together The timeline for coming back together will happen in phases, Hendriks said. For instance, the door-to-door ministry will stay on hiatus. Throughout the pandemic, efforts to reach others have remained strong, he said, and attendance to virtual meetings was high. Hybrid meetings were piloted in Puerto Rico and Connecticut, where vaccination rates were high, Hendriks said. We cant livestream our meetings, he said. We dont only want our congregants to see us. We want to see them. Our meetings are discussion based. Protocols for reopening were sent to the 13,000 Kingdom Halls and 7,000 auditoriums throughout the U.S. branch, which have all been working around the clock to prepare for in-person gatherings. Theres a lot of joy, a lot of anxiety, Hendriks said. We want to see each other, but we know were still in a pandemic. We have to be careful. Hybrid worship will now allow Jehovahs Witnesses to have a choice, if they are ready to return in person or prefer to join from home. Zoom has made it possible to have spiritual discussions with small groups in breakout rooms, Hendriks said. Hendriks said John 13:35, where Jesus states, By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another, has been on his mind. Love is expressed in peace, he said. And the manifestation of peace is unity. To go back as a unified family and pick up where we left off, its just awesome. Peyton is a freelance writer based in Houston. Lapsus$ hacking group members, a few of them, have now been arrested. The City of London Police has confirmed that two of the seven people previously arrested and subsequently released are now officially charged with a crime in connection with the Lapsus$ hacking. The said London police force, in collaboration with its partners, has been conducting an investigation into members of the Lapsus$ hacking group for some time now. Lapsus$ Hackers Arrest Lapsus$ hackers that were arrested are now being charged. Police authorities in the U.K. reportedly arrested seven people aged 16 to 21 years old on March 25 that were allegedly connected to cyber threat group Lapsus$. However, a recently published statement from the City of London Police Detective Inspector Michael O'Sullivan provided an emailed statement in response to the questions surrounding the investigation and arrest of Lapsus$. O'Sullivan statement states: "The City of London Police has been conducting an investigation into members of a hacking group. Two teenagers, a 16-year-old and a 17-year-old, have been charged in connection with this investigation and remain in police custody." O'Sullivan explained: "Both teenagers have been charged with: three counts of unauthorised access to a computer with intent to impair the reliability of data; one count of fraud by false representation and one count of unauthorised access to a computer with intent to hinder access to data. The 16-year-old has also been charged with one count of causing a computer to perform a function to secure unauthorised access to a program." In addition, the City of London Police noted that the two teenagers will appear at Highbury Corner Magistrates Court on April 1, 2022. The police authorities have reminded the media that the suspects involved in this case are teenagers. Given the [circumstance, reports regarding their identification, address, school, and other personal information are in any matter prohibited by law. On the contrary, a recent report from Bloomberg stated that the suspected mastermind behind the Lapsus$ hacking organization is a teenager based in Oxford, United Kingdom. In the report, it has also been mentioned that the researchers tracked down the 16-year-personal old's information on the internet, and figured "White" and "Breachbase" are the online names he used. In another report here in iTech Post, "The 16-year-old alleged to be a Lapsus$ group leader was outed by rival hackers and angry business partners, who revealed his name, address, and social media pictures to authorities on a hacker website." Read Also: Google Chrome Security Update: CVE-2022-1096 a High-Severity Zero-Day Exploit Lapsus$ Hacking Lapsus$ hackers have been known in the cybersecurity and tech industry for being a fairly new group of threat actors. However, despite being new in the scene, Lapsus$ was able to hack into large and leading tech companies around the world. Lapsus$ came into the limelight this year after they hacked NVIDIA. The actors claim that they only want to help the gaming mining community by hacking NVIDIA. As previously reported, Lapsus$ demanded NVIDIA " to push an update for all GeForce RTX 30 Series Firmware, which will remove any restrictions placed by the company on the cards." After that, a series of hacking from Lapsus$ took place; Lapsus$ hacked Samsung, Ubisoft, Microsoft, and Globant. Microsoft also confirmed that they were indeed breached by Lapsus$, although the damage seems not to be that significant unlike the previous hacking in other companies. Microsoft's Threat Intelligence Center, Detection and Response Team, and Microsoft 365 Defender Threat Intelligence Team revealed that they have been investigating Lapsus$ closely. With that, Microsoft published a cybersecurity measure companies can practice in order to avoid, and mitigate, in cases where they might encounter Lapsus$. Related Article: Lapsus$ Not Yet Dead as Software Company Globant Becomes Latest Victim Paid parental leave is likely coming to Houston this spring for city employees, at least. And proponents of the plan hope it sends a message. We have a duty to normalize what we know is right for Houstonians and the city, said District C Council Member Abbie Kamin, speaking Friday about a new proposal to provide up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave to city employees. The plan is a top recommendation of the Houston Womens Commission, an initiative launched in 2021 that released its first report this week, after six months of work. It would give most city employees those with at least six months on the job up to 12 weeks of paid leave after they welcome a new child, whether by birth, adoption or foster placement. It would also provide for paid time off during pregnancy and for postnatal medical appointments. Beth Matusoff Merfish, the chair of the womens commission, describes the idea in a statement as an investment in women in the city of Houston one that would make employment by the city, for women, more accessible and welcoming. As it stands, city employees are not eligible for any paid parental leave, although they may take unpaid leave under the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. Compounding the challenge, for working parents, is the high cost of childcare. And even parents who can afford it may not be able to find a spot in a daycare easily. Im on a waitlist, volunteered Kamin. For a tour. Lets put an asterisk here: the plan hasnt yet been approved by city council. But it is is backed by Mayor Sylvester Turner, among others. As a father, I know how special it is to spend time bonding with a newborn and not have to feel distracted by work, Turner told me, adding that he knows city employees have faced such a dilemma directly. One story that comes to mind is that of one of my directors, a mother of three beautiful children. I recall that she worked late on a Tuesday and delivered her third baby early the following day. She saved her vacation and sick hours to take time off after delivery. The councils Quality of Life Committee will hold an April 7 hearing on the proposal, which will go before the full council on April 13. So there will be time to hear any questions or concerns that Houstonians may have. But what are those concerns, really? Some may believe that parental leave is a luxury, or analogous to a vacation, which most new parents would argue with exhausted, bleary eyes is emphatically not the case. More substantive concerns are likely to focus on costs, as Houstons overall budget comes under scrutiny. City Controller Chris Brown has been sounding the alarm about the fiscal challenges facing the city in the not-so-distant future as the federal funds that have helped prop up our structurally imbalanced budget go away. The overarching concerns that he and others have raised are real and worth taking seriously. At the same time, lets keep in mind that Houstons city budget for the current fiscal year is $5.1 billion. While the costs of this proposal would vary depending on how many eligible city employees take the leave, were not talking about something that would bust the budget. Indeed, a FAQ on the subject from Turners office notes that weve already accounted for the costs: The City is able to offer these new benefits with no budgetary impact to the City as the hours approved under this ordinance are already included in the annual budgeted personnel costs. Also worth noting is that paid parental leave, and other such policies, carry benefits that cant be quantified for employees and, by extension, their employer. No one takes a job planning to use bereavement leave, for example, but it helps to know if an employer is committed to supporting its workers in the face of loss and grief. This would be a timely move for the city of Houston. The need for policies supporting parents, children and families was laid bare by the pandemic. There was a push for 12 weeks of paid parental leave in Congress last year as part of President Joe Bidens Build Back Better Act, but that proposal got scaled back, and then died, amid concerns by centrist Democrats and Republicans about the larger programs cost. The most recent version would have included four weeks of paid family leave as well as new investments in childcare. I have always said, If I cant go back home and explain it, I cant vote for it, U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, the West Virginia Democrat whose opposition ultimately derailed the plan, said in a statement at the time. Despite my best efforts, I cannot explain the sweeping Build Back Better Act in West Virginia. Although the issue of paid parental leave is getting traction in some states, it remains a nonstarter at the Texas Legislature, unsurprisingly. State Rep. Gene Wu, a Democrat who represents part of west Harris County, notes that bills to this effect have been filed, only to never get a committee hearing. That being the case, Texas cities and counties have been stepping up. The city of Austin, for example, last month extended up to six weeks of paid parental leave for the citys police, fire and EMS employees; other city employees have had access to paid parental leave since 2013. (Travis County commissioners in February, similarly, passed a resolution for the county to develop a paid family leave policy for its employees.) For local leaders, such a policy is necessary from a competitive perspective, if nothing else. We can attract and retain talented and dedicated employees by offering some of the benefits provided in the private sector, Turner said. What are the costs of not doing it? Kamin, the Houston city councilmember, asked rhetorically. Because of the financial constraints of the city, we cannot pay (workers) the way that the private sector can, she continued. But we can do the right thing. We can offer the right benefits which show that we care, and that those committed to public service matter, and their families matter. Such a display would benefit the city, as well as employees. The nationwide unemployment rate soared into the double digits during the pandemic, only to plunge during the recovery: It now stands at 3.6 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Across the state of Texas, the unemployment rate is a bit higher 4.7 percent as of February, according to Texas Workforce Commission data. Still, employees here and across the country have real leverage at the moment. If workers want to use that leverage to advocate for paid parental leave, no one should begrudge them. Instead, employers including the city should recognize the benefits of such policies, and act accordingly. erica.grieder@chron.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate When Amirah Khan, 18, attended secular schools in College Station and North Texas, she didnt mind peers asking her why she wasnt eating or drinking as she sat in the cafeteria during the month of Ramadan. I actually enjoy talking about Ramadan, she said. Im able to educate them about my culture and faith, which made us grow closer. Houston-area educators are making accommodations for Muslim children who fast during the daylight hours of the month-long holiday that began Friday evening. Fasting, an act of worship in Islam, helps Muslims focus inward on their faith during Ramadan, but may cause students to struggle with focus and physical tasks. Thoughtful modifications to the school day may help many to successfully continue attending class, experts said. As an extremely diverse school district, we encourage our campus leadership to be culturally aware and meet the needs of their students, especially during periods of religious observances, said Sherry Williams, Fort Bend ISD spokeswoman. Campus principals, along with their school leadership teams, disseminate information and implement best practices for their students observing holy days such as Ramadan. Ramadan, the ninth month of the lunar calendar, is the holiest month in Islam. In the Islamic tradition, it was on the one of the last 10 days of Ramadan that God revealed the Quran to Muhammad. With more than 250,000 Muslim people in the Houston region, many students here observe the holiday. Muslims who have not yet reached puberty are not required to fast, however, some may choose to try. Younger children may also fast half a day to build up to the full day when they are older. Once kids enter high school, they often must pray during the school day. Muslims also must focus on controlling their emotions and being kind during the month, said Khan, which can be difficult in high-stress environments, such as school. In public school, there is conflict and chaos and turmoil, she said. I had to remind myself to control my temper and maintain respect for others. On HoustonChronicle.com: Houston food trucks to prepare, serve meals to refugees for Ramadan Roger Yelton, executive director of the Islamic Society of Greater Houston, said the organization issues notices to schools to educate administrators about the holiday. It also offers form letters for parents to request that their students to be relieved from physical activities, such as recess. The Houston, Alief, Alvin, Channelview, Friendswood and Katy ISDs also said they offer similar flexibility during Ramadan. NEWSLETTERS Join the conversation with HouWeAre We want to foster conversation and highlight the intersection of race, identity and culture in one of America's most diverse cities. Sign up for the HouWeAre newsletter here. HISD students requiring religious accommodations are encouraged to communicate and collaborate with their school administrators to establish necessary alternatives to foster a safe and inclusive learning environment, said Luis A. Morales, an HISD spokesperson. Accommodations will vary by school, based on available spaces and resources. Alvin ISD elementary students are allowed to do other activities during lunch and can substitute art or music for physical education class, if needed, spokeswoman Renae Rivas said. In middle and high schools, the district provides an alternative area for students who want to avoid the cafeteria during lunch. Channelview ISD spokeswoman Lila Hollin said the school system makes every effort to ensure students can continue learning in a way that will allow them to practice their religions traditions. Once a family makes us aware, campus principals and district leadership further discuss a learning plan that will suit the students needs during Ramadan, she said. Similarly, Katy ISD encourages families to work with their campus administrators so they can make the necessary accommodations and ensure all students feel safe and comfortable during the school day, said Maria Corrales Dipetta, spokeswoman for the district. On HoustonChronicle.com: For young Muslims, Ramadan is an adjustment Friendswood ISD offers excused absences for religious holidays if a parent decides it would be best for their child to stay home, said spokesperson Dayna Owen. Annette Khan, Amirahs mother, wishes public schools would do more to educate their communities about Islam and Ramadan. It should be a school-wide thing because teachers can easily dismiss it, the mother of seven said. Kids are affected most by their peers. Some (Muslim) kids will explain it, but others may not want to discuss it and might endure teasing. Though her peers were respectful of her religious practices, Amirah Khan said celebrating Ramadan in public school doesnt compare to her experience at the Houston private Islamic high school that she now attends. Everyone here grew up with fasting, she said. Being able to share that with everyone gives us something to relate to. Darul Arqam Academy North has an early dismissal time during Ramadan so kids may go home to nap before evening prayers. There is also a scheduled daily prayer at 2 p.m. year-round. Students also work toward another goal of giving back to the needy as much as possible, said Mohammed Raiyan, a 12th grader at the school. The schools mosque, like many others in the area, offers a free meal to break daily fasts during the holy month. Anyone who wants to join is welcome. The practice allows congregants to connect with their community and provide for them. Fasting is also meant to help Muslims understand the struggles others go through, such as food insecurity, said ninth grader Rawan Emad. Ramadan is a month of not just fasting, but of coming together and sharing with everyone, Amirah Khan said. I hope that Ramadan can bring us together as people and as citizens of our country because our diversity is what strengthens us. hannah.dellinger@chron.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate All three men suspected in the killing of off-duty Harris County sheriffs deputy Darren Almendarez are in custody and have been charged with capital murder, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez announced early Saturday. Frederick Tardy, 17, had been wanted for questioning in connection with the shooting of Almendarez, a 23-year veteran of the sheriffs office. Almendarez was off-duty Thursday night when he confronted three men in the parking lot of a grocery store who appeared to be stealing the catalytic converter of his truck. The men opened fire, Gonzalez said, fatally wounding the deputy. Almendarez was able to return fire and hit two of the men. Authorities say Joshua Stewart, 23, and Fredarius Clark, 19, were later arrested at a hospital. One was listed in stable condition; the other was listed in critical condition. A magistrate has ordered that Stewart be held without bail pending a review Monday in the 177th District Court. Bail has not been set for the two other defendants. The Harris County District Attorneys Office filed motions Friday to deny bail for Stewart and Clark, pointing out that both men could face the death penalty if convicted. Court records show that Stewart was previously charged in September 2019 with unlawfully carrying a weapon. Judge Andrew Wright dismissed the misdemeanor charge because the case lacked probable cause. When that happens, prosecutors can refile the charge when more evidence is gleaned. That did not happen in this case. Clark was convicted in November 2020 of a misdemeanor criminal trespassing charge. A second misdemeanor charge of unlawful carrying a weapon with police alleging that he had a 30-round clip at his apartment complex was dismissed. Court records indicate prosecutors believed the case lacked probable cause. Tardy is also expected in court Monday. He has no known criminal history in Harris County. Lawyers have not yet been appointed for or hired by any of the defendants. Gonzalez called Almendarez a hero and thanked the community for its outpouring of support. Gov. Greg Abbott said the state of Texas would offer all resources necessary to bring justice for the fallen deputy and his family. County Judge Lina Hidalgo said she was absolutely heartbroken by the death of Almendarez. And Mayor Sylvester Turner said: It is a terrible day when a family trip to a grocery store ends in violence and loss of life. Almendarez is survived by his wife, Flor Zarzoza, and a teenage daughter. john.tedesco@chron.com Regarding Rebuild of I-45 will cost $750M more than expected as work is changed, delayed, (March 30): My jaw dropped to the floor when I read in that the I-45 rebuild project might cost up to $9 billion. Do we really want to spend that kind of money just to make it easier for commuters from The Woodlands and points north to drive to Houston in the morning, go to work downtown and then drive home in the evening? Did we learn nothing from the expansion of the Katy Freeway, which becomes a virtual parking lot during the a.m. and p.m. rush hours? Think of all the mass transit projects that could be funded with that kind of money. Think of all the neighborhood homes, schools and churches that will be negatively impacted (and many destroyed). I wish we had more leaders at the local, state and federal levels who would come up with some creative transportation ideas instead of repeating the same mistakes year after year. Bill Wilson, Houston Don't let TxDOT fool you. It tries to buffalo the City of Houston by saying the price is rising due to delays. These delays are TxDOT's fault because it did not deal with the public seriously about social and environmental problems. TxDOT also said over 10 years ago that the I-10 expansion was going to cost around $1 billion, but the cost ballooned to over $2 billion. As long as we have a highway agency with little or no oversight and more money than God well get ridiculous cost overruns, ugly and unneeded roads, and more air and water pollution. Brandt Mannchen, Houston Its all relative Regarding Property tax cut, (March 31): In Mike Beck's letter, he states hes against either proposed amendment to cut property taxes because it would be a threat to educational funding and the elderly are on average the wealthiest age group. Education in Texas will always be funded, and probably for the most part by the homeowner. The property tax fund bucket continues to fill since appraisals rise year after year. My tax rate was frozen at age 65. But that didnt stop the tax bill from increasing every year due to the appraisal districts opinions (I do protest annually). Do the statistics showing the elderly as the wealthiest group include the disabled as well? There are too many stories where the elderly on fixed incomes are close to being forced from their homes due to large tax increases over a period of time. Dave Lieber, writing in the Dallas Morning News, has clarified the wording of Proposition 1. Do you approve of people who are disabled or over 65 who have frozen school property tax bills getting their school tax lowered year after year because state funding for school districts is increasing and picking up the difference? We are not talking about huge amounts being saved by each property owner, but every little bit can help. Both Prop. 1 and Prop. 2 have my support. Rich Krekeler, Tomball In his letter to the editor regarding the upcoming vote on proposed amendments for lowering property taxes, Mr. Beck tells us that older people have plenty of money and dont need such tax relief. Apparently my banker has been lying to me for a very long time about my wealth. Harold Young, Cypress As on any ordinary evening, Joe Campos Torres visited an East End cantina on May 5, 1977. Joe was a proud Latino, Second Ward resident and Army veteran. But, this was not an ordinary evening. An altercation developed inside the cantina. Officer M. G. Oropeza, who was nearby, was informed of the fight, and he requested backup. Soon after entering the cantina, he was joined by two other officers who had been patrolling the area; four more officers, responding to the call for backup, also joined them. Campos Torres was soon arrested for disorderly conduct. The following hours were so horrific that they dont even seem real. Oropeza stayed behind, while the other six officers took Campos Torres to a hidden area along Buffalo Bayou known as The Hole. The officers beat and tortured him without mercy.. The officers finally took him to jail for processing. He was so abused that the jailers refused to process him and insisted that Campos Torres be immediately taken to the hospital. He was never taken to a hospital. On HoustonChronicle.com: 'I can hate no more': Mother of Joe Campos Torres, vet killed by Houston police, breaks decades of silence The officers instead took Campos Torres back to The Hole. There, he was beaten further, hands tied behind his back, and thrown into the bayou. His disfigured body was found three days later, on Mothers Day. Imagine the horror felt by his mother and the rest of the family. Imagine the pain that returns every Mothers Day. In 1977, we did not have cell phones to record abuse, nor did we have social media to spread the word. Nevertheless, two officers Terry Denson and Stephen Orlando were tried in a courtroom in Huntsville by an all-white jury and were found guilty of negligent homicide. In the testimony, it was discovered that one officer said lets see if the wetback can swim as Campos Torres near lifeless body was tossed into the bayou. Their sentence for assaulting and killing a proud army veteran was probation and a $1 fine. How can the value of a veterans life be just $1? Naturally, the community was outraged which led to multiple protests. Through the incredible work of LULAC and other Latino leaders, a second trial was held; several officers were found guilty and given a ten-year suspended sentence. Denson and Orlando were convicted of assault and sentenced to nine months in federal prison. On the one-year anniversary of his death, the Moody Park Riots took place. It is not critical race theory to remember the terrible events of 1977. It happened and it is real. The family has spent 44 years trying to get the proper acknowledgment of this dark moment in Houstons history. Their quest is not for personal gain and certainly not for defunding the police. Rather, they desire to enlighten society, so it never happens again; so no other family must endure generational hurt. In fact, Campos Torres nephew, Richard Molina, has been a thoughtful spokesperson for the family, dedicating most of his time to activism and police reform. This has included countless hours talking with young police cadets to improve their understanding of a healthy relationship between the police and the community. On HoustonChronicle.com: Renowned architecture firm designs $6M memorial for Joe Campos Torres, killed by Houston police in 1977 This Saturday at 1 p.m. at 1301 Commerce, Houston celebrates the life of Joe Campos Torres as a city marker and beautiful banner are unveiled at the very location where he took some of his last breaths. Immediately after the formal ceremony, Little Joe y la Familia will play a free concert. Most importantly, the family will be there including Campos Torres mother Margaret Torres, his sisters Janie Torres, Sandra Torres, and Margaret Gutierrez, as well as other extended family. A few family members will address the crowd and hopefully bring sunlight to a dark moment on Houstons history. Gilbert Andrew Garcia is the managing partner of Garcia Hamilton & Associates, served as the chair of the METRO board from 2010-16 and is a member of LULAC Chapter. This piece was written with the assistance of Richard Molina. A passer-by takes a photo of a graffiti mural showing the slap-in-the-face scene, which took place at the 2022 Academy Awards ceremony, near a wall at Mauerpark in Berlin, April 1. EPA-Yonhap Will Smith resigned Friday from the Motion Picture Academy following his Oscars night slap of Chris Rock and said he would accept any further punishment the organization imposed. Smith in a statement released Friday afternoon said he will ''fully accept any and all consequences for my conduct. My actions at the 94th Academy Awards presentation were shocking, painful, and inexcusable.'' Film academy president David Rubin said Smith's resignation was accepted. ''We will continue to move forward with our disciplinary proceedings against Mr. Smith for violations of the Academy's Standards of Conduct, in advance of our next scheduled board meeting on April 18.'' Smith loses voting privileges with his resignation. But there are other, less tangible benefits to being part of the academy, Hollywood's most prestigious organization: It bestows industry credibility on its members. It's invitation only, and with a once-a-year membership review. ''I betrayed the trust of the Academy. I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work,'' Smith's statement said. ''I am heartbroken. I want to put the focus back on those who deserve attention for their achievements and allow the Academy to get back to the incredible work it does to support creativity and artistry in film. ''Change takes time and I am committed to doing the work to ensure that I never again allow violence to overtake reason,'' Smith concluded in the statement. The resignation came two days after the academy's leadership board met to initiate disciplinary proceedings against Smith for violations against the group's standards of conduct. Those proceedings could have resulted in suspension or expulsion, and it was not immediately clear what additional punishment he could face. Had he been expelled, Smith would have joined a small group of men removed from the academy: Harvey Weinstein, Roman Polanski, Bill Cosby and the actor Carmine Caridi, who was kicked out for sharing awards screeners. On Sunday, Smith strode from his front-row Dolby Theatre seat on to the stage and smacked Rock, who had made a joke at the expense of Smith's wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. Moments later, he went on to win the best actor award for his role in ''King Richard.'' Rock, who was about to present Oscar for best documentary, declined to file charges when asked by police. He has only briefly addressed the attack publicly, saying at one comedy concert in Boston this week that he was still ''kind of processing what happened.'' Smith stunned Rock, the theater crowd and viewers at home when he took the stage after Rock joked: ''Jada, I love you. 'G.I. Jane 2,' can't wait to see it.'' Pinkett Smith, who has spoken publicly about her hair loss condition, alopecia, had a closely shaved head similar to that of Demi Moore in the original movie. After Smith's attack, he returned to his seat and angrily twice shouted at Rock to ''get my wife's name out your (expletive) mouth.'' When Smith took the stage again less than hour later to accept his Oscar, he tearfully apologized to the academy but notably omitted any mention of Rock. The fallout was immediate and intense. Smith had supporters for coming to his wife's defense, but he was widely condemned for responding with violence and for marring both his long-sought Oscar victory and overshadowing the night's other winners. That included Ahmir ''Questlove'' Thompson, director of the winning documentary, ''Summer of Soul,'' and the film's producers. They claimed their awards in the unsettled moments following Smith's attack and outburst, when the room's attention was shattered. Before the disruption, the ceremony had represented a reset from the pandemic-constrained versions of the past two years. It was back in its home theater, boasted a trio of well-received female hosts Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes and had tallied several breakthrough winners. Among them were ''West Side Story'' star Ariana DeBose, the first Afro-Latina and openly LGBTQ actor to win in the category of best supporting actress, and Troy Kotsur of ''CODA,'' the first deaf male actor to win the supporting actor prize. The night ended with ''CODA'' being crowned best picture, a landmark achievement for a streaming service and for a film with a largely deaf cast. (AP) April 2 is my Alive Day. When military and veterans talk about their Alive Day, its typically a commemoration of the day that they survived death in combat. My Alive Day marks the date that I was not killed by a mass shooter. Eight years ago, a soldier at Fort Hood embarked on a shooting spree that resulted in the murder of three service member and injuries to many others. While the shooter and the three men he killed were all in military uniforms, this was not an act of war. Rather, this was another chapter in the growing saga of gun violence in America. I knew two of the murdered soldiers well. I was working alongside Sgt. Timothy Owens on the day of the shooting; he was a dedicated team leader in my platoon. Sgt. First Class Daniel Ferguson was a hard-working, professional soldier with whom I had the pleasure of working in a past assignment. I did not have the privilege of knowing Staff Sgt. Carlos Alberto Lazaney-Rodriguez. As a veteran, I am often thanked for my service. Yet, I dont consider my service to be complete. I am no longer in active service, but I am still compelled by a duty to protect my fellow Americans this time, from the ongoing epidemic of gun violence. We know how to handle guns in the military. We follow the three pillars of military gun culture: training, safety and accountability. Every soldier knows to keep their weapon locked and unloaded until its ready for use, with strict accountability for every firearm, including regular checks by staff duty officers. The military takes these steps to reduce the number of soldiers killed or wounded on duty. Civilian America is vastly different. Dozens of states have no law requiring gun owners to safely secure their guns or even a law requiring a background check on all gun sales, including those arranged online making it easier for convicted criminals and domestic abusers to get their hands on guns. The shooter eight years ago bought his gun off-base, from the very same store that five years prior another shooter bought a weapon from, used in the 2009 mass shooting at Fort Hood. Instead of strengthening our gun laws, in Texas last year, politicians went even further, passing permitless carry which allows anyone to carry a handgun in public without a permit, which required a background check and safety training. This lack of oversight does not make us more free as a society, it makes us less safe. Just a few months into this year, there have already been at least 51 unintentional shootings by children with guns, resulting in 17 deaths, and roughly 70 percent of veteran suicides are by gun. If you are one of the many Americans who greet veterans with a hearty, Thank you for your service, what actions will you take to honor the lives of our brothers lost at Fort Hood? We need common-sense gun laws, like universal background checks on all gun sales. If you are a gun owner, practice and promote a culture of weapons safety, including secure gun storage. We cant stay quiet when dangerous laws like permitless carry put us at risk. None of these steps threaten the rights laid out in the Second Amendment rights that I believe in and served to protect. In fact, in states where these gun safety laws are already in effect, they are helping to save lives. The data is irrefutable: States with weaker gun laws have higher rates of firearm-related homicides and suicides. There is no magic cure for gun violence, but common-sense gun laws save lives. We owe it to our loved ones to create a society where people feel safe from this epidemic that is harming our fellow Americans every day. I owe it to Timothy, Daniel and my country to work for a significant reduction in all forms of gun violence. Johnston is an Army veteran who served as a platoon leader during the 2014 mass shooting on Fort Hood. The views expressed in this article are his alone, and do not reflect the United States military or Department of Defense. Thank you for reading! Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue. The United States imposed fresh sanctions Friday on five North Korean entities involved in the North's recent missile tests that included its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch in over four years. The five entities include the North's Ministry of Rocket Industry (MoRI), according to the Department of the Treasury. "Today's action targets a DPRK WMD research and development organization that is directly linked to the development of new ICBMs, along with four of its revenue-generating subsidiaries," the department said in a press release. DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. North Korea launched an apparent ICBM last Thursday, ending its self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile testing that had been in place since November 2017. The treasury department noted two North Korean missile tests, staged Feb. 27 and March 5 (KST), had also been related to testing a new ICBM system, as earlier identified by the U.S. intelligence community. "The DPRK's provocative ballistic missile tests represent a clear threat to regional and global security and are in blatant violation of UN Security Council resolutions," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said, according to the department. "The United States is committed to using our sanctions authorities to respond to the DPRK's continued development of weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles," she added. The five entities added to the Office of Foreign Assets Control's list include four subsidiaries of the North Korean rocket industry ministry Hapjanggang Trading Corporation, Korea Rounsan Trading Corporation, Sungnisan Trading Corporation and Unchon Trading Corporation. "These trading companies have pursued various activities likely aimed at generating revenue for MoRI," said the press release, adding that such activities included establishing joint ventures in North Korea, pursuing large-scale projects with Chinese firms and exporting North Korean labor. (Yonhap) A health worker in protective gear prepares for visitors at a temporary COVID-19 screening clinic in Seoul, March 31. AP-Yonhap Korea's new daily COVID-19 cases remained below 300,000 for the second consecutive day Friday as the spread of the Omicron subvariant slows after peaking out last month. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 264,171 infections, including 68 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 13,639,915. The country has seen a downward trend in new cases in recent weeks, following an all-time high of over 620,000, March 17 dipping to a nearly one-month low of 187,182 last Sunday. A total of 339 additional deaths were recorded, raising the total toll to 16,929 for a fatality rate of 0.12 percent. A private member bill was introduced in Lok Sabha to legalise same-sex marriage, and provide the same legal rights to married LGBTQIA couples which heterosexual couples are entitled to. NCP MP Supriya Sule introduced the private member bill in Lok Sabha. Another private member bill was also introduced on a similar issue by DMK MP DNV Senthilkumar S which talked about providing rights to LGBTQIA persons to enable them to live with human dignity. What the bill says The bill introduced by NCP MP Supriya Sule proposes to amend the Special Marriage Act, 1954 to solemnise such marriages and proposes to fix the age of marriage at 21 years in case both parties are males and 18 years in case both are females. Introduced The Special Marriage (Amendment) Bill (2022) in the Parliament aims to provide Equal Marriage rights to #LGBTQIA+ individuals. pic.twitter.com/B7ww9XJ6sL Supriya Sule (@supriya_sule) April 1, 2022 It also proposes to replace the words husband and wife with spouse by amending the various sections of the Special Marriage Act, 1954. In the statement of 'Objects and Reasons' of the bill, Sule said that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (questioning), intersex, and agender (LGBTQIA) individuals still face "persecution, discrimination and social stigma within society". In 2018, the Supreme Court of India struck down section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and decriminalised homosexuality. PTI Citing another Supreme Court judgement, Sule said even after the determination of their sexual orientation, "LGBTQIA individuals are still unable to marry and raise their own families". "Fight for their rights" Underlining that LGBTQIA couples have no access to rights that heterosexual couples are entitled to upon marriage, such as succession, maintenance and pensions, etc, she said, "Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to amend the Special Marriage Act, 1954, to legalise same-sex marriage, and provide legal recognition to married LGBTQIA couples." It will ensure that Article 14 and Article 21 of the Constitution are upheld, and that LGBTQIA couples are provided the rights they are entitled to, she said. What is a private member bill? A private member bill is a draft legislation introduced by any MP who is not a minister. Such bills very rarely see the light of the day unlike a 'Government Bill', which a Union minister introduces. Agencies So far, only 14 private members' bills have been passed, with six being cleared in 1956 alone. For more on news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News. Google Docs intends to add more nuance to its suggestions to people while writing. Going beyond basic grammar and spelling errors, Google Docs will now suggest people how to make their writing more concise, active, and inclusive. In addition, the company will also warn people against using inappropriate words, Google announced in a blog post. The six new additions are: Word choice: More dynamic or contextually relevant wording Active voice: Active rather than passive voice Conciseness: More concise phrases Inclusive language: More inclusive words or phrases Word warnings: Reconsidering potentially inappropriate words Google says that these suggestions will appear with a purple underline. Once you select the underline, Google Docs will show a small description of the suggestions - which the user could accept or reject. Google "Youll see suggestions when there are opportunities to structure a sentence with an active voice or when a sentence can be more concise, helping to make your writing more impactful. Potentially discriminatory or inappropriate language will be flagged, along with suggestions on how to make your writing more inclusive and appropriate for your audience," Google wrote. Google Also read: Google's AI Has Reduced Racy Results For Content That Sexualises Ethnicities By 30% The new additions will begin appearing on Google Docs over the coming days. If you are on the Rapid Release domain, the feature began rolling out for you on March 31. For other users with default Scheduled Release setting, the features will be available starting April 14. Of course, there's a catch. If you're on a basic Google plan like Google Workspace Essentials, these features will not be available to you. You can check if you're eligible here. Unsplash Also read: Google's Health AI Expert On How Smartphone Will Hold The Key To Our Well-Being Services like Grammarly already offer such functionalities. In fact, Grammarly is able to integrate Google Docs to improve the quality of your writing. What do you think about Google new efforts to make Google Docs more riveting? Let us know in the comments below. For more in the world of technology and science, keep reading Indiatimes.com. The pilots on a Delta Air Lines flight from Salt Lake City to Washington DC decided to make an emergency landing after the cockpit window "spontaneously" shattered mid-air. The picture of the damaged windshield was posted on Twitter by a passenger who was onboard the flight. The photo shows the right side of the cockpit windshield shattered. Delta Air Lines They came on the loudspeaker saying that the windshield had shattered, and we were diverting to Denver in about 10 minutes. I was sure I had misheard them but I hadn't, Rachel Wright, one of the 198 passengers on the plane, told KUTV. The crew announced the diversion about 90 minutes into the flight and asked the passengers to stay calm. We were on our way to the ACC meeting when it was announced that we we would need to make an unplanned landing in Denver because the windscreen cracked. Apparently it was spontaneous. Fortunately, we landed safely and are about to get back in air. We are grateful for safe flights pic.twitter.com/lK6kq5UiY2 Kirk Knowlton, MD (@KirkKnowlton) March 31, 2022 "They kept coming on saying for everyone to stay calm, to be calm, and we were calm so being told to stay calm while we were calm made us feel a little panicky," Wright said. "I'm really good at playing 'what if?' And so, my mind goes to, kind of, what could have happened, worst-case scenario, and I'm grateful. It could have been really bad. It could have gone very differently," Wright added. Delta Air Lines Delta spokesperson Anthony Black confirmed the "windshield crack" but said the cause had not been determined. "Out of an abundance of caution, the flight crew diverted into Denver and the plane landed routinely. Our team worked quickly to accommodate customers on a new plane, and we sincerely apologize for the delay and inconvenience to their travel plans," an airline statement said. Passengers boarded a new plane in Denver and continued on to Washington. For more trending stories, click here. This photo provided by the union of Hyundai Heavy Industries shows the site of an explosion that killed one worker at the company's shipyard in the port city of Ulsan, April 2. Yonhap A worker was killed Saturday in an explosion at a shipyard of Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. in the port city of Ulsan, 415 kilometers southeast of Seoul, according to police. The employee in his 50s, hired by a subcontractor, was cutting steel plates with oxy-fuel gas when the blast occurred at 7:48 a.m. at the yard of the world's largest shipbuilder. He fell unconscious and was sent to a hospital, but he was declared dead, according to police. Other workers at the scene were not injured. Police are investigating to determine the cause of the explosion. About 30,000 employees of Hyundai Heavy and partner companies work at the shipyard in Ulsan. The labor ministry ordered the shipbuilder to suspend work in the section where the accident occurred and began an inquiry into whether the company followed safety rules under the serious industrial accident act. Under the law, owners and CEOs of companies with five or more employees can face a minimum one-year prison sentence or a fine of up to 1 billion won (US$819,830) in the event of accidents that cause death or serious injury. The act went into effect Jan. 27, while workplaces with less than 50 employees were given a two-year grace period. On Jan. 24, a Hyundai Heavy employee was killed after being crushed by steel plates while moving them using remote-controlled cranes. Hyundai Heavy's union issued a statement slamming the company over repeated accidents and calling for a thorough probe. "The accident occurred because corrective measures were not taken despite frequent large and small explosion accidents." the union said. The union plans to file a complaint against management and request the labor ministry suspend entire work at the shipyard. Hyundai Heavy expressed regret and vowed all-out efforts to prevent a recurrence. "The company will cooperate with related agencies to determine the exact cause and details of the accident and will make every effort to come up with measures to prevent a recurrence," Hyundai Heavy said in a press release. (Yonhap) Products What are the Main Properties and Uses of Inconel718 U.S. natural gas futures rose about 5 percent to a near nine-week high as global energy prices surged on concerns over a pricing plan for energy exports, keeping U.S. LNG export demand near record highs. U.S. natural gas prices have risen despite forecasts of mild weather and lower-than-expected demand, which will allow utilities to fill up storage facilities next week. On Wednesday, Germany launched an emergency plan to manage gas supplies in Europe's largest economy. If natural gas supplies are interrupted or stopped, the German government could take unprecedented steps to limit electricity supply. Affected by the increase in the price of natural gas, the price of the Alloy Inconel718 will also increase. What is Nickel-based Super Alloy Inconel718: Inconel 718 or In718 is a nickel-chromium-molybdenum alloy. It is an oxidation-resistant and corrosion-resistant material ideal for use in extreme environments under pressure and heat. In718 was invented in the early 1960s in INCO Huntington Alloys (now Special Metals Co.) and used in turbine parts manufacturing. Since then, In718 has become the most widely used nickel-based superalloy in the history of aero-engines. The unique alloy composition of In718 enables it to have good comprehensive properties, namely high strength, creep resistance, etc. Especially under 650, it has good stability in terms of mechanical properties. 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Various complex-shaped parts can be produced with Inconel718, and thus Inconel718 is widely used in aerospace, nuclear energy, petroleum industry, and extrusion die in the above temperature range. Applications of Nickel-based Super Alloy Inconel718: Chemical processing;Gas turbine blades, seals, and combustors;High-temperature fasteners;Pressure vessels;Aerospace industry, for constructing heat resistant turbines;Low-temperature storage tanks;Nuclear energy industry;Petroleum industry. About KMPASS KMPASS is a trusted global chemical material supplier & manufacturer with over 12 years experience in providing super high-quality chemicals and Nanomaterials. The company export to many countries, such as USA, Canada, Europe, UAE, South Africa, Tanzania,Kenya,Egypt,Nigeria,Cameroon,Uganda,Turkey,Mexico,Azerbaijan,Belgium,Cyprus,Czech Republic,Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Dubai, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia,Germany, France, Italy, Portugal etc. As a leading nanotechnology development manufacturer, KMPASS dominates the market. Our professional work team provides perfect solutions to help improve the efficiency of various industries, create value, and easily cope with various challenges. If you are looking for Inconel718 powder, please send an email to: sales2@nanotrun.com or contact us. The negative electrode material is the carrier of lithium ions and electrons during the charging process of the battery and plays the role of energy storage and release. In the battery cost, the negative electrode material accounts for about 5%-15%, which is one of the important raw materials for lithium-ion batteries. The global sales of lithium battery anode materials are about 100,000 tons, mainly in China and Japan. According to the current growth trend of new energy vehicles, the demand for anode materials will also show a state of continuous growth. At present, the global lithium battery anode materials are still dominated by natural/artificial graphite, and new anode materials such as mesh carbon microspheres (MCMB), lithium titanate, silicon-based anodes, HC/SC, and metal lithium are also growing rapidly.Our company provides anode materials and Alloy Inconel718s. If you need to know more anode materials and Alloy Inconel718s, please feel free to contact us. Inquery us One morning in May 2019, Irish actor Conleth Hill woke to discover he was a global headline. Hill, who had achieved international fame in his mid-40s playing whisper-voiced courtier Varys in Game of Thrones, had expressed his mild frustration in an interview over the manner in which his character had been sidelined as the fantasy blockbuster hurtled toward the finish line. The remarks set the internet aflame. People jumped on the comments as proof Hill agreed with the rapidly-forming consensus that Game Of Thrones was making the mother of messes of its big denouement. One of the things I said was I felt which is one of the things about being in a multi-character. piece of work is that if they chose to go with other characters there is nothing I can do about it. I wasnt bad-mouthing them, says Hill. I was always satisfied with what I got. I preferred [ Game of Thrones] when it was smaller. That doesnt mean I hated it when it was bigger. Everyone had invested so much in it. I had no problem with people not being happy about it. I had a problem when they went for the two show runners [David Benioff and DB Weiss]. It was very personal. Youre allowed your opinion. Dont have a go at them, thats all. Conleth Hill as Varys in Game of Thrones Game of Thrones changed Hills life. But of course the world keeps spinning even after youve appeared in the biggest TV smashes of all time. And for the Co Antrim-raised actor that next chapter has involved crossing the length of Ireland to star in an adaptation of Graham Nortons 2016 small-town murder mystery, Holding. Holding comes to Virgin Media One after debuting on ITV to positive reviews. The Guardian hailed its charm; the London Times praised the well drawn characters. Yet for all that praise Holding doesn't quite reinvent the wheel. Here is a whodunit set in one of those quaint rural idylls where secrets lurk everywhere and nobody is as they appear. And when human remains turn up unexpectedly on abandoned land, years of closely guarded secrets begin to unravel. The idyll in this case Duneen, a fictional West Cork town that feels like an amalgam of Schull, Drimoleague (where it was filmed) and Nortons native Bandon. The Cork accents are, it has to be said, occasionally wonky (imagine a Dublin standup comedian 'doing' a Cork accent and then multiply by five). Holding is nonetheless great fun and a showcase for a cast that also includes Brendan Fricker, Corks Siobhan McSweeney (from Derry Girls), Peaky Blinders Charlene McKenna and theatre actor Olwen Fouere. Clinton Liberty and Conleth Hill in Holding. Picture: ITV Yet it is Hill who holds it together, playing a character who could not be more different from Game Of Thrones shrewd, manipulative Varys. Eccentric Garda PJ Collins is a cross between Benny Hill and Kate Winslet in Mare of Easttown: an outwardly wacky figure whose absurd exterior conceals an undertow of seriousness, even sadness. I read the novel when it first came out. I got it for Christmas or something. I remember thinking, 'oh, that's an amazing part'. A real, flawed, ordinary man in an extraordinary situation. I remember at the time commenting on that. I got a phone call from my agent saying, youve been offered this and Kathy Burkes directing. I thought about it for a millisecond and said, absolutely, where do I sign? Ballycastle, County Antrim, where Hill grew up, is about as far from West Cork as it is possible to be while still on the island of Ireland. However, Hill has fond memories of Cork and of the childhood holidays he would spend in the county as his family drove south down the coast, through Youghal, into the city and on to Glengariff. My dad used to drive from one end of the country to the other during the 1970s. And we'd go down to Cork and Kerry for our summer holidays. Loved the place, love the people. I was familiar with it. I wanted to do more. But [on Holding] youd be working five days a week and then learning lines for the next week. Conleth Hill and Irish screen legend Brenda Fricker in Holding. British TV has a patchy history when it comes to depicting Ireland on the screen. And while a whiff of quaintness hangs over Holding, it avoids the toxic tweeness that was a signature of shows such as Ballykissangel. It isnt nearly as toe-curling as a similar series might have been 20 years ago. Quirkiness hasnt been entirely banished, it is true. Garda Collins spends his spare time eating bread in his car. The village busybody ( Father Teds Pauline McLynn) calls the garda to complain that the shop across from hers on the main street is painted an inappropriate dull brown. The local cake-maker (McSweeney) is also a closet alcoholic, who has never come to terms with being jilted at the altar by her unfaithful boyfriend (thats his body which has just turned up). So far so Father Ted. Yet people are, drawn with real tenderness. Hills Collins, for instance, is less punchline than lost soul. And McSweeneys character is hitting the bottle because she has never quite come to terms with being left at the altar 20 years ago by her fiance (the one whose body has just turned up under a house). So its richly drawn, if not entirely free of cliche. And sensitively directed by Burke, better known as an actress, yet with a distinguished career directing for the stage. We weren't trying to do to present anything 'Irish'. We were just presenting ourselves and in this instance we were Irish, says Hill. Graham said that was something he kept an eye on in the adaptation stage: don't make it to diddly-dee or plastic paddy. And so he had a good eye on it. And I just think Karen [Cogan] and Dominic [Treadwell-Collins] are brilliant writers. It wasnt a trap they were going to go for anyway. You remember The Commitments and how we all felt when we watched that? Or Riverdance? We didnt want it to be diddly-dee. Kilkenny actor Sean Campion, right, with Conleth Hill, on stage at Broadway's Golden Globe Theatre in Stones in His Pockets by Marie Jones, in 2001. West Cork used to be a closely guarded secret. But it has become an obsession for true crime buffs with the release of a number of podcasts and streaming documentaries exploring the unsolved murder of Sophie Toscan Du Plantier. Id seen the Jim Sheridan documentary [ Murder at the Cottage: The Search for Justice for Sophie]. And the Netflix one [ Sophie: A Murder in West Cork]. It was very strange when I said I was going to West Cork to work, nine people out of 10 would ask have you heard the podcast? Its fascinating. Theres a cosmopolitan-rural mix there that you dont get everywhere. Holding is one of a number of murder mysteries Hill has recently starred in, alongside Vienna Blood and Magpie Murders. Its part of the arc of many acting careers, he suggests. You get to a certain age he turned 58 in November and they start casting you as a latter-day Poirot. It certainly is nothing like Game of Thrones. That show continues to cast a shadow over TV (a long-awaited prequel is almost here). Several cast members have spoken about the staggering pressure they felt under as Thrones neared its conclusion and of needing time away to decompress. Hill seems to have taken it in his stride. It was an adventure but just one of many. And now hes on to the next. I was probably one of the least hardworking people on it, just in terms of time and things, he says. And then he shrugs: You just go on to the next job. Holding will premiere on Virgin Media More on Tuesday April 12 at 9pm. Virgin Media More is exclusive to Virgin Media TV subscribers. Keith Barry is reading my mind over Zoom. I want you to think of somebody that you know who has passed on, says Irelands best-known magician (he prefers brain hacker). Somebody you personally knew not a famous person. And somebody who brings back a feel-good factor. I wouldnt want you getting upset. Zone in on their initials. Just their initials. Scrambling slightly, I think of a grandparent. Next, Barry scrawls methodically on a whiteboard, which he then holds to the camera. Incredibly, he has scribbled the initials of the person about whom I was thinking. The faintest chill pricks the back of my neck. This is a history lesson as well as a virtual parlour trick. Barry is explaining the process of automatic writing, popular with occultists in the late 19th century. It was said to involve the dead taking control of the writers hand and sending a message from beyond the veil. Barry, like Houdini before him, is famously a skeptic and does not believe in the supernatural. So how did he do it? He obviously didnt commune with my deceased grandparent. And he certainly didnt clamber inside my head and scry my brain cells. Perhaps I subconsciously mouthed the letters as I thought of them? Maybe I blinked in a revealing way. Did the manner in which my eyes rolled around my head function as a sort of mind-hacking morse code? Heres the thing, says Barry. If I answer that now, you have no conversation to have later on with your friends and family over a dinner table. Right now, you do. Its a mystery. A mystery to be potentially solved in your head. Or not solved. Thats what I love about what I do. Mystery is what keeps people coming back. They know Im going to push them to the edge of the cliff. Im going to dangle them over there for a while. Im going to always pull them back and send them home safely the better for their experience. Barry (45) is Irelands most successful magician of the mind (on his website he describes himself as Mentalist, Magician & Subconscious Mind Specialist). This is testament to his talents as a conjurer. And also to his outgoing personality. And, after two years of lockdown, with his new show Reconnected starting in late April, he is relishing the opportunity to stand once again in front of an audience. You get the impression hes been pining for it across the past 24 months. Im friends with a number of entertainers. We're not in it for the money, he says. Money is important to everybody. Let's not belittle money. When people say oh, you know money is not everything. Well, it helps with a lot of things. Im certainly not a magician or mentalist for the money. Keith Barry: 'I'm certainly not a magician for the money' There are, he points out, more straightforward ways to earn a living. At one stage in my life, I considered becoming a vet. I was a cosmetic scientist. I was good at cosmetic science. I could have made a lot of money doing that, right? Its in my DNA to be on a stage. I need to be on a stage. Id do it for free if I had to. I do loads of charity work for free. So its a big missing part of my life that I need to regain. During the lockdown he scratched that itch a little by performing over the web. Of course, thats not at all the same as going before of a crowd. Hence Reconnected, which includes two dates in Cork Opera House in May and which is all about engaging with the world after living for an extended period in our own sealed-off realities. It's not just called Reconnected. The show is themed to actually genuinely reconnect people, he explains. To reconnect them emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, physically. So the start of Reconnected, and I dont mind telling you, Im going to teach half the audience how to hack into the other half of the audiences mind. Ive never done anything even close to that before. And the weird thing is, one half wont know how the other half have hacked into their brains. Everybody immediately will explode with this moment of wonder and amazement. Its a beautiful way to open the show. Barry was born in Waterford City in 1976. He discovered the arcane arts at age 14 when he read Magic for the Complete Klutz. He quickly became obsessed, describing himself as the kid at school who wanted to use the Ouija board all the time,. His career was off to a roaring start in 2003 when he filmed his first series, Close Encounters With Keith Barry (he has another, The Keith Barry Experience, starting on Saturday Apri l on RTE 1). There were dark periods, too. In 2007 he was involved in a head-on collision outside Newry and was lucky to survive. I should probably have been killed, he later reflected. My foot was wrapped around my shin. I was five minutes from amputation. They couldn't get the foot back in. Two years later, his 82-year-old grandfather was attacked by burglars in his home in Mount Sion, Waterford, and later died. It's time for the whole country to stand up against these guys and say enough is enough. We need to feel safe in our own homes, Barry said at the time. Over the course of the pandemic, many people reflected anew on their work-life balance. And vowed to prioritise family over career when normality returned. However, Barry, who lives in Straffan, Co Kildare, with his wife, Mairead Foley, and children Breanna (12) and Braden (nine), feels he always had a good handle on what matters and what doesnt. I always spend enough time with my wife and my kids, he says. Last weekend we went to Dingle for three days. And I didn't work at all. We played cards and went swimming. I was always mindful of spending enough time with my family. I think a lot of successful business people and certainly a lot of entertainers, they don't proportion that fully into their lives. Before they blink, their kids are growing up. I always have made sure that I spend enough time with my kids, even though I'm a workaholic as well. So, when the pandemic hit, I didn't really feel like I needed to spend more time with them. I didn't feel like I needed to shut down and reorientate. Keith Barry: "I always have made sure that I spend enough time with my kids, even though I'm a workaholic as well". Pic: Moya Nolan Barry has brushed shoulders with many a-listers across the span of his career. He has starred in several TV specials broadcast in the US, where he dazzled stars such as Elijah Wood (aka Frodo from Lord of the Rings) and Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger. And he was an adviser on the heist films Now You See Me and Now You See Me Too, starring Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg. All these superstars and massive celebrities at the bones of it, they're the same as us, he says. They suffer the same confidence issues or lack of confidence issues. Theyre the same. I do find that these people, these big celebrities, they have a massive work ethic. When I was working on the Now You See Me movies I was on set about 16 hours a day. But they were on set 12 hours a day. Their work ethic is unbelievable. Its a lesson he has learned to apply to his own craft. I remember years and years ago somebody asked Will Smith, what is the secret to your success? This is way back, when he was just a rapper. And, he said, When all the other rappers are in bed, I'm practicing my rapping. Even to this day, when Im tired and it could be 1 am, I think to myself ah-ha all the magicians and mentalists in Ireland are in bed. Im going to go an extra two hours. The work ethic is the main thing Ive learned. Keith Barry: Reconnected starts on Friday April 29, and visits Cork Opera House Saturday May 7 and Sunday May 8 The Keith Barry Experience starts on RTE 1 on Saturday April 2 at 9.50pm Dozens of vacant positions are likely to be filled by Ukrainian refugees arriving to Kerry as employers facing staff shortages race to recruit those who have fled their war-torn country. While the severe shortage of workers for the hotel and catering industry is well documented, there are also vacancies waiting to be filled across other sectors from manufacturing, engineering, signwriting to retail, according to Kate OShea of Dream jobs recruitment agency in Killarney. Kate and her business partner Peter Guban have offered their services to the Killarney Chamber of Commerce and Tourism to help those who have arrived to secure work. More than 300 refugees have arrived in Killarney in the past fortnight and are being housed in hotels in the town. Thousands more are expected in the coming weeks. The company is offering its services free to the refugees to help them secure work. The company developed a website and QR code where Ukrainian applicants can scan the code and upload their CV in Ukrainian and it will be translated into English. Endless amounts of jobs By Thursday, a day after an appeal to employers went out, some 14 companies got in touch with endless amounts of jobs on offer. Ms O'Shea then drew up a list of the vacancies, spoke to refugees housed in one of the hotels, and says that already 60 refugees have indicated their interest. "There is huge appetite among the refugees for work," said Ms O'Shea. Teachers, engineers, a welder, a graphic designer, medical doctors, and psychologists are among the highly skilled refugees to arrive in Killarney. Many are willing to work in the tourist and retail sectors to improve their English. Gaining employment in the medical sector is a slower process. However the county council is working with the refugees is trying to fast-track the validation process for those with medical qualifications. Employers in the hotel industry are being flexible to allow people work opposite shifts to facilitate sharing of child minding. Peter Guban, originally from Hungary, but living in Killarney for nearly 20 years, said while the tourist industrys critical staff shortage has been well publicised, all sectors in Killarney from printing to welding find it difficult to fill jobs. We are benefiting in Killarney from the arrivals and why not? It also suits the highly skilled refugees who do not want to sit around the hotels all day," he said. Junta Watch Junta Watch: Police to Face Front-Line Duty; Slain Informers Honored, and More Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing pays respects to ex-president U Thein Sein on March 27, 2022. Affected by desertions and casualties, junta eyes police to fill gap Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing enacted a new law on March 25 making it compulsory for law enforcement officers to fight alongside soldiers on the front lines, while expanding their powers to restrict citizens civil liberties. A provision in the new law states: At the necessary time, police must be involved in the states defense and security affairs. This means police, who carried out brutal crackdowns on anti-coup protesters, will if necessary have to fight alongside Myanmars military, which is suffering heavy casualties on battlefields in central Myanmar and ethnic minority areas. The new police law also authorizes law enforcement officers to search buildings without a search or arrest warrant, and allows them to take action against anyone who bangs pots and pans, a popular form of collective protest against the regime. Nearly 7,000 police have joined the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) since the coup, according to Myanmar Police CDM channel. USDP sets up obelisk for slain members The militarys proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) unveiled an obelisk in memory of members who were killed for allegedly acting as informants for the military regime on the countrys resistance movement, at the partys headquarters in Naypyitaw on March 26. USPD chairman U Htan Htay, who is himself a former brigadier-general, expressed sorrow that the party members were, as he put it, victimized in the chaos caused by the National League for Democracy (NLD)s hunger for power. More than 1,300 USDP members have been killed for allegedly being military informants since the coup last year, according to U Than Htay. The USDP backed by ex-generals suffered resounding defeats to the NLD in both the 2015 and 2020 general elections. Instead of trying to win the support of the people with goodwill and hard work, it only worked hand in glove with the military to smear the NLD, which enjoys popular support. USDP vice chair U Khin Yi, who is also the immigration minister in the current regime, organized rallies targeting the NLD and the Union Election Commission before and after the military coup in 2021. Some of the regimes cabinet members are from the USDP, and many party members actively worked with the regime in its arrest of NLD members and brutal crackdown on anti-coup protesters. Among those who have contributed cash to the fund to support family members of slain USDP members are the former president of the USDP government, ex-general U Thein Sein, to whom junta leader Min Aung Hlaing paid respects on annual Armed Forces Day on March 27; Min Aung Hlaings son Aung Pyae Sone; and their cronies. Junta leader says anti-regime forces pose threat to free, fair election Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing said the non-existence of terrorist groups is a precondition for a free and fair election. The groups must be eliminated to hold a free and fair election without threats and intimidation, said Min Aung Hlaing at a meeting of the State Administration Council, the governing body of the military regime, on March 29. By terrorist groups, he means the parallel National Unity Government (NUG), its parliamentary body the CRPH, and armed wing the PDF. In his speech on Armed Forces Day on March 27, Min Aung Hlaing also said he would not negotiate, but would wipe out terrorist groups. However, many democracies have shown their support for and are engaging with the NUG and CRPH. And at least in the eyes of the majority in Myanmar, the PDF are not terrorists, but groups risking life and limb to fight the regime. It appears, however, that Min Aung Hlaing is better at barking than biting; many junta soldiers are being killed in battles in central Myanmar and ethnic minority regions. The military has been struggling with a mounting number of defectors as well as a drop in recruitment as it becomes an object of popular hatred. His promise of a free and fair election without threats and coercion is in marked contrast to his coup, which he still cant justify. Junta mouthpiece praises Min Aung Hlaing as Myanmars savior In successive periods under military rule, Myanmars military has repeatedly used the same narrative to justify its coupsthat it has no choice but to take responsibility for the state as the country is on the verge of collapse and falling under the control of foreign powers. An editorial published in the March 30 issue of the militarys mouthpiece, Myawady Daily, repeated the same narrative, portraying the NLD, which won majorities in both the 2015 and 2020 general elections, as puppets of foreign powers and Min Aung Hlaing as the rescuer. It argued that military chief Min Aung Hlaing saved the country just as the puppet of foreign powers was about to take control of the state through dishonest means; that the people heartily welcomed Min Aung Hlaings rescue; and that a handful of terrorists groups, which are the puppets of foreign powers, are failing day by day. Myanmars military has always labeled democracy and human rights activists as stooges of foreign powers, and destroyers of Myanmars culture and religion. While the entire country is cursing and swearing at Min Aung Hlaing, the editorial claimed the oppositethat Min Aung Hlaing was heartily welcomed by the people. Though the editorial says PDF groups are being subdued day by day, the fact that the regime has to rely increasingly on air raids in Sagaing and other parts of the country because of heavy casualties, that junta soldiers are being forced to cower behind sandbag-fortified outposts in cities including Yangon, and that junta soldiers and police dare not go out alone in public in their uniforms, just indicate the opposite, showing that the Myawady Daily is full of lies. Different generations of generals show solidarity A ceremony to pay respects to retired military officers was held on March 27 as part of the annual Armed Forces Day. Min Aung Hlaing attended the ceremony for the first time since the coup, and former president and ex-general Thein Sein, who was once considered a reformist, attended the ceremony for the first time. Twenty-five retired military officers from the eras of former military dictators U Ne Win and U Than Shwe attended the ceremony. Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing respectfully bowed down before the retired military officers. Thein Sein, who served as prime minister in Than Shwes regime, and former Major General Thura Saw Phyu, the Air Force chief of staff under Ne Wins regime, gave advice. What Thein Sein advised on the day is unknown. The appearance of ex-generals from the previous Myanmar military regime at the Armed Forces Day commemoration and subsequent ceremony hosted by the current regime on Sunday prove that they are all in solidarity with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, who staged a coup that has so far killed 1,700 people. The ceremony may well have been a way for Min Aung Hlaing to make a pretense of unityeven if only with the old soldierswithin the army, which has been demoralized in the face of public denunciation and growing defections since the coup. As they left the hall after the ceremony, Min Aung Hlaing and retired military leaders cordially and respectfully greeted each other, displaying their solidarity. As usual, former military dictator Than Shwe and his deputy Maung Aye, who are Thein Seins neighbors in Naypyitaw, did not attend the ceremony. You may also like these stories: Myanmar Junta Kills 10 Children in a Week Junta Demolishes Homes in Striking Myanma Railways Town Witness Disputes Myanmar Junta Allegation of Suu Kyi Power Abuse Zambian university rolls out mealie-meal production at China-funded milling plant Xinhua) 09:03, April 02, 2022 LUSAKA, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Zambia's biggest public university has launched the production of mealie-meal at a milling plant financed by the Chinese government. The University of Zambia (UNZA) said it has opened a sales outlet at its campus in Lusaka, the country's capital, to start selling mealie-meal, according to a statement released Thursday. Luke Mumba, the university's vice-chancellor, said the university was given one of the three milling plants funded by the Chinese government and was grateful for the decision. He said the milling plant will also be developing and offering programs in milling science, a program offered only by South Africa and Kenya, as well as processing of maize into maize products for income generation. He further said the milling plant systems, whose construction works were finalized last year, have been tested and gauged for effectiveness and efficiency. The milling plant has a capacity to produce 40 tons of mealie meal per day. The plant is also engaged in the production of maize bran. In 2017, the Zambian government decided to give the plant to the university funded by China under the Presidential Milling Initiative. Two other plants are situated in Mpika in the northern part of the country and Monze in the southern part of the country. The three plants are a result of an agreement by leaders of the two countries when former President Edgar Lungu visited China in 2015. The three plants are in addition to over 1,000 solar-powered milling plants that have been installed in various parts of the southern African nation since 2015. (Web editor: Peng yukai, Liang Jun) A man has his head shaved, Thursday, as part of a protest held by members of civic groups advocating for disability rights, at Gyeongbokgung Station on Seoul Metro Line 3. Newsis By Jung Da-min A total of 72 lawmakers have vowed to make bipartisan efforts to guarantee universal rights for the disabled. The lawmakers, including Rep. Kim Yea-ji of the conservative main opposition People Power Party (PPP), Rep. Choi Hye-young of the liberal ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and Rep. Jang Hye-yeong of the progressive minor opposition Justice Party, pledged to make legislative efforts to guarantee basic rights for the disabled, during a press conference held at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday. "We are here together today, because the responsibility to protect the basic rights of people with disabilities, including mobility rights, is not something that should be sought only by those belonging to a specific political party or standing committee, or by those with disabilities themselves or their family members, but the responsibility of all members of the National Assembly," Rep. Jang, whose sister is disabled, said during the conference. Some of the participating lawmakers themselves live with disabilities, such as PPP Rep. Kim who attends Assembly sessions with a guide dog due to her visual impairment, and DPK Rep. Jang who is a quadriplegic. In a joint statement, the lawmakers said, "All members of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea have a basic responsibility to guarantee people with disabilities the right to move in daily life, the right to education, the right to work and the right to live in the local community as stipulated in the Constitution." The lawmakers said that the National Assembly has failed to fulfill its duty of guaranteeing such basic rights, which is why protests by civic groups to secure a budget for disability rights are still ongoing since starting over four decades ago. Rep. Kim Yea-ji of the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) kneels in apology next to her guide dog, over PPP Chairman Lee Jun-seok's criticisms of daily subway protests held by a disability advocacy group, during the group's protest at Gyeongbokgung Station on Seoul Metro Line 3, Monday. Captured from Solidarity Against Disability Discrimination's Facebook page Johnson City, TN (37604) Today Strong thunderstorms likely. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. High 72F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.. Tonight Rain showers early becoming a steady light rain overnight. Low 53F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Johnson City, TN (37604) Today Cloudy skies early with scattered thunderstorms developing late. Low around 65F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early with scattered thunderstorms developing late. Low around 65F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Park Eun-mi escaped to South Korea in 2014. After remaining silent for eight years, she launched a YouTube channel on March 14. Ed. By Park Eun-mi In 2007, I decided to escape from North Korea because it was getting more difficult for my family to survive. I knew about two ways to escape from North Korea. One, with the help of a broker. That way is safer. Two, secretly crossing the Yalu River by myself. I made up my mind to escape with the help of a broker because I could not speak Chinese. But finding a broker was a big challenge. They are breaking the law by helping North Koreans escape to China, so they must hide their identities. My friend's sister, I will call her Su-jin, introduced me to a broker and together we escaped from North Korea. It was not easy to escape from North Korea. I tried six times. Finally, Su-jin and I did it. We arrived in the countryside of China. On the first day in China, a young Chinese couple came to the house where we were staying. They explained something in Chinese that I could NOT understand. That morning, they took Su-jin somewhere. When she came back in the evening, she told me the shocking story of what had happened to her. The Chinese broker had Su-jin put on makeup and dressed her in pretty clothes. He took her to a house. When she entered, many people were there waiting for her. They started to speak in Chinese to her, one of them asked her how old she was, if she had a husband and a child in North Korea. Su-jin was then only 15 years old. She was so ashamed that she could not answer their questions. Then things got even worse. One Korean Chinese woman began to touch her body, trying to figure out if she was a virgin. Su-jin was only 15 years old, she didn't know about the outside world or about men The woman touched her body because she thought Su-jin looked like a married woman rather than a virgin. They thought the human trafficker was trying to deceive them. After that, the broker took her to three or four more houses to try to sell her. Even now, I cannot forget Su-jin's face as she explained about those terrible experiences. This situation did not happen only to Su-jin. It happens to so many North Korean girls who go to China. Su-jin now lives in South Korea. I sincerely hope that one day she will be able to share her heartbreaking story without fear and can join me in helping North Korean defector women still living in China. Human trafficking is still taking place in China. So many North Korean defector women have terrible experiences in China. Those painful memories have left deep wounds in our hearts. I hope that North Korean defector women can overcome this pain as soon as possible, find happiness, and enjoy living in freedom. With my small voice, I will also try to give them strength. Casey Lartigue Jr., co-founder of Freedom Speakers International, edited this text for publication. Lee Eun-koo, co-founder of FSI, translated it from Korean to English. Paper and plastic cups are piled on a table at a cafe in Seoul, on Jan. 6. Newsis By Kim Jae-heun Restaurant and coffee shop owners are struggling with customer complaints over the government's ban on the use of disposal cups and dishes for sit-in customers. The ban went into effect Friday after being eased since 2020 to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The Ministry of Environment banned the use of plastic or paper cups in 2018, but allowed it again two years ago. However, with the COVID-19 situation expected to enter an endemic phase soon, the ministry decided to readopt the rule. "People got used to using plastic cups again during the last two years. I understand that many still feel uneasy about drinking beverages in a mug, which many people share at cafes and restaurants," a coffee shop owner surnamed Jeon said. "However, there is nothing I can do about the government's policy, but people keep asking me if they can just use a plastic cup because they are going to leave in five minutes," Jeon added. Jeon said he wishes the government takes aggressive actions with the environmental campaign as it only encourages restaurants and cafes to ban plastic use for now. There is no penalty fee imposed on the violation of the restriction. A 32-year-old office worker surnamed Kim said it is both a waste of time and a risk to use mugs when COVID-19 infections continue. "There are still some 280,000 daily cases of COVID-19 infections in the country. Why is the government encouraging us to use mugs? I understand and agree with the need to reduce plastic usage, but the timing is not right at the moment," Kim said. There are also views that the restriction is not effective since it is limited to Korea. "The government is encouraging to use personal cups, but they are also made using plastic. Also, I don't know how Korea alone banning plastic cups can help improve environmental protection. Even superpower countries like America and China are not forcing their people to bring their own cups from home," a 28-year-old customer surnamed Lee said. Meanwhile, the use of disposable products has soared amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic here after the ban was lifted o two years ago. The amount of plastic waste generated in 2020 increased by 19 percent, year-on-year. Local residents ride bicycles past flattened civilian cars on a street in the town of Bucha, near Kyiv, April 1, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues. Reuters-Yonhap Talks to stop the fighting in Ukraine resumed Friday, as another desperate attempt to rescue civilians from the encircled city of Mariupol failed and the Kremlin accused the Ukrainians of launching a helicopter attack on a fuel depot on Russian soil. Ukraine denied responsibility for the fiery blast, but if Moscow's claim is confirmed, it would be the war's first known attack in which Ukrainian aircraft penetrated Russian airspace. ''Certainly, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of the talks,'' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, five weeks after Moscow began sending upwards of 150,000 of its own troops across Ukraine's border. Meanwhile, Russia continued withdrawing some of its ground forces from areas around Kyiv after saying earlier this week it would reduce military activity near the Ukrainian capital and the northern city of Chernihiv to promote trust at the bargaining table. While the Russians kept up their bombardment of those two zones, Ukrainian troops exploited the pullback on the ground by mounting counterattacks and retaking a number of towns and villages. Still, Ukraine and its allies warned that the Kremlin was not de-escalating but resupplying and shifting its troops to the country's east for an intensified assault on the mostly Russian-speaking Donbas region in the country's east, which includes Mariupol. The latest negotiations took place by video. At a round of talks earlier in the week, Ukraine said it would be willing to abandon a bid to join NATO and declare itself neutral Moscow's chief demand in return for security guarantees from several other countries. The invasion has left thousands dead and driven more than 4 million refugees from Ukraine. Men walk past an OSCE car damaged in the course of Ukraine-Russia conflict in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, April 1. Reuters-Yonhap Mariupol, the shattered and besieged southern port city, has seen some of the worst suffering of the war. Its capture would be a major prize for Russian President Vladimir Putin, giving his country an unbroken land bridge to Crimea, seized from Ukraine in 2014. Mariupol's fate could determine the course of the negotiations to end the war, said Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Ukrainian think tank Penta. ''Mariupol has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance,'' Fesenko said, ''and without its conquest, Putin cannot sit down at the negotiating table.'' The fall of Mariupol, he said, ''will open the way to a peace agreement.'' On Friday, the International Committee for the Red Cross said it was unable to carry out an operation to bring civilians out of Mariupol by bus. It said a team had been on its way but had to turn back. City authorities said the Russians were blocking access to Mariupol. ''We do not see a real desire on the part of the Russians and their satellites to provide an opportunity for Mariupol residents to evacuate to territory controlled by Ukraine,'' Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, wrote on the Telegram messaging app. He said Russian forces ''are categorically not allowing any humanitarian cargo, even in small amounts, into the city.'' Around 100,000 people are believed left in the city, down from a prewar 430,000, and weeks of Russian bombardment and street fighting have caused severe shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine. ''We are running out of adjectives to describe the horrors that residents in Mariupol have suffered,'' Red Cross spokesperson Ewan Watson said. On Thursday, Russian forces blocked a 45-bus convoy attempting to evacuate people from Mariupol and seized 14 tons of food and medical supplies bound for the city, Ukrainian authorities said. As for the fuel depot explosion, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said two Ukrainian helicopter gunships flew in extremely low and attacked the civilian oil storage facility on the outskirts of the city of Belgorod, about 25 kilometers (16 miles) from the Ukraine border. The regional governor said two workers at the depot were wounded, but the Rosneft state oil company denied anyone was hurt. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraine's national security council, said on Ukrainian television: ''For some reason they say that we did it, but in fact this does not correspond with reality.'' Russia has reported cross-border shelling from Ukraine before, including an incident last week that killed a military chaplain, but not an incursion of its airspace. Amid the Russian pullback on the ground and its continued bombardment, Ukraine's military said it had retaken 29 settlements in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions. Russian forces in the northeast also continued to shell Kharkiv, and in the southeast sought to seize the cities of Popasna and Rubizhne as well as Mariupol, the Ukrainian military said. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy arrives for a meeting with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola in Kyiv, April 1, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues. Reuters-Yonhap Meanwhile, Russia began its annual spring conscription, Friday, which aimed at rounding up 134,500 men for a one-year tour of military duty. Russian officials say new recruits won't be sent to the front lines or ''hot spots,'' but many young Russians are skeptical and fear they'll be drawn into the war. On the outskirts of Kyiv, where Russian troops have withdrawn, damaged cars lined the streets of Irpin, a suburban area popular with young families, now in ruins. Emergency workers carried elderly people on stretchers over a wrecked bridge to safety. Three wooden crosses next to a residential building that was damaged in a shelling marked the graves of a mother and son and an unknown man. A resident who gave her name only as Lila said she helped hurriedly bury them March 5, just before Russian troops moved in. ''They were hit with artillery and they were burned alive,'' she said. An Irpin resident who gave his name only as Andriy said the Russians packed up their equipment and left Tuesday. The next day, they shelled the town for close to an hour before Ukrainian soldiers retook it. ''I don't think this is over,'' Andriy said. ''They will be back.'' (AP) Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine: Heavy fighting at Azovstal The mayor of the destroyed city of Mariupol says contact has been lost with Ukrainian forces holed up in the Azovstal steel plant amid heavy fighting with Russian troops. City officials have no way of knowing whats going on, whether they are safe or not, Vadym Boichenko tells Ukrainian television. The Kremlin denies Russia is storming the plant after Ukraine accuses Moscow of launching a powerful assault on the industrial zone. Later Russia announces its forces will cease fire at Azovstal and open a humanitarian corridor for civilians for three days. Zelensky appeal As evacuations from Mariupol continue, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky asks United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres to help save the lives of the remaining wounded Ukrainians trapped in Azovstal, and calls on the UN to assist in the removal of all the wounded. The lives of the people who remain there are in danger. Everyone is important to us, he says. Nuclear-capable missile practice Russia says its forces have practised simulated nuclear-capable missile strikes during war games in Kaliningrad, an enclave on the Baltic Sea located between EU members Poland and Lithuania. Moscow practised simulated electronic launches of nuclear-capable Iskander mobile ballistic missile systems, the defence ministry says in a statement. 20 bodies found in Kyiv region The bodies of another 20 civilians are found in the Kyiv region, police say, raising the total number found there so far to 1,235. Kyiv regional police chief Andriy Nebytov says the latest discoveries were found in Borodianka and the surrounding villages, some 25 kilometres (15 miles) from Bucha, the town near Kyiv now synonymous with allegations of Russian war crimes. Biden open to more sanctions US President Joe Biden says he is open to imposing more sanctions on Russia and will discuss measures with allies from the G7 in the next few days. Were always open to additional sanctions, Biden says shortly after the European Union announced plans for banning Russian oil imports and other new measures. New EU sanctions, oil ban take shape EU chief Ursula von der Leyen says the bloc will impose a gradual Russian oil ban. We will phase out Russian supply of crude oil within six months and refined products by the end of the year, she tells the European Parliament. EU states opposing embargo complicit: Kyiv Ukraine says EU countries blocking an embargo on imports of Russian oil would be complicit in crimes committed by Russian troops on Ukrainian territory by funding Moscows military. If there is any country in Europe who will continue to oppose the embargo on Russian oil, there will be good reason to say, this country is complicit in the crimes committed by Russia in the territory of Ukraine, Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba says in a briefing on social media. Mariupol military parade planned: Kyiv Ukraine accuses Russia of planning to hold a military parade in the destroyed city of Mariupol on May 9 to celebrate victory over the Nazis in World War II. Kyiv says an official from Russias presidential administration has arrived in the strategic southern port city, to oversee plans for the Victory Day parade. Eastern assault continues Russian forces continue to pound sites to the east of the country, Ukraines general staff says, as Moscow seeks to establish full control of the regions of Lugansk and Donetsk, and to maintain a land corridor to occupied Crimea. In Lugansk, governor Sergiy Gaiday says two people have died in the last 24 hours, and the whole region is under fire completely, there is no safe place. Belarus launches manoeuvres Belarus, a Moscow ally that shares a border with Ukraine, launches surprise military manoeuvres, to test the reactive capacity of its army, its defence ministry says. Belarus military units were testing their capacity to go on the alert, move to predetermined zones and undertake combat training, it says. EU to support Moldova European Council President Charles Michel pledges to increase EU military aid to Moldova, Ukraines neighbour that has seen a series of attacks in a pro-Moscow separatist region. burs/cdw/raz/reb Former war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte has called for the International Criminal Court to quickly issue an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over actions in Ukraine. Putin is a war criminal, Del Ponte, who came to prominence investigating war crimes in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, said in an interview with the Le Temps daily, published Saturday. The 75-year-old Swiss national said that international arrest warrants for Putin and other high-level Russian officials were needed to hold them responsible for the war crimes committed since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Just over five weeks into the invasion, thousands have been killed and millions displaced as parts of Ukraine have been reduced to rubble. Del Ponte, who also served for years on the UN commission probing rights abuses in Syrias war, stressed that issuing an arrest warrant was an important signal that investigative work has been done. It is the only instrument that exists that makes it possible to arrest the perpetrator of a war crime and bring them before the ICC, she told Le Temps. Del Pont acknowledged that an arrest warrant did not necessarily mean Putin would be taken into custody. If he remains in Russia, that would never be the case. But it would be impossible for him to leave his country, and it would be a strong signal that he has many states against him. The Hague-based ICCs chief prosecutor opened an active probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine on March 3, after obtaining the backing of more than 40 states that are party to the court. Del Ponte said her experience as chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia brought her hope that Putin, like former Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic, could one day be arrested and charged with war crimes. And incriminating evidence must also be found against high-level political and military officials, she said. The difficulty is precisely reaching the top of the command chain to identify who planned, ordered and executed the war crimes. Ukraine is not a signatory to the Rome Statute treaty which established the ICC but it did in 2014 officially recognise the courts jurisdiction for crimes committed on its soil. Russia withdrew its signature from the Rome Statute in 2016. Ukraine on Saturday said photographer and documentary maker Maks Levin was found dead near the capital Kyiv after going missing two weeks ago and accused the Russian army of having killed him. He went missing in the conflict area on March 13 in the Kyiv region. His body was found near the village of Guta Mezhygirska on April 1, presidential aide Andriy Yermak said on Telegram. Ukraines General Prosecutors Office confirmed Levin had been found dead and said he had been killed by Russian soldiers. According to preliminary information, unarmed Maxim Levin was killed by servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces with two shots from small fire arms, it said in a statement on Telegram. The occupiers killed a Ukrainian photo-journalist. It said Levin had disappeared in March, while covering the war with Russia. An investigation had been opened for violation of the laws and customs of war and to determine the exact circumstances of Levins death. Prosecutors of the Kyiv region continue to document all crimes of the aggressor country in order to bring the perpetrators to justice, it said. The NGO Reporters Without Borders, which works to protect journalists, said on Twitter that Levin was the sixth journalist killed in Ukraine since Russia invaded late in February. He was unarmed and wearing a press jacket, it said. Targeting journalists is a war crime. On March 22, it voiced concern after Levins disappearance. The 40-year-old father of four had been working with Ukrainian and international media. During fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014, he managed to escape encirclement in a town where hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers were killed. Ukraine on Saturday said Russian forces were making a rapid retreat from northern areas around the capital Kyiv and the city of Chernigiv as the Red Cross prepared for a fresh evacuation effort from the besieged southern port of Mariupol. Russian forces now appear to be focusing attacks in the east and south, a day after thousands of people from Mariupol and surrounding Russian-held areas escaped in a convoy of buses and private cars. Russia is prioritising a different tactic: falling back on the east and south, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak said on social media. He said that, while Russian forces appeared to be pulling back from Kyiv and Chernigiv, their aim was to control a vast stretch of occupied territory and set up there in a powerful way. Without heavy weapons we wont be able to drive (Russia) out, he said. President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian tanks into Russias pro-Western neighbour on February 24 and Ukraine estimates 20,000 people have been killed in the war so far. More than 10 million have had to flee their homes. Journalist killed with two shots Pope Francis spoke of icy winds of war again sweeping over Europe as he brought up the conflict at the outset of his trip to Malta on Saturday. Once again, some potentate, sadly caught up in anachronistic claims of nationalist interests, is provoking and fomenting conflicts, the pope said. A visit to the Ukrainian capital was still on the table, he added. In Kyiv, the government confirmed that the body of a well-known photographer, Maks Levin, had been found near a village in the region around the capital that had been caught up in the fighting. According to preliminary information, unarmed Maxim Levin was killed by servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces with two shots from small fire arms, prosecutors said in a statement on Telegram. Levin, a 40-year-old father of four, had been reported missing on March 13 and the body was found near Guta Mezhygirksa on April 1, officials said. The NGO Reporters Without Borders said six journalists have been killed in the conflict so far, adding: Targeting journalists is a war crime. The International Criminal Court has already opened a probe into possible war crimes in Ukraine. Former war crimes prosecutor Carla Del Ponte said in an interview published on Saturday that the ICC should issue an arrest warrant for Putin. Putin is a war criminal, Del Ponte, who came to prominence investigating war crimes in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, told the Le Temps daily. Our city doesnt exist anymore Even as Russia consolidates its hold on southern and eastern areas of the country, Mariupol has remained an important Ukrainian hold-out. The city has suffered weeks of Russian shelling, with at least 5,000 residents killed, according to local officials. The estimated 160,000 who remain face shortages of food, water and electricity. We have managed to rescue 6,266 people, including 3,071 people from Mariupol, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address earlier on Saturday. Dozens of buses carrying Mariupol residents who had escaped the city earlier arrived on Friday in Zaporizhzhia, 200 kilometres (120 miles) to the northwest, according to an AFP reporter on the scene. The buses carried people who had been able to flee Mariupol to Russian-occupied Berdiansk. We were crying when we reached this area. We were crying when we saw soldiers at the checkpoint with Ukrainian crests on their arms, said Olena, who carried her young daughter in her arms. My house was destroyed. I saw it in photos. Our city doesnt exist anymore. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said its team headed to Mariupol to try and conduct an evacuation but was forced to turn back Friday after arrangements and conditions made it impossible to proceed. The ICRC said its team left on Saturday bound for Mariupol to make another attempt. New US aid Peace talks between Kyiv and Moscow resumed via video on Friday, but the Kremlin warned that what it described as a helicopter attack on a fuel depot inside Russia would hamper negotiations. The air strike hit energy giant Rosnefts fuel storage facility in Belgorod, 40 kilometres from the Ukraine border. Kyiv would not be drawn on whether it was behind the attack. Zelensky meanwhile repeated his plea for the West to provide greater military support. Just give us missiles. Give us airplanes, he told Fox. You cannot give us F-18 or F-19 or whatever you have? Give us the old Soviet planes. Thats all Give me something to defend my country with. The Pentagon later said it was allotting $300 million in security assistance to bolster Ukraines defence capabilities, adding to the $1.6 billion Washington has committed since Russia invaded in late February. Where roses used to bloom Civilians have trickled out of devastated areas after arduous and daring escapes. Three-year-old Karolina Tkachenko and her family walked an hour through a field strewn with burnt-out Russian armoured vehicles to flee their village outside Kyiv. The shops are closed, theres no delivery of supplies. The bridge is also blown up, we cant go for groceries through there, said Karolinas mother Karina Tkachenko. In Mariupol, Viktoria Dubovytskaya, who had sheltered in the theatre where 300 people are feared to have been killed in Russian bombardments, said she only grasped the extent of the destruction as she fled. Bodies lay in the rubble and small wooden crosses were planted in the ground, she told AFP. When people find their loved ones, they just bury them wherever they can. Sometimes where roses used to bloom, she said. burs-dt/bp ROSNEFT Ukraine said Saturday Russian forces were making a rapid retreat from around the capital Kyiv and the city of Chernigiv, as evidence emerged of possible civilian killings in areas they have been occupying. AFP reporters saw at least 20 bodies on a single street in the town of Bucha near Kyiv, including one with his hands tied, and the body of a missing photographer was discovered in a nearby village. All these people were shot, Buchas mayor Anatoly Fedoruk told AFP, adding that 280 other bodies had been buried in mass graves in the town. As it withdraws from northern areas, Russia appears to be focusing on the east and south of Ukraine, where it already hold vast swathes of territory. Russia is prioritising a different tactic: falling back on the east and south, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak said on social media. Without heavy weapons we wont be able to drive (Russia) out, he said. President Vladimir Putin ordered tanks into Russias pro-Western neighbour on February 24 and Ukraine estimates 20,000 people have been killed in the war so far. More than 10 million have had to flee their homes. Pope Francis spoke of icy winds of war again sweeping over Europe as he brought up the conflict at the outset of his trip to Malta on Saturday. Once again, some potentate, sadly caught up in anachronistic claims of nationalist interests, is provoking and fomenting conflicts, the pope said. A visit to the Ukrainian capital was still on the table, he added. Journalist killed with two shots Ukrainian authorities on Saturday said the body of a well-known photographer, Maks Levin, had been found near a village in the region around Kyiv that had been caught up in the fighting. According to preliminary information, unarmed Maxim Levin was killed by servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces with two shots from small fire arms, prosecutors said in a statement on Telegram. Levin, a 40-year-old father of four, had been reported missing on March 13 and the body was found near Guta Mezhygirksa on April 1, officials said. The NGO Reporters Without Borders said Levin was the sixth journalist killed in the conflict. In Bucha, 16 of the 20 corpses found on one street were lying either on the pavement or by the verge. Three were sprawled in the middle of the road, and another lay on his side in the courtyard of a destroyed house. An open Ukrainian passport lay on the ground next to the person who had his hands tied behind his back with a piece of white cloth. Two other people had white cloth tied around their upper arms. All were wearing civilian clothes winter coats, jackets or tracksuit tops, jeans or jogging bottoms, and trainers or boots. The International Criminal Court has already opened a probe into possible war crimes committed in Ukraine and several Western leaders, including US President Joe Biden, have accused Putin of being a war criminal. Our city doesnt exist anymore Russias efforts to consolidate its hold on southern and eastern areas of the country have been hampered by the resistance of Mariupol despite devastating attacks lasting weeks. At least 5,000 residents have been killed, according to local officials. The estimated 160,000 who remain face shortages of food, water and electricity. Dozens of buses carrying Mariupol residents who had escaped the city earlier arrived on Friday in Zaporizhzhia, 200 kilometres (120 miles) to the northwest. The buses brought people who had been able to flee Mariupol to Russian-occupied Berdiansk. My house was destroyed. I saw it in photos. Our city doesnt exist anymore, said Olena, who carried her young daughter in her arms. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said its team headed to Mariupol to try and conduct an evacuation but was forced to turn back Friday. The ICRC said its team left again on Saturday bound for Mariupol to make another attempt. They are spending the night en route to Mariupol and are yet to reach the city, an ICRC spokesperson said. In another city in the south, Enerhodar, which is under Russian control, a Ukrainian official said Russian forces opened fire on peaceful demonstrators, injuring four with severe burns. Russian troops took control of Enerhodar, the site of Europes largest nuclear power plant, in early March. Today in Enerhodar, city residents gathered again for a rally in support of Ukraine, singing the anthem, Ukraines human rights ombudsman Lyudmyla Denisova said on Telegram. The occupiers used light and noise grenades and opened mortar fire on the residents, four people were injured and severely burned, she said. burs-dt/ach ROSNEFT Commuters wearing face masks walk through the central business district in Beijing, April 1. AP-Yonhap Chinese state media has sought to defend Beijing's zero-COVID strategy which has become a part of Xi Jinping's political legacy using the president's "persistence is victory" phrase to encourage people to stay the course. Authorities are under pressure over the tough policy as China battles its worst wave of infections since Wuhan in 2020, driven by the highly transmissible Omicron variant, with millions of people in lockdown while much of the rest of the world is reopening. Health officials said Friday that more than 100,000 locally transmitted cases were reported in mainland China in March. Hong Kong has meanwhile been grappling with its worst outbreak of the pandemic, with more than 7,700 deaths so far most of them unvaccinated elderly people and the health system overwhelmed. Mainland officials have pointed to the city as a warning of what could happen as they urge older people to get the jab. State news agency Xinhua published a commentary Thursday saying the country must press on with what Beijing calls "dynamic zero-COVID" a policy that aims to eliminate local cases and prevent the virus from spreading. It sought to rally public support but also called for adjustments to the policy to minimize disruption. It followed another editorial published by the Communist Party mouthpiece Monday highlighting Xi's leadership in China's fight against the virus, praising his vision and efforts to protect lives. Both were carried by most state media outlets, and the message in both was that even as cases are rising the zero-COVID strategy is still China's best option. It comes ahead of the twice-a-decade party congress in autumn, at which Xi is expected to secure an unprecedented third term. Leading China to become one of few countries to have kept the virus at bay as the global death toll has passed 6 million has been seen as one of Xi's main political legacies. While there has been public support for the zero-COVID policy, there is growing discontent over the response to the latest wave of cases. Sweeping lockdowns have been imposed on millions in the tech hub of Shenzhen and now in financial center Shanghai, and many have taken to social media to complain. Confined to their homes, many say they have been unable to get food and medicine or to access vital healthcare. A police officer in a protective suit keeps watch on a street, as the second stage of a two-stage lockdown to curb the spread of COVID-19 begins in Shanghai, April 1. Reuters-Yonhap After two years, veteran actress Jin Hee Kyung returns to the small screen as a business-minded supermarket owner in the forthcoming mystery comedy thriller drama "The Killer's Shopping List." Jin Hee Kyung Becomes Supermarket Owner in 'The Killer's Shopping List' Veteran actress Jin Hee Kyung joins Lee Kwang Soo and AOA Seolhyun in the forthcoming tvN mystery comedy drama "The Killer's Shopping List" (also known as "The Murderer's Shopping List"). "The Killer's Shopping List" depicts the mysterious killings in a quiet neighborhood. Shopping lists and grocery items are the key evidence to find the serial murderer. In the drama, Lee Kwang Soo plays the role of Ahn Dae Sung, the supermarket owner's son and cashier. AOA Seolhyun takes on the role of police officer Do Ah Hee. Jin Hee Kyung portrays the role of Jung Myung Sook, a caring mother to Ahn Dae Sung and a supermarket owner. On Friday, April 1, 2022, the production unit of "The Killer's Shopping List" unveiled the first still photos of Jin Hee Kyung's character. In the first photo, Jung Myung Sook's business-minded personality is shown as she thoroughly checks the inventory of products and grocery items in her store. She shows off her superwoman charms as she lifts heavy boxes on her own without hassle. Despite her strict nature as a mother, she is a great neighborhood aunt who exudes friendly vibes to her customers in her mart. Her sweet personality is seen in the next photo as she holds a delicious treat while facing her little customer with a warm smile. On the other hand, Jung Myung Sook hints at an ominous event as she can not take her eyes off on a receipt. With a serious expression, she analyzed the items very carefully. Jin Hee Kyung, who always creates a great atmosphere on set, is expected to lead the drama with co-stars Lee Kwang Soo and AOA Seolhyun. They are expected to deliver a fun and worthwhile work. Furthermore, "The Killer's Shopping List" airs for the first time on Wednesday, April 27 at 10:30 p.m. KST on tvN. Jin Hee Kyung To Appear in Fantasy Film With Yoo Ah In, Ra Mi Ran, More Jin Hee Kyung is set to appear in the star-studded cast of the upcoming fantasy film "Hi.5" with Kang Hyung Cheol, Yoo Ah In, Ra Mi Ran, Ahn Jae Hong, Lee Jae In, Kim Hee Won, Oh Jung Se and GOT7 Jinyoung. "Hi.5" follows the stories of five ordinary people who suddenly develop superpower abilities after receiving organ transplants from a man who possesses superpowers. Due to this unexpected event, the quintet ends up defending themselves from various groups who seek to steal their superpowers. The filming of the film took place in Incheon and Seoul, South Korea, which ended on November 7, 2021. Currently, the fantasy film is now in its post production process. "Hi.5" is scheduled to be released in theaters nationwide in the second half of 2022. While you're here, watch the teaser of "The Killer's Shopping List" below: KDramaStars owns this article. Written by Elijah Mully. K-Dramas set in the '80s and '90s bring back fans and viewers to the time when life was just simple. There were no smartphones, high-tech gadgets, and multipurpose appliances. In addition to that, the sentimental element can totally make anyone emotional. The rawness and realness of these series will hit every viewer in the feels! If you are interested to watch something entertaining and nostalgic, then check these good old K-Dramas now! 1. 'Reply 1988' The "Reply" franchise is certainly the best pick if you want something that will remind you of the good old days! The classic coming-of-age drama "Reply 1988" is simply one binge-worthy series. It follows the story of five friends-including Girl's Day Hyeri, Park Bo Gum, Ryu Jun Yeol, Go Kyung Pyo, and Lee Dong Hwi-who grew up in the same neighborhood. "Reply 1988" will absolutely bring back a lot of memories of you and your friends! Watch it now on Netflix! 2. 'Mr. Sunshine' Lee Byung Hun and Kim Tae Ri's historical drama "Mr. Sunshine" had viewers hooked up until this writing! It depicts the story of a young boy who escapes to the United States to end slavery, after the 1871 Shinmiyangyo incident. Apart from the beautiful backdrop of 1800 South Korea, the drama also offers impressive character developments that can not be seen in other K-Dramas. It also shows how the country struggled during the time of slavery. 3. 'Go Back Couple' What would you do if you wake up and suddenly, you are a much younger version of yourself? In the 2017 rom-com romance drama "Go Back Couple," Son Ho Jun and Jang Na Ra plays a 38-year-old married couple who are blessed with a child. Their long-term relationship reached a point where the cracks they tried to hide now show. It turned their lives gloomy. Then one day, they return to their younger selves as university students. This allowed them to change their former decisions. Son Ho Jun and Jang Na Ra's melodrama perfectly depicts the unconditional love of parents and how decisions affect one's life permanently. 4. 'Twenty Five, Twenty One' Netflix's blockbuster hit series "Twenty Five, Twenty One" gives viewers a glimpse into the lives of five friends who pursue their dreams despite life's unexpected worries and struggles. Starring Nam Joo Hyuk, Kim Tae Ri, WJSN Bona, Choi Hyun Wook and Lee Joo Myung, "Twenty Five, Twenty One" highlights the important parts in one's life: family, friendships, love, dreams, and career. It depicts the story of an aspiring fencer and a news reporter who was once a conglomerate heir. Their dreams were compromised when the IMF crisis happened in South Korea. It forced them to adapt to life's abrupt changes while trying to enjoy their young adulthood. KDramaStars owns this article. Written by Elijah Mully. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form This is a holy time of the year for all the major religions of the world. We are in the time of Lent leading up to Easter for Christians. On April 15, Jews will celebrate Passover (which is also Good Friday). Last week, Hindus celebrated Holi, the second holiest holiday of Hinduism (after Diwali), and on May 15 Buddhists will celebrate Wesack, which is their holiest day in celebration of the birth of Siddhartha Gautama the Buddha. And on April 2, Muslims around the world will observe the beginning of their holiest month the month of Ramadan. We are blessed this springtime to celebrate an absolute surfeit of world spirituality. Let me wish all our Muslim readers a Ramadan Mubarack A blessed Ramadan and let me try to explain to our non-Muslim readers just a bit about this remarkable religious ritual observed by more than 90 percent of the almost 2 billion Muslims here on planet Earth, which means that roughly one out of every four people on the planet will be celebrating Ramadan beginning this week. Islam 101 First, some common misconceptions and little-known facts about Islam: Most all Arabs are Muslims, but most Muslims are not Arabs. Only about 20 percent of Muslims are Arabs. Turkey and Iran are the largest non-Arab countries and the largest is Indonesia. Muslim clerics are called Imams and unlike rabbis and priests and Buddhist monks and nuns are usually not employed full time as clerics but have other jobs and take on their religious duties in addition to their secular work. The preferred name for a Muslim House of Worship is not Mosque but Masjid. Mosque is a French term. Muslim men and women can pray together in the same room. In most masjids there are usually customs that have the men pray in the front, followed by children and then women. There are no pictures or statues in a Masjid. Decorations in a Masjid are usually verses from the Quran and never, ever a picture of The Prophet, which could be considered idolatrous or disrespectful. The Muslim calendar is unique among world religions because it is a pure lunar calendar, which means it is about 11 days shorter than the solar year. What this means is that Ramadan is one of the very few world religious holidays that is not connected to harvest times or any other agricultural event. It means that the time for the beginning of Ramadan floats throughout the year. One of my favorite Muslim blessings is, May you celebrate Ramadan in every season of the year. Celebrating Ramadan Now, lets return to Ramadan news: Ramadan celebrates the revelation of the Holy Quran by the angel Gabriel (the same angel from Judaism and Christianity) to the prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Fasting on Ramadan from dawn to sundown (in Arabic: sawm) is one of the five pillars of Islam. The other four are: The profession of faith. This is called in Arabic, shahada. It is, like the Shema in Judaism, a brief and eloquent statement of the central belief of Islam, There is no god but God (Allah), and Muhammad is the Messenger of God. Prayer (salat). Muslims pray facing Mecca and prostrate themselves five times a day (noon, afternoon, evening and night) and they can be said alone but saying them in a Masjid is preferable, particularly on Friday. Charity (zakat). Giving alms for the poor and for the maintenance of Masjids is one of the most admirable and impressive practices of Islam. Muslims are taught to give at least 2.5 percent of their income, but the poor with no income can fulfill zakat by doing good deeds for others. Pilgrimage (hajj). Muslims who are physically able are commanded to make at least one pilgrimage to Mecca in their lifetime. All pilgrims wear just two simple sheets to eliminate any social or class distinctions. The hajj changes ones name and ones life in an mass act of communal purification. But now back to Ramadan rituals: To ease the fast from dawn to sundown for an entire month, a predawn meal called suhur is eaten. The fasting includes no drinking but Muslims who are ill or infirm are exempt from the obligation to fast. The meal eaten after sundown is called iftar and it usually begins by eating dates. Large buffet meals and social gatherings are common for the iftar meals. The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, the largest mosque in the UAE, feeds up to 30,000 people every night. The holiday meal eaten at the end of the month of Ramadan is massively joyous and is called Eid al-Fitr with sweets and decorations. Ramadan is a time of purity, joy and generosity. Such a lesson is a gift to all the world. Send questions and comments to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including Religion for Dummies, co-written with Father Tom Hartman. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 A pedestrian walks past Special Task Force personnel standing on guard along a street in Colombo, Sri Lanka, April 2. AFP-Yonhap Sri Lanka declared a 36-hour nationwide curfew Saturday and deployed troops backed with sweeping new powers under a state of emergency to quell protests against the president, his relatives and even his most trusted shaman. The lockdown will go into effect at dusk Saturday and be lifted Monday morning, police said a period that covers planned mass anti-government protests against worsening shortages of fuel, food and medicines. The order came a day after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa invoked a state of emergency following a violent attempt to storm his house, saying it was for the "protection of public order." The ire of a mob in the near-bankrupt country was directed Saturday at a woman identified as a soothsayer frequently consulted by Rajapaksa in the northern town of Anuradhapura. Rights activist and former opposition legislator Hirunika Premachandra led dozens of women to storm seer Gnana Akka's shrine and residence, but armed police stopped them. "Why are police protecting a shaman?" she asked a senior officer who physically blocked her march, as seen on a Facebook live video, verified by AFP as authentic. "Thief, thief, Gota thief," the crowds chanted after armed security personnel stopped them. "Think of the country and let us pass," another woman activist pleaded. "#GoHomeRajapaksas" and "#GotaGoHome" have been trending for days on Twitter and Facebook in the country, which is battling severe shortages of essentials, sharp price rises and crippling power cuts in its most painful downturn since independence from Britain in 1948. The coronavirus pandemic has torpedoed tourism and remittances, both vital to the economy, and authorities have imposed a broad import ban in an attempt to save foreign currency. Many economists also say the crisis has been exacerbated by government mismanagement, years of accumulated borrowing, and ill-advised tax cuts. 52 Shares Share Imagine losing control of your childs life-saving care. The mental anxiety is overwhelming enough then suddenly, all the decisions that should be up to your child, you, and your childs physician are snatched out of your hands by faceless institutions. This is the fate currently befalling the families of transgender youth in Texas. The Gender Education and Care, Interdisciplinary Support Clinic (GENECIS) in Dallas, has been effectively shut down, reducing the capacity for gender-affirming care across all of Texas. For the past seven years, the clinic provided interdisciplinary care to transgender youth, including primary, endocrine, and psychiatric care. The clinics closure was followed by an abrupt statement from its parent institution stating that it would cease offering puberty blockers and hormone therapies to new pediatric patients due to the lack of evidence of long-term effects and lack of FDA approval. We believe GENECIS should be reopened due to its critical role in providing gender-affirming care to the youth of Texas. Gender-affirming care is defined as judgment-free, individualized care oriented toward understanding and appreciating a persons gender. Multiple medical societies such as the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics support gender-affirming care. At least eight studies, including one directly out of the GENECIS clinic, revealed improvements in mental health domains for adolescent patients receiving gender-affirming care without associated evidence of harm. The American Psychiatric Association concluded in 2020 that gender-affirming treatment, including the use of puberty blockers, is associated with relief of emotional distress. Furthermore, the Endocrine Society asserts that gender-affirming care is medically necessary and has established evidence-based guidelines including pubertal suppression, hormone replacement therapy, eventual gender-affirming surgical procedures, and multi-disciplinary access to specialties such as psychiatry. The GENECIS clinic has followed all of these, so why then would it need to be shut down? GENECIS clinics parent institution argues gender-affirming therapy is too risky. For instance, the long-term effects of off-label leuprolide use have not been fully studied. However, a reasonable counter-argument can be made that the medical benefits of blocking puberty outweigh the medical risks; the studies above suggest that transgender youth receiving these therapies demonstrate better mental health outcomes including suicidal ideation, non-suicidal self-harm, depression, and anxiety as opposed to their peers without stated therapy. Therefore, withholding gender-affirming care is also a care decision with well-characterized negative impacts. GENECISs work has also encountered political opposition in Texas. Public officials argue that gender-affirming care constitutes child abuse and have attempted to investigate families whose children have been treated by this clinic. Though this may possibly be a well-meaning public and political concern for these patients, given all of the evidence for gender-affirming care, how could this patient-parent-physician decision-making possibly be considered child abuse? Perhaps, rather, this concern for transgender youth is rooted in political, social, and medical discrimination against transgender youth, limiting life-saving opportunities and medically necessary treatment. Dr. Ximena Lopez, previously director of the GENECIS clinic, is currently filing a lawsuit on the basis of such concerns. The closing of GENECIS exposes just how fragile transgender health care protections can be in the United States. You can encourage your medical institutions to support Dr. Lopezs lawsuit investigating the potential for medical discrimination. Unfortunately, political encroachment around these medical topics is inevitable as the government is meant to care for its constituents. We need to encourage fact-based policy rooted in academic guidelines. If the concern revolves around issues of safety, then why not funnel more resources into such multidisciplinary clinics and more rigorously study those long-term effects as we would with any medical therapies? Even if this clinic were to reopen, this does not address the significant lack of accessibility for transgender health across Texas and across the nation. We need to encourage more medical centers to open and fund such interdisciplinary initiatives, so that transgender patients do not have to travel across states for such critical care. It is estimated that there are over 1.4 million individuals identifying as transgender in the United States, and these individuals deserve better. The authors are an anonymous medical student and a physician. Image credit: Shutterstock.com The outworkings of Brexit continue to bedevil politics in Northern Ireland, Taoiseach Micheal Martin has told an audience in Londonderry. Mr Martin was addressing an event organised by the Hume Foundation at the Playhouse theatre in the city. He referenced a security alert at a previous event in Belfast last week, when he said that all opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol must be peaceful. Last Friday, Irish Foreign Affairs minister Simon Coveney had to abandon a speech to the Hume Foundation in Belfast following a security alert when a van driver was threatened by two gunmen and a hoax bomb placed in the vehicle. Police have linked loyalist paramilitaries to the incident. Mr Martin told the event: The threat of violence last Friday targeting an innocent man, disrupting a family funeral in Belfast and the foundations cross-community event with Minister Coveney, underscores how much we still need John Humes message and means of peace-building today. I welcome that last weeks incident, and the attack on Doug Beatties office this week, have been condemned by political leaders from all communities, making clear that no purpose is served and nobody is represented by violence or a threat of violence. My government listens carefully to the concerns of all communities in Northern Ireland. He added: As Taoiseach, I have engaged actively and constructively with unionist, nationalist and other political leaders across the spectrum here. The Irish Government will never dismiss genuinely held concerns around the protocol, and we are working very actively with our EU partners to listen and engage on them, but any opposition must always be peaceful. That is simply fundamental. There are democratic and lawful means for all concerns to be raised and resolutions worked through. That is where our focus must remain. Reflecting on almost a quarter of a century since the Good Friday Agreement, Mr Martin said there had been reconciliation across the islands. He added: But we also see that the three sets of relationships accommodated in the Good Friday Agreement are strained, and they have been for some time now. The outworkings of Brexit, including the protocol, continue to bedevil politics in Northern Ireland and complicate both north/south and east/west relationships. The power-sharing Executive and North South Ministerial Council are, once again, not fully functioning, which is a source of deep concern. As it the fact that the legacy of the Troubles has still not been equitably dealt with. Leaving unmet the needs and legitimate expectations of victims and unresolved trauma in society. Ahead of the event, a number of homeowners affected by the mica scandal in Ireland staged a protest outside the theatre. Thousands of Irish homes have crumbled because of mica, a mineral which absorbs water, causing walls to crack. Mr Martin stopped to speak to the protesters before entering the theatre. Earlier in the day, Mr Martin said he did not think twice about coming to Northern Ireland a week after the security alert which disrupted Mr Coveneys visit. The Taoiseach carried out a number of engagements during his visit to Derry. He met with business leaders in the city and visited Ulster Universitys Magee campus to discuss cross-border research projects. The research projects are funded through the Irish governments shared island initiative. He also visited Altnagelvin Hospital, where the Irish government has part-funded cross-border cancer services. Irish transport officials will hold daily crisis management meetings as passengers continue to report lengthy queues at Dublin Airport. The Department of Transport said on Friday that junior minister Hildegarde Naughton had established a daily crisis management meeting to tackle the issue and was closely monitoring the situation. Dublin Airport has said it is still trying to rebound from the impact of the pandemic and blamed shortages in fully-trained staff working at the countrys busiest airport. This coming weekend will see thousands of people travelling through Dublin Airport, on the outskirts of the Irish capital. Ms Naughton met on Friday with the Daa CEO Dalton Philips, the head of the company that manages Dublin Airport. According to a statement issued by the Department of Transport, the minister was told that extra measures have been put in place including the redeployment of staff to manage queues and improve security screening. Daa briefed the Minister on the additional measures that have been put in place, such as redeployment of staff to support queue management and ensure better presentation for security screening, additional overtime, the additional opening hours of security lanes, and enhancing communications with passengers. Daa reported an improvement in the queue times from last weekend, but excessive times were still experienced by passengers at peak times. The Minister was assured that Dublin Airport continue to work closely with their airline partners through the appropriate channels. One hundred extra security staff have already been recruited by the airport, with plans to hire 300 more. Ms Naughton also met with the bosses of Aer Lingus and Ryanair, as well as the incoming head of the Irish Aviation Authority. A spokesperson for Ryanair earlier on Friday hit out at the response so far from the Government. Ryanair and other Dublin Airport customers, cannot endure more weekends where thousands of customers suffer queue delays of 1 or 2 hours, causing many to miss their scheduled flights. They called on the Government to take responsibility to help solve this short-term staffing problem. Pope Francis has said he is considering a visit to Kyiv as he condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for launching a savage war. Speaking after his arrival in Malta, he delivered his most pointed and personalised denunciation yet of Russias invasion of Ukraine. Francis did not cite the Russian president by name, but the reference was clear when he said some potentate had unleashed the threat of nuclear war on the world in an infantile and destructive aggression under the guise of anachronist claims of nationalistic interests. Once again, some potentate is provoking and fomenting conflicts, ordinary people sense the need to build a future that, will either be shared, or will not be at all. Now in the night of the war, let us not allow the dream of #peace to fade! #ApostolicJourney #Malta Pope Francis (@Pontifex) April 2, 2022 We had thought that invasions of other countries, savage street fighting and atomic threats were grim memories of a distant past, Francis told Maltese officials and diplomats on the Mediterranean island nation at the start of a weekend visit. Francis has so far avoided referring to Russia or Mr Putin by name, but Saturdays personalisation of the powerful figure responsible marked a new level of outrage for the pontiff. Once again, some potentate, sadly caught up in anachronistic claims of nationalist interest, is provoking and fomenting conflicts, whereas ordinary people sense the need to build a future that will either be shared or not be at all, he said. The Vatican tends to not call out aggressors in hopes of keeping open options for dialogue. The Vatican, which in recent years has forged unprecedented new relations with the Putin-allied Russian Orthodox Church, has offered itself as a potential mediator but has been largely left on the diplomatic sidelines. Francis told reporters en route to Malta that a possible visit to Kyiv was on the table, but no dates have been set or a trip confirmed. The mayor of the Ukrainian capital had invited Francis to come as a messenger of peace along with other religious figures. Francis also said that the war has pained his heart so much that he sometimes forgets about the pain in his knees. Francis has been suffering for months from a strained ligament in his right knee. The inflammation got so bad that the Vatican arranged for an elevator to get him on to and off the plane for Saturdays flight to Malta. The visit, originally scheduled for May 2020, was always supposed to focus on migration, given Maltas role at the heart of Europes migration debate. Speaking with Maltas president by his side, Francis denounced the sordid agreements the European Union has made with Libya to turn back migrants and said Europe must show humanity in welcoming them. He called for the Mediterranean to be a theatre of solidarity, not the harbinger of a tragic shipwreck of civilisation. In Defence of Marxism is committed to safeguarding your privacy. At all times we aim to respect any personal data you share with us, or that we receive from other organisations, and keep it safe. This Privacy Policy (Policy) sets out our data collection and processing practices and your options regarding the ways in which your personal information is used. This Policy contains important information about your personal rights to privacy. Please read it carefully to understand how we use your personal data. We may update this Policy from time to time without notice to you, so please check it regularly. The provision of your personal data to us is voluntary. 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Please let us know if you have any queries or concerns whatsoever about the way in which your data is being processed by emailing the Data Protection Manager at webmaster@marxist.com Shenandoah, IA (51601) Today Mostly cloudy skies this morning will become partly cloudy this afternoon. High 68F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph.. Tonight Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 48F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. As of noon EST Saturday, Alaska Airlines canceled 77 flights, or 11% of its operations. China-proposed BRI complements Africa's continental dev't aspiration: Ethiopian expert Xinhua) 09:07, April 02, 2022 ADDIS ABABA, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) positively complements Africa's continental development aspirations towards realizing an integrated and prosperous Africa, an Ethiopian expert has said. The construction of BRI projects, encompassing roads, railways, ports, industrial parks and digital infrastructure, are in harmony with African country's quest for an integrated and well-connected Africa, Melaku Mulualem, senior international relations and diplomacy researcher at Ethiopia's Institute of Strategic Affairs, told Xinhua. "One of the major plans of Africa's 50-year development plan is integration, and when you see the vision of the African Union, it starts with creating an integrated, prosperous, and peaceful Africa. Integration is a priority for Africa," Mulualem said. Mulualem emphasized that the BRI complements Africa's 50-year continental development aspiration, as it "hugely contributes to the integration of Africa through modern railways, road and other infrastructure projects." "The construction of Belt and Road projects in Africa is truly in line with the Agenda 2063 of Africa. Africa is hugely benefiting from this initiative," said Mulualem. Mulualem argued that a growing number of African countries cooperating with China under the BRI mechanism have realized new deep seaports, thousands of kilometers of roads and railways that have transformed logistics across the continent, among other development projects. The expert underscored that Ethiopia, as a major partner of China under the BRI, is one of the growing list of African countries that have been able to benefit from the BRI in boosting connectivity with ports in neighboring Djibouti, eventually expediting its import and export trade. "Construction of the 752-km Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway not only transformed land-locked Ethiopia's import and export trade, but it also boosts the country's entire economy with an ease of access to the international market," Mulualem argued. According to the expert, in addition to railway, road and other infrastructure projects, Ethiopia has also highly benefited from the construction of industrial parks that were built by Chinese technologies and experts along the railway. (Web editor: Peng yukai, Liang Jun) Huawei Technologies Chief Financial Officer Meng Wanzhou leaves her home to attend a court hearing in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in this Sept. 24, 2021, file photo. Meng has been named the company's new chairwoman. Reuters-Yonhap Telecoms giant Huawei Technologies has given its finance chief Meng Wanzhou, who returned to China in 2021 after nearly three years detention in Canada, the new rotating position of chairwoman, according to the company's website. Meng, the daughter of Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei, will act as the company's top leader and head Huawei's board of directors for six months when it is her turn. The announcement did not specify when her term would begin. The rotating chairmen are Eric Xu and Ken Hu. Meng is also deputy chairwoman and will remain CFO, according to the company's website. "The company is optimizing and refining its internal governance structure to make sure the company is built to last," a Huawei spokesperson said. "The supervisory board is responsible for the company's survival, development and long-term prospects." Meng, whose English name is Sabrina, played a central role in the company's tussle with the United States, having been detained in Canada in 2018 over alleged attempts by Huawei-linked companies to sell equipment to Iran in breach of U.S. sanctions. The United States then imposed a series of trade restrictions on the company throughout 2019 and 2020, citing national security concerns. This impeded Huawei's ability to design its own chips and to source components from outside vendors, crippling its smartphone businesses. Meng was allowed to return to China in September after an agreement with U.S. prosecutors to end a bank fraud case. (Reuters) Angola, IN (46703) Today Cloudy with periods of rain. High 52F. Winds ENE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.. Tonight Rain ending early. Remaining cloudy. Low near 45F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%. slide 2 of 6 OH MY GIRL enters the broadcasting station to appear on SBS Radio Power FM "Cultwo Show." It is held at SBS in Seoul on March 30. slide 2 of 6 BTS V shared memories with fans by posting photos on Instagram Stories. On the 31st of last month, V posted three photos on his Instagram story. The first picture was during rehearsal for the 'Permission to Dance on Stage - Seoul' concert held in Seoul last March. He was wearing a colorful knit hat. On April 1, K-Pop Radar updated their charts to reflect data on K-pop artists in the previous month. Want to know which K-pop stars gained the most followers on Instagram in March 2022? Then keep on reading! BTS V is the K-Pop Star Who Gained the Most Instagram Followers in March 2022 The K-pop idol who gained the most Instagram followers in March 2022 is BTS's very own V! According to K-Pop Radar, V gained 2,621,504 new followers in March 2022. This brings his end-of-the-month follower count to a whopping 38,233,989. V is not the only BTS member to rank high. All of the BTS members ranked in the top ten in the list of K-pop idols who gained the most Instagram followers in March 2022. Jungkook ranked in second place, gaining 2,596,011 new followers. By the end of the month, Jungkook had a total of 36,057,004. Jin ranked in fourth place, amassing 2,300,038 new followers. He ended the month with 31,186,638 total followers. Jimin ranked in fifth place with 2,208,540 new followers. He had a total of 32,872,128 followers by the end of March. In sixth place, we have Suga with 2,189,763 new followers and a total follower count of 31,561,643 new followers. J-Hope and RM ranked seventh and eighth place, respectively. J-Hope gained 2,149,457 new followers and ended the month with 32,366,206 followers, while RM gained 2,034,261 new followers and 31,441,768 total followers. Kim Sejeong is the Female Idol That Gained the Most Instagram Followers in March 2022 Ranking in second place and rising 149 spots from last month is Kim Sejeong. The female idol-actress gained 2,570,395 new followers in March 2022. By the end of the month, the "Flower Way" songstress had a total of 5,634,734. That means in February, the idol only had a little over 3 million followers! Her sudden rise in popularity is due to her role in the K-drama "A Business Proposal." In the drama, Kim Sejeong plays Shin Ha Ri. The drama is seeing success in South Korea and internationally. This helped boost Kim Sejeong's follower count. She, alongside BLACKPINK's Lisa and Jennie, is the only female idols to rank in the top ten. These are the TOP 30 K-Pop Stars That Gained the Most Instagram Followers in March 2022 *For the complete list with data, CLICK HERE. 1. BTS V 2. Kim Sejeong 3. BTS Jungkook 4. BTS Jin 5. BTS Jimin 6. BTS Suga 7. BTS J-Hope 8. BTS RM 9. BLACKPINK Lisa 10. BLACKPINK Jennie 11. BLACKPINK Jisoo 12. BLACKPINK Rose 13. BTS 14. NMIXX 15. TXT Yeonjun 16. Stray Kids 17. Jay Park 18. BLACKPINK 19. ITZY 20. TWICE 21. IU 22. ASTRO Cha Eun Woo 23. NCT Taeyong 24. ENHYPEN 25. Jeon Somi 26. WJSN Bona 27. TREASURE 28. NCT Jaehyun 29. (G)I-DLE Minnie 30. IVE Jang Wonyoung Who is your K-pop bias? Tell us in the comments below! For more K-Pop news and updates, always keep your tabs open here on KpopStarz. KpopStarz owns This Written by Alexa Lewis On Friday April 1 at approximately 12:33 PM the Walworth County Sheriffs Office Communication Center received a 911 call reporting a boat explosion on Lauderdale Lake in the Town of LaGrange, according to a release from the Sheriffs Office. Emergency responders were immediately dispatched to the area and deputies located a pontoon type barge on the shoreline off of Stewart Drive with significant damage. Three male victims were located and medical first aid was administered by both deputies and fire/rescue personnel. One male victim was transported to a local trauma center with severe injuries, another male was treated and released and the third male was pronounced deceased at the scene by the Walworth County Medical Examiners Office. The Walworth County Hazardous Materials Unit assisted with fuel spillage. The three males worked for a local pier service and were in the process of installing a pier when the explosion occurred. The cause of the explosion is under investigation by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Walworth County Sheriffs Office, the Walworth County Medical Examiners Office, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Assisting agencies include the Lauderdale LaGrange Fire and Rescue Department, Elkhorn Area Fire Department EMS Division, Walworth County Hazardous Materials Unit, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Walworth County Medical Examiners Office, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The names of the victims are not being released at this time. More information may be released as the investigation continues. Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. New Delhi [India], April 2 (ANI/ATK): The Agriculture Sector in India has taken a severe hit from the shift in the weather cycles. Despite nutrient-rich soil, the heat, unpredictable rainfalls and recurrent floods have caused extensive damage to crop yields over the past few years. As a result, the country has been unable to produce enough agricultural products to meet the requirement. The existing solution to this is the use of pesticides, which diminish the quality of the produce that reaches the customers through retail outlets or restaurants. Also Read | Maharashtra: NGT Directs PCB To Check Alleged Violations of Environment Norms By Koradi and Khaperkheda Thermal Power Stations in Nagpur. In order to provide healthy and toxic-free food to the public, PlantMe Agro Solutions, a Kerala-based agritech startup has ramped-up its operations and is partnering with hotels and resorts. To begin with, the company has currently partnered with Tonico Cafe at Kochi and Elixir Hills at Munnar. PlantMe Agro Solutions is founded by Ashwin Ramachandran - a serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Mobme, Nithin Kumar - Executive Director of Kanaka Polypack Pvt Ltd, and Parvathy Sasikumar- an agritech enthusiast turned Entrepreneur, Akhila Ramdas - an MTech in Artificial Intelligence. PlantMe is advised and mentored by Muraleemanohar, Managing Director, Farm Tech Consultancy. With its partnership with these cafes and resorts in the state, the company has taken a step towards attaining its vision of providing fresh, pesticide and toxic-free produce to consumers. It helps PlantMe to take the 'farm to fork concept' to the next level. PlantMe's solutions put more control and power in the hands of the people. By strategically overcoming the challenges of urban farming, the solutions open new doors for individuals as well as commercial farmers. Also Read | GT vs DC, IPL 2022 Live Cricket Streaming: Watch Free Telecast of Gujarat Titans vs Delhi Capitals on Star Sports and Disney+ Hotstar Online. As a first step towards this, PlantMe has helped Tonico Cafe in Kochi install a vertical hydroponic farm with a variety of greens like Basil, Kale, Cilantro etc. The cafe requires fresh Basil leaves for its signature pesto sauce which is hard to procure in the state. Through its farm, Tonico Cafe not only found a stable supply of fresh basil but also cultivated other greens like Kale, Mint etc. This has allowed the cafe to serve toxic-free fresh food to its diners. "We at Tonico Cafe have always emphasized serving the freshest and finest products to our customers. That's what made Tonico Cafe to try hydroponic solutions offered by PlantMe. It is a convenient and affordable method which solves the problem of lack of space or land, regulates the temperature and humidity and also reduces the risk of pest invasion. The fresh greens thus produced here at Tonico Cafe work real magic with its dishes by truly enhancing their taste and colour. This is one of the reasons why the menu of Tonico Cafe has become an all-time favourite of food lovers! Tony Jose, Founder & CEO, Tonico Cafe. The soilless farming method is a rave around the world right now as the "future of farming". In this system, the roots are immersed in nutrient-rich solution, which helps plants to grow faster, with minimum effort, and with very little space and water compared to traditional agricultural methods. Since the crops grow faster, farmers can produce more yields in a season making it a highly profitable choice. They also have the option of experimenting with more varieties of crops. Speaking about the soil-less farming initiative at Elixir Luke Stephen, Managing Director, Elixir Hills said, "We, at Elixir have always prioritised the wellbeing of our customers, and have started looking at hydroponics as a solution to the shortage of fresh, toxic-free food supply in the market. By moving from soil to soilless farming, adopting protected cultivation and installing climate control systems, we are not only protecting our crops from the impact of climate change but also expanding our horizons. With PlantMe's sustainable solutions, we are now able to produce leafy greens and fruity vegetables such tomatoes, capsicum, cherry tomatoes, cucumber etc. We are hoping to extend our own commercial farms and give our customers the best dining experience. After all, high-quality food is the hallmark of high-quality hospitality." As a whole, PlantMe's solutions have been helping individuals, cafes, resorts, and commercial farms with a promise of high-quality pesticide-free food produce. They would be guided and supported at every step by the consultants at PlantMe Agro (www.plantmeagro.com) to find the right solutions for their needs. This story is provided by ATK. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/ATK) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann at Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on Saturday (Photo/ANI) Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], April 2 (ANI): AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann visited the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on Saturday ahead of the Gujarat Assembly elections to be held later this year. "We are on two days tour of Gujarat. We came to the ashram to pay tribute to Gandhiji. This is my maiden visit to the Ashram after becoming the chief minister," Kejriwal told media persons here. Also Read | Chennai: Coast Guard To Step Up Patrolling To Prevent Indian Fishermen Crossing International Maritime Boundary Line. "I come from the land of freedom fighters. The people of Gujarat are revolutionaries. I believe the people in Gujarat are ready to play a great role in the country's prosperity and security," said Mann. Assembly polls in Gujarat are slated to be held later this year. Also Read | PM Narendra Modi, Nepal PM Sher Bahadur Deuba Start RuPay Payment System, Inaugurate Cross-Border Train Services. Kejriwal will be holding meetings with party leaders of the Gujarat unit on Sunday. Charged with its landslide victory in the recently held Punjab Assembly elections, AAP is seeking to expand its footprint in other states. AAP plans to contest all 182 assembly seats in Gujarat, Kejriwal had said last year. The party had made its debut in Gujarat in the 2017 assembly polls, but could not open its account. In the local bodies elections held last year in March AAP had won 42 seats.(ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Chandigarh [India], April 2 (ANI): Under the new excise policy in Chandigarh, restaurants, bars and hotels can remain open till 3 am. "The facility of 2-hour extension in closure timings (i.e. up to 3 AM) given to Restaurants / Bars / Hotels on payment of additional license fees," read the press release on Excise Policy of Chandigarh for the year 2021-22. Also Read | Ramzan 2022 Wishes: PM Narendra Modi Extends Ramadan Greetings, Says 'May This Holy Month Inspire People To Serve Poor'. Governor Punjab and Administrator U.T., Chandigarh, Banwarilal Purohit, after a detailed presentation by the Adviser to the Administrator, Finance Secretary-cum-Secretary (E&T), Deputy Commissioner-cum-Excise and Taxation Commissioner and other Senior Officers of the Excise Department, has approved new Excise Policy for the year 2022-23. The policy aims at balancing the aspirations of the consumers, manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and the government. Also Read | Curfew Imposed in Karauli Following Communal Clashes, Says Rajasthan Police. According to the new excise policy, to curb spurious liquor, pilfer proof seals are made mandatory in the country. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Jaipur, Apr 2 (PTI) Communal clashes broke out in Rajasthan's Karauli on Saturday evening after stones were pelted at a motorcycle rally taken out to celebrate the Hindu new year, prompting authorities to clamp curfew, suspend the internet and deploy 600 police personnel. Around two dozen people were injured in the violence while 30 persons were detained, Additional Director General of Police ( Law and Order) Hawa Singh Ghumariya said, adding the situation is under control. Also Read | Raj Thackeray Demands Shutting Down of Loudspeakers of Mosques. The rally to mark Nav Samvatsar was passing through a Muslim-dominated area when some people pelted stones. The violence escalated and a few shops and a bike were burnt. Several others were damaged, the police said. The police control room of Karauli initially said that over 35 persons were injured. Also Read | Ramzan 2022 Wishes: PM Narendra Modi Extends Ramadan Greetings, Says 'May This Holy Month Inspire People To Serve Poor'. The ADG said many of the injured were discharged after primary treatment while around 10 were admitted to a local hospital and one was referred to SMS hospital in Jaipur in critical condition. Mobile internet has also been suspended in Karauli, which is 170 km from state capital Jaipur. Governor Kalraj Mishra and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot spoke to Director General of Police (DGP) M L Lather and appealed to the public to maintain peace. Officials said 600 policemen, including 50 officers of the ranks of deputy superintendent of police and inspector, have been deployed and three IPS officers have been sent from Jaipur to Karauli. Karauli collector Rajendra Singh Shekhawat said that curfew has been imposed in the entire city. ADG Hawa Singh Ghumariya said that some shops were set on fire. The fire has been brought under control by fire tenders. ADG Sanjib Kumar, IG Bharat Lal Meena, DIG (Crime branch) Jaipur Rahul Prakash and (DCP) Mridul Kachawa have been sent to Karauli, he said. Gehlot told reporters in Barmer that he had directed the DGP to take strict action against the culprits. Some miscreants happen to be there...they can be in any religion and anywhere and they should be avoided because they are not harmed, common man is harmed. They are not hurt, common man is hurt, he said. Gehlot said that Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and all other communities need to contribute and play their constructive role in building an environment of peace and development in the state. BJP state president Satish Poonia held the Congress government responsible for the incident. Congress government's appeasement policy is responsible for it. No arrest has been made so far. It was a planned attack on the bike rally which was organised on Hindu new year, Poonia alleged. Former chief minister and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje also condemned the incident and said the "hate mentality" cannot be allowed to flourish in Rajasthan. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) By Shalini Bhardwaj New Delhi [India], April 2 (ANI): With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)-National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune along with its chief scientists have been at the forefront to deal with the emerging challenges, including expeditious isolation and detection of various strains and their variants, said top scientist of the ICMR-NIV. Also Read | Chhattisgarh: Locals Protesting Against Rowghat Iron Ore Project Clash With Police in Narayanpur. Dr Pragya Yadav, an ICMR-NIV scientist, is among the scientists who detected the first three COVID-19 cases in India. Now that the pandemic in the country has subsided, Yadav said that the situation was back-breaking when the coronavirus infections were being reported in the early stage. "The preparation for such a large populated country was challenging. We had to prepare for more and that was the time when the ICMR stepped in with its large pool of resources across the country to deal with the situation," the ICMR scientist told ANI. Also Read | Chaitra Navratri 2022: PM Narendra Modi Greets People on Navratri, Vikram Samvat. Following the detection of COVID-19, the medical research centre jumped on a new journey to develop the vaccination against the virus. "Before isolating the virus in March 2020, we went on research mode so that we could isolate the virus in March. Further, we went on a new journey to develop the vaccine requirements against it," Dr Yadav said. She further informed that ICMR-NIV Pune started preparations to develop the testing system with the National Influenza Centre when the cases were rising in China. "As soon as China reported their cases and it was rising, ICMR-NIV Pune started the process of testing system with the National Influenza centre which is always at the forefront of dealing with respiratory diseases. As soon as we detected the first few cases with the arrival of the Wuhan student who arrived in Kerala, we got to know that the pandemic is coming to the country," she added. Meanwhile, ICMR also worked on the strategies of 5Ts -- test, track, trace, treat and technology to expand and diversify the testing capacity for detecting COVID-19 infection to effectively mitigate the effect of the pandemic. Dr Pragya Yadav also explained how she struck balance between the research work and personal life during the COVID-19 pandemic. "I used to talk to my children after coming back home. They used to request me to invent the vaccine against COVID-19 so that they can resume their offline classes. So, they always supported and motivated me," she stated. The coronavirus or COVID-19 had brought life to a standstill in almost every part of the world. The virus, which originated in central China's Hubei Province, claimed numerous lives so far and continues to adversely affect more than 150 countries globally. The first case of COVID-19 was reported in Hubei's Wuhan city in December 2019. An article in the American magazine 'National Review' highlights how China withheld information that proved detrimental to the COVID-19 fight. The coronavirus that jumps from an animal species to a human being probably began at the Chinese 'wet market.' (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) By Shalini Bhardwaj New Delhi [India], March 31 (ANI): India may get an effective vaccine against tuberculosis (TB) in 2024 that will reduce the burden of its transmission in India. Also Read | Telangana Heatwave: People Advised to Stay Indoors Between 12 PM to 4 PM. In an exclusive interview with ANI, Dr Suchit Kamble, Scientist E, National AIDS Research Institute (NARI), Pune said, "We are hoping that India will definitely get a good vaccine that will be effective and reduce the burden of TB transmission in India." The ICMR has started conducting Phase 3 double-blind placebo control trials across 18 subsites in India. In Maharashtra, it has been conducted at two sites under ICMR-NARI Pune. Also Read | Actress Assault Case: Kerala High Court Reserves Order in Case Against Malayalam Actor Dileep in Connection with 2017 Case. "At present a total of 1,593 participants are randomised at Pune and their follow up for 38 months is ongoing. Efficacy and safety of two candidate TB vaccines will be studied under this trial," said Dr Kamble. The two vaccines under study are VPM1002 and Immuvac. "The ICMR is conducting these trials at 18 sites in India spread across six states. In Maharashtra, at two sites, the trials have been conducted under ICMR-NARI Pune," he added. The other states where trials will be conducted are Tamil Nadu, Telangana and others. On trial results, Dr Kamble said, "The last enrolment at our site will be in 2024. When we will complete all the follow-ups, then the patient data will be compiled. Thereafter, the analysis will start and later we can get the final results." He further explained that the participants of age six-year-old and above have been enrolled for the trials. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Ramban (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], April 2 (ANI): The Jammu and Kashmir Police detained 25 Rohingya Muslims in the Ramban district of the union territory and were sent to Hiranagar holding centre on Friday, said officials on Saturday. Police officials said that these Rohingya Muslims were detained on Friday and their documents are being verified. At present, they have been sent to the holding centre in Hiranagar town of Kathua district in Jammu and Kashmir. Also Read | Tamil Nadu: TN Forest Department to Hold Public Meetings To Probe Elephants Deaths, Especially in Coimbatore Range. "A total of 25 Rohingyas were detained by Jammu and Kashmir Police yesterday from Ramban, their documents are being verified. They have been sent to a holding centre in Hiranagar," police said. Earlier, on March 6 last year, 169 illegal immigrant Rohingyas were sent to the above-mentioned holding centre, following which the government had to conduct the process of nationality verification to pave way for their deportation. (ANI) Also Read | Navratri 2022: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee Extends Best Wishes to People. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Mumbai, Apr 2 (PTI) A 17-year-old medical student sustained injuries in a knife attack by a man known to her near Rabale railway station in Navi Mumbai, a police official said on Saturday. Also Read | COVID-19 Now More Prevalent Than Ever in England, Says Report. The incident took place on Friday evening and the teen girl's injuries are minor, the Rabale MIDC police station official said. Also Read | Odisha Has Shown Spectacular 10.1% Growth in Fiscal Year 2021-22, Says CM Naveen Patnaik. A case was registered on Saturday afternoon against Kundal Ghol, a roadside clothes seller who lives in the same Bhimnagar locality as the victim and is known to her, he added. The victim had earlier complained to police against Ghol for harassment, he said, adding that efforts were on to nab him. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) A toll bridge spanning a local river in Senegal is believed to be the longest of the kind in West Africa. The 1,600m steel bridge was financed by Senegal and China through the Export-Import Bank of China and built by a Chinese company in four years. A special ceremony was arranged Saturday, with Senegalese President Macky Sall attending, to celebrate the commissioning. The bridge was completed late last year and its construction had created 2,000 jobs. According to a local resident, travel time across the river has been reduced from at least an hour to a few minutes. Produced by Xinhua Global Service New Delhi [India], April 2 (ANI): More than 15.66 crore balance and unutilized COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and Union Territories (UTs), informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday. According to the ministry, more than 185.21 crore vaccine doses have been provided to States/UTs so far through Govt. of India (free of cost channel) and through the direct state procurement category. Also Read | Chhattisgarh: Locals Protesting Against Rowghat Iron Ore Project Clash With Police in Narayanpur. "More than 185.21 crore (1,85,21,44,495) vaccine doses have been provided to the states and UTs so far through the Government of India (free of cost channel) and through direct state procurement category, of which more than 15.66 crore (15,66,02,526) balance and unutilized doses are still available with them to be administered," said an official statement by the ministry. The nationwide COVID-19 vaccination drive started on 16 January 2021. Also Read | Chaitra Navratri 2022: PM Narendra Modi Greets People on Navratri, Vikram Samvat. As per the ministry, the new phase of universalization of COVID-19 vaccination commenced on 21 June 2021. The vaccination drive has been ramped up through the availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to States and UTs for enabling better planning by them and streamlining the vaccine supply chain, said the ministry. It further stated that as part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the Government of India has been supporting the States and UTs by providing them with COVID Vaccines free of cost. In the new phase of the universalization of the COVID-19 vaccination drive, the Union Government will procure and supply (free of cost) 75 per cent of the vaccines being produced by the vaccine manufacturers in the country to States and UTs, it added. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, Apr 2 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday greeted people ahead of the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramzan. "May this holy month inspire people to serve the poor. May it also further enhance the spirit of peace, harmony and compassion in our society," he said. Also Read | Curfew Imposed in Karauli Following Communal Clashes, Says Rajasthan Police. The Ramzan moon was sighted this evening and Muslims in India will begin fasting from Sunday. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, Apr 2 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held extensive talks with his visiting Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba covering various key facets of close neighbourly ties between the two countries. Deuba, accompanied by a high-level delegation, arrived in New Delhi on Friday on a three-day visit. Also Read | Tamil Nadu: TN Forest Department to Hold Public Meetings To Probe Elephants Deaths, Especially in Coimbatore Range. "A renewed opportunity to deepen the special ties of friendship and cooperation between our two countries," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Twitter ahead of the Modi-Deuba talks. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called on Deuba on Friday evening. Also Read | Navratri 2022: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee Extends Best Wishes to People. It is Deuba's first bilateral visit abroad after becoming prime minister in July last year for a fifth time following a spell of political turmoil in Kathmandu. Deuba had visited India in each of his four earlier stints as prime minister of Nepal. His last visit to India in his capacity as the prime minister was in 2017. Nepal is important for India in the context of its overall strategic interests in the region, and the leaders of the two countries have often noted the age-old "Roti Beti" relationship. The country shares a border of over 1,850 km with five Indian states -- Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Land-locked Nepal relies heavily on India for the transportation of goods and services. On Sunday, Deuba is scheduled to visit Varanasi. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, April 2: The Ramzan moon was sighted this evening and Muslims in India will begin fasting from Sunday. Every year, the sighting of the Ramzan moon brings great cheer for Muslims as they scamper to make preparations for fasting and head to mosques to begin special 'Taraweeh' prayers. Fatehpuri Masjid Imam Mufti Mukarram Ahmad said the moon was sighted in various parts of the country and Muslims would begin fasting from Sunday. "As the holy month begins, we pray for the welfare of all the people in the country. We pray for peace and development in the country," he told PTI. In a statement, Muslim body Imarat-e-shariyah-Hind said a meeting of Ruyat-e-Hilal Committee was held today at 1, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg and it was verified that moon was been sighted in several parts of the country. Ramadan Kareem 2022 Images & Ramadan Mubarak HD Wallpapers for Free Download Online: Wish Happy First Roza With WhatsApp Messages, Greetings and SMS in The Holy Month. Maulana Asaduddin Qasmi Convenor of Ruyat-e-Hilal Committee, Imarat-e-Sharaiyah-Hind, has therefore, declared that 1st Ramzan falls on Sunday, it said. Various Muslim bodies in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal also declared that the fasting month would begin on Sunday. Muslims have been observing the fasting month in the past two years in the shadow of the Covid pandemic. This year, many of the Covid curbs have been lifted following dip in cases and vaccination of people. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, Apr 2 (PTI) Nepal on Saturday became the fourth foreign country to operationalise the RuPay card with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba jointly launching the Indian electronic payment system in the Himalayan nation. The three other countries that have the RuPay card are Bhutan, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Also Read | Curfew Imposed in Karauli Following Communal Clashes, Says Rajasthan Police. The card was launched by the two leaders after holding talks covering wide-ranging issues including cooperation in areas of trade, investment and energy. Deuba arrived in New Delhi on Friday in his first bilateral visit abroad after becoming prime minister for the fifth time in July 2021. Also Read | New COVID-19 Mutant XE: No Need to Push Panic Button, But Keep Close Watch, Says TIGS Director Rakesh Mishra. "Introduction of RuPay card in Nepal will add a new chapter to our financial connectivity," Modi said in his media statement after the talks. The Ministry of External Affairs said the launch of the card in Nepal would open new vistas for cooperation in financial connectivity, and is expected to facilitate bilateral tourist flows as well as further strengthen people-to-people linkages. RuPay card scheme was launched in 2012 as part of the Reserve Bank of India's vision to have a domestic, open and multilateral system of payments. People familiar with the project said the Nepal SBI Bank (NSBL), a subsidiary of SBI and Nepal's largest international bank, worked on the initiative for over a year with support from Nepal's Central Bank. They said the launch of the card in Nepal will forge a new path to financial convenience and empowerment with the use of technology and innovation. It will not only enable ease of payment for RuPay car holders but also uplift Nepal's payment ecosystem capabilities, they said. After the Modi-Deuba talks, Nepal and India also inked a pact for the renewal of an MoU for the supply of petroleum products for a period of five years between Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) and Nepal Oil Corporation Ltd (NOC), the people cited above said. Both parties had signed an agreement on March 27, 2017, which expired on March 31. The renewed agreement will remain valid for a period of five years. The agreement is in the form of an umbrella pact enabling IOCL to supply petroleum products to NOC, including through the Motihari-Amlekhgunj pipeline which was commissioned in July 2019. Another agreement was signed for sharing of technical expertise between IOCL and NOC. The agreement is intended to assist NOC in acquiring technical knowledge and skill in petroleum products, and in the operation and maintenance of facilities required for the purpose. The people said IOCL will impart training and knowledge to NOC personnel in the fields of quality control, engineering, pipeline, IT, terminal/depot operation, infrastructure development and safety. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 2 (ANI): The sale of raw meat has been banned in Ghaziabad during the Navratri, Mayor Asha Sharma said on Saturday. The Chaitra Navratri began on Saturday and will continue till April 10. Speaking to ANI today, Sharma said, "Meat and liquor are different, they can't be equated with each other. It is related to religious sentiments. It happens every time that during Navratri, raw meat cannot be sold in the vicinity of the temple." Also Read | India and Nepal Unveil Joint Vision into Bilateral Cooperation in Power Sector. Local shopkeepers expressed their apprehensions over banning the sale of meat and asked why liquor shops are allowed to open. Speaking to ANI, a local shopkeeper said, "This is for the first time that meat shops are shut during Navratri in Ghaziabad. Liquor shops are opened and meat shops are asked to shut down. Our source of income has stopped. We will incur losses of thousands of rupees. We have meat products worth lakhs kept in our shops." Also Read | Aryan Khan Drugs Case: Maharashtra Police to Probe NCB Witness Prabhakar Sails Death. Chaitra Navratri festivities commenced on Saturday. The nine-day festivities begin on April 2 and will go on till April 11. Each day is dedicated to a different form of Goddess Durga, worshipping the power and qualities that each avatar represents. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Coimbatore (TN), Apr 2 (PTI) Industries body Tirupur Exporters' Association (TEA) on Saturday said the signing of India-Australia Economic Cooperation Trade Agreement will help reach the export target of USD 1 trillion by 2030. TEA president Raja M Shanmugham in a statement said the knitwear exports from Tirupur to Australia, which was Rs 630 crore last financial year, is expected to double in next two years, with the signing of the agreement. Also Read | COVID-19 Now More Prevalent Than Ever in England, Says Report. In a virtual ceremony on Saturday, India-Australia Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA) was inked by Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and Australian Minister for Trade Dan Tehan. Tirupur knitwear cluster having 54 per cent share of exports achieved USD 4.25 billion, with 1.06 per cent contributed from the micro, small and medium enterprises sector, Shanmugham noted. India's knitwear exports to Australia is estimated at Rs 925 crore in the financial year 2021-22 and the signing of the pact would help increase the shipment to that country, he said. Also Read | Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022: Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann Hold Roadshow in Ahmedabad. The TEA president expressed confidence that the cluster units would grab the opportunity following the signing of the agreement, and extended his gratitude to the Centre. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, Apr 2 (PTI) Leaders of opposition parties including Congress president Sonia Gandhi, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury and National Conference's Farooq Abdullah came on one stage at the opening of the DMK's office here on Saturday. Leaders from the TMC, TDP, CPI, BJD and SAD were also among those present as the DMK office was inaugurated by party chief and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin with Sonia Gandhi cutting the ribbon for one of the sections of the office. Also Read | Nawab Malik Moves To Supreme Court Challenging Bombay High Court Order in Money Laundering Case. The Congress and the DMK are in alliance in Tamil Nadu. While TMC was represented by Mahua Moitra and TDP by Rammohan Naidu and K Ravindra Kumar, D Raja from CPI, Amar Patnaik from BJD and Harsimrat Badal from SAD also attended the event. Also Read | Gurugram Shocker: Miscreants Break Open ATM Gas Cutter, Walk Away With Rs 13.28 Lakh Cash. Several ministers in the Tamil Nadu government, MPs of the DMK from both Houses and Stalin's son Udhayanidhi Stalin were also present. Billing it as an event that would write the history of southern India from Delhi, Stalin had said it is a "compelling symbol" of the vital space in national politics for his party, its policies and the vehicle to implement it, the Dravidian model'. In an open letter to DMK workers, Stalin had hailed the new office christened Anna-Kalaignar Arivalayam' as a Dravidian fort and had invited leaders from almost all parties, including top leaders of the BJP and other non-UPA parties. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Lucknow, Apr 2 (PTI) Police on Saturday arrested the manager of a private college in connection with the Class 12 English exam question paper leak case, taking the total number of arrests to 35. Deputy Superintendent of Police, Rasda, Shivnarayan Vaishya identified the arrested man Bhanu Pratap Singh. Also Read | Ramadan 2022 Chaand Raat in India, Pakistan, UK and Other Countries Live News Updates: Moon Sighting Expected Today, Holy Month of Ramzan Likely To Begin From April 3. "He is accused of sharing the leaked question paper. His role in leaking the question paper is also being looked into," the DSP said. Meanwhile, local mediapersons have been staging protests against the police and the district administration condemning the arrests of three journalists -- Ajit Ojha, Digvijay Singh and Manoj Gupta -- in connection with the case. Also Read | India and Nepal Unveil Joint Vision into Bilateral Cooperation in Power Sector. When asked, Superintendent of Police, Ballia, Raj Karan Nayyar told PTI, "The arrests of all the accused have been made based on the FIRs lodged in the case and by by following due legal process. Anyone who doesn't agree with the action is free to take legal recourse." He, however, declined to reveal any information on the evidence the police have gathered against the journalists. Digvijay Singh, one of the arrested journalists, is seen in a viral video raising slogans against the district officials, saying that he is being "hounded" by the administration for reporting the paper leak. "I reported the incident based on leaked question paper I got from my sources. The use of unfair means is rampant in the district. If I have reported that the question paper is leaked, the administration must find out from where it is leaked. Instead, the officials are asking me about it," Singh is heard telling media persons in the video. In response to this video, police in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia have issued a clarification on Twitter saying, "The said person has been arrested and sent to jail based on the evidence recovered during the investigation..." District Magistrate of Ballia Indra Vikram Singh declined to comment on their arrests. The English examination was cancelled in 24 districts on Wednesday after the paper was leaked, prompting Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to order invoking the stringent National Security Act in the case. The Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh Police is investigating the matter, while the state's education department has enforced a strict regulatory regime for strong rooms stocking papers across the state, following the Wednesday incident. PTI CORR CDN (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Berlin [Germany], April 2 (ANI/Sputnik): Germany is considering buying missile systems from either Israel or the United States to shield itself from what German Chief of Defense Eberhard Zorn called an existing threat. "The Israelis and the Americans have such systems. Which one is preferable? Will we be able to build a joint (missile defence) system in NATO? These are the questions we need to answer now," he told the Welt daily. Also Read | COVID-19 Outbreak in China: Amid Dearth of Resources, Coronavirus Infections Widely Spreading Among Elderly in Shanghai Hospital. Zorn, the armed forces' inspector general and the highest-ranking officer said Russia's "famed" Iskander missiles in the Kaliningrad exclave on the Baltic Sea could strike almost anywhere in Western Europe. "One thing is clear: we have neither time nor money to develop a system ourselves because the missile threat is already there and it is known," he added. Also Read | London Court to Issue Warrant on Assanges Extradition to US on April 20: WikiLeaks. The general stressed that there is no sign of Russia plotting an attack against a NATO member state, so allies have time to build up their capabilities on the eastern flank. He said the buildup will span from the Baltic to the Black Sea and last until the end of May. (ANI/Sputnik) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister and Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanavisit said his country hoped to further expand exports to China building on solid bilateral trade cooperation. #GLOBALink Produced by Xinhua Global Service Islamabad, April 2: A Pakistani journalist claimed that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party is actively considering the idea of a mass arrest of a large number of opposition leaders ahead of the no-confidence motion against the PM. Taking to Twitter, Nusrat Javeed, a Pakistani journalist, wrote, "The idea of mass arrest of a big number of opposition leaders is still being actively considered; intense reading of Section 120 etc of Pakistan Penal Code to carve enabling powers. To me, seems like an exercise in futility, however." This is not an isolated instance where the Pakistani media has raised their voice against the PM as earlier, a Pakistan journalist while taking a dig at the statement made by Prime Minister Imran Khan regarding Washington's role in an alleged "foreign conspiracy" to oust him from power, questioned why the United States was invited at the OIC meeting if PM received a threat from the country. Pakistan PM Imran Khan Says 'Establishment' Gave Him 3 Choices: Resignation, No-Trust Vote or Polls. Senior anchor Hamid Mir in Geo News programme "Capital Talk" asked if the US had conveyed such a huge threat to Pakistan then why Imran Khan invited US Under Secretary of state Uzra Zeya to the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers conference held in Islamabad on March 21, reported the News International. Shah Mahmood Qureshi in his tweet said, "Constructive meeting with @UnderSecStateJ, visiting to attend #OIC48CFM, promoting more engagement between US & OIC States. We welcome leadership in the Extended Troika for sustainable peace in Afg. Imp for int'l community to prioritize the humanitarian need of ppl of Afg." "Bilaterally, Pakistan has a longstanding relationship with the US and we believe a regular and structured dialogue process is important to promoting our bilateral and shared regional objectives. We look forward to commemorating the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties this year," he said in his second tweet, as per the newspaper. Earlier, in another similar incident, Pakistani journalist, Syed Talat Hussain while taking a jibe at Prime Minister Imran Khan questioned him as to 'why cry global conspiracy' and yet invite the US delegation. Taking to Twitter, Hussain wrote, "So you cry global conspiracy (by Washington) and also warmly invite and welcome their delegation to the OIC conference? Not to mention holding joint air exercises Falcon Talon?" This comes at a time when PM said that he will share the 'foreign-funded conspiracy' letter with senior journalists and ally party members which has evidence that outside elements are trying to topple the government. Pakistan Orders Commission To Probe Foreign Conspiracy Behind No-Confidence Motion Against PM Imran Khan. After the no-confidence motion against Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan was tabled in the National Assembly with a total of 161 votes in favour, the proceedings were adjourned till March 31. The no-confidence motion was submitted by the Opposition parties on March 8. The Opposition has been confident that its motion would be carried as many PTI lawmakers have come out in the open against PM Imran Khan. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New York [US], April 2 (ANI): India has contributed USD 500,000 to the UN Women, the United Nations agency for gender equality and women empowerment for their core budget. India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations took to Twitter to say that India "reaffirmed our valued partnership of women-led development and gender parity." He further said that he is looking forward to working with the UN Women to further augment the relationship. Also Read | US Sanctions North Korea Firms Over Recent Missile Tests. "Delighted to hand over India's contribution of USD 500,000 to ED (Executive Director) Sima Bahous @unwomenchief to core budget of UN Women. Reaffirmed our valued partnership for women-led development and #gender parity. Look forward to working closely with @UN_Women to further our partnership," Tirumurti tweeted. UN Women Executive Director, Sima Bahous thanked India for its contribution and said that India's support for UN women remains indispensable. Also Read | Imran Khan No-Trust Vote: Pakistan PM Hints at Early Elections, Says Opposition Part of International Conspiracy to Remove His Govt. "Productive discussion with Amb T. S. Tirumurti @ambtstirumurti, Permanent Representative of India to the @UN @IndiaUNNewYork India's support for @UN_Women remains indispensable to upholding the rights of women & girls, globally. Thank you for your generous core contribution," Bahous tweeted. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi [India], April 2 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba met in New Delhi today with the two countries launching multiple initiatives as well as signing four crucial agreements in multiple domains. The two countries signed agreements on Nepal becoming the 105th member of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), technical cooperation in railways, supply of petroleum products and sharing of technical expertise in the petroleum sector between Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. (IOCL) and Nepal Oil Corporation Ltd. (NOC). Also Read | London Court to Issue Warrant on Assanges Extradition to US on April 20: WikiLeaks. The two Prime Ministers also witnessed the launch of the first passenger train service between India's Jayanagar and Nepal's Kurtha, the hand-over of the Solu corridor transmission project by India to Nepal and the progress of the construction of 132 health facilities across 10 districts in Nepal under a Government of India (GoI) grant. The two countries announced the launch of the Indian RuPay card in Nepal, with the domestic variant of the RuPay card (roughly 83 per cent of all RuPay cards issued) to be functional on about 1400 Point of Sale (POS) machines in Nepal. Also Read | Imran Khan No-Confidence Vote: If Shahbaz Sharif Takes Over, They Will Do Slavery of America, Says Pakistan PM. The move makes Nepal the fourth country outside India where RuPay is functional after Bhutan, Singapore and UAE. The inaugurated Jaynagar-Kurtha railway section is part of the Jaynagar-Bijalpura-Bardibas rail link being constructed with grant assistance of INR 548 crore from the Government of India. It is a 35 km rail section, 3 km of which lies in the Indian state of Bihar and the rest in Nepal. The project is the first broad-gauge passenger rail link between the two countries, opening an entirely new dimension for cross-border connectivity. Till 2014, this was an existing rail service on a metre-gauge rail link between Jaynagar and Janakpur. The Solu Corridor 132 kV power transmission line and substation project is one of the major projects in Nepal undertaken under the Government of India's Line of Credit (LoC). The 90 km 132 kV Double Circuit line connects the remote Solukhumbu, Khotang and Okhaldhunga districts of North Eastern Nepal with Nepal's national electricity grid. After its operationalization, the transmission line will bring electricity from existing and upcoming hydro projects in the area into the national grid, and also supply power into the rural electrification networks of nearby districts. The project is expected to be crucial for the socio-economic development in the rural part of Nepal, in addition to contributing to Nepal's overall economic and industrial development. Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba also held wide-ranging deliberations with PM Modi on various topics including cooperation in the power sector, railway projects, flood control programs, as well as the border dispute between the two countries. Yesterday, the Nepalese Prime Minister met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla in the national capital. On Friday, he met Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) President JP Nadda at the party headquarters in a courtesy meeting. The last Head of State/Head of Government-level visit from Nepal was in May 2019, when then PM K P Oli visited India for the swearing-in ceremony of PM Narendra Modi and the Union Council of Ministers. Before that PM Modi had visited Nepal in August 2018 for the 4th BIMSTEC Summit in Kathmandu, which was preceded by a State Visit to Nepal in May 2018. PM Modi had extended a congratulatory message to Sher Bahadur Deuba soon after he won the Vote of Confidence in Nepal's Parliament. This was followed by a congratulatory telephonic conversation on 19 July 2021. The most recent meeting between PM Modi and Sher Bahadur Deuba took place on November 2, 2021, on the sidelines of COP 26 in Glasgow. Sher Bahadur Deuba is a veteran politician of the Nepali Congress with a political career spanning over seven decades. This is Deuba's fifth tenure as PM. His first term was from September 1995 to March 1997. He has visited India several times, both when in and out of power. This will be his fifth visit to India as PM, with the last visit being in August 2018. The previous three visits took place in 2004, 2002 and 1996. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Lviv, Apr 2 (AP) A Russian group that monitors political arrests says 208 people were detained in demonstrations held Saturday across the country protesting Russia's military operation in Ukraine. The OVD-Info group said demonstrations took place in 17 Russian cities, from Siberia to the more densely populated west. More than 70 people were were detained in Moscow and a similar number in St. Petersburg, the organization said. Also Read | Nawaz Sharif Attacked in London by PTI Activist as Brother Shahbaz Sharif Receives Opposition Support for PM Seat. Video released by another group that monitors protests, Avtozak, showed some detainees being led to police prisoner transports as they smiled and carried flowers. Others were shown to be more harshly forced into the transports, bent over with their arms pinioned behind them. Russian President Vladimir Putin's government has cracked down heavily on dissent, even before Russia invaded Ukraine in February. Also Read | COVID-19 Outbreak in China: Amid Dearth of Resources, Coronavirus Infections Widely Spreading Among Elderly in Shanghai Hospital. ___ KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: Zelenskyy says the mines Russia has planted in Ukraine are creating a complete disaster' Russian space chief says sanctions could imperil International Space Station What's next for Europe's natural gas amid the war? Russia aims Ukraine disinformation at Spanish speakers Ukraine volunteer fighters from near and far: a photo gallery ___ OTHER DEVELOPMENTS: BUCHA, Ukraine Ukrainian troops moved further north from the capital Kyiv on Saturday, taking up positions in the town of Bucha after retaking territory from Russian forces. AP reporters counted 6 bodies of civilians scattered along a street and in the front yard of a house. The Ukrainian soldiers, backed by a column of tanks and armored vehicles, attached cables to the bodies and pulled them off the street, fearing they may be booby-trapped with explosive devices. Residents of the town said the civilians were killed by Russian soldiers without apparent provocation. ___ CHISINAU, Moldova Authorities in the tiny breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova denied absolutely untrue claims Saturday by Ukraine that Russian troops based there are massing to conduct provocations along Ukraine's border. Earlier Saturday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Russian troops already in Transnistria were preparing for a demonstration of readiness for the offensive and, possibly, hostilities against Ukraine. The information disseminated by the General Staff of Ukraine is absolutely untrue, Transnistria's Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that leaders have repeatedly declared the absence of any threat to Ukraine. Moldova's Foreign Ministry also said Saturday there is no information to confirm the mobilization of troops in the Transnistrian region and that state institutions are closely monitoring the security situation in the region. Transnistria is a Russia-backed region of Moldova that broke away after a short civil war in the early 1990s, and is unrecognized by most countries. An estimated 1,500 Russian soldiers are stationed there. ___ KYIV, Ukraine A prominent Ukrainian photojournalist who went missing last month in a combat zone near the capital has been found dead. Ukraine's Prosecutor General's office said in a statement Saturday that Maks Levin was killed with two gunshots, fired allegedly by the Russian military. Levin's body was found in the Huta Mezhyhirska village on Friday. Levin, 40, worked as a photojournalist and videographer for many Ukrainian and international publications. Levin has been missing since March 13, when he contacted his friend from Vyshhorod near Kyiv to report on the fighting in the region. An investigation into his death has been launched. ____ LVIV, Ukraine -- A series of blasts has torn through the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar nearby the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Ukraine's state nuclear agency reported about Saturday's attacks on its official Telegram channel. Both the city and the plant, which generates over a fifth of Ukraine's electricity and is one of the largest nuclear facilities in Europe, have been under Russian control since March 4, according to Interfax Ukraine. A video clip accompanying the Telegram post by Ukraine's Energoatom appeared to feature loud blasts and flying debris. A second post on the state enterprise's channel claimed that explosions and mortar bursts could be heard near the Sovremennik cultural center, where residents held a rally in support of Ukraine. The nation's human rights ombudsman said the residents were singing Ukraine's national anthem. As protesters began to disperse, the invaders arrived in police vehicles, and began to force local residents into them, the post read. A few minutes later, the city was rocked by massive explosions and shelling. Ukraine's human rights ombudsman, Lyudmyla Denisova, said on Telegram the occupiers used light and noise grenades and opened mortar fire on the residents, four people were injured and severely burned. Some of the people were forcibly put in paddy wagons and taken away in an unknown direction. Energoatom also claimed that Russian forces began to jam phone and internet communications throughout Enerhodar. The agency's claims could not be immediately verified. ____ HELSINKI Finland's prime minister says her country should make a decision on NATO membership during this spring after the government and lawmakers have carefully assessed the pros and cons of joining the military alliance - a topical issue in the Nordic nation after Russia's invasion to Ukraine. Prime Minister Sanna Marin said Saturday that both joining (NATO) and not joining are choices that have consequences. We need to assess both the short-term and long-term effects. At the same time, we must keep in mind our goal: ensuring the security of Finland and Finns in all situations. Marin said Finland's relationship with neighboring Russia has changed irreversibly after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine last month, and it takes a lot of time and work for confidence to be restored. Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia, the longest by any European Union member. ____ WARSAW, Poland --Poland's government says it has issued over 625,000 national identification numbers to Ukrainian refugees since Russia launched its invasion. The ID number, something all Polish citizens have, gives people the right to access health care, schooling or other state services. Poland, the country that has accepted the largest numbers of Ukrainian refugees, decided recently to extend those rights to Ukrainians fleeing war. More than 4 million Ukrainians have so far fled, and more than 2.4 of them have crossed into Poland. Others have fled into Romania, Moldova, Slovakia and Hungary. It is not clear, however, exactly how many of them stay in the countries they first arrive in, and how many move on to other places, such as Germany, Italy and Spain. Pawel Szefernaker, a deputy interior minister who was appointed Saturday as a special plenipotentiary to handle Ukrainian war refugees, said at a news conference that 625,000 Ukrainian refugees had received the Polish ID number, known as a PESEL. That is an indication that at least that many intend to remain in Poland, at least until the war ends. The number is likely higher as people continue to submit applications and people keep fleeing the war. ____ ROME Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, visiting Azerbaijan, has described his talks there as laying the bases for even stronger cooperation on energy, as Italy seeks to quickly reduce its heavy reliance on Russian gas. In comments to reporters in Baku on Saturday, Di Maio described Azerbaijan, which is Italy's largest supplier of oil and third-largest supplier of gas, as a priority partner in Italy's quest to diversify its sources of energy. Di Maio arrived in the South Caucasus country on Friday, following previous energy-focused missions to Algeria, Qatar, Angola and Congo. Italy is eyeing the possibility of increasing the supply of natural gas from Azerbaijan through the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, or TAP, which transported its first gas in 2020. ____ GENEVA The former chief prosecutor of the U.N. war crimes tribunals has called for an international arrest warrant to be issued for Russian President Vladimir Putin. Putin is a war criminal, Carla Del Ponte told Swiss newspaper Le Temps in an interview published Saturday. In interviews given to Swiss media to mark the release of her latest book, the Swiss lawyer who oversaw U.N. investigations in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia, said there were clear war crimes being committed in Ukraine. She said she was particularly shocked by the use of mass graves, which recalls the worst of the wars in former Yugoslavia. I hoped never to see mass graves again, she told the newspaper Blick. These dead people have loved ones who don't even know what's become of them. That is unacceptable. Other war crimes she identified in Ukraine included attacks on civilians, the destruction of civilian buildings and even that of entire towns. ____ This item has been corrected to say that Del Ponte was chief prosecutor of UN war crimes tribunals, not the International Criminal Court. ____ BERLIN The International Committee of the Red Cross says a team of nine staffers is trying to get to the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol again after it had to abandon an earlier attempt when conditions on the ground made it impossible to proceed. The humanitarian group said the team with three vehicles was on the way to help facilitate the safe passage of civilians on Saturday after a failed attempt Friday. The group said in a statement late Friday it would try to accompany a convoy of civilians out from Mariupol to another city in Ukraine. It said that, our presence will put a humanitarian marker on this planned movement of people, giving the convoy additional protection and reminding all sides of the civilian, humanitarian nature of the operation. Mariupol, which was surrounded by Russian forces a month ago, has been the scene of some of the war's worst attacks, including on a maternity hospital and a theater sheltering civilians. Around 100,000 people are believed to remain in the city, down from a prewar population of 430,000, and facing dire shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine. Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said 765 Mariupol residents reached Zaporizhzhia, about 140 miles (226 km) to the northwest, on Saturday in private vehicles. City officials said some 2,000 made it out of Mariupol on Friday, some on buses and some in their own vehicles. ___ LVIV, Ukraine -- At least 33 people have been killed and 34 injured in a Russian rocket strike on the regional government building in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv. Ukrainian officials gave the latest death toll in a statement Saturday, updating the numbers of the deadly strike that hit Mykolaiv on Tuesday. Rescuers sent by the State Emergency Service have been searching the wreckage for survivors since Russian forces struck the building, which housed the office of regional governor Vitaliy Kim. The governor, who was not on the premises at the time of the attack, later posted social media images showing a gaping hole in the nine-story structure. The confirmed death toll has risen steadily as the search and rescue operation continues. Mykolaiv, a strategically important city en route to Ukraine's largest port of Odesa, has withstood weeks of shelling by the Russian forces. ____ MOSCOW Russia's top space official says the future of the International Space Station hangs in the balance after the United States, the European Union, and Canadian space agencies missed a deadline to meet Russian demands for the lifting of sanctions on Russian enterprises and hardware. The head of Russia's Roscosmos state agency told reporters on Saturday morning that the agency was preparing a report on the prospects of international cooperation at the station, to be presented to federal authorities after Roscosmos has completed its analysis. Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin implied on Russian state TV that the Western sanctions, some of which predate Russia's military action in Ukraine, could disrupt the operation of Russian spacecraft servicing the ISS. He stressed that the Western partners need the ISS and cannot manage without Russia, because no one but us can deliver fuel to the station. Rogozin added that only the engines of our cargo craft are able to correct the ISS's orbit, keeping it safe from space debris. Later on Saturday, Rogozin wrote on his Telegram channel that he received responses from his Western counterparts vowing to promote further cooperation on the ISS and its operations. He reiterated his view that the restoration of normal relations between partners in the ISS and other joint (space) projects is possible only with the complete and unconditional lifting of sanctions, which he referred to as illegal. Responding to Western sanctions on Telegram last month, Rogozin warned at the time that without Russia's help, the ISS could fall down into the sea or onto land, and claimed that the crash site was unlikely to be in Russia. Space is one of the last remaining areas of cooperation between Moscow and Western nations. U.S.-Russian negotiations on the resumption of joint flights to the ISS were underway when Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine last month, prompting unprecedented sanctions on Russian state-linked entities. ____ ISTANBUL Turkey has offered to help evacuate civilians from the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol by ship. The Turkish defense minister said Saturday that we can provide ship support for the evacuation of civilians and injured Turkish and other countries' citizens in Mariupol from the sea. State-run Anadolu Agency reported that Hulusi Akar said Turkey was coordinating possible evacuations with the authorities of the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov, has seen some of the worst suffering of the war. The International Committee for the Red Cross is attempting to remove some of the 100,000 people are believed to remain in the city. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Friday that some 30 Turkish nationals were still in the city. ____ VALLETTA, Malta Pope Francis says he is studying a possible visit to Kyiv and he blasted Russian President Vladimir Putin for launching a savage war, as he arrived in Malta and delivered his most pointed and personalized denunciation yet of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Francis didn't cite Putin by name, but the reference was clear when he said that some potentate had unleashed the threat of nuclear war on the world in an infantile and destructive aggression under the guise of anachronist claims of nationalistic interests. Speaking to Maltese authorities Saturday, Francis said: We had thought that invasions of other countries, savage street fighting and atomic threats were grim memories of a distant past. Francis has to date avoided referring to Russia or Putin by name. But Saturday's personalization of the powerful figure responsible marked a new level of outrage for the pope. ____ THE HAGUE, Netherlands The Dutch government has launched a campaign urging people to turn down their central warming and take showers to save energy amid spiraling energy costs and reduce the country's dependence on Russian imports. The government took the lead, announcing Saturday that it will turn down the temperature in 200 of its office blocks from 21 to 19 degrees Celsius (70-66 degrees Fahrenheit) in the winter and use less air conditioning in the summer. Minister for Climate and Energy Rob Jetten says that saving energy is good for your wallet, for the climate and it helps us to become less dependent on gas from Russia. The government also is setting aside 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) to help fund moves by home owners, social housing corporations and municipalities to improve insulation of houses in coming years. ____ LVIV, Ukraine Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces were leaving behind a complete disaster as they retreat from the north, including towns just outside Kyiv, and he warned residents to beware of more Russian shelling and of land mines. They are mining the whole territory, they are mining homes, mining equipment, even the bodies of people who were killed, he said in his nighttime video address to the nation late Friday. He urged residents to wait to resume their normal lives until they are assured that the mines have been cleared and the danger of shelling has passed. Zelenskyy warned of difficult battles ahead as the Russians redeploy troops in eastern Ukraine. Zelensky said he spoke Friday with French President Emmanuel Macron by telephone and with the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, during her visit to Kyiv. Europe doesn't have the right to be silent about what is happening in our Mariupol, he said. The whole world should respond to this humanitarian catastrophe. Zelenskyy said 3,071 people were able to leave Mariupol on Friday. (AP) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Islamabad [Pakistan], April 2 (ANI): Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday, ahead of a no-confidence motion in the National Assembly, said he has credible information that his "life is in danger", local media reported. He said not only his life was in danger but the Opposition, which is playing in foreign hands, will also resort to his character assassination, Khan said in an interview with ARY News. Also Read | US Sanctions North Korea Firms Over Recent Missile Tests. "Let me inform my nation that my life is at risk too, they have also planned for my character assassination. Not only myself but my wife too," Khan said. As Khan battles to save his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, he said that the "establishment" gave him three options, including the no-confidence motion, resignation from his post, or fresh elections, ARY News reported. Also Read | Imran Khan No-Trust Vote: Pakistan PM Hints at Early Elections, Says Opposition Part of International Conspiracy to Remove His Govt. Answering a question about what options the Opposition gave him, the Pakistan Prime Minister said that he does not think he should talk to people like Opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif. "If we survive (the no-confidence vote), we cannot of course work with these turncoats (who left PTI to join opposition), early elections are the best option, I will urge my nation to give me simple majority so that I won't have to do compromises," he said. Terming the Opposition's no-confidence motion a conspiracy, Khan said he knew about it since August last year and he had reports that some Opposition leaders were visiting embassies, ARY News reported. "People like Husain Haqqani were meeting Nawaz Sharif in London," he said. Khan reiterated what he said in a televised address to the nation on March 31 that a foreign country not only expressed disapproval over his premiership and demanded that he be ousted through no-confidence vote so that Pakistan be "forgiven". He stated that the foreign country objected upon his independent foreign policy. Khan further said the "threat memo" did not only demand a regime change but clearly mentioned that he should be removed as the prime minister. Earlier, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) senior leader Faisal Vawda had also claimed that Imran Khan's life is in danger as a conspiracy has been hatched to assassinate him. In Pakistan's National Assembly, the no-trust vote against the Imran Khan government was deferred to April 3. The proceedings of the National Assembly were adjourned till April 3 soon after it met on Thursday to discuss the no-confidence motion. Imran Khan received a massive blow when the PTI "lost the majority" in the National Assembly after losing its key ally in the coalition Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P). The MQM announced that it had struck a deal with the opposition Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and would support the no-trust vote in the 342-member National Assembly. The no-confidence motion was submitted by the Opposition parties on March 8 after the Pakistan People's Party's (PPP) long march in Islamabad. The Opposition has been confident that its motion would be carried as many PTI lawmakers have come out in the open against PM Imran Khan. Imran Khan is the third Prime Minister to face the no-confidence motion in Pakistan. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Islamabad, April 2: A Pakistan journalist on Saturday said that the Former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was attacked in London by an activist of the current Pakistani PM Imran Khan's ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and added efforts for the arrest of the culprits are being made. This comes at a time when keeping up his attack on the opposition ahead of Sunday's vote of confidence in the National Assembly, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan said that if Leader of Opposition and PML-N leader Shahbaz Sharif (Brother of Nawaz Sharif) takes over, "they will do slavery of America". Ahmad Noorani, the Pakistani journalist currently with Fact Focus, a Pakistan-based digital media, wrote on Twitter, "Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has been attacked in London by a PTI activist. Action must be taken in Pakistan against the PTI as now the party has crossed all limits. Physical violence can never be condoned. PTI must be made an example now." Pakistan Political Crisis: Imran Khan Issues Stern Warning for Party Leaders Ahead of Punjab CM Election. He also shared that Sharif's guard was injured in the attack. "Nawaz Sharif's guard was injured in the attack. All efforts must be made to ensure the arrest of culprits in the UK tonight. PTI must also be fixed during a few hours," he added. "Shahbaz Sharif will be a slave of America... he said in a TV Programme yesterday that beggars are not choosers... what does this mean? Does that mean that the poor and beggars are slaves? Ask him (Shehbaz Sharif) who brought Pakistan to such a state. Just because we are poor, should we be slaves?" Imran Khan said while taking questions from viewers on TV. Opposition parties have said that Imran Khan "has lost majority" with some of his allies deserting him and that Shahbaz Sharif will be the Prime Minister. Imran Khan attacked Shahbaz Sharif saying he faces allegations of massive corruption.He also referred to the "threat letter" from a foreign power and linked the opposition's no-trust vote with it. "The letter says as soon as Imran Khan is removed, we will spare you... They all had conspired beforehand that when Imran Khan is removed, Shahbaz Sharif will come, on whom there are allegations of corruption worth millions," Khan said."Who brought Pakistan to Life Support machine? These three stooges were taking turns to rule the country for 30 years, they have brought us to this state and are now asking us to be slaves of America," he added. Khan has been referring to Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rahman as "three-stooges". "They will always be slaves of America and will make all of you slaves of America," Imran Khan said. Imran Khan No-Confidence Vote: If Shahbaz Sharif Takes Over, They Will Do Slavery of America, Says Pakistan PM. He urged people, especially the youth, to come on the streets to express their disapproval of the opposition's move against him. The no-confidence motion against the Imran Khan government is set to be tabled in the National Assembly on Sunday and he faces the prospect of losing it. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Geneva [Switzerland], April 2 (ANI): A new COVID mutant 'XE' has been found in the UK, the World Health Organisation has said in its latest report and noted that it may be more transmissible than the BA.2 sublineage of COVID-19. XE is recombinant of Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 sublineages of COVID-19. Also Read | COVID-19 Now More Prevalent Than Ever in England, Says Report. "The XE recombinant (BA.1-BA.2), was first detected in the United Kingdom on January 19 and >600 sequences have been reported and confirmed since," the WHO said. "Early-day estimates indicate a community growth rate advantage of ~10 per cent as compared to BA.2, however this finding requires further confirmation. XE belongs to the Omicron variant until significant differences in transmission and disease characteristics, including severity, may be reported," it added. Also Read | Sri Lanka Economic Crisis: Sri Lankan Government Imposes 36-Hour Nationwide Curfew Ahead of Sundays Public Protest. The United Kingdom has reported 637 cases of XE and experts said it has shown a variable growth rate. According to UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), its new analysis has examined three recombinants known as XF, XE, and XD. "Of these, XD and XF are recombinants of Delta and Omicron BA.1, while XE is a recombinant of Omicron BA.1 and BA.2," it said in an update. A recombinant variant occurs when an individual becomes infected with two or more variants at the same time, resulting in a mixing of their genetic material within the patient's body. UKHSA said this is not an unusual occurrence and several recombinant SARS-CoV-2 variants have been identified over the course of the pandemic. "As with any other coronavirus (COVID-19) variant, the vast majority do not confer any advantage to the virus and die out relatively quickly," it said. In the UK, 38 cases of XF have been identified, though none have been seen since mid-February. There is currently no evidence of community transmission within the UK. UKHSA said XD has not been identified in the UK to date, though 49 cases have been reported to global databases, the majority of these are in France. "A total 637 cases of XE - a recombinant of Omicron BA.1 and BA.2 - have been confirmed in the UK so far. The earliest of these has a specimen date of January 19, 2022. There is currently insufficient evidence to draw conclusions about growth advantage or other properties of this variant," it said. UKHSA said it continues to monitor all recombinants closely. "Recombinant variants are not an unusual occurrence, particularly when there are several variants in circulation, and several have been identified over the course of the pandemic to date. As with other kinds of variant, most will die off relatively quickly," Professor Susan Hopkins, Chief Medical Advisor, UKHSA said. "This particular recombinant, XE, has shown a variable growth rate and we cannot yet confirm whether it has a true growth advantage. So far there is not enough evidence to draw conclusions about transmissibility, severity or vaccine effectiveness," Hopkins added. UKHSA said BA.2 is estimated to account for approximately 93.7 per cent of cases in England, with the highest prevalence in the South East (96.4 per cent) and the lowest in the East Midlands (91.1 per cent). "BA.2 continues to demonstrate a substantial growth advantage. Since the middle of February, this growth rate has settled at approximately 75 per cent higher than other circulating Omicron lineages in England," it added. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Riyadh [Saudi Arabia], April 2 (ANI/Xinhua): The Saudi Arabian Foreign Ministry welcomed on Saturday a two-month truce in Yemen announced by the United Nations, the Saudi Press Agency reported. The UN Special Envoy for Yemen Hans Grundberg announced on Friday the two-month truce, which will become effective at 7 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) on Saturday, through which all forms of military operations inside Yemen and on the Saudi-Yemeni borders shall be halted. Also Read | COVID-19 Outbreak in China: Amid Dearth of Resources, Coronavirus Infections Widely Spreading Among Elderly in Shanghai Hospital. In appreciation of the efforts exerted by the UN special envoy, the Saudi ministry said the truce comes in the context of a Saudi initiative, first announced in March 2021, to reach a comprehensive political solution to the Yemeni crisis. The Yemeni Houthi rebels have also expressed welcome to the UN-backed truce, which comes just days after the Houthis announced a unilateral three-day cease-fire with the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen. Also Read | London Court to Issue Warrant on Assanges Extradition to US on April 20: WikiLeaks. Under the truce, the warring sides have agreed to allow fuel ships to enter ports in the Hodeidah region and commercial flights to operate from the airport in the Houthi-held capital Sanaa for humanitarian purposes. The nationwide truce, which coincides with the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, is probably the first of its kind in the Yemeni civil war since late 2014. It is worth noting that the Yemeni peace talks, backed by the United Nations and the Gulf Cooperation Council, started in Riyadh with a closed-door meeting on Tuesday and are expected to continue until April 7. Yemen has been mired in a civil war since late 2014 when the Iran-backed Houthi militia seized control of several northern provinces and forced the Saudi-backed government of President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi out of Sanaa. The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced 4 million, and pushed the country to the brink of starvation, according to the United Nations. (ANI/Xinhua) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Singapore, Apr 2 (PTI) Singapore's predominantly Chinese-led multi-racial society has become more open to the idea of electing top leaders who are non-Chinese, according to a survey conducted by Channel News Asia (CNA) and the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS). However, most respondents were very uncomfortable with the idea of a new citizen from any country taking on these roles. Less than 10 per cent said they would be comfortable with a new citizen as president or prime minister, CNA reported on Saturday. Also Read | U.S. FDA Approves Gilead Cell Therapy for Earlier Lymphoma Latest Tweet by Reuters. New citizens are migrants settling in manpower-short Singapore which invites professionals from around the world, especially to support its flourishing economy. In the second edition of the CNA-IPS survey on race relations, which was conducted last year, a bigger proportion of respondents said they could accept a Singaporean-Malay (69.6 per cent) or Singaporean-Indian (70.5 per cent) as the prime minister. Also Read | US Sanctions North Korea Firms Over Recent Missile Tests. Researchers said the figures are a significant increase from the previous study in 2016, where 60.8 per cent said they were comfortable with a Malay as prime minister and 64.3 per cent with an Indian as prime minister. Almost all respondents (96.8 per cent) were ready to accept a Singaporean-Chinese as prime minister, slightly higher than the 95.6 per cent in 2016. Researchers also found that respondents from the three major races -- Chinese, Malays and Indians -- showed the highest preference for someone of their own race as prime minister. Among Chinese respondents, virtually all said they were comfortable with a Singaporean-Chinese as prime minister (98.9 per cent), while 63.9 per cent said they would accept a Malay prime minister and 65.8 per cent an Indian one. Comparatively, 92.6 per cent of Malay respondents said they would accept a Singaporean-Malay prime minister, but 87.5 per cent would be comfortable with a Chinese one and 80.4 per cent with an Indian one. Among Indian respondents, 91.9 per cent would accept a Singaporean-Indian as prime minister, but 90.3 per cent would be comfortable with a Chinese one and 80.8 per cent with a Malay one, the survey stated. Meanwhile, for the role of president, the percentage of respondents who said they could accept a non-Chinese also rose. About 82.2 per cent said they were comfortable with a Singaporean-Malay as president a jump from 65.5 per cent in the previous study and 82 per cent could accept a Singaporean-Indian up from 70.6 per cent in 2016. In the 240-page report, researchers suggested that the larger rise could be a result of President Halimah Yacob, who is a Malay, dispelling perhaps earlier prejudices that a Malay was not suitable for the highest office of the land. A growing number of people think that racism remains an important problem even while the overwhelming majority believe everyone in Singapore can become rich or successful regardless of their race, according to the survey based on responses from more than 2,000 citizens and permanent residents aged 21 years and above, with a sample that was reflective of the Singapore population in terms of their age, race, gender and housing type. However, an additional 350 or so Malay and Indian respondents were polled so that their views were properly represented. More than half of the survey's respondents (56.2 per cent) felt that racism is an important problem, which was an increase from the previous CNA-IPS survey conducted in 2016 (46.3 per cent). Despite this, a large majority of people believe that meritocracy is not contingent on race, with more than 80 per cent of respondents agreeing that everyone can become rich or successful irrespective of what race they are, which was consistent with the findings from the 2016 survey. While most respondents (88.8 per cent) said it is important for political leaders to talk openly about racism, more than half (58.6 per cent) also felt that such public discourse could cause unnecessary tension. They may feel that political leaders taking the lead in such discussions could avert some of the potential tension, said the report. It noted that Chinese respondents (54.9 per cent) were slightly more likely to feel that ethnic minorities are getting overly sensitive in discussions on race, compared to Indian (42.7 per cent) and Malay respondents (47.8 per cent). The survey also found that respondents were evenly divided on whether there is majority privilege in Singapore, with 53.9 per cent feeling that being of the majority race is an advantage. This was comparable with findings from the 2016 survey, where 52.7 per cent felt this way. Those between the age of 12 and 35 years, especially Malay and Indian respondents, were generally more likely to feel that majority privilege exists. In terms of which cultures respondents felt were more privileged, most (70.2 per cent) said they did not believe that the majority race's culture was privileged. However, ethnic minorities were more likely to feel that the converse is true. Accommodating different cultural needs is also seen as compatible with a strong Singaporean identity, with 71.6 per cent feeling that doing so has not impinged on national identity. Virtually all respondents, 92 per cent, expect the level of national unity to increase or at least stay the same in the next five years, the report said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Honiara [Solomon Islands], April 2 (ANI): The Solomon Islands clarified on Friday that it won't allow any foriegn country to build military bases in the country following the speculations that were raised after the signing of security cooperation with China. "Government is conscious of the security ramification of hosting a military base, and it will not be careless to allow such initiative to take place under its watch," a government statement said, adding that, "contrary to the misinformation promoted by anti-government commentators" the (security) agreement did not invite China to establish a military base in the country, The Diplomat reported. Also Read | Nawaz Sharif Attacked in London by PTI Activist as Brother Shahbaz Sharif Receives Opposition Support for PM Seat. The government statement emphatically ruled out the possibility of a Chinese base after Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare earlier told parliament that it had no intention of asking China to build a base. Sogavare said his nation sought only peace and prosperity, citing its foreign policy mantra: "We are friends to all and enemies to none." He said it wasn't a secret deal but a sovereign issue. Also Read | COVID-19 Outbreak in China: Amid Dearth of Resources, Coronavirus Infections Widely Spreading Among Elderly in Shanghai Hospital. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on security cooperation between China and the Solomon Islands was signed on March 18. It allowed China to send police, Armed Police, military personnel and other law enforcement forces to the Solomon Islands, on request, to assist in maintaining social order and accomplish other tasks agreed upon by both countries, according to media reports. Under the provisions of the MoU, Chinese naval vessels can carry out logistical replenishments and Chinese armed forces can be moved to protect the safety of Chinese personnel and major projects in the Solomon Islands. The Solomon Islands government said on Thursday that only a draft agreement of the new security pact had been initialled by representatives from the Solomons and China and that the agreement would be "cleaned up". According to the report, Article 5 of the MoU stipulates that the nature of cooperation agreed upon cannot be disclosed to a "third party" without the consent of both parties. Earlier, in 2019, the Solomon Islands switched its diplomatic ties from Taiwan to Beijing. The country already has had a bilateral security agreement with Australia since 2017. The signing of a security partnership with Beijing has caused concerns in Canberra, as it views the development as part of an attempt by Beijing to set up a military base in the region. Meanwhile, the Solomon Islands is also negotiating several other MoUs with China including on Civil Aviation Services and Expanding Trade under Non-Reciprocal Trading Arrangement, the report said. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) SHANGHAI, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Over 14 million Shanghai residents in Puxi, or areas west of the Huangpu River, took nucleic acid tests on Friday, amid the city's second phase of closed-off management, a local official told a press conference on Saturday. Shanghai reported 260 confirmed locally transmitted COIVD-19 cases and 6,051 asymptomatic carriers on Friday, said Wu Qianyu, an official with the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, attributing the daily rise in positive cases to a wider range of screening. Starting on March 28, the megacity in east China began to enforce temporary closed-off management in two phases to track infections and curb the spread of the virus. Mass nucleic acid testing in areas east of the Huangpu River started on March 28 with the first phase of closed-off management in place. The second phase of closed-off management came into force in areas west of the river on Friday. Colombo [Sri Lanka], April 2 (ANI): Sri Lanka imposed a nationwide curfew starting at 6 pm in the evening today till the morning 6 am on Monday (April 4) following unrest in the country with protests outside the residence of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa amid the ongoing economic crisis in the Island country. "Under the powers given to the president curfew has been imposed countrywide from 6 pm on Saturday to 6 am on Monday," the government's information department said in a statement. Also Read | London Court to Issue Warrant on Assanges Extradition to US on April 20: WikiLeaks. Earlier on Friday evening, President Rajapaksa had issued an Extraordinary Gazette declaring a state of public emergency in Sri Lanka with immediate effect. "In order to ensure public security and maintenance of public order and to continue with supplies and services essential to the life of the people, according to the powers vested in the President under Section 2 of the Public Security Ordinance, a state of public emergency has been declared right throughout the country with effect from April 01, 2022," Information Department of the Government of Sri Lanka informed in a statement. Also Read | Imran Khan No-Confidence Vote: If Shahbaz Sharif Takes Over, They Will Do Slavery of America, Says Pakistan PM. Rajapaksa said the emergency was declared in the interests of public security, protection of public order and the maintenance of supplies and services essential to the life of the community. On Friday evening, Sri Lanka had also imposed a police curfew in the Western Province for six hours amid unrest after protests were held outside Sri Lankan President's residence over the worsening economic crisis in the island nation. Several protestors gathered outside the residence of Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Thursday as the island nation faces an unprecedented economic crisis. The protest was staged over the government's failure to address the existing issues in the island nation. The protesters clashed with the police outside the residence of President Rajapaksa in Mirihana. After the protest, at least ten people were injured including journalists. Meanwhile, fifteen individuals arrested over the protest held in Mirihana were ordered to be released on bail after being produced before Gangodawila Magistrate's Court, Daily Mirror reported. It further reported that each of them was ordered to be released on a surety bail by Magistrate Prasanna Alwis. Sri Lanka's economy has been in a free fall since the COVID-19 pandemic due to the crash of the tourism sector. Sri Lanka is presently facing a foreign exchange shortage which has led to a food, fuel, power and gas shortage and has sought the assistance of friendly countries for economic assistance. Sri Lanka is witnessing at least 10-hour daily power cuts. Sri Lanka's currency has been also devalued by almost SLR 90 against the US dollar since March 8. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi [India], April 2 (ANI): Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Saturday said that the transfer of power from Nepal to India will be enhanced significantly in 2022 as compared to the previous year. Addressing a press conference, following the meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepalese counterpart Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Shringla said that both sides discussed the flood control issues in the context of harnessing water resources for mutual benefits and in terms of power generation, irrigation and flood control. Also Read | Pakistan: Punjab Province Election for New CM Postponed. Shringla further said that both countries held discussions on harnessing water resources in a positive way and how to use the hydroelectric potential of these resources. "Transfer of power between the two countries will keep taking place as a power-trade policy is in place. The power being developed in various projects in Nepal involving Indian companies and Indian investment is coming to India in a bigger way," he said. Also Read | Sound Gets Slower on Mars as Deep Silence Prevails, Reveals NASA Rover. "This year, the amount of power that will be coming to India from Nepal will be significantly enhanced over last year. There is a great deal of progress in the paradigm of projects with Indian investment in Nepal. Both the countries will benefit from this," he added. Speaking on the Pashupatinath riverfront development project, the foreign secretary said that both sides held a general review on the water cooperation areas and expressed satisfaction with the progress in many of these areas including that of the Pashupatinath riverfront project. India also reiterated its support to take forward such projects involving growth and development in Nepal, he added. Shringla further informed that both sides agreed to take forward projects like the Pancheshwar multipurpose project that has the potential to benefit both countries. The two leaders also briefly discussed the boundary dispute between India and Nepal, with an understanding that such issues need to be solved through dialogue and deliberations, and politicisation of the boundary issue needs to be avoided. Notably, Deuba is on a three-day India visit. The last Head of State/Head of Government-level visit from Nepal was in May 2019, when then PM KP Oli visited India for the swearing-in ceremony of PM Narendra Modi and the Union Council of Ministers. Before that PM Modi had visited Nepal in August 2018 for the 4th BIMSTEC Summit in Kathmandu, which was preceded by a State Visit to Nepal in May 2018. PM Modi had extended a congratulatory message to Sher Bahadur Deuba soon after he won the Vote of Confidence in Nepal's Parliament. This was followed by a congratulatory telephonic conversation on 19 July 2021. The most recent meeting between PM Modi and Sher Bahadur Deuba took place on November 2, 2021, on the sidelines of COP 26 in Glasgow. Sher Bahadur Deuba is a veteran politician of the Nepali Congress with a political career spanning over seven decades. This is Deuba's fifth tenure as PM. His first term was from September 1995 to March 1997. He has visited India several times, both when in and out of power. This will be his fifth visit to India as PM, with the last visit being in August 2018. The previous three visits took place in 2004, 2002 and 1996. (ANI) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Beijing, April 2: China has accused the United States of instigating the ongoing Ukrainian war, alleging that Washington is most reluctant to see a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. "US is the biggest spoiler of the security in entire Europe. The US is most reluctant to see a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine," Global Times has reported. Also Read | Russia Alleges Ukrainian Choppers Attacked Fuel Depot in Belgorod. The Chinese media reported that on March 24, NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) reaffirmed it "will continue to provide further political and practical support to Ukraine and allies, substantially increasing its defense expenditures". Also Read | Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Refuses To Discuss 'Attack' on Fuel Depot in Russia's Belgorod. "By enhancing the role of NATO, the US ties Europe more firmly to its chariot. With its dominant position, the US has forced Europe to take sides by escalating the crisis and even war. The ultimate goal is to constantly put Europe under its control," Global Times reported. While pouring cold water on the Russia-Ukraine peace talks, the US is stepping up its efforts to prolong the conflicts. This is in line with US strategic needs, added the Global Times. "If Ukraine's appeal for a security guarantee is met, a new model of international security guarantee will be opened up, which will mean weakening the role of the US and NATO. The US clearly doesn't want to see this result. It can be said that the US is the biggest spoiler of security in all entire Europe. The US is the most reluctant to see a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine," it added. On Wednesday, Communications Director Kate Bedingfield, during White House press briefing, while responding to a question, "Is the US willing to become a guarantor of Ukraine's security or considering that option?", said: "We are in constant discussion with Ukraine about ways that we can help ensure that they are sovereign and secure. But there's nothing specific about a security guarantee that I can speak about at this time." Following Russia's action in Ukraine, many Western nations and European countries have imposed tough sanctions on Russia, targeting its economy and financial system. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Washington, Apr 2 (PTI) The United States on Friday welcomed the United Nations-mediated truce in Yemen, with President Joe Biden saying that the initiative is a long-awaited reprieve for the people of the country. I welcome the announcement today of a two-month truce in the Yemen conflict. This initiative is a long-awaited reprieve for the Yemeni people. It entails a halt to all military activities by any party inside Yemen and across its borders, the entry of fuel ships into Hudaydah port, and the renewal of commercial flights to and from Sana'a to agreed destinations, Biden said. Also Read | US Sanctions North Korea Firms Over Recent Missile Tests. These are important steps but they are not enough, he said. The ceasefire must be adhered to, and as I have said before, it is imperative that we end this war. After seven years of conflict, negotiators must undertake the hard and necessary work to reach political compromises that can bring about an enduring future of peace for all the people of Yemen, he noted. Also Read | Imran Khan No-Trust Vote: Pakistan PM Hints at Early Elections, Says Opposition Part of International Conspiracy to Remove His Govt. The US President also praised the leadership role of Saudi Arabia and Oman in bringing this initiative to fruition before the holy month of Ramadan. I am also grateful for the hard work of the Yemeni government and the confidence they have placed in UN-led mediation, he said. At the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres commended Yemen, the Saudi-led coalition and the Houthis for agreeing on the two-month truce in Yemen, including cross-border attacks. I urge all parties to make the necessary arrangements to support the successful implementation of the truce, and to operationalise cooperation mechanisms without delay, he said. The parties accepted to halt all offensive military air, ground and maritime operations inside Yemen and across its borders. They also agreed for fuel ships to enter into Hudaydah ports and commercial flights to operate in and out of Sana'a airport to predetermined destinations in the region, he said. They further agreed to meet under the auspices of my Special Envoy to open roads in Taiz and other governorates in Yemen. The truce can be renewed beyond the two-month period with the consent of the parties, he added. This truce, which has the possibility of renewal, coincides with the start of the holy month of Ramadan. It opens the door to addressing Yemen's urgent humanitarian and economic needs, and creates a genuine opportunity to restart Yemen's political process. This truce must be a first step to ending Yemen's devastating war, said the Secretary General. Welcoming the truce announcement, US Secretary of State Tony Blinken said the United States, led by the efforts of Special Envoy Tim Lenderking, has been actively involved in diplomatic efforts with the parties and UN Special Envoy Hans Grundberg to facilitate this important step. We will continue to work closely with the UN to support the truce, which, if fully implemented, would halt fighting and attacks for at least 60 days and facilitate the flow of goods and people, bringing much-needed relief to millions of Yemenis as they observe the holy month of Ramadan, he said. The United States calls on all the parties to adhere fully to the UN truce for the sake of the Yemeni people. More than seven years of fighting has brought great suffering and destruction across the country. Yemenis are demanding peace. It is time for the parties to listen to them and seize this decisive moment, Blinken said. With the UN truce in place, the parties should turn their efforts to securing a lasting ceasefire and participating in an inclusive political process led by UN Special Envoy Grundberg, which Special Envoy Lenderking will work closely with him to support, the top American diplomat said. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Sanna [Yemen], April 2 (ANI/Sputnik): Yemen's rebel Ansar Allah movement, also known as the Houthis, welcomes the two-month truce proposed by the United Nations to the sides to the Yemeni conflict, the movement's chief negotiator at talks with the government, Mohammed Abdulsalam, said on Friday. Earlier in the day, UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said that the sides to the Yemen conflict have agreed to a two-month halt of all offensive military operations. Also Read | US Sanctions North Korea Firms Over Recent Missile Tests. "We welcome the two-month humanitarian ceasefire under the auspices of the UN, declared by the UN special envoy for Yemen [Hans Grundberg]," Abdulsalam said. According to him, during the truce, the Sanaa International Airport will be open for a number of flights and the port of Al Hudaydah will be open for a number of ships delivering petroleum. Also Read | Imran Khan No-Trust Vote: Pakistan PM Hints at Early Elections, Says Opposition Part of International Conspiracy to Remove His Govt. The conflict between the Yemeni government forces and the Houthis has been going on since 2014. The situation was further aggravated in 2015 after a coalition led by Saudi Arabia joined the conflict on the Yemeni government's side and began conducting air, land and sea operations against the Islamist rebel movement. The Houthis often retaliate by firing projectiles and drones at Saudi and UAE oil facilities. Last month, the Houthis intensified their attacks after Saudi Arabia executed 81 people, including three Yemeni prisoners of war. (ANI/Sputnik) (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) Kyiv, April 2: Responding to Russian accusations that Ukraine mounted a helicopter attack on a fuel depot inside Russian territory, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday said 'I do not discuss any of my orders.' "I'm sorry I do not discuss any of my orders as commander in chief, the leader of this state. There are things which I only share with military armed forces of Ukraine and when they talk with me," Zelenskyy said, when asked if he had ordered such an attack. Russia Alleges Ukrainian Choppers Attacked Fuel Depot in Belgorod. "You need to understand that on that territory that you mentioned they were placing their shooting systems and were firing missiles themselves," he added. A fire broke out at a fuel depot in Belgorod on Friday, a Russian city near the Ukrainian border. Russia accused Ukraine of the attack and said that it was caused by an airstrike from Ukrainian helicopters. The Russian Ministry of Defense on Friday stated that two Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters carried out an attack on a fuel storage facility in southern Russia. UK Defence Ministry said in the latest intelligence update that oil tanks at a depot in the Russian city of Belgorod mean probable loss of fuel and ammunition supplies to the Russian forces. The update further suggested that the Friday strike at the depot will likely add more strain to Russia's already stretched logistic chains. (This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body) New Delhi, April 2: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepal counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday jointly inaugurated cross-border passenger train services, RuPay payment system in Nepal and signed several Memorandums of Understanding. The train services between Jainagar in India and Kurtha in Nepal was inaugurated on Saturday after delegates-level meeting between the two leaders. The passenger train services have been built under India's Grant Assistance. They also inaugurated Solu Corridor 132 KV power transmission line and sub-station in Nepal built under government of India's Line of Credit. Further, Nepal joined International Solar Alliance. Both the leaders held delegation-level meeting at Hyderabad House in Delhi on Saturday. "Wide-ranging talks on our multi-faceted partnership are on the agenda," India's Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. Before reaching Hyderabad House, Deuba paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi and laid a wreath at Raj Ghat. On Friday, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar met Deuba in Delhi. He said, "I am confident that this visit will further strengthen our close neighbourly ties," he said. Before that, Deuba visited the BJP headquarters and met party chief J.P. Nadda. Deuba, his wife and four cabinet ministers of Nepal were part of the delegation that met Nadda. The meeting lasted for around half an hour. Nadda received Nepal Prime Minister Deuba at the BJP office. NGT Directs Panel To Check Media Report on Violation of Environmental Norms at Kulda Coal Mine and Tamnar Thermal Plant. After meeting, head of BJP overseas affairs cell Vijay Chauthaiwale had said that on party chief Nadda's invitation, Nepal Prime Minister Deuba, his wife and four cabinet ministers visited the BJP headquarters. "Discussion was held in a very cordial environment and the BJP chief briefed Nepal Prime Minister about the social works done by party workers during Covid," Chauthaiwale had said. Deuba on Friday arrived in New Delhi on a three-day visit to India at the invitation of Modi. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 02, 2022 02:05 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). The traditional New Year for Marathi and Konkani Hindus is celebrated as Gudi Padwa. The New Year is observed around the state of Maharashtra, Goa, and the union territory of Daman on the first day of the Chaitra month. It is also known as Samvatsar Padvo. This year, Gudi Padwa will be celebrated on Saturday, 2 April. People celebrate Samvatsar Padvo by erecting a special Gudhi flag known as Gudhi dvaja consisting of a silk banner with a garland of flowers, mango, and neem leaves and topped with an upturned copper or silver pot. Also, rabi crops are reaped after this festival as it also signifies the arrival of the spring season. The festival of Gudi Padwa is celebrated as Ugadi by the people of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Gudi Padwa 2022 Food List: From Sabudana Vada to Shrikhand, 5 Traditional Maharashtrian Recipes To Relish on Marathi New Year. On the cheerful occasion of Gudi Padwa, people make customary dishes like Kothimbir Vadi, Batata Vada, Sabudana Vada, take early morning ritual oil-bathe and pray to Lord Brahma. As the festival is linked to the mythical day on which Hindu God Brahma created time and the universe. To commemorate the Marathi New Year 2022, we have collected festive quotes, wishes, WhatsApp stickers, messages, HD pictures for Telegram and Facebook, Instagram captions, SMS, sayings, and the best greetings that you can share with your family, friends, office colleagues, and relatives. Learn How to Make Gudi At Home With This Simple DIY Video Tutorial to Celebrate Marathi New Year. Gudi Padwa 2022 Greetings Gudi Padwa 2022 Messages (File Image) Facebook Status Reads: May Neem's Bitterness, Raw Mango's Sourness And The Sweetness Of Jaggery Remind You That Life is a Mixed Bag. Make the Most of Every Opportunity and Enjoy Little Moments. Gudi Padwa 2022 Happy Gudi Padwa 2022 Quotes Gudi Padwa 2022 Greetings (File Image) Telegram Photo Reads: A New Hope, New Begining and A New Opportunity are Waiting to Unfold! Wishing You a Very Happy Gudi Padwa 2022. Marathi New Year 2022 Wishes Gudi Padwa 2022 Wishes (File Image) WhatsApp SMS Reads: On the Holy Occasion of Gudi Padwa, Let Us All Pledge to Spread Message of Love, Peace And Happiness! Gudi Padwa 2022 HD Wallpaper Gudi Padwa 2022 Greetings (File Image) HD Picture Reads: On the Auspicious Day of Gudi Padwa The Atmosphere is Filled with Love and Mirth! Have Lots of Fun With Your Family and Friends. Gudi Padwa 2022 Messages Gudi Padwa 2022 Quotes (File Image) HD Image Reads: This Gudi Padwa, May God Bestow You With Bundle of Smiles, Peace, Good Fortune and Health. Happy Gudi Padwa 2022. Happy Gudi Padwa 2022 GIF Greetings Happy Gudi Padwa 2022 (File Image) WhatsApp Message Reads: Wishing You Countless Wealth, Happiness, And Prosperity This Season. Happy Gudi Padwa To You and Your Family. Some people believe that Gudi Padwa also symbolizes Lord Rama's victory over Ravana. The festival is also celebrated for Lord Rama as he returns to Ayodhya after completing his fourteen years of exile. Nevertheless, the celebration is all about family getting together and welcoming the New Year with a positive mindset. (The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 02, 2022 06:30 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com). IAEA chief Rafael Grossi says he'll head a mission to Chernobyl as soon as possible. 'It will be the first in a series of such nuclear safety and security missions to #Ukraine,' Grossi said on Twitter https://t.co/iGwaq8OAzE pic.twitter.com/2s314mgVm6 Reuters (@Reuters) April 2, 2022 (SocialLY brings you all the latest breaking news, viral trends and information from social media world, including Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. The above post is embeded directly from the user's social media account and LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the social media post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.) Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid met their maker in a dusty Bolivian town on Nov. 6, 1908. Historians say they are dead. What refuses to die is the legend that they survived that shootout and lived on. Now comes a batch of new research that tends to lay the legend in its grave. But dont bank on it. A husband-and-wife team of researchers, Daniel Buck and Anne Meadows, after 10 years of digging, have exhumed long-lost Argentine police files that appear to locate the two desperadoes just where conventional wisdom says they should have been in the late 1900s, Bolivia. Their findings are in the January issue of True West, but Buck is the first to concede that they do not constitute proof positive. Theres never a final word, Buck said from his home in Washington, D.C. You can only build circumstantial cases here. No one identified them when they were buried, and there are no photographs [of the bodies]. Advertisement But, then, no one has proven they came back, either. Then you build a positive circumstantial case that they were the two guys who died in Bolivia. Butch Cassidy was christened Robert Leroy Parker by his Mormon pioneer parents. The Sundance Kids real name was Harry Longabaugh. The two and their gang, known as the Wild Bunch, held up banks and robbed trains in the Rocky Mountains in the 1890s. With the law on their heels, they fled to Argentina in 1901, along with Sundances girlfriend, Etta Place. The three homesteaded a ranch in the Cholila Valley. By 1905, though, they were back to robbing banks. Most historians believe that Butch and Sundance died in a shootout in San Vincente, a town in Bolivia, across Argentinas northern border, where a patrol discovered them holed up in a rented hut. * A gunfight ensued, ending when darkness fell. Later that night, townspeople reported hearing screams and two shots. In the morning, they found both outlaws dead, both shot in the head. The writers Buck and Meadows believe that rather than be captured, Cassidy shot Sundance, then himself. Since 1985 they had chased a rumor that police files would nail down the pairs identity. In September they finally received a nine-pound, 1,500-page package of photocopied reports on outlaw bands that terrorized southern Argentina in the early 1900s. A letter and three notes in the package of material were in Cassidys handwriting. They also found a Spanish translation of a letter from Sundance, and two other letters referring to the outlaws. Cassidy, under his alias of J.P. Ryan, wrote on Feb. 29, 1904, to Dan Gibbon, a Welsh immigrant friend living in the Andean foothills of Chubut: I have been laid up with a bad case of the Town Disease and I dont know just when I will be able to ride, but as soon as I am able I will be down. Look out for my horse. The letter was posted in Cholila. (And Cassidy probably had gonorrhea.) The papers included a receipt for Ryans purchase, for 150 pesos, of a chestnut stallion. Ryan added a postscript transferring ownership of the horse to Gibbon. Another document details expenses by Ryan and H. Place, an alias used by Sundance, for routine ranching expenses. The police record also held a June 28, 1905, letter from Sundance, translated into Spanish, and also addressed to Gibbon. It was posted in Valparaiso, Chile: I dont want to see Cholila ever again, but I will think of you and of all our friends often. . . . . The letter also mentions leaving with his wife, presumably Etta Place, for San Francisco. A June 30, 1905, visit by Sundance and Etta Place to his brother, Elwood, who lived in San Francisco, is recounted in Donna Ernsts book, Sundance, My Uncle. Jim Dullenty, founder of the Western Outlaw Lawman History Assn., says the papers are not conclusive, but this is additional evidence that Butch and Sundance died in Bolivia. I strongly believe it hasnt been proven one way or the other, he said from Hamilton, Mont. This is still an unsolved mystery . . . [but] I would say the evidence is beginning to weigh more on the side of them dying in South America. Still, tales of one or both of the outlaws escaping back to the United States are unlikely to fade. * William T. Phillips, a Spokane, Wash., man who died in 1937, wrote an article titled The Bandit Invincible, in which he claimed that Cassidy survived the shootout, had plastic surgery in Paris, married and eventually moved to Spokane about 1910. Buck says recent research has shown Phillips to have been most likely an impostor born in Michigan who picked up on the outlaws legend when he moved West. Harold Schindler, who has written extensively on the Old West for the Salt Lake Tribune, remains unconvinced by Buck and Meadows discovery. Schindler favors a 1991 account by a retired Utah Highway Patrol trooper, Merrill Johnson, who has since died. Johnson said his father-in-law, John Kitchen, introduced him in 1941 to an old friend of the family, Bob Parker--Butch Cassidy. TEHRAN, April 2 (Xinhua) -- At least 35 foreign nationals were injured in a car crash on the Khash-Saravan road in Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan Province on Saturday, official IRNA news agency reported. "Unfortunately, 35 people were injured when two Toyota vehicles carrying illegal foreign nationals collided," Fariborz Rashedi, a medical official at Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, was quoted as saying. The injured were transported to Imam Khomeini Hospital in Khash city by seven ambulances, Rashedi said without providing details of nationalities. The province, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, occasionally sees illegal immigrants entering the Iranian territory with the help of human traffickers. According to IRNA, the vehicles carrying smuggled fuel and illegal foreign nationals, with license plates usually removed or marred, often drive recklessly fast and overturn or collide with other vehicles. Traveling to Cuba should be reconsidered with the ongoing pandemic, just like in any country dealing with a high level of COVID-19. But if you decide to see the country's tourist attractions, there are some precautions that every traveler should know, such as the safety guidelines and travel restrictions. Cuba Travel Advisory The U.S. Department of State has issued a Level 3 Travel Advisory for Cuba, meaning the agency is advising tourists to reconsider traveling to the Caribbean country. In its advisory, the State Department said tourists should exercise increased caution in Cuba due to demonstrable and sometimes debilitating injuries to members of the U.S. diplomatic community resulting in the drawdown of embassy staff. The department noted that many U.S. Embassy Havana employees suffered demonstrable and sometimes debilitating injuries during their service in Havana. Affected individuals reported physical symptoms such as ear complaints and hearing loss. Embassy staff also complained of dizziness, headaches, fatigue, cognitive issues, visual problems, and difficulty sleeping. The State Department urged travelers to consult a medical professional if they have personal health concerns or believe they have suffered similar symptoms upon return to the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice for Cuba due to a high number of COVID-19 cases in the country. According to the World Health Organization database, Cuba has reported 1,088,638 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 8,510 deaths, as of March 30. The CDC urged travelers to be fully vaccinated before traveling internationally. READ NEXT: Pres. Joe Biden Signs $768 Billion Defense Bill, but Complains It Won't Let Him Close Guantanamo Bay in Cuba Tourist Attractions in Cuba Cuba has been known to be rich in culture, large islands, history, and its famously known cocktails. The island has more than 5,000 kilometers of coastline, much of which are beaches. It has been a refuge for hosting presidents during their visits, with the remembrance of its revolutionary history. Cuba has also been home to famous writers, including Ernest Hemingway. Old Havana is a must-see in Cuba, being part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. It is a well-preserved slice of Cuban history. Tourists can see Baroque and neoclassical buildings while strolling around the cobbled streets, according to Planet Ware. Major attractions in Old Havana include Plaza de la Catedral, the iconic restaurant and Hemingway hangout Bodeguita del Medio, and the military fortress Castillo de la Real Fuerza. Beach life can also be found in Cuba, particularly in Varadero. It stretches along the Peninsula de Hicacos, with a drawbridge that connects it to the mainland. Varadero also has the Bellamar Caves, which have the most extensive cavern systems. It is about 150 years old. Another UNESCO World Heritage Site is the Parque Nacional Vinales, which has steep limestone hills called "mogotes." Parque Nacional Vinales have agricultural areas where tobacco, fruit, and vegetables are grown. The park offers hiking and horseback riding in the hills. If you want to know more about the revolutionary history of Cuba, the Che Guevara Mausoleum is a must-visit. It is the famous site of the last guerilla battle led by Che Guevarra in 1958. It also contains his mausoleum and monument. Personal items of Guevarra can be seen in Museo Historico de la Revolucion. So, Cuba can be a perfect destination if it is a relaxing lounge at the beach, a nature trip, or a quick history lesson. READ MORE: Kamala Harris Says 'Democracy' Is the Biggest National Security Threat Facing the U.S. This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Mary Webber WATCH: Cuba Vacation Travel Guide - From Expedia Gov. Greg Abbott announced that the Texas Health and Human Services Commission is providing more than $318 million in emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food benefits for April. The allotments are seen to help more than 1.5 million Texas households, according to the press release of Office of the Texas Governor. The U.S. Department of Agriculture gave the approval to HHSC to extend the maximum, allowing the number of SNAP benefits to recipients based on family size, with all SNAP households receiving a minimum of $95 in emergency allotments. The allotments for the additional emergency fund are set to appear in recipients' accounts by April 30. Abbott said emergency SNAP benefits have played an important role in the government's effort over the past two years to ensure that every Texas resident has access to nutritious food. The Texas governor also extended his gratitude to HHSC and USDA for helping Texan families remain safe and healthy. Texas HHS Access and Eligibility Services Deputy Executive Commissioner Wayne Salter said that they continue to support the Texans who need a helping hand. READ NEXT: SNAP Benefits 2022: Schedule of March Benefits in California, EBT Cardholders Gets New Online Options SNAP Benefits Texas SNAP benefits are provided for people who do not have a lot of money, and who meet the program's qualifications. The benefit might be longer if the person works at least 20 hours a week or is in a job or training program. Meanwhile, some adults do not have to work to get benefits, such as those who have a disability or are pregnant. Those who are eligible to participate in the Texas Simplified Application Project are households in which all members are either older adults or people with disabilities, according to Health and Human Services site. Most people ages 16 to 59 must follow work rules to get SNAP benefits. Work rules noted that a person must look for a job or be in an approved work program. Once a person has a job, they cannot quit without a good reason. SNAP benefits cannot be used to buy tobacco, alcoholic drinks, and buy things that cannot be eaten or drank. It cannot be used too to pay for food bills recipients owe. SNAP Benefits Payment Similarities to Electronic Benefits Electronic Benefits Transfer is an electronic system that allows SNAP participants to pay for food using SNAP benefits. SNAP authorized retail store provides an avenue for participants to shop. Their SNAP EBT account is debited to reimburse the store for food that was purchased. EBT is in use in all 50 states, as well as the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. EBT has been the sole method of SNAP issuance in all states since June 2004. It was established by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. EBT is very similar to SNAP. However, it is for children that would have received free or reduced-price school meals, if not for COVID-related school closures and/or COVID-related reductions in school hours or attendance. READ MORE: SNAP Benefits 2022 Schedule for California, Florida, Texas and More: When to Get Food Assistance Each Month This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Mary Webber WATCH: Texas Emergency SNAP benefits program extended through December - from KENS 5: Your San Antonio News Source At least 110 illegal migrants, who were trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border, were rescued by Texas officials in separate smuggling attempts this week. According to New York Post, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) discovered 76 illegal migrants in the back of a truck they pulled over in Dimmit County, Texas on Thursday. Officials did not mention the origins of the migrants, but they were turned over to the custody of the Border Patrol. Fox News reported that the driver, a Honduran national, was arrested for human smuggling. Texas DPS said the driver was in the country illegally himself. The department further noted that the driver was also in possession of meth and had "a previous criminal history of drug and weapons charges." READ NEXT: Border Patrol Chief Claims U.S. Will Encounter 1M Migrants in F.Y. 2022; Groups Say More Immigrants to Come If Title 42 Expulsion Ends U.S.-Mexico Border: Border Patrol Agents in Texas Rescue 34 More Illegal Migrants Border Patrol agents rescued 18 migrants crammed inside a U-Haul trailer early Tuesday, according to Border Report. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reported that the U-Haul pickup pulling the trailer stopped at the Border Patrol checkpoint on New Mexico Highway 185, and authorities found 17 migrant adults and one unaccompanied child inside the trailer. The driver was reportedly arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to transport migrants. Agents believed that the smuggling scheme was connected to a driver who had crossed the checkpoint minutes before the U-Haul. The other driver, who was found to have an AK-47 rifle, a 9 mm handgun, a 12-gauge shotgun, a flare gun, and ammunition, was also arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to transport migrants. On Sunday, 16 more migrants, including a child, were discovered by Border Patrol agents in Northeast El Paso, Texas. The migrants were rescued after a resident alerted border agents of a possible human smuggling scheme after spotting a tractor-trailer parked along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard near the Texas-New Mexico state line. Some of the migrants, who were reportedly from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua, ended up at the Central Processing Center, while others were expelled to Mexico under Title 42. The driver was referred to the El Paso Sector Integrated Targeting Team and the Texas DPS as part of an ongoing interagency investigation. "Ruthless human smugglers continuously endanger human lives as one of their tactics is to smuggle migrants in confined spaces with restricted oxygen," El Paso Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gloria Chavez said in a news release. DHS Officially Announced End to Title 42 Expulsions at U.S.-Mexico Border The Biden administration has officially announced that the U.S. will end its use of the controversial public health rule known as Title 42. In a statement on Friday, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas noted that Title 42 would be rescinded by May 23, but expulsions of adults and families will continue until then, except for unaccompanied children that have been exempt since January last year. Mayorkas said single adult asylum seekers and families expelled back to Mexico or their home countries since the start of the pandemic could continue to make an asylum claim starting May 23 for a chance to enter the U.S. On Wednesday, a source told NBC News that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had notified the DHS that it would terminate Title 42, which has blocked more than 1.7 million attempts to cross the border. But in a statement, the DHS secretary stressed that the end of Title 42 does not mean that all migrants who cross the U.S.-Mexico border will be allowed to stay. "Let me be clear: those unable to establish a legal basis to remain in the United States will be removed," Mayorkas said. According to NBC News, there are currently thousands of migrants living in camps in poor conditions in northern Mexico after agents turned them away under Title 42. Meanwhile, DHS officials said they are bracing for a migrant influx of more than 170,000 after the end of Title 42. READ MORE: World Cup 2022 Draw: Here's Who the USA, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina Will Play in the Qatar Group Stage This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Joshua Summers WATCH: Human Smuggling on the Rise Along the I-35 Corridor in Texas - From KENS 5: Your San Antonio News Source Will Smith on Friday announced his resignation as a member of the Academy following the Oscars 2022 drama with Chris Rock. Smith announced his resignation from the Academy through a statement shared by his publicist to CNN. "I am resigning from membership in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and will accept any further consequences the Board deems appropriate," Smith said. The actor further noted that his actions during the Oscars 2022 last Sunday were "shocking, painful, and inexcusable." "The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris [Rock], his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance, and global audiences at home," Smith said. He then pointed out that he betrayed the trust vested to him by the Academy. He said he deprived other nominees and winners of their moment to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work when he exerted violence on the stage of the awards show. And for that, he said he was "heartbroken." Smith noted that his resignation is an attempt to bring back the focus to those who deserve attention for their achievements and allow the Academy to get back to its incredible work in supporting creativity and artistry in film. The actor then concluded his statement by saying that he was committed to working in ensuring that he would "never again allow violence to overtake reason." The actor initially apologized to the Academy during his acceptance speech for best actor on Sunday, minutes after he slapped Chris Rock. In that speech, Smith did not apologize to the comedian. He publicly apologized to Rock via social media the following day. In a statement, David Rubin, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said that although they have received and accepted Smith's "immediate resignation," they will continue to move forward with their disciplinary proceedings against Smith for violations of the Academy's Standards of Conduct. The Academy said disciplinary actions by the organization include suspension or expulsion, along with other sanctions "permitted by the Bylaws and Standards of Conduct." But Smith has willingly left the organization, and by resigning, he will no longer be able to vote on Oscar-nominated films and performances yearly. However, the actor's work will still be eligible for future Oscars consideration and nominations. READ NEXT: Oscars 2022: Here's Jada Pinkett Smith's Shocking Reaction After Will Smith Slapped Chris Rock Oscars 2022 Producer Speaks out After Chris Rock and Will Smith Incident The lead producer of Oscars 2022, Will Packer, revealed that Chris Rock did not want Will Smith to be removed from the audience even though the actor slapped him. Academy leaders reportedly told Smith's publicist that the actor should leave after the slapping incident, but he refused. In an interview with "Good Morning America" on Friday, Packer said he was told that Smith was about to be physically removed, so he went to Academy leaders on site and told them Rock did not want that to happen. The producer further noted that the comedian was not mad at that time, and his tone was not aggressive. "So I was advocating what Rock wanted in that time, which was not to physically remove Will Smith," Packer said. Will Smith has slapped Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about Jada Pinkett Smith being bald. A source told People that Smith's action last Sunday resulted from Rock's making fun of Jada for years. The source claimed that Smith used to laugh about it, but it bothered Jada, so he asked the comedian to stop making fun of his wife, "and that's why this night escalated." However, the outlet said a rep for Chris Rock had denied this. Spanish Director Pedro Almodovar Slams Will Smith Over His Oscars 2022 Speech Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar also gave his opinion about the Oscars 2022 drama. He slammed Will Smith for giving an acceptance speech "that seemed more like of a cult leader," People reported. In his speech, Smith urged the public to be careful, saying that the devil comes to people at their highest moment, a line that Denzel Washington shared with the actor minutes before his win. Almodovar slammed Smith for what he said and his actions. He said protecting one's family should not be done by fists. "The devil doesn't take advantage of key moments to do his work... The devil, in fact, doesn't exist. This was a fundamentalist speech that we should neither hear nor see," Almodovar noted. The Spanish film director was reportedly seated at the Dolby Theater, where the Oscars 2022 was held, when Will Smith and Chris Rock had their moment on stage. Pedro Almodovar noted that what he saw and heard at that time "produced a feeling of absolute rejection in me." READ MORE: Selena Gomez Reveals Current Relationship Status on TikTok While Debuting New Hairstyle This article is owned by Latin Post. Written by: Joshua Summers WATCH: Oscars Producer Reveals What LAPD Said About Will Smith - From ABC News A man has been jailed for life for the brutal murder of a Kilkenny pensioner, who suffered a "torturous and painful death" and "unnatural terror" in her own home, her distraught daughter told Central Criminal Court today. "Death had a face; it shouldn't," Elayne Butler said of her mother's murderer, Trevor Rowe, who remained unmoving and head-bowed throughout the hearing. Mother-of-one Anne Butler (70) was murdered on Maudlin Street in Kilkenny on March 20, 2020, after being stabbed, beaten and mutilated by Rowe, a 30-year-old drug addict. At the sentencing hearing, on Friday, April 1, Trevor Rowe of Abbey Street, Kilkenny, was given the mandatory life sentence for the murder by Ms Justice Karen O'Connor, an offence which she said had caused "unimaginable grief" to Ms Butler's family. When discovered days after the murder, Ms Butler was found to have had her throat slit, while a large piece of cardboard was found in the back of her mouth and "a strip" of her ear was found in the living room. Three anonymous 999 calls were traced by gardai in Kilkenny back to Rowe, including one where he said he murdered a woman five days previously and that the location of the body was on Maudlin Street. When gardai called to Rowe's home, he fell to his knees, cried uncontrollably and said: "I killed a woman. I murdered a woman. I slit her throat and stuck a knife in her head". Rowe's defence was that he had been so intoxicated by the amount of drink and drugs he consumed on the day that it prevented him from forming an intent to kill or cause serious injury to Ms Butler. However, last month a jury found him guilty of murder after deliberating for just one hour 19 minutes. Ms Butler's daughter, Elayne, read a tearful victim impact statement, describing her mother as a "brave, charming, dignified, intelligent woman" who treated everyone with "kindness and love". Elayne Butler said it was hard to think of her "quick-witted and insightful" mother as a victim, as "she was always a fighter". She said the last time she met her mother at her home they could not come in close contact because of Covid restrictions and that she asked Anne from outside if she would be ok. "The air we breathe is free, Elayne. Where would we be without it?" Anne said in her last words to her daughter. Elayne said that her mother thought of her home as her favourite place but that "I [Elayne] never thought that her sanctuary would become a tomb". She described her mother as a woman of faith who was not afraid to die but that she had been subject to a "torturous and painful death" with "unnatural terror". "Death had a face; it shouldn't," she said of Rowe, who remained unmoving and head-bowed throughout the hearing. Ms Butler said the cause of her mother's death was not discovered until after a post-mortem that revealed the "brutality" of the killing. She added that her mother's "privacy was also taken, as well as her life". Ms Butler said her mother did everything for her, that she could still see her singing and that it did not seem possible that things could ever be made better. "I miss you and you should still be safe in your home. You're simply the best. I love you," she said. In her victim impact statement, which was read by Garda Lisa Mullins, Anne's younger sister Paula McPherson Jones said that she always received a "warm and wholesome welcome" from Anne and Elayne when she returned home from the UK. She said Anne was devoted to her daughter, Elayne, and that she was "kind, thoughtful and very generous". Ms McPherson-Jones said her world "fell apart" when she got the news of Anne's death and that the death of her "beautiful and courageous sister" was "too difficult to comprehend". She said it had been "two, long years" before the full facts surrounding the murder were discovered and that they were "the stuff of nightmares". In addressing Rowe, she wrote: "If you have a drop of human kindness, what were her last words? Why did you do it?" Detective Sergeant Brian Sheeran told today's hearing that Rowe had 31 previous convictions that included drug offences, assault, criminal damage, trespass, possession of knives, burglary, violent disorder and theft. Det Sgt Sheeran said Rowe was known to gardai in Kilkenny as a man "suffering with drug addiction and alcohol dependency". Kathleen Leader SC, for Rowe, said her client wanted to express his "deep sorrow" to the family of Anne Butler and that he accepted both the verdict and that the sentence would be one of life. Ms Leader said Rowe was "deeply ashamed" for bringing shame upon himself and his own family. She said Rowe had very troubled upbringing and had suffered domestic violence. Counsel said her client had been taken into care when he was three, was moved around in foster and institutional care until he was 16 years-old and had battled with drink and drug addiction. Ms Justice O'Connor imposed the mandatory life sentence upon Rowe and sympathised with the family of Ms Butler, who she said acted with "strength and dignity throughout the trial and through unimaginable grief". She thanked the family for their statements "which gave an insight into a very independent woman who enjoyed travel and who was generous and much-loved". She said the murder had an "enormously painful and profound impact" on the family. EVIDENCE HEARD AT TRIAL At the outset of the trial, Padraic McInerney said that he was working in Waterford Garda Station on March 25 2020, when he received a call on the 999 line from an anonymous phone number. "The first thing the caller said to me was 'Call me God'," he said. The caller then later said: "I wish to inform An Garda Siochana that I killed a woman". Witness Fiona Dunphy said that she received another 999 call at 6.30pm on the same day. "The male came through and said he murdered someone and told me that the location of the body was at the back of Langtons on Maudlin Street in Kilkenny," she said. The witness told the jury that the caller seemed to be frustrated and said he would commit another murder if they did not take the calls seriously. Detective Garda Martin Power told the jury that after gardai had traced the anonymous calls, he called to Rowe's apartment on Abbey Street on March 25 and found the defendant standing in front of his couch and rummaging with both hands behind his back. "I asked him what he was doing with his hands and he pulled out two screwdrivers, one in each hand. I asked him to leave the screwdrivers down and he complied with my request and left them aside," said Det Gda Power. The detective asked Rowe what knowledge he had of the 999 phone calls and said the accused fell to his knees crying uncontrollably. Rowe then told Det Gda Power: "I killed a woman. I murdered a woman. I slit her throat and stuck a knife in her head on March 20 at Maudlin Street". The accused later showed gardai to Mrs Butler's house on Maudlin Street before again falling to the ground where he broke down crying. The detective opened the door of Ms Butler's house and as he did "a gush of heat" hit him along with a smell of what he believed to be a decaying body. Det Power's colleague confirmed to him that there was a female body in the living room and that the circumstances of her death appeared suspicious. Rowe was arrested at 7.38pm that evening on suspicion of the murder of Ms Butler and conveyed to Kilkenny Garda Station. Detective Sergeant James O'Brien told the trial that Ms Butler had lacerations to the neck, an injury to the head and her left ear appeared to be missing when he entered her home on March 25. Describing the accused's demeanour in the back of the patrol car following his arrest, Det Sgt O'Brien said Rowe made several statements in the vehicle including "I just wanted her to be found" and that he had "slit her throat and stabbed her in the head last Friday". The court heard that the defendant asked himself "what have I done, what have I done". Det Sgt O'Brien said the accused also stated: "I thought it was going to be an easy touch, what have I done". Chief State Pathologist Linda Mulligan testified that the body of the pensioner was discovered in a mutilated state after she had been beaten, stabbed and had her throat slit, while a large piece of cardboard was also found in the back of her mouth. The court heard that "a strip" of Ms Butler's ear was later found in the living room of her home and Dr Mulligan agreed that part of the victim's ear had been cut off. Forensic scientist Dr Alan McGee also told the jury that a Linden Village cider can, a crowbar and the wooden part of a crucifix were found in Ms Butler's living room on Maudlin Street. He said that a male DNA profile obtained from the Linden Village can matched Rowe's DNA profile. The witness said he also examined blood-stained gloves found on a coffee table in the accused's apartment on Abbey Street. "A female DNA matching that of Ms Butler was obtained from a sample of this blood-staining," he said. The jury also saw CCTV footage of Rowe walking in the direction of the woman's house on the night she was killed. The 12 jurors also heard that Rowe accepted in garda interviews that he killed the woman but refused to say why, telling detectives it was to do with "no one; just me, God and that woman". He had also said that: "It wouldn't do her family any good to know. I can't even close my fucking eyes with the nightmare I see. When asked by gardai why he could not tell them what he did to Ms Butler, Rowe replied: "because it's disgusting." The defendant also told officers that he was going to return to Ms Butler's house "to cut her up and bury her legs one place and bury her arms somewhere else" but instead made anonymous phone calls to gardai so they could find her body. The trial had heard that a timber cross was recovered from the floor in one of the bedrooms in Ms Butler's house on Maudlin Street and a "Jesus figure" was found in Rowe's apartment on Abbey Street. A forensic scientist gave evidence that her findings provided "extremely strong support" that the timber cross and "Jesus figure" were originally from the same crucifix unit rather than not. This, Mr O'Kelly SC said in his closing speech, was a "clear scientific connection" between Rowe and the deceased. Addressing the 12 jurors, defence counsel Kathleen Leader SC said the jury was dealing with "the killing of an elderly lady" and in order to convict her client, they must be "absolutely sure" that he had intended to kill Ms Butler. Ms Leader suggested to the jury that there was another conclusion open to them on the evidence, which was that Mr Rowe was guilty of manslaughter. She submitted that the evidence in the case supported the conclusion that intoxication prevented him from forming intent. Rowe told gardai in his interviews that he had taken "40 D5's" [Diazepam] and drank all day before the incident on Maudlin Street. Mr O'Kelly asked the jury to consider what it took to shove the cardboard down the pensioner's throat. This, he submitted, was "so far away from being accidental" and was instead a "deliberate" act. "Anyone who inflicted those injuries could have no intent other than to cause death or serious injury. It is the only rational conclusion," he said. Mr O'Kelly also said that Mr Rowe was "cute and calculated enough" to make the anonymous calls on borrowed phones and then make sure he had deleted those calls from the handsets. "This is no man on some angry rant, this is calculation. This man does not want to be traced," he stated. YINCHUAN, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Over more than a decade, bird photographer Yue Changhong has traveled over 180,000 kilometers and captured more than 500,000 images. "I like to take pictures of birds in different postures. They show the liveliness and beauty of nature," said Yue, who is from Pingluo County in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region. Yue's photos are mostly taken along the banks of the Yellow River, China's second-longest river. The section of the waterway in Ningxia is approximately 400 kilometers, forming lakes and wetlands along the way. Yue is a regular visitor to these lakes and wetlands, taking photos of birds all year round. In the Tianhewan Yellow River national wetland park in his hometown of Pingluo, Yue has found very rare birds in recent years. Statistics show that as of March 2021, Ningxia has restored more than 33,000 hectares of lakes and wetlands, and placed over 206,000 hectares of wetlands on the protection list. "The improving environment has given birds more choice in selecting their habitat," Yue said. In the Tianhewan Yellow River national wetland park, there are more than 180 bird species. Yue and his wife often arrive at the wetland before dawn or dusk to wait for a great silhouette shot. In the summer, heat and mosquitoes are their biggest enemies, and in the winter, temperatures can reach minus 20 degrees Celsius. The couple has even been attacked by wild dogs and once fell into an ice cave. Despite these experiences, Yue feels enriched and satisfied when he posts bird photos on social media and receives likes from his followers. "I want to record the environmental changes in my hometown. It is a meaningful thing to do," he said. Over the years, Yue has witnessed locals' care for birds. Forest farm workers prepare food for birds on migration routes, and local residents often report wounded birds to local authorities. "Humans should give back to nature, which has given us so much," he said. Private and public leisure facilities in Laois are set to get a slice of nearly 70,000 to maintain swimming pools. Laois Offaly TD Sean Fleming who is also Minister of State in the Department of Finance, said six Laois swimming pools have been granted a total of 67,470.59 in funding from Sport Ireland and Ireland Active. The local grants are: Ballinakill outdoor pool 11,754.46; Laois Leisure, Portlaoise 10,343.92; Laois Leisure, Portarlington 14,105.35; Club Vitae, Portlaoise 11,989.55; Midlands Park Hotel Leisure Club, Portlaoise 11,872.00; The Heritage Hotel and Health Centre 7,405.31. Minister Fleming welcomed the money and highlighted its value to the community. "The funding allocation is an acknowledgement of the importance of the sector and the impact swimming has on the nations health. "Swimming Pool operators (both private and public) demonstrated their resilience throughout the pandemic. This funding announced will assist them continue getting communities active. "Swimming pools provide a vital resource for schools, clubs and communities and is particularly popular with the older people in our community. In addition to the physical benefits from swimming it can also be a great social outlet with various classes / lessons open to all ages and groups in Laois. "I would encourage people to access their local pools and keep active as this has never been more important and is essential for our physical and mental wellbeing," he said. The Laois funding is drawn from a 3.2 million funding package for swimming pool operators across the country. Russian president Vladimir Putin will either win the conflict in Ukraine or 'end up dead', according to a former soldier-turned- politician representing Kildare, Laois and Offaly. South Kildare Independent TD Dr Cathal Berry, who was a deputy commander in the Irish Armys Ranger wing, made the comments while explaining his belief that the Ukraine-Russia conflict will soon face a standstill. Dr Berry has been active on social media discussing the conflict, where he has expressed his sympathies to the Ukrainian people and the nations resistance. He has also pointed to the fact that, due to the Budapest Memorandum in 1994, Ukraine handed over its nuclear weapons in Russia in return for security guarantees; a promise he says that Russia 'has clearly broken.' In addition, he referred to Putins regime as 'devious' and 'irrational.' Dr Berry, who is based in Portarlington, also said that he 'absolutely' believes it is only a matter of time before Putin begins to order the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine. File Pic: Russian President Vladimir Putin He explained: "This war will go the distance, until a stalemate occurs, and I think that Russia will eventually break this deadlock." As for what other tactics Putins regime may consider, Dr Berry said: "The use of nuclear weapons is less likely, but there is still a big concern there that Putin may use them." He also said that one of Ukraines neighbours, Moldova, could be a potential new target for the Russian military: "The only reason why other nations (near Ukraine) havent been invaded is because of the strong resistance within the Ukrainian people, who are fighting for their democracy and their rights. Dr Berry continued: "Putin will either win, or he will end up a dead man and he knows this, so he will likely escalate, because he knows he cannot be seen to lose face." Dr Berry also applauded the role that Ireland has played in helping Ukrainian nationals and refugees: "You couldnt ask the Irish public to do more to help the people of Ukraine. "However, I would have preferred more contingency planning for the event back in December, when concerns about the conflict potentially breaking out were first raised by NATO." Similarly, Dr Berry spoke positively of NATOs role in monitoring the conflict: "NATO have been involved for ages; they have been planning on helping the Ukrainian army. "They have been right to keep their distance that further shows just how responsible NATO is," Dr Berry said, and added that it is the 'prerogative of the people' in non-NATO countries whether or not they wish to join the organisation. Dr Berry said that he has been in touch with Russian nationals in Ireland who staunchly oppose Putins regime: "That just tells you that all is not well in Russian society right now: its very clear who the aggressor is in this case." He also said that the conflict shows the need for smaller countries, like Ireland, to have 'a minimum, critical deterrent against potential invasion' from a larger superpower. Dr Berry concluded: "This (invasion) will be looked on as a defining moment of the 21st century and geo-politics it must fail, otherwise it will inspire more invasions. "The worlds response to this crisis in Ukraine should be a deterrent to other nations that are considering invading another country." Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. Russian president Vladimir Putin will either win the conflict in Ukraine or 'end up dead', according to a former soldier-turned- politician representing Kildare. South Kildare Independent TD Dr Cathal Berry, who was a deputy commander in the Irish Armys Ranger wing, made the comments while explaining his belief that the Ukraine-Russia conflict will soon face a standstill. Dr Berry has been active on social media discussing the conflict, where he has expressed his sympathies to the Ukrainian people and the nations resistance. He has also pointed to the fact that, due to the Budapest Memorandum in 1994, Ukraine handed over its nuclear weapons in Russia in return for security guarantees; a promise he says that Russia 'has clearly broken.' In addition, he referred to Putins regime as 'devious' and 'irrational.' Dr Berry also said that he 'absolutely' believes it is only a matter of time before Putin begins to order the use of chemical weapons in Ukraine. File Pic: Russian President Vladimir Putin He explained: "This war will go the distance, until a stalemate occurs, and I think that Russia will eventually break this deadlock." As for what other tactics Putins regime may consider, Dr Berry said: "The use of nuclear weapons is less likely, but there is still a big concern there that Putin may use them." He also said that one of Ukraines neighbours, Moldova, could be a potential new target for the Russian military: "The only reason why other nations (near Ukraine) havent been invaded is because of the strong resistance within the Ukrainian people, who are fighting for their democracy and their rights. Dr Berry continued: "Putin will either win, or he will end up a dead man and he knows this, so he will likely escalate, because he knows he cannot be seen to lose face." IRELANDS ROLE Dr Berry also applauded the role that Ireland has played in helping Ukrainian nationals and refugees: "You couldnt ask the Irish public to do more to help the people of Ukraine. "However, I would have preferred more contingency planning for the event back in December, when concerns about the conflict potentially breaking out were first raised by NATO." Similarly, Dr Berry spoke positively of NATOs role in monitoring the conflict: "NATO have been involved for ages; they have been planning on helping the Ukrainian army. "They have been right to keep their distance that further shows just how responsible NATO is," Dr Berry said, and added that it is the 'prerogative of the people' in non-NATO countries whether or not they wish to join the organisation. Dr Berry said that he has been in touch with Russian nationals in Ireland who staunchly oppose Putins regime: "That just tells you that all is not well in Russian society right now: its very clear who the aggressor is in this case." He also said that the conflict shows the need for smaller countries, like Ireland, to have 'a minimum, critical deterrent against potential invasion' from a larger superpower. Dr Berry concluded: "This (invasion) will be looked on as a defining moment of the 21st century and geo-politics it must fail, otherwise it will inspire more invasions. "The worlds response to this crisis in Ukraine should be a deterrent to other nations that are considering invading another country." A NUMBER of Limerick groups have come together in a giant effort to install new habitats for wild bees at Lough Gur. The project is being undertaken by Analog Devices Ireland, the Irish Bee Conservation Project, Lough Gur Development, Social Impact Ireland and Limerick City and County Council. The work involves installing new habitats for wild Irish honeybees and solitary bees at Lough Gur. 24 new bee lodge habitats have been installed after trojan work from teams of volunteers who gave up their time to carry out this work for the benefit of the environment in Limerick. Peter Meehan, of Analog Devices Ireland Green Team commented: "ADI is proud to support this initiative through the IBCP in Lough Gur. As a company we recognise that protecting our environment is imperative to safeguard our planet for future generations. "Weve set out to be carbon neutral by 2030 and to produce net zero emissions by 2050. Our Green Team is a grass roots led initiative and our passionate volunteers work tirelessly to identify and promote sustainable activities within ADI, at home and across our local communities. "Were delighted to be here today to fund and help install the bee lodge habitats." As an expert in bees, CEO of the IBCP Pat Deasy, who led the team of installers on the day said "These new bee lodges will offer Limerick bees a safe home to retreat to in order to refuel and go about their crucial pollination work. "As over 95% of the worlds 20,000 bee species are solitary bees, it is rewarding today to see that great efforts will be made in Lough Gur to protect the native honeybees and solitary bees." ACTOR and comedian Pat Shortt has lent his support to the Limerick and Tipperary branch of the Samaritans. The entertainer is giving his support to the emotional support charity, whose Limerick base is located in Barrington Street. Pat, who lived in Castleconnell up to 2017, has urged people who are struggling to reach out to the Samaritans. "Samaritan volunteers are great people providing much needed support to people who are finding life difficult to cope with. Id like to get involved any way I can to support and promote their work," he said, however he admits his listening skills aren't up to scratch himself. Catherine Slater, the branch director of the Samaritans, is delighted the comedian has chosen to support them. "He is incredibly popular and well known, both locally and nationally. We are looking forward to working with him to help spread awareness of Samaritans, and we very much appreciate his support and enthusiasm for the work we do," she said. Pictured below: Catherine Slater with Pat Shortt outside the Samaritans offices in Limerick If you are struggling, and require non-judgemental support, please contact the Samaritans, where volunteers are available 24-hours a day, seven-days a week. Whatever you are going through, they can be contacted any time, free on 116123. SUNFLOWERS and shamrocks stand side by side as a symbol of support to Ukraine in Catherine McAuley School. With many questions and mixed emotions of fear, sadness and worry; the staff and students decided to do something to help manage and support their own feelings and also show support to those who are suffering and directly affected as result of the war. Greg Browne, principal of the city school, said news of the war in Ukrain is dominating headlines, TV channels and social media. All young people, including our own students are exposed to images and information about the conflict. We felt the need to address the war in a way that our students would feel comfortable talking about it. We wanted to give them a platform where they will feel safe addressing their feelings about this war and we also wanted to provide them with an opportunity to do something positive where they can feel helpful, said Mr Browne. Led by the students in room 11, taught by Aisling Travers, the school is undertaking a sunflowers and shamrock project to show their support to Ukraine. Ms Travers said the pupils were inspired by the sunflower being the national flower of Ukraine and the shamrock being our symbol. The students of room 11 researched and planned a whole school project of support for Ukraine. Each student in the school was provided with a beautifully designed sunflower and shamrock support template page. The students worked with our art teacher Ms Huban on the template design and a key feature of the design brief was incorporating both the sunflower and shamrock into the letters of the message, said Ms Travers. To date, over 200 completed messages have been posted in their dedicated post box. They range from prayers, letters of hope and thoughtful artwork. These message will be sent to the Ukrainian ambassador in Ireland. Eye-catching and heartfelt window displays under the theme of sunflowers and shamrock have also started popping up around the school. In addition to this, a very positive and exciting aspect of the project is our sunflower and shamrock seeds project which Ms Monaghan, our horticulture teacher, will run in her classes over the coming weeks. Students will plant both sunflower and shamrock seeds and watch them grow side by side as a symbol of our continued and ever growing support to the people of Ukraine, said Ms Travers. Zoe Long, pupil, said: It has been great being the class to lead this project for our school. It feels like we are doing something small to help the people of Ukraine. LIMERICK Enterprise Development Partnership (LEDP) has announced it will support the planting of 27,000 native Irish woodland trees across Limerick over the next five years. The announcement coincided with National Tree Week which promotes the benefits of planting trees. LEDP, which has committed to embracing the UN Sustainable Development Goals as part of its new strategic plan, says the planting of the 27,000 trees will offset over 4,000 tonnes of carbon emissions over a 100 year period. The total number of trees to be planted represents 1,000 trees for each year of LEDPs existence up to and including the lifetime of the strategic plan in 2026. The LEDP is supporting the planting programme through the Department of Agricultures Woodland Environment Fund (WEF), which is an initiative under which Irish businesses can partner with landowners and the Department to help create new native woodlands in Ireland. Niall OCallaghan, Chief Executive of LEDP commented: We want to meet our environmental responsibilities by preserving biodiversity and reducing our carbon footprint. Planting 27,000 trees in the next five years forms part of our wider sustainability strategy and means we can support the Governments objective to plant 22 million trees annually each year until 2040. We are delighted to support this initiative which will have a long-lasting positive impact for our community and region. The trees will be planted in various locations across Limerick as identified by LEDPs partner SWS Forestry Services in conjunction with the Governments Woodland Environmental Fund Scheme. The native tree plantations will create a wildlife corridor for native species and enable grassland to revert to more natural vegetation, further enhancing biodiversity in the area. ONE LIMERICK town recorded the most significant year-on-year increase in commercial vacancy rates measured, in Munster, and the third highest nationally. National figures were tallied in a recent commercial buildings report compiled by Geo Directory, showing that Limericks had the seventh highest commercial vacancy rate in Q4 2021 at 16.7%. Data shows that since the Covid-19 pandemic began, the national commercial vacancy rate has progressively ticked upwards to a nine year high of 13.9%, with Limerick close to 3% above average. Of the five counties containing the main urban centres in Ireland, which account for 47.3% of the total vacant commercial address points, Limerick city makes up 5.3% or 1,556 units. Abbeyfeale recorded the second highest year-on-year increase in its commercial vacancy rate out of a total of 80 towns outside of Dublin districts that were analysed. In Q4 2021, Abbeyfeale had a vacancy rate of 20.8%, which now sits at 23.6%, marking a 2.8 percentage point change, seven times the national average increase. The only greater percentage point increases in Ireland were listed as Dublin 2, which saw a 3.1% increase in its commercial vacancy rate average and Roscommon town, topping the charts at 3.8%. Newcastle West also featured in the top 15 vacancy rates by town in the surveyed quarter, totaling 21.8%, a 0.1 percentage point increase on the previous year. Limerick city was also put under the microscope, with its commercial vacancy rate listed as 18.5%. This comes from a total of 3,140 occupied units currently registered. Abbeyfeale and Newcastle West, while registering higher percentages, have 160 and 250 businesses registered, respectively. Data also homed in on the accommodation and food service sectors, where Limerick scored well, through the loss of only two address points between Q4 2020 and Q4 2021. A total of 874 commercial address points in the county are involved in this sector, which comprises 12.9% of Limericks total percentage share of commercial stock. While 15 of the 26 counties had an increase in vacancy rates, the report concluded optimistically: The hope is that the economic recovery, combined with recent government incentives to rejuvenate towns and villages, will fuel a rebound in commercial occupancy over the coming years. Travelers arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang of Selangor, Malaysia, April 1, 2022. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua) Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Nancy Shukri said over 10,000 foreign travelers and Malaysians residing abroad are estimated to arrive at airports nationwide on Friday alone and the ministry is targeting over 2 million tourist arrivals within the year. KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia opened its borders to international travel on Friday, ending restrictions that have been in place since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. Among measures adopted by Malaysian authorities to facilitate the travel of non-Malaysian nationals to the country are the abolishing quarantine requirements for vaccinated travelers, with only a pre-departure test and a test within 24-hours of arriving in Malaysia. There is already optimism that the move into the endemic phase will see economic recovery, especially for the country's hard hit tourist sector which has been largely closed off. Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Nancy Shukri said over 10,000 foreign travelers and Malaysians residing abroad are expected to arrive at airports nationwide on Friday alone and the ministry is targeting over 2 million tourist arrivals within the year. "After two years, today is a historic moment and a huge relief for our tourism industry as we welcome international tourists, newcomers and regulars alike, back to Malaysia, supporting our economy again," she told reporters at an event to mark the reopening at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Malaysia attracted 4.3 million tourists in 2020 because of lockdowns following the COVID-19 pandemic, a sharp decline from the 26.1 million in 2019. A passenger plane is welcomed by water cannon salute at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang of Selangor, Malaysia, April 1, 2022. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua) Separately, Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong noted the influx of travelers moving across the bridge connecting Malaysia and Singapore, allowing families to reunite ahead of Ramadan, the Islamic fasting month, and Qingming, a traditional tomb-sweeping festival. "Some were on motorcycles or in cars, and some even walked. This is the result of good discussions between the Malaysian and Singaporean governments to benefit the people of both countries," he said in a statement. "However, everyone is reminded to always take care of the health and safety of yourself and your loved ones. This is the first step towards a normal life," he cautioned. Travelers arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang of Selangor, Malaysia, April 1, 2022. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua) The relaxed standard operating procedures (SOP) and other measures, while welcome, must not mean that caution is thrown to the wind, according to Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) President Koh Kar Chai. "As everyone is either preparing to travel or to receive visitors from abroad due to the opening of our international borders from today, the public is reminded that we are still in the pandemic phase of COVID-19. The borders have been opened not because we are free from disease but because we need to revive our economy," he told Xinhua in a phone interview. He added that the coming weeks and months would be important, with health authorities being expected to keep a close eye on the rate of hospitalization of COVID-19 cases and the incidence of severe cases which are warning signs to look out for. Malaysia reported 18,560 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Thursday, bringing the national total to 4,201,919, according to the health ministry. A further 44 deaths have been reported, bringing the country's COVID-19 death toll to 34,983. WHAT was once a home for the keepers of Beeves Rock lighthouse on the Shannon is now set to become a home from home for artists looking for a dedicated but temporary space in which to work. The house, which has been in the Horrigan family for many years, has now become the dedicated headquarters of Askeaton Contemporary Arts. It may not have the space and financial backing of the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Co Monaghan or the dramatic scenery of the Cill Rialaig centre in County Kerry. But it will offer a warm, comfortable, sheltering and encouraging space in which artists can come and create. For Michele Horrigan (pictured left below), who initiated the Askeaton Contemporary Arts festival, Welcome to the Neighbourhood in 2006, it is a dream realised in bricks and mortar. And it comes full of possibilities for the future. Sixteen years ago, Micheles festival idea was to have contemporary artists come to Askeaton for a week or fortnight, where they would engage with the local community and create work in response to or inspired by that immersion in the local area. At the time, Michele had completed her BA at the Limerick College of Art and Design, followed by an MSA from the University of Ulster and had spent time at an international art college in Berlin. It was my first time outside the country and I started to look at what would be there for me if I was to come back, she explained. As a young artist, she was discovering how difficult it was to get exhibitions. There were no artist-run spaces in Limerick and the Belltable or the Limerick City Art Gallery, she felt, were for people in mid-career. In thinking about making an opportunity for artists of her own generation, Michele also thought about her home-town of Askeaton. Being away from it I could see its potential. As it happened, her ideas meshed with an initiative of the Arts Council, the Small Arts Festival Grant and, under the auspices of the local Askeaton Civic Trust, and with their support, the first Askeaton Contemporary Arts Welcome to the Neighbourhood took place. We ran it on a wing and a prayer that first year, Michele recalled. But seven young artists came for a week, created some new work, and a new tradition was born in Askeaton. In the years since, up to 100 artists have come and spent time in the town, mostly during festival week, staying in digs or in rented accommodation and exhibiting their work in shops, in empty premises, on the gables of buildings or on the street and taking part in various public programme events. However, when a house became available three years ago, it galvanised the idea of having a dedicated space for people to stay and work and opened up the possibility of year-round residencies. By then, Askeaton Contemporary Arts had also developed a publishing programme, ACA Public which included the work of wood artist Seanie Barron who specialises in making exquisite and magical walking sticks. Then, during lock-down, they also started up a media channel to host filmed work and documentaries. One of these is a short docu-film which, under the direction of filmmaker Michael Holly, explored and featured Seanie Barron s work. The film, Only in Askeaton: Seanie Barron went on to win the Short Film Audience Prize at last years Cork International Film Festival and was long-listed for the Oscars. It will now go forward to the Fastnet Film Festival in West Cork later this year. For Sean Lynch, Micheles co-curator and husband, the strength of Askeaton Contemporary Arts has been its willingness to evolve. It never settled down into being just one thing, he observed. And he is, he explained, constantly struck by the new insights somebody from outside can bring to the town. There is always an exchange of knowledge, a nice interaction between peoples ideas and the local area. It can be an incident. It can be a small encounter. Where you are is half the work. Why would you ignore it? he continued. For now though, Michele and, are looking forward to the official opening of the house. This house can also become a place for events, for exhibitions, a cultural hub, enthused Michele. The possibilities are boundless. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa declared a nationwide public emergency late on Friday following violent protests over the country's worst economic crisis in decades. In a Sri Lankan government gazette notification, Rajapaksa said the decision was taken in the interests of public security, the protection of public order, and to ensure the maintenance of supplies and essential services. On Thursday hundreds of protesters clashed with police and military outside President Rajapaksa's residence in a suburb of the capital, Colombo. Police arrested 53 people and imposed a curfew in and around Colombo on Friday to contain sporadic protests that have broken out over shortages of essential items including fuel and other goods. The island nation of 22 million people is in the midst of its worst economic crisis in years with rolling blackouts for up to 13 hours a day as the government scrambles to secure foreign exchange to pay for fuel imports. Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse crowds near the president's residence on Thursday, after they torched several police and army vehicles. One official said at least two dozen police personnel were injured in the clashes, but declined to comment on the number of protesters who were hurt. Tourism minister Prasanna Ranatunge warned such protests would harm economic prospects. "The main issue Sri Lanka is facing is a forex shortage and protests of this nature will hurt tourism and have economic consequences," Ranatunge said. The U.N. representative in the country, Hanaa Singer-Hamdy, called for restraint from all groups involved in the clashes. "We are monitoring developments and are concerned by reports of violence," she said on Twitter. Trading on the country's stock market was suspended for a third consecutive day on Friday after the main blue-chip index fell 10% from the previous close. This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed. Talks to stop the fighting in Ukraine resumed Friday, as another attempt to rescue civilians from the besieged port city of Mariupol broke down and Russia accused the Ukrainians of launching a cross-border helicopter attack on an oil depot. The governor of Russias Belgorod region said the alleged airstrike by a pair of helicopter gunships caused multiple fires and injured two people. A Kremlin spokesman said the incident on Russias territory could undermine the negotiations between Russian and Ukrainian representatives. Certainly, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of the talks," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied when asked if the strike could be viewed as an escalation of the war in Ukraine. It was not immediately possible to verify the claim that Ukrainian helicopters targeted the oil depot or several nearby businesses in Belgorod also reported hit. Russia has reported shelling from Ukraine before, including an incident last week that killed a military chaplain, but not an incursion of its airspace. Asked if Ukraine had fired on the depot, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in Warsaw that he could "neither confirm nor nor reject the claim that Ukraine was involved in this simply because I do not possess all the military information." The latest negotiations, taking place by video link, follow a meeting in Turkey on Tuesday where Ukraine reiterated its willingness to abandon a bid to join NATO and offered proposals to have its neutral military status guaranteed by a range of foreign countries. The head of the Russian delegation, Vladimir Medinsky, wrote on social media that Moscow's positions on retaining control of the Crimean Peninsula and expanding the territory in eastern Ukraine held by Russia-backed separatists are unchanged." The International Committee for the Red Cross said complex logistics were still being worked out for the operation to get emergency aid into Mariupol and civilians out of the city, which has suffered weeks of heavy fighting with dwindling water, food and medical supplies. We are running out of adjectives to describe the horrors that residents in Mariupol have suffered," ICRC spokesperson Ewan Watson said Friday during a U.N. briefing in Geneva. The situation is horrendous and deteriorating, and its now a humanitarian imperative that people be allowed to leave and aid supplies be allowed in." He said the group had sent three vehicles toward Mariupol and a frontline between Ukrainian and Russian forces but two trucks carrying supplies for the city were not accompanying them. Dozens of buses organized by Ukrainian authorities to take people out also had not started approaching the dividing line, Watson said. City authorities said a little while later that the Russians were blocking access to Mariupol and it was too dangerous for people to leave it on their own. We do not see a real desire on the part of the Russians and their satellites to provide an opportunity for Mariupol residents to evacuate to territory controlled by Ukraine," Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, wrote on the Telegram messaging app. He said Russian forces are categorically not allowing any humanitarian cargo, even in small amounts, into the city" On Thursday, Russian forces blocked a 45-bus convoy attempting to evacuate people from Mariupol after the Russian military agreed to a limited cease-fire in the area, and only 631 people were able to leave in private cars, the Ukrainian government said. Russian forces also seized 14 tons of food and medical supplies trying to make it to Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said. The city has been the scene of some of the worst suffering of the war. Tens of thousands of residents managed to leave in the past few weeks through humanitarian corridors, reducing the population from a prewar 430,000 to an estimated 100,000 by last week. But continued Russian attacks have repeatedly thwarted aid and evacuation missions. In the past few days, the Kremlin, in a seeming shift in its war aims, said that its main goal" now is gaining complete control of the Donbas, where Mariupol is located. The Donbas is the predominantly Russian-speaking industrial region of eastern Ukraine where Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces since 2014 and have declared two areas as independent republics. Western officials said there were growing indications Russia was using its talk of de-escalation in Ukraine as cover to regroup, resupply and redeploy its forces for a stepped-up offensive in the east. Russian forces have subjected both Chernihiv, a besieged city in northern Ukraine, and the capital of Kyiv to continued air and ground-launched missile strikes despite Moscow saying Tuesday it planned to reduce military activity in those areas. Elsewhere, Ukrainian forces have retaken the villages of Sloboda and Lukashivka, south of Chernihiv and along one of the main supply routes between the city and Kyiv, according to Britain's Defense Ministry. Ukraine has also continued to make successful but limited counterattacks to the east and northeast of Kyiv, the ministry said. Hours later, Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram early Friday that the fire at the oil depot occurred as a result of an airstrike from two helicopters of the armed forces of Ukraine, which entered the territory of Russia at a low altitude." The depot run by Russian energy giant Rosneft is located about 35 kilometers (21 miles) north of the Ukraine-Russia border. Separately, Ukraines state power company, Energoatom, said Russian troops pulled out of the heavily contaminated Chernobyl nuclear site in northern Ukraine early Friday after receiving significant doses" of radiation from digging trenches in the exclusion zone around the closed plant. The International Atomic Energy Agency said it could not independently confirm the exposure claim. Energoatom gave no details on the condition of the soldiers and did not say how many were affected. There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin. The agency, which is the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, said it had been informed by Ukraine that Russian forces at Chernobyl had transferred control of the site of the worlds worst nuclear disaster to the Ukrainians in writing. IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi wrote on Twitter that he would visit the decommissioned plant as soon as possible and his agency's assistance and support" mission to Chernobyl will be the first in a series of such nuclear safety and security missions to Ukraine." Grossi was in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad Friday for talks with senior officials about nuclear issues in Ukraine. Nine of Ukraines 15 operational reactors are currently in use, including two at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhya facility, the agency said. Russian forces seized the Chernobyl site soon after invading Ukraine on Feb. 24, raising fears they would cause damage or disruption that could spread radiation. The workforce there oversees the safe storage of spent fuel rods and the concrete-entombed ruins of the reactor that exploded in 1986. Five weeks and one day into a conflict that has left thousands dead and driven more than 4 million refugees from Ukraine, there seemed little faith that the two sides would find agreement on their respective demands any time soon. Russian President Vladimir Putin said conditions werent yet ripe" for a cease-fire and he wasnt ready for a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy until the negotiators do more work, Italian Premier Mario Draghi said after a Thursday telephone conversation with the Russian leader. In his nightly video address late Thursday, Zelenskyy doubted Moscow's willingness to end the conflict. He warned that Russian withdrawals in the countrys north and center were just a military tactic to build up strength for new attacks in the southeast. We know their intentions," Zelenskyy said. We know that they are moving away from those areas where we hit them in order to focus on other, very important ones where it may be difficult for us." This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed. TEL AVIV : Israel is bracing for one of the biggest waves of non-Jewish refugees in its history, as incoming Ukrainians force the country to balance its historic desire to help people fleeing war with its responsibility as a haven for Jews. About 16,000 Ukrainian refugees have already arrived in Israel but two-thirds of them dont have Jewish roots. While most of the 3.7 million Ukrainians who have fled the war are headed to neighboring European countries, the influx has jolted Israel, which has a population of 9.3 million. Some Israeli officials fear that an unchecked wave of refugees could undercut the countrys Jewish majority. Israels Central Bureau of Statistics said in 2021 that 74% of Israels population identify as Jewish, and 21% are Arab. Another 5% are largely non-Arab Christians, most of whom were among or born to the nearly one million immigrants from the former Soviet Union who came to Israel during the 1990s. Israels Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked on March 8 announced a first-ever policy to cap non-Jewish refugees from Ukraine at 5,000 while permitting an additional 20,000 Ukrainians residing in Israel largely without legal status before the war to remain during the hostilities. Five days later Ms. Shaked changed course after she was condemned from centrist and left-wing members of her own government. The issue has similarly divided the country largely along political lines, according to polls, with left-wing Israelis supporting a more open policy to absorbing non-Jewish refugees. The revised policy keeps the non-Jewish refugee quota at 5,000 but allows an uncapped number of Ukrainians with family in Israel to stay until the hostilities cease. It also requires Ukrainians to apply for approval from Israel before being allowed to board a plane to Tel Aviv. Israels current quota for Ukrainians entering the country and the requirement that they receive prior approval while abroad effectively suspended a visa-waiver agreement Israel has with Ukraine. The nearby United Arab Emirates took a similar step in early March before quickly backtracking. On March 23, Israeli officials said they were approaching the quota, with 4,000 non-Jewish Ukrainian refugees already here. Ms. Shaked has said her policy is meant to give priority to Ukrainians with Jewish roots who are eligible for citizenship. We have to remember that the state of Israel is a national homeland of the Jewish people," said Ms. Shaked. She has argued that, relative to the size of its population, Israel is expected to take in and naturalize more Ukrainian refugees than any other country that doesnt border Ukraine. Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky has criticized Israels refugee policy in a Zoom-hosted speech to Israeli lawmakers. Why isnt Israeli help, or even entry permits, forthcoming," he said. Mr. Zelensky, who is Jewish, compared Ukrainians fleeing the war to Jews escaping Nazi persecution during the Holocaust. That specific appeal drew outrage from a largely Jewish audience, who considered the comparison incorrect and unnecessary. Israels Supreme Court has given the government until Monday to revise the current policy before ruling whether the quota of Ukrainian refugees and the requirement for entry approval from abroad is legal The petition to the court is backed by Ukraines embassy in Tel Aviv. Israeli officials have argued the visa-waiver program is for touristic purposes, while those fleeing war would be more likely to remain in the country. We showed that the law relates to any visitor from Ukraine and to any purpose, not only tourism, and the Supreme Court hinted that indeed this is how they see it," said Tomer Warsha, who filed the petition challenging the current refugee policy. Israel has sought to balance its close relationship with the U.S. and Europe with diplomatic and security ties it has developed with Moscow in recent years. Israels position is that it opposes Russias invasion of Ukraine but can only provide humanitariannot militaryaid to maintain its ties with Russia. Moscow has forces in Syria, where Israel has been conducting a long-running aerial campaign against Iranian-backed militants. Israel has a deconfliction line of communication with Russia to prevent the possibility of unintended clashes over Syrian skies. Israel has established a field hospital in Ukraine and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is one of a handful of state leaders mediating between Kyiv and Moscow. Ukrainian officials say some non-Jewish refugees have been mistreated as they tried to enter the country, in contrast to the relatively easy process for refugees with Jewish roots. Yulia Tomin, a 25-year-old refugee who fled her hometown of Ivano-Frankivsk with her two young children and her grandmother, isnt Jewish but she does have Israeli relatives. She said she slept on the floor in the airport from March 8-11 while nursing her 1-month-old son and trying to take care of her 4-year-old daughter. She was transferred to a hotel and slated for deportation before an immigration lawyer took up her case and won. Others werent as fortunate. Two of the women in Ms. Tomins hotel were deported earlier this month. Im not afraid here," Ms. Tomin said. I fear for what will happen in Ukraine." Israels immigration authority hasnt responded to a reply for comment on Ms. Tomins case. In parliamentary hearings, Israeli officials said they were surprised by the quick buildup of refugees at the airport when the war in Ukraine began. They have since opened facilities at the airport with food and child care available and have switched to considering refugee applications to stay in Israel from abroad to reduce deportation. Since Feb. 25, 289 Ukrainians have been denied entry into Israel out of more than 16,000 that have arrived. Many Jewish refugees have had an easier time and their applications for citizenship are now being fast-tracked. Psychiatrist Ilya Tregubov, 40, fled Dnipro with his wife and teenage daughter after rockets began falling. In Lviv, he met officials with Israels semi-governmental Jewish Agency, which verified their Jewish heritage and helped them emigrate to Israel. Mr. Tregubov said he and his family are now Israeli citizens, living with his cousin in central Israel and working on their Hebrew. Its a feeling I had all my life. If it gets really bad, I will move to Israel. As a Jew, you have that idea deep in your consciousness. But you dont really imagine that it will happen," he said. Israeli officials say they expect between 50,000 to 100,000 Jews this year to immigrate from countries once part of the former Soviet Union, through a law that allows anyone with at least one Jewish grandparent to receive citizenship. Israeli officials also said nearly 2,000 Russians have already immigrated to Israel since the war began and thousands more have submitted inquiries regarding immigration. In the seven decades since its founding, Israel has almost exclusively dealt with waves of Jewish immigration, but it was forced this time to cobble together an ad hoc policy for non-Jewish refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine, said Yohanan Plesner, president of the Jerusalem-based think tank the Israel Democracy Institute. Soviet immigrants in the early 1990s were the biggest group of non-Jews Israel has ever accepted and it also took in non-Jewish refugees from Vietnam in the late 1970s. It has generally refused refugees from Syria and other recent conflicts, and Palestinian refugees from Israels founding war have largely never been allowed to return. Israel didnt really deal in the past with large pressure from non-Jews to immigrate to Israel, and therefore, never really developed a coherent policy," he said. Some Ukrainian refugees are preparing to stay in Israel despite their status being in limbo. Alla Misiuk and her daughter are among about a dozen non-Jewish families being brought to Israel with the help of Jerusalems Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum because their families once saved the lives of Jews during World War II. On Monday, Ms. Misiuk said she found her young daughter a new school to attend. Yet Mrs. Misiuk still doesnt know if she and her daughter will be allowed to stay in Israel permanently. My home is destroyed. There is no place to go back to," she said. Click here to read the full article. The latest batch of Italian TV series for the international market is a mix of genres spanning from a new Elena Ferrante adaptation made for Netflix, to two RAI reconstructions of the countrys terrorism-plagued past and Skys spaghetti Western Django. Django This English-language reimagining of the world of Django, the cult 1966 Sergio Corbucci spaghetti Western that launched the career of Italian icon Franco Nero, is a Sky Studios and Canal Plus original. The shows cast includes Noomi Rapace, Nicholas Pinnock and Matthias Schoenaerts. Director Francesca Comencini has called it a universal story with a narrative that celebrates diversity and minorities. Esterno Notte Marco Bellocchi is in post on this limited TV series from RAI Fiction about the 1978 kidnapping and assassination of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro by Red Brigades terrorists. The veteran helmer previously recounted Moros still-mysterious abduction from the viewpoint of one of his captors in the 2005 film Good Morning, Night. The Generals Men Italys Stand by Me and RAI have co-produced The Generals Men, the countrys most ambitious reconstruction of the countrys battle against the Red Brigades terrorists to air on RAI this fall. The eight-episode series, directed by Lucio Pellegrini (The Miracle), follows the efforts of a special paramilitary unit set up by a high-ranking police official, Gen. Carlo Alberto Dalla Chiesa, played by local A-lister Sergio Castellitto. Teresa Saponangelo (The Hand of God) plays Dalla Chiesas wife. Los Angeles-based Dynamic Television will launch international sales at Mip TV. The Lying Life of Adults This new Elena Ferrante adaptation is a Netflix Italian Original series directed by Neapolitan helmer Edoardo De Angelis (Indivisible) with Valeria Golino playing a prominent role. Set in the 1990s, the Ferrante book depicts the transition from childhood to adolescence of a young woman named Giovanna in a divided Naples: the upper-crust Naples, and the Naples of its more vulgar and exciting part of the city where the protagonists intriguingly crass aunt Vittoria (Golino) lives. Prisma This Amazon Prime Video Italian Original centers on gender identity through the tale of adolescent twins, Marco and Andrea, who challenge norms in different ways. They are followed on this journey with their group of friends who are going through a similar experience. The eight-episode show is set in the city of Latina, just south of Rome, and its surrounding area, which used to be a swamp until the land was drained under fascist rule. The area is now known for modernist architecture. Prisma is the brainchild of Ludovico Bessegato, who gained local prominence as showrunner of Skam Italia, the Italian adaptation of the Nordic drama thats made a splash in Italy. The Rising This English-language historical drama is being produced by Italys Lux Vide and former Hasbro chief content officer Stephen J. Davis. It focuses on what is being described as the human and secular story of Jesus Christ. Daniel Knauf, who is the creator and showrunner of HBOs Carnivale, is attached as showrunner, while Italys Jan Michelini, who broke out directing episodes of Luxs hit Medici: Masters of Florence, will direct. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. During a press interview for Brian Mays reissue of the 1998 album Another World on the Debatable SiriusXM program, the Queen guitarist shared his thoughts and remembrances of late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins. The 50-year-old drummer unexpectedly died on March 25 in Bogota, Colombia where the Foo Fighters were scheduled to perform. Rock fans everywhere have been grieving the loss, including May, who shared he had spoken to Hawkins just a week before his death. Taylor was very close to [Queen], hes been in my studio a few of times. In my life, I talk to him often. I talked to him just a week ago from when we lost him, May said. We talk about stuff, talking about Dave [Grohl], about what life is like, his joys, frustrations, being in Foo Fighters. May recalled first meeting Hawkins when he was drumming for Alanis Morissette in London, saying: [We] instantly bonded, Taylor became very close to Roger [Taylor] and Rogers son, Rufus, who very much follows in Taylors footsteps hes a wonderful drummer. Just before Hawkins joined the Foo Fighters, he was credited for drums in the track Cyborg off of Mays Another World album. Hawkins then began playing small gigs with Foo Fighters, who eventually ingrained themselves in pop culture as rock icons. I saw the Foo Fighters from those very early small gigs, May said. I think I saw them at Brixton Academy first and they were wonderful just full of exuberance. The two bands mutual admiration for one another was ripe from the beginning, May recalled: We instantly bonded because Taylor and Pat Smear were the most informed Queen fans, they knew more about us than we did. We were just shocked to find out how much they felt about us. May describes Hawkins as the best publicist for Queen ever, hes been so good for our image! Where he kind of regarded us as cool which at the time a lot of people didnt. May continued, Taylor wasnt even my generation. I think of him as a boy same as I saw George Michael as a boy to lose them feels all wrong. It makes you feel so frustrated. It makes you feel like you want to negotiate with death. It makes you feel like if you looked at it enough, if you talk about it enough, if you analyze it enough then maybe you can bring him back, but of course, thats just not the way it all works. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. TV production is growing in Italy, where U.S. streamers are gradually raising their investment levels just as pubcaster RAI, which is still the industrys main driver, is cutting back. According to local TV producers association APA, the Italian market in 2022 will generate more than 1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) worth of scripted content resulting in double-digit growth. Exports of the countrys high-end shows, such as My Brilliant Friend, now in its third season, and upcoming spaghetti Western saga Django are also gaining more traction. But though demand is increasing, the picture for Italian producers isnt all rosy. While pubcaster RAI remains the main driver of content in Italy, its 2022 budget has been trimmed by $33 million to $176 million. This is the second year of cuts as it tries to recover following COVID-related ad and tax revenues drops. Like many of his cohort, producer Rosario Rinaldo, head of TV production company Cross Prods. (owned by Germanys Beta Film), bemoans the pubcasters shrunken resources. Rinaldo saw the budget of his crime show Brennero cut. RAI remains crucial for us because they represent an alternative business model from the streamers, says Rinaldo. But at the moment its really tough working with the pubcaster, he laments. RAI could not be reached for comment. Netflix, Amazon and Disney spent a combined total of roughly $152 million on Italian scripted content in 2021. They are now expected to almost double their investments in Italian originals to at least $292 million in total by 2023, becoming Italys main TV industry drivers, according to APA chief Giancarlo Leone. He has been busy negotiating terms of trade with the global streamers as the country implements the European Unions Audio Visual Media Services directive, which is expected to allow producers to hold on to rights when they make shows for premium platform play. Meanwhile, Cross has completed the first season of Prisma, an Amazon Italy original centered on identical adolescent twins named Marco and Andrea, who challenge gender norms in different ways. The show will be dropping later this year. Italys first Amazon original made for the international market is 1980s-set criminal coming-of-ager Bang Bang Baby. The show revolves around a shy, insecure teenage girl who becomes the youngest member of the Milanese mob not for money, ambition or a desire for power, but to win the love of her father, whom she had long thought to be dead, says producer Lorenzo Mieli. Bang Bang Baby, which Amazon will drop globally on April 28, is loosely based on the true story of a teenager born into the notorious Ndrangheta clan in which women have a central role, Mieli says. He points out that whats key to its appeal is that its very pop and pulpy, but also somewhat surprisingly anchored in reality. Mieli, who heads Fremantle unit the Apartment, is proud of his next show, Eastern Notte, from auteur Marco Bellocchio. The series, which is a three-way co-prod among RAI, Franco-German network Arte and Netflix, follows the 1978 kidnapping and assassination of former Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro by Red Brigades terrorists. In March, Fremantle gained control of Italys Lux Vide, the shingle behind the Medici, Devils and Leonardo skeins, which have travelled widely. It also owns Wildside, another top Italian production company that in tandem with Apartment is behind My Brilliant Friend, the third season of which recently launched to stellar ratings on RAI in Italy and rave reviews in the U.S. on HBO and HBO Max, and on Sky in the U.K. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Click here to read the full article. Netflix has slowed development on its upcoming action-thriller Fast and Loose, which Will Smith has been attached to star in. The project has been moved to the streamers back burner in the days following the 2022 Oscars ceremony, during which Smith walked onstage and slapped Chris Rock after the comedian made a joke about the appearance of Smiths wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. In the week before the Oscars ceremony, director David Leitch reportedly also pulled away from the project, electing to move to the Ryan Gosling vehicle Fall Guy for Universal. After beginning to search for a new director, Netflix has now halted Fast and Loose in the days following the Oscars. It remains uncertain whether Netflix will return to developing Fast and Loose and, if so, whether the streamer would seek a new star for the project. Variety has reached out to Netflix for comment. The story of Fast and Loose would follow a criminal who loses his memory after an attack. After mysteriously waking up in Tijuana, the character is forced to discover the clues of his past, leading him to learn that he has led two identities one as a wealthy crime lord, the other as an undercover CIA agent. Along with Fast and Loose, it remains to be seen how many dominoes could fall in the wake of Smiths outburst at the Oscars. Smiths Apple TV Plus drama Emancipation is currently in post-production and was seen by some as a potential awards contender for the coming year. The thriller stars Smith as an escaped slave in Louisiana who joins the Union Army. The film is scheduled to release in 2022, but Apple has not yet issued an official date. The news of Fast and Loose comes on the heels of Smith resigning from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences on Friday. The Hollywood Reporter was first to report the news. Sign up for Varietys Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Ten associates of the Cartel de Jalisco Nuevo Generacion were sentenced to prison for their roles in smuggling crystal meth, cocaine, heroin and fentanyl, according to U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery. Manuel Enrique Ayala Rodriguez, Jorge Luis Castellanos de la Mora, Juan Jose Garcia Lerma, Armando Animas Hernandez, Victor Hinojosa, Omar Hiracheta-Cruz, Giovani Mendez Hornelas, Daniel Morales Hinojosa, Roberto Ivan Rodriguez Ramirez and Santos Salazar had pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to possess narcotics, drug possession or both. U.S. District Diana Saldana sentenced the suspects throughout hearings last week and on Monday: Ayala Rodriguez, 192 months; Castellanos de la Mora, 67 months; Garcia Lerma, 80 months; Hernandez, 120 months; Hinojosa, 210 months; Hiracheta-Cruz, 192 months; Mendez Hornelas, 108 months; Morales Hinojosa, 262 months; Rodriguez Ramirez, 192 months; and Santos Salazar, 262 months. All are expected to be deported following the completion of their sentence. At the hearings, Judge Saldana noted the extensive conspiracy which relied on many truck drivers to succeed, the U.S. Attorneys Office said in a statement. Saldana noted that each played a role that contributed to the smuggling of large amounts of drugs from the Michoacan area into the United States for distribution to cities throughout the United States. Whether truck drivers, stash operators or couriers co-conspirators were in some way responsible for these deadly drugs reaching distribution centers. Saldana noted the horrible effects that such drugs have had in certain regions and populations of the country. The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces Operation Gelo Podre with the assistance of the Laredo Police Department, U.S. Marshals Service, Williamson County Sheriffs Office, Interpol Mexico City and the Mexican National Guard. The case unfolded in June 2017, when the DEA launched an investigation into the Juan Manuel Salazar-Alvarez drug trafficking organization. Salazar-Alvarez was identified as a leader within the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion operating in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, according to court documents. Salazar Alvarez is pending sentencing. Salazar-Alvarez directed a large-scale organization composed of couriers, stash operators and transportation coordinators responsible for smuggling fentanyl, heroin, meth and cocaine. Narcotics were concealed in fire extinguishers, wooden blocks, vehicle batteries and hydraulic jacks, court records show. The narcotics were transported from the Mexican states of Michoacan and Jalisco to Nuevo Laredo, and into Laredo. Once in Laredo, the drugs were stashed in storage units, tractor-trailers or other locations before being delivered to other couriers who would transport the narcotics further north. Ayala Rodriguez was identified as a con-conspirator who smuggled drugs for the Salazar-Alvarez organization via the international bridges to other co-conspirators in the Laredo area. DEA special agents had identified Ayala Rodriguez as someone working on behalf of Salazar-Alvarez. On April 25, 2018, the DEA received information about a drug delivery that would occur at the H-E-B on San Dario. Special agents set up surveillance and observed Ayala Rodriguez deliver a drug-laden battery to a law enforcement confidential source equipped with a recording device. Ayala Rodriguez told the confidential source that he was only tasked with bringing one battery from Mexico instead of two. Ayala Rodriguez is then seen returning to Mexico via the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge. Special agents opened the battery and discovered 28.77 pounds of meth with an estimated street value of $575,400. On July 19, 2018, DEA special agents received an alert from the Colombia Solidarity International Bridge that Salazar-Alvarez and another co-conspirator had entered the United States in a black Chevrolet Tahoe bearing Mexican license plates. Special agents followed the Tahoe to Stor-In-Town on Rosario Street. Special agent confirmed that the renter of Stor-In-Town storage unit 115 was Salazar-Alvarez. On Aug. 7, 2018, special agents received an alert that Ayala Rodriguez had crossed into Laredo in black Chevrolet Suburban via the Juarez-Lincoln Bridge. This prompted special agents to respond to the Stor-In-Town on Rosario and set up surveillance on the Suburban. Authorities followed the Suburban as it departed from the storage facility. Ayala Rodriguez then stopped on Midland Drive. He was observed taking out several batteries from the Suburban and placing them inside a tractor-trailer parked on Midland. The next morning on Aug. 8, 2018, a man parked behind the tractor-trailer that contained the batteries delivered by Ayala Rodriguez. The male retrieved two batteries from the parked tractor-trailer and placed them on the bed of his pickup before departing the area. During a traffic stop on the pickup, authorities observed signs of tampering on both batteries. Further inspection revealed that the batteries contained 14.33 pounds of meth, 9.92 pounds of heroin and 5.07 pounds of fentanyl. The man arrested in connection with the case admitted he and others worked for Salazar-Alvarez and mentioned that the drug trafficking organization used unit 115 to store drugs hidden in car batteries or wooden blocks. Member of the organization would go there to either drop off or pick up batteries or wooden blocks containing drugs. Special agents executed a search warrant at unit 115 on Aug. 8, 2018. The raid led to the seizure of two batteries containing 13 pounds of heroin and 14.33 pounds of meth. The DEA arrested Ayala Rodriguez as he entered the World Trade Bridge. He agreed to provide a post-arrest statement. Ayala Rodriguez admitted to trafficking drugs on behalf of Juan Manuel Salazar-Alvarez, whom he had known since his childhood in Mexico. Ayala Rodriguez admitted that approximately two years ago, he began moving drugs on behalf of Salazar-Alvarez while working as a transfer driver, which made it ideal for illegally importing drugs, states his plea agreement. Ayala Rodriguez further admitted he first started moving drugs for Salazar-Alvarez in fire extinguishers. He was paid 20,000 Mexican pesos, about $1,000, each time. He also stated he would transport drugs in wooden blocks, hydraulic jacks and car batteries. Ayala Rodriguez estimated that in total, he had assisted Salazar-Alvarez in trafficking drugs on 30 or 40 occasions, states his plea agreement. Mendez Ornelas was also identified as a con-conspirator who resided in North Carolina. He was tasked with receiving wooden blocks containing meth from Laredo to the North Carolina area. When arrested, Mendez Ornelas claimed a childhood friend had loaned him $8,000 to $9,000 to purchase property in Michoacan, Mexico. Therefore, he felt compelled to do him a favor by picking up the wooden blocks containing drugs, according to court documents. Morales Hinojosa recruited Rodriguez Ramirez and other men to take part in the pick up and delivery of three wooden blocks containing 29.76 pounds of crystal meth with an estimated street value of $595,200. Santos Salazar admitted to being involved in several rug deliveries that took place at the Walmart on San Bernardo Avenue and did so at the behest of Salazar-Alvarez. Santos Salazar also admitted to making deliveries of wooden blocks containing drugs to a person who lived at an apartment on Lyon Street at the direction of Salazar-Alvarez. Santos Salazar would pick up the drugs from the truck driver and deliver them on Salazar-Alvarezs behalf. Castellanos de la Mora, Garcia Lerma, Hernandez, Hinojosa and Hiracheta-Cruz would also be identified as suspects in the conspiracy. crodriguez@lmtonline.com With hegemonic thinking, the U.S. can't vindicate itself of its bio-military activities 09:09, April 02, 2022 By Zhong Sheng ( People's Daily The U.S.-controlled biological laboratories in Ukraine have recently become a focal point of the international society as the fallout of the news continues. Russia accused the U.S. of violating the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) in Ukraine, while the U.S. denied it and claimed it was based on fabricated evidence given by the Kremlin. It is no secret that the U.S. hosts the most bio-military activities in the world, and is the only country that opposes the establishment of a verification mechanism for the BWC. The activities of U.S. biological laboratories matter to the security of global biological safety. However, the White House's response to this grave worry has been denial. It has never offered any valuable or convincing information. Such perfunctory and arrogant response has further exacerbated worldwide society's concerns about the safety of U.S. bio-military actions. Overseas bio-military activities are a tradition of the U.S. After the end of the Cold War, the country initiated the Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program promoted by Richard Lugar and other U.S. senators. The White House claimed that the Soviet Union would be the first to "benefit" from the program, and then the benefits would expand to other parts of the world. Later, hundreds of laboratories were established under the CTR program. The program, a gigantic bio-military empire, never ceased to cause scandals. Some of the labs reported leakage of highly dangerous pathogens that led to outbreaks of strange diseases, and some collected biological samples of local residents and transferred the samples to the U.S. and its allies for "studies." Many of these labs were poorly managed. Personnel sent by the U.S. Department of Defense had extraterritoriality and diplomatic immunity, so they could always get away with crimes at these labs. After the U.S.-controlled bio-labs in Ukraine were exposed, the White House tried to vindicate itself with some materials. However, the U.S. doesn't have an innocent history of the development and employment of biological weapons at all. The U.S. once covered up Shiro Ishii, director of the notorious Japanese Army Unit 731, and other war criminals, so as to make them develop biological weapons for itself. In the Korean War, the U.S. military launched undifferentiated germ warfare against Chinese and Korean forces and even civilians. In Vietnam, the U.S. military used the highly toxic Agent Orange on the battleground, killing and disabling millions of Vietnamese. The U.S. even forced thousands of soldiers into biological medicine tests. These are all evidence of the U.S. poisoning the world. Former Health Minister Siti Fadilah Supari of Indonesia once shut down the lab of the U.S. Naval Medical Research Unit-2 during her term. She said the lab didn't make any contribution to Indonesia's capability in coping with biological threats and the studies were not submitted to the Indonesian government. She remarked that establishing laboratories on the territory of an independent country is a kind of colonialism. The U.S. always takes "cooperating to reduce biological safety risks" as an excuse. However, only the U.S. itself knows whether it is really cooperating and whether it is reducing or increasing the risks. Recently, a large demonstration was staged in South Korea, requesting the shutdown of U.S. military biological labs established in the country and calling for immediate investigations into these labs. The outrage of the South Koreans came from the United States Forces Korea, which has ignored South Korean laws and regulations and sent poisonous substances to South Korea, including Bacillus anthracis and Yersinia pestis. These labs have caused frequent safety accidents, posing huge threats to the lives of South Koreans. Some South Koreans said that the U.S. bio-labs were built for American interests, and are a misfortune for the countries where they are built. The international society has every reason to know what the U.S. has done. In recent years, the United States has arbitrarily requested that biological weapons verifications be launched in other countries, wielding the big stick of sanctions and even launching military invasions. However, it is ironic that the U.S. is always tolerant of itself and strict with others. It's either arrogantly requesting other countries to stay out of its biological weapon business, or passing the buck to other countries, or just showing its colors and unjustly blaming other countries for "disseminating fake information." Faced with the accusation from Russia this time, the White House is even acting as a "victim." Such typical American double standard once again exposed the hegemonic thinking of the U.S. It is a huge insult to the countries and people that have been poisoned by U.S. bio-military activities, and is irresponsible to the whole world. As a response to the Russian accusation and the concerns of the international society, the U.S. should take its responsibility, vindicate itself and stop opposing the establishment of a verification mechanism for the BWC. .The country can never prove itself innocent of hegemony. Only by following international rules and accepting investigations can it give a clear explanation to the world, and that's what is supposed to be done by a major country. (Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.) (Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun) BERLIN, April 2 (Xinhua) -- In a virtual meeting on Friday, Chinese and European Union (EU) leaders underscored the imperative role of sound and healthy bilateral ties for a world that has arrived at a critical juncture. China and the EU stand as two major forces, big markets and great civilizations on the world stage. It is the common aspiration of the global community for the two sides to uphold peace, promote shared development and add stabilizing factors to a turbulent world fraught with uncertainties induced by such challenges as a lingering COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing Ukraine crisis. China-EU cooperation originates from their broad common interests. The two major economies, now each other's largest trading partner, boast a high degree of economic complementarity, extensive areas of cooperation, and great potential for common prosperity. Over the past years, China-EU exchanges have yielded remarkable results through practical dialogue and cooperation on the basis of mutual benefit. Despite the pandemic-induced repercussions felt throughout the global economy, China-EU trade managed to buck the trend, hitting a new record of more than 800 billion U.S. dollars by registering a 27.5 percent year-on-year growth last year. The China-Europe Railway Express, an important pillar for the Belt and Road Initiative, has helped stabilize global supply chains and opened up a lifeline for rendering mutual assistance in the fight against COVID-19. The number of China-Europe freight train trips rose by 22 percent year on year to 15,000 in 2021, according to China State Railway Group Co., Ltd. Such resilient economic ties have brought confidence and hope to business and people of both sides as well as those of the rest of the world who are caught in the harsh winter of the pandemic. Cooperation, not rivalry, is the only right choice for both sides. Europe needs to discard the misguided "partner-competitor-rival" perception of its relations with China, stick to the keynote of mutual benefit, and view bilateral ties from a strategic and long-term perspective. Otherwise, political prejudice and ideological shortsightedness will sour a robust China-EU economic partnership, one of the key engines for global economic recovery. China and the EU have other important roles to play to make this world a better place. They need to work more closely on various regional and international affairs to promote global stability and safeguard world peace, and offset growing uncertainties with ever stabler China-EU ties. On the Ukraine crisis, the two sides should stay levelheaded and bear in mind the bigger picture. It is also important to refrain from a one-sided perspective of the issue, prevent this regional conflict from magnifying, and continue to facilitate peace talks whenever possible. As two great civilizations, China and the EU should, as Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged, do more to cope with global challenges for the shared future of humanity. Both China and the EU are strong and consistent champions of multilateralism. To improve global governance and make the international order more just and equitable, it is imperative to advocate a vision of global governance featuring the principle of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits. To guarantee a sustainable future for the human race, the two sides also need to shoulder the responsibility to keep on working in sync to follow through their commitments to facilitating a green and digital transformation, reducing carbon emissions, protecting biodiversity and mitigating climate change. In a world littered with risks and challenges of the most treacherous nature, how and what China and the EU choose to do together can make a real and lasting difference. An unshirkable historic responsibility is for both sides to carry forward the fine legacy of their relations and jointly build a China-EU partnership featuring peace, growth, reform and civilization. NANNING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- A freight train left Nanning, capital of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on Saturday for Laos' Vientiane, marking the opening of Guangxi's first international freight train that runs via the China-Laos Railway. Loaded with 165 tonnes of industrial products produced by companies in Guangxi, the train will arrive in Vientiane in three days, according to the China Railway Nanning Group Co., Ltd. Compared with sea shipping and other traditional methods, the freight train can cut the transportation time by more than 10 days, which helps save companies' costs, said Qian Feng, general manager of the Sinotrans Limited Guangxi branch, a participant in the cross-border transportation. "The operation of the China-Laos Railway has created convenient and efficient traffic conditions for Guangxi's products to enter the Laos market, and a number of companies interested in developing business in Laos have consulted us," said Qian. The China-Laos Railway, which kicked off operation on Dec. 3, 2021, stretches over 1,000 km, linking Kunming, the capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, with the Laotian capital Vientiane. An application for funding under the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme is planned to extend public lighting along the N55 Edgeworthstown Road Ballymahon from Leo Casey GAA grounds to the Ballybrannigan Road. Cllr Pat OToole raised the issue at last weeks meeting of Ballymahon Municipal District and said that this stretch of road is a very popular walking route. A lot of people walk it in winter. Its the only section that is unlit, he said. Area Engineer, Seamus Lough explained that the 250m route would need to be lit via underground ducting and suggested that an application be made with the town team for ORIS funding. In a separate motion, Cllr OToole requested a guide map be drawn up of services that have been installed in the town of late. Given the level of new services that have been installed in Ballymahon over the past number of years, e.g. water mains, gas mains sewerage lines etc, I call on Longford County Council to draw up a guide map indicating where the pipes are located on the Main Street and on adjoining roads which would be very beneficial not just for the council itself but to any utility company who may have to excavate the street at any time in the future, he said. Mr Lough explained that a map of these networks is already available since Irish Water took over the water services in the area. IDH launches fifth Al-Borg Scan branch in West Cairo's Capital Business Park This marks Al-Borg Scan's third branch inauguration in the last six months, and sees the Company further progress on its ramp up strategy which will see Al-Borg Scan launch at least three more branches in 2022 as it works to capture the important growth opportunities presented by Egypt's radiology segment 29 March 2022 (Cairo and London) - Integrated Diagnostics Holdings ("IDH," "the Company" or "the Group"), a leading consumer healthcare company with operations in Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, and Nigeria, announces the launch of Al-Borg Scan's fifth branch. The branch will be located in West Cairo's Capital Business Park and sees the Company further expand its radiology venture's geographic footprint, penetrating a strategic and currently underserved neighbourhood. This is the third Al-Borg Scan branch to launch in the last six months following the roll out of a new branch in West Cairo's Faisal/Haram neighbourhood in December 2021, and of a new branch in East Cairo's Heliopolis neighbourhood in early October 2021. The new branches will be essential in further strengthening the Al-Borg Scan's brand equity and complement Al-Borg Scan's other two locations in the centrally-located Mohandessin and Shoubra neighbourhoods. In line with the other locations, the new branches are equipped with the latest state-of-the-art radiology technology available on the market and will offer a full-suite of radiology services, including but not limited to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), x-ray and contrast studies, ultrasonography, echocardiography, electrocardiography (ECG), electroencephalography (EEG), electromyography (EMG), Gamma Camera, Positron emission tomography-computed tomography (PET-CT), in addition to panoramic exams for jaws and teeth. The branches will also provide patients with access to some of the highest-ranking radiology specialists in the country, offering consultations and diagnostic reports from subject matter experts. Finally, the Company will leverage its enhanced digital capabilities to deliver results and reports to patients within 24 hours from the exam through the Company's website and its dedicated WhatsApp account. Commenting on the launch, IDH CEO Dr. Hend El Sherbini, said: "We are thrilled to announce the launch of Al-Borg Scan's fifth branch located in a strategic and currently underpenetrated neighbourhood of West Cairo. The roll out supports Al-Borg Scan's geographical expansion efforts and is directly in line with our vision of providing patients across Greater Cairo with access to state-of-the-art radiology services to supplement our more established diagnostics offering. In the coming period, we are aiming to roll out at least three additional branches for a total investment cost of EGP 200 million, further expand our radiology service offering, and complete the necessary modules to obtain ACR (American College of Radiology) accreditation for all Al-Borg Scan's branches." As at year-end 2021, IDH had invested more than EGP 250 million in Al-Borg Scan since its launch in 2018, with the venture delivering impressive results from the very start. More specifically, in 2021, Al-Borg Scan reported revenue growth of over 80%, serving more than 60 thousand patients and performing around 80 thousand tests. This represented a c.70% year-on-year increase in both patients served and tests performed, further highlighting Al-Borg Scan's strong momentum. Meanwhile, the company's efficiency enhancement efforts helped further boost profitability which continues to improve ahead of management's expectations. -Ends- About Integrated Diagnostics Holdings (IDH) IDH is a leading consumer healthcare company in the Middle East and Africa with operations in Egypt, Jordan, Sudan and Nigeria. The Group's core brands include Al Borg, Al Borg Scan and Al Mokhtabar in Egypt, as well as Biolab (Jordan), Ultralab and Al Mokhtabar Sudan (both in Sudan) and Echo-Lab (Nigeria). A long track record for quality and safety has earned the Company a trusted reputation, as well as internationally recognised accreditations for its portfolio of over 2,000 diagnostics tests. From its base of 507 branches as of 30 September 2021, IDH will continue to add laboratories through a Hub, Spoke and Spike business model that provides a scalable platform for efficient expansion. Beyond organic growth, the Group's expansion plans include acquisitions in new Middle Eastern, African, and Asian markets where its model is well-suited to capitalise on similar healthcare and consumer trends and capture a significant share of fragmented markets. IDH has been a Jersey-registered entity with a Standard Listing on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange (ticker: IDHC) since May 2015 with a secondary listing on the EGX since May 2021 (ticker: IDHC.CA). Learn more at idhcorp.com. The person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement is Nancy Fahmy, Investor Relations Director at IDH. Contact Nancy Fahmy Investor Relations Director T: +20 (0)2 3345 5530 | M: +20 (0)12 2255 7445 | nancy.fahmy@idhcorp.com Forward-Looking Statements This communication contains certain forward-looking statements. A forward-looking statement is any statement that does not relate to historical facts and events, and can be identified by the use of such words and phrases as "according to estimates", "aims", "anticipates", "assumes", "believes", "could", "estimates", "expects", "forecasts", "intends", "is of the opinion", "may", "plans", "potential", "predicts", "projects", "should", "to the knowledge of", "will", "would" or, in each case their negatives or other similar expressions, which are intended to identify a statement as forward-looking. This applies, in particular, to statements containing information on future financial results, plans, or expectations regarding business and management, future growth or profitability and general economic and regulatory conditions and other matters affecting the Group. Forward-looking statements reflect the current views of the Group's management ("Management") on future events, which are based on the assumptions of the Management and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Group's actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. The occurrence or non-occurrence of an assumption could cause the Group's actual financial condition and results of operations to differ materially from, or fail to meet expectations expressed or implied by, such forward-looking statements. The Group's business is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could also cause a forward-looking statement, estimate or prediction to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this communication. The information, opinions and forward-looking statements contained in this communication speak only as at its date and are subject to change without notice. The Group does not undertake any obligation to review, update, confirm or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that arise in relation to the content of this communication. 29 March 2022 Premier African Minerals Limited Completion of Zulu Lithium DFS Funding Premier African Minerals Limited ("Premier" or the "Company"), is pleased to confirm the completion of the Subscription Agreement by Suzhou TA&A Ultra Clean Technology Co., Ltd., ("Suzhou TA&A") to raise 12 million before expenses at an issue price of 0.4 pence per new ordinary share for the ongoing Definitive Feasibility Study ("DFS") at Premier's Zulu Lithium and Tantalum Project ("Zulu") (the "Subscription") as announced on 8 March 2022. George Roach, CEO commented, "I reiterate my welcome to our new shareholders and to Dr Lou Wei, and express my appreciation for the confidence in Premier and Zulu. Premier has already taken steps to expedite issues associated with resource definition needed to complete mine optimisation and test work and we will continue to accelerate all aspects of the DFS underway." Proposed Board Appointment As previously announced, on completion of the Subscription, Suzhou TA&A has the right to appoint one director to serve on the boards of Premier, Zulu Lithium Mauritius Limited, and Zulu Lithium Private limited. Dr Luo Wei has therefore been invited to join the boards of Premier, Zulu and Zulu Lithium Mauritius Limited (collectively the "Companies"), subject to the satisfactory completion of standard regulatory checks in compliance with the AIM Rules which are currently underway, and which we anticipate being completed shortly. In the interim, Dr Luo Wei will have observer rights of the day-to-day operations of the Companies, including without limitation, access to any information on Zulu. Dr Luo Wei is a geologist with 23 years of experience who has worked in senior engineer positions for the past 12 years in a variety of locations. He has experience in the discovery and exploration of precious, nonferrous and base metal mineral resources internationally, including the DRC, Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Pakistan, South-East Asia and China. Dr Luo has a PhD. in Geology from the Central South University of Changsha, China and is a member of the Chinese Geological Society. Admission Application has been made for the 3,000,000,000 Subscription Shares be admitted to trading on AIM and admission is expected to take place on 30 March 2022. Market Abuse Regulation The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of UK Domestic Law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The person who arranged the release of this announcement on behalf of the Company was George Roach. Enquiries George Roach Premier African Minerals Limited Tel: +27 (0) 100 201 281 Michael Cornish / Roland Cornish Beaumont Cornish Limited (Nominated Adviser) Tel: +44 (0) 20 7628 3396 John More/Toby Gibbs Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited Tel: +44 (0) 20 7408 4090 Matthew Bonner EAS Advisors LLC Tel: +1 646 495 2225 Notes to Editors Premier African Minerals Limited (AIM: PREM) is a multi-commodity mining and natural resource development company focused on Southern Africa with its RHA Tungsten and Zulu Lithium projects in Zimbabwe. The Company has a diverse portfolio of projects, which include tungsten, rare earth elements, lithium and tantalum in Zimbabwe and lithium and gold in Mozambique, encompassing brownfield projects with near-term production potential to grass-roots exploration. The Company has accepted a share offer by Vortex Limited ("Vortex") for the exchange of Premier's entire 4.8 per cent interest in Circum Minerals Limited ("Circum"), the owners of the Danakil Potash Project in Ethiopia, for a 13.1 per cent interest in the enlarged share capital of Vortex. Vortex has an interest of 36.7 per cent in Circum. In addition, the Company holds a 19 per cent interest in MN Holdings Limited, the operator of the Otjozondu Manganese Mining Project in Namibia. Ends Chen Xingrong takes a swimming exercise in a swimming pool in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, March 23, 2022. (Photo by Li Duojiang/Xinhua) HAIKOU, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Chen Xingrong's favorite activity is hopping onto the swing in the middle of the living room and dangling around. The swing was set up by his father to help him learn how to swim without water. "When he is happy, he jumps on the swing and smiles from ear to ear. This is his way of saying 'I am happy,'" said Chen's father Chen Xunhu. "But he is a big boy now and has grown as tall as 1.78 meters, and the swing has become a bit too small for him." Chen Xingrong, 16, was diagnosed with autism when he was a baby. Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by varying degrees of impairment in communication skills and social interactions and by restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior. There is neither an effective cure nor a widely accepted treatment. There are at least 10 million cases of autism in China, with more than 2 million children affected by this disease, according to an industry report released in 2015. In spite of all the hardships in life, Chen Xingrong managed to become an outstanding swimmer, thanks to relentless training and the love and support of his family and community members. Last year, he won five medals, including a gold, at the 11th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the 8th National Special Olympics Games. The story of Chen's family has come to the fore, as World Autism Awareness Day is observed on Saturday. SWIMMING TOWARD VICTORY Born in China's southernmost province of Hainan, Chen Xingrong could not utter a word until the age of two. After being diagnosed with autism, his parents were extremely worried. "We did not understand why such a thing would happen to us," Chen Xunhu said, adding that he began traveling to big cities such as Beijing and Guangzhou to learn more about autism. During the process, he learned how to communicate properly with autistic people. He quit his job at a computer company and devoted his full attention to the topic of autism. In 2012, Chen Xunhu learned that swimming could help people with autism enhance their vital capacity and articulation, so he spent three months learning how to swim by watching videos and reading books. "I did not know how to swim myself, so I watched videos and read books about swimming. I spent three months teaching my son, but the efforts all went in vain," he recalled. "However, I did learn how to swim myself." To his surprise, after another three months, Chen Xunhu discovered that his son had developed the ability to control his breath under water which significantly boosted his confidence and swimming soon became an inseparable part of the family. The father laid the groundwork for his son's swimming lesson. On one wall of their house hangs a table for Chen Xingrong's routine exercises. "I used to plan all of his exercises for him, but now it is all up to him," said senior Chen. "He decides how many exercises he wants to do, and we respect his choices. It's a process of self-management." Two hand rings and a swing are suspended from the roof, all of which were installed by the father to help Chen Xingrong strengthen his muscles and learn swimming movements more precisely. In October 2021, Chen Xunhu led his son and several other disabled athletes to participate in the 11th National Paralympic Games and the 8th Special Olympics in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province. Chen junior managed to claim five medals, including a gold. "It was really exciting," Chen Xunhu said. "My son looked so happy on the podium!" BUILDING INCLUSIVE COMMUNITY Besides swimming, learning basic life skills is also an important part of life for a teenager with autism. "I hope that my son can live well on his own when we grow old," said Chen Xunhu. To make people in their community understand autism better, Chen Xunhu made great efforts. In 2010, an autism-themed film named Ocean Heaven hit the big screen in China. It depicts how a terminally ill father attempts to teach his son the necessary life skills to live a life without him. "My wife and I watched the film in the theater," he said. "We sobbed uncontrollably because we could resonate with the film's characters. It took us some time to regain our composure before exiting the cinema." Thereafter, Chen Xunhu organized about 500 people to watch the film together in the cinema. "I wanted the public to know more about autistic people so as to reduce misunderstanding," said senior Chen. Thanks to his father's resolute perseverance, Chen Xingrong has learned to buy food in the market in their neighborhood. He also does voluntary jobs at supermarkets and fast-food restaurants, such as arranging shelves and cleaning dining tables. "He is good at skillfully arranging cluttered goods. He also likes to attend patients in clinics by monitoring their infusion bottles and covering the patients with quilts," said Chen Xunhu. "He is part of the community, and I hope he will live a wonderful life in the future." Chen Xingrong shops at a supermarket in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, March 23, 2022. (Photo by Li Duojiang/Xinhua) Chen Xingrong (L) takes a swimming exercise under the guidance of his father Chen Xunhu in a swimming pool in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, March 23, 2022. (Photo by Li Duojiang/Xinhua) Chen Xingrong (2nd R) wins a gold medal at the 11th National Games for Persons with Disabilities and the 8th National Special Olympics Games in Xi'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Oct. 26, 2021. (Xinhua) Chen Xingrong rides a unicycle in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, March 31, 2022. (Photo by Li Duojiang/Xinhua) Chen Xingrong cleans dining tables at a restaurant in Haikou, south China's Hainan Province, March 23, 2022. (Xinhua/Wang Junfeng) Marine fuel sellers have stopped serving vessels flying the Russian flag at major European hubs including Spain and Malta in another blow to Moscow's exports, five industry sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Losing access to refuelling points in the Mediterranean Sea poses major logistical problems for Russian oil tankers going from Baltic ports to Asia and also creates safety concerns over potentially being stuck at sea with flammable cargoes, shipping sources say. Russia is reeling from a wave of severe economic sanctions on its banks and oligarchs and foreign companies are cutting ties after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, which Russian President Vladimir Putin calls a special military operation. Multiple factors have prompted the halt in refuelling services, including what sources have described as "self sanctioning" where companies try to stay ahead of the next wave of measures by refusing to enter into contracts with Russian entities. Payment problems due to banking restrictions have also added to complications with deals for marine fuel, which is typically priced and paid for in U.S. dollars. One source said Russian-flagged ships couldn't secure marine fuel in Malta, the British overseas territory of Gibraltar or neighbouring Algeciras in Spain all major bunkering, or refuelling, zones in the Mediterranean. "Several tankers had to take a longer journey in order to bunker in other countries after European ports refused to provide fuel," said another source who was familiar with one of the tanker's movements. A government official in Malta said the country was not allowing any Russian-flagged ships to come to its ports. A transport ministry spokesperson with Spain's Merchant Marine said it was "possible that certain providers are adopting these measures independently". A Gibraltar government spokesperson said port authorities would "reject calling requests by all ships either owned or operated by anyone connected to the country, not even for bunkering, in accordance to UK rules". The spokesperson said that as in Britain, foreign ships with Russian cargoes would be not be affected. 'Not doing business' Russia's maritime sector is already grappling with the winding down of other services including ship certification by leading foreign providers - vital for accessing ports and securing insurance - shipping companies pulling out and ship engine makers suspending training on their equipment. Shipping industry sources say given the complexities of the world's seaborne trade it was unclear how Russian companies would be able to operate with multiple services being withdrawn. Danish marine fuels supplier and ship owner Monjasa said it had suspended "trading and supplies with Russian-flagged vessels, Russian registered companies and companies and individuals with ties or affiliation to Russian ownership" with effect from Feb. 25, a day after Russia's invasion started. Denmark's Bunker Holding said it had stopped all deliveries into Russian harbours since the start of March, adding that the group and subsidiaries including Dan-Bunkering had also "ceased to enter into new obligations with Russian counterparties". "We are aware of the challenges this decision to stop trade with Russian counterparties imposes on clients and counterparties in the rest of the world, but with the terrible situation in Ukraine we need to act swiftly and decisively against Russia," Bunker Holding said in a statement. Gibraltar bunker supplier Peninsula, which is active elsewhere in the Mediterranean and other locations, said in a LinkedIn post it was "not doing business with Russian vessels, ports, companies owned or majority owned - suppliers and financial institutions". Earlier this month, Britain announced sanctions on Russia's biggest shipping company Sovcomflot. While a ban on Russian vessels from EU ports is still under discussion, Russia's oil and products exporters have already faced problems concluding charters for ships and insurance, shipping sources say. A 55-year-old German woman was arrested in Palma on Friday in connection with the alleged murder of her 90-year-old father. The National Police were acting on a European arrest warrant issued by the German authorities on March 16. The woman is said to have fled Germany after murdering her father with the assistance of her brother. She moved in with her daughter, who has lived in Mallorca for several years. The daughter has also been charged but has denied any connection with the death of her grandfather. According to judicial sources, the woman, who goes by the initials I.S., and her brother administered benzodiazepines and opiates to their father over a period of several days. He died in October 2021. Following an autopsy, the German police launched an investigation, which revealed that there is a substantial inheritance. The brother has also been arrested. If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (R) meets with visiting Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India, April 2, 2022. India and Nepal signed four agreements in various fields on Saturday, including solar power, railway and petroleum products, and launched various new projects during a visit of Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. (Photo by Partha Sarkar/Xinhua) NEW DELHI, April 2 (Xinhua) -- India and Nepal signed four agreements in various fields on Saturday, including solar power, railway and petroleum products, and launched various new projects during a visit of Nepali Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. The 35-km crossborder rail link from Jaynagar in India's state of Bihar to Kurtha in Nepal was launched, and the 90-km 132 KV Solu Corridor transmission line built with India's Line of Credit at a cost of 2 billion Indian rupees (around 26.3 million U.S. dollars) was inaugurated, said a statement issued by India's Ministry of External Affairs. Besides, India's RuPay card was also launched in Nepal on the occasion. RuPay is an Indian multinational financial services and payment service system conceived and launched by the National Payments Corporation of India. Nepal joined the India-initiated International Solar Alliance framework agreement, while both sides exchanged a memorandum of understanding on enhancing technical cooperation in the railway sector and signed two agreements for supplying petroleum products and sharing of technical expertise. The signing of agreements took place in the presence of visiting Nepali prime minister and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi. Both sides also issued a joint statement on power sector cooperation, including India's investment into Nepal's renewable power sector, in particular the hydropower. LAGOS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian Railway Corporation(NRC) are working hard and collaborating with security agencies to ensure the rescue of at least 21 missing passengers onboard a train which was attacked by gunmen on Monday, an official said. In a statement on Saturday, Fidet Okhiria, the NRC's managing director, confirmed the safety of about 170 passengers who were on board the train. "The corporation, in continuation of its concerted effort through repeated calls, has been able to confirm the safety of 170 passengers, while 21 passengers are reported missing by the relatives who made calls to us," Okhiria said. The corporation is seriously collaborating with the security agencies who have already swung into action to do everything possible to rescue the missing passengers, he said. On Monday night, a passenger train en route to north Nigeria's Kaduna city from Abuja, the country's capital, was attacked by yet-to-be-identified gunmen in Rijana, a town in Kaduna. At least eight passengers were killed and 26 others injured, according to the Kaduna state government on Tuesday. The manifest received from the Nigerian Railway Corporation(NRC) showed 362 passengers were validated as having bought tickets, the Kaduna state government added. The NRC announced on Tuesday it has temporarily suspended its train operations between Abuja and Kaduna due to "unforeseen circumstances" following the attack. Okhiria said in the latest statement the corporation has moved human and material resources to the accident site to ensure the resumption of train services without further delays. He said the move was to reduce the stress currently faced by its passengers in getting to their destinations. On safety, the NRC boss said arrangements had been put in place for increased security along the track and onboard the train to prevent a recurrence of the unfortunate incident. Regional cinema has always stunned the Indian audience in terms of storyline, action, concept and even the fandom the stars enjoy. Even Bollywood actors have been remaking and working in South films lately like Ajay Devgn and Alia Bhatt in RRR or Sanjay Dutt in KGF: Chapter 2 However, another Bollywood actor, John Abraham, recently said in an interview that he never intends to be a part of regional cinema. He said he is a Hindi film hero and wont ever do a Telugu or any other regional film just to stay relevant in the film business like other actors are doing. Abraham said it while promoting Attack and said it was a damn good film. People felt that this statement was demeaning to the regional cinema and the actors working in it. They mentioned that it sounded like he was looking down upon it, which is why when Attack was released, they got a chance to compare his film with the Telugu film RRR which is still going strong at the BO. They also trolled him mercilessly for his comment. Here is what they said. #RRRMovie #RRRBlockbuster #JohnAbraham last 12 films collections - around Rs 620 crores He says Im Bollywood hero, wont do Telugu films.#RRRs 6 days collections - Rs 670 crores RRRs 6 days > Johns last 10 years Dead M Manoj Kumar Patro (@MManojKumarPat1) March 31, 2022 Every Actor in India says I'm an Indian Actor. Mean while #JohnAbraham : pic.twitter.com/zTvwlgtuub Nikola Tesla (@BeingPlatooo) April 1, 2022 Lol you talk about South cinema. Telugu - Big budget Malayalam - Strong content Tamil - High action Kanada - Unique concepts Even if you want to act in south no one's gonna give you offer.#AttackMovie#RRR#Beast #JohnAbraham Emotional Damage (@jonsnoww608) April 2, 2022 7-10 = 3 crores #JohnAbraham this is what you are & what a distress Dear #JohnAbraham learn to respect pic.twitter.com/PH3UpLRXa4 Telugu 101 (@Telugu101) April 2, 2022 RRR's 12th-day collection surpasses Attack's first-day collection by more than four times. The success of RRR even got action star Salman Khan praising the film and wondering out loud as to why Hindi films dont work in the South while South films work pan-India. Every cinema has its potential and USPs and actors should know better than to look down upon them. Bintou Keita (on the screen), the UN secretary-general's special representative and head of the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), speaks via video link during a Security Council meeting on the situation in the DRC, at the UN Headquarters in New York on March 29, 2022. (Eskinder Debebe/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua) The council members urged the UN secretary-general, the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) and the Congolese authorities to conduct swift, thorough and transparent investigations into the crash. UNITED NATIONS, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The Security Council on Friday voiced concern over Tuesday's crash of a peacekeeping helicopter in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which left eight peacekeepers dead. In a press statement, the members of the council expressed their deep concern over the crash and expressed their deepest condolences to the families of the victims, to their countries -- Pakistan, Russia and Serbia, and to the United Nations. The council members, noting ongoing efforts in this regard, urged the UN secretary-general, the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) and the Congolese authorities to conduct swift, thorough and transparent investigations into the crash. They called on the Congolese authorities to bring any perpetrators to justice and to keep the relevant troop-contributing countries informed of the progress. They condemned in the strongest terms all attacks and provocations against MONUSCO. They underlined that deliberate attacks targeting peacekeepers may constitute war crimes under international law. The council members expressed concern about the increase in armed group activities in the eastern provinces of the DRC. They expressed their deep concern over the resurgence of the March 23 Movement, which has led to the displacement of hundreds of civilians and a deteriorating humanitarian situation. They stressed the importance of MONUSCO having the necessary capacities to fulfill its mandate and promote the safety and security of the UN peacekeepers and its operations. BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The following is a summary of published science and technology news of China. SCI-TECH ETHICS GUIDELINE China's first national guideline on the ethical governance of science and technology will effectively prevent potential risks that could arise from sci-tech development, according to senior officials from the Ministry of Science and Technology. The country recently issued the guideline, which noted that accelerating the construction of a sci-tech ethics system with Chinese characteristics should be integrated with innovation and risk-prevention. EVOLUTION OF CREATURES Most of the creatures today consist of hundreds of millions of cells, but when life on Earth first emerged, they were merely a few microns long, invisible to naked eyes. According to a recent study published in the international journal Geology, scientists have found the secret behind it. A joint study conducted by Chinese scientists and their British counterparts has confirmed that the critical evolution of "growing big" happened about 602 million years ago. 3D CARDIAC TISSUE Chinese researchers and their counterparts from British and Dutch universities have worked together to print a cardiac tissue that can survive in vitro and sustain pulses for more than six months. The researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University, the University of Manchester and Delft University of Technology overcame the limitations of conventional bioprinting systems by converting a six degree-of-freedom robotic arm into a bioprinter, thus enabling cell printing on 3D complex-shaped vascular scaffolds from all directions. A recent report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas shows that real house prices, which are adjusted for inflation, have steadily increased since 2012, with further acceleration in the pace of house-price appreciation beginning before the pandemic but strengthening since early 2020. The underlying causes of the run-up differ from those during the last housing boom, preceding the 2007-09 Global Financial Crisis, economists at the Federal Reserve wrote, but there is growing concern that U.S. housing prices are "becoming unhinged from fundamentals," and showing signs of a "brewing U.S. housing bubble." Mortgage rates are quickly increasing, reaching an average of 4.67% for a fixed 30-year loan for the week ending March 31, the highest since 2018 according to Freddie Mac. The national median listing price for a home has jumped to a record $405,000, Realtor.com found, with the typical listing price increasing almost 27% in the past two years. RELATED: Housing prices reach record high in March "Real house prices can diverge from market fundamentals when there is widespread belief that today's robust price increases will continue," Dallas Fed economists wrote. "If many buyers share this belief, purchases arising from a 'fear of missing out' can drive up prices and heighten expectations of strong house-price gains," although a rapid rise in home values doesn't necessarily signal a bubble, the Dallas Fed noted. Shifts in disposable income, the cost of credit and access to it, supply disruptions and rising labor and raw construction materials costs are among the economic reasons for sustained real house-price gains, the Dallas Fed wrote. The self-fulfilling mechanism of belief that housing prices will continue to rise resulting in more buyers purchasing at higher costs may become exponential, economists noted, potentially resulting in a progressively misaligned housing market that may lead to more cautious investors, policymaker intervention and the flow of money into housing drying up and a housing correction or even bust occurring. The U.S. housing market has been showing signs of exuberance, or prices growing at an exponential rate exceeding what economic fundamentals would justify, for more than five consecutive quarters through the third quarter of 2021, the report found. The U.S. is not the only country experiencing that exuberance, as 11 of the 25 countries in the Dallas Fed's International House Prices Database show signs of real house-price exuberance. The Dallas Fed noted that evidence points to "abnormal U.S. housing market behavior" for the first time since the boom of the early 2000s. Certain economic indicators including the price-to-rent ratio and the price-to-income ratio show signs that 2021 house prices appear increasingly out of step with fundamentals. "Based on present evidence, there is no expectation that fallout from a housing correction would be comparable to the 2007-09 Global Financial Crisis in terms of magnitude or macroeconomic gravity," the economists wrote, however. "Among other things, household balance sheets appear in better shape and excessive borrowing doesn't appear to be fueling the housing market boom." Market participants, banks, policymakers and regulators are all better equipped to assess in real-time the significance of a housing boom, the Dallas Fed further noted. That's due to the development of advanced tools for early detection and deployment of warning indicators. This means that those involved with the housing market are more able to react quickly and avoid the most severe, negative consequences of a housing correction. Bob Stefanowksi, Republican candidate for governor, traveled to Poland last week to help set up a school for refugee children and bring supplies to Ukranians crossing the Polish border. Poland has taken in the largest number of refugees - more than 2.1 million - since Russias invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24. Several weeks ago, as the war intensified, Stefanowski received a call from a former colleague who asked for his help raising money to start a school for refugee children in the city of Gdansk on the Baltic coast of northern Poland. Stefanowksi, the grandson of Polish immigrants, said he stepped away from the campaign trail last week to visit the school as it was opening. Already, 50 children, mainly middle-school aged, are attending, and at least another 100 are on the waiting list, he said. I know everyone thinks this is political. I get it. I didnt say anything while I was there because I didnt want to sensationalize it, Stefanowski said in a phone interview Friday. Were trying to raise money for the school. Stefanowski said the school cant accept more kids until it hires more teachers because the goal is to limit class sizes to one teacher per 10 students. The building formerly housed an art school. Theres no curriculum yet. Right now, the point is to let the children socialize together. Theyve also spent time drawing and dancing, Stefanowski said. The childrens parents have also been able to connect as they figure out how to start anew including finding housing and employment. Some of the people are trying to stay in Gdansk because theyre hopeful that theyll be able to go home, Stefanowski said. Other people are saying, Weve had it. Weve been under the threat of Russia forever. This has happened before. We hate to leave the Ukraine but enough is enough were just going to relocate our family permanently. Stefanowski also spent several days at the border town of Dorohusk. He said what he observed there families packed into cars with their belongings, an elderly man whod traveled with his homemade wine, mothers traveling alone with their children didnt compare to what hed seen on the television news. People are making the best out of what they have, he said. Theyre trying to stay positive In a staging area near Dorohusk, officials have converted an old palace into dormotories where refugees come to take a shower, get a hot meal and go through a health screening. They can only stay for one night due to limited capacity. Outside the palace are rows of tents where they can pick up supplies such as jackets, blankets, diapers, and childrens toys. Theyre basically handed a garbage bag and walk from station to station taking what they need, Stefanowski said. He said hes thought about the trip every day since. When you see a family in a car that a week ago had a beautiful house and a neighborhood and now everything they have is in a car. Ill tell you, it puts things in perspective, he said. julia.bergman@hearstmediact.com BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- China has spent more than 120 billion yuan (around 18.9 billion U.S. dollars) on COVID-19 vaccination, an expenditure within the limits of the country's medical insurance funds, said the National Healthcare Security Administration. So far, 3.2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered on the Chinese mainland, according to the administration. China launched free programs to vaccinate its population against COVID-19 in February 2021. The cost of vaccine procurement and inoculation is mostly covered by the country's medical insurance funds and government budget. KYIV, Ukraine (AP) As Russian forces pull back from Ukraines capital region, retreating troops are creating a catastrophic" situation for civilians by leaving mines around homes, abandoned equipment and even the bodies of those killed," President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Saturday. Ukraine and its Western allies reported mounting evidence of Russia withdrawing its forces from around Kyiv and building up troop strength in eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian fighters reclaimed several areas near the capital after forcing the Russians out or moving in after them, officials said. The visible shift did not mean the country faced a reprieve from more than five weeks of war or that the more than 4 million refugees who have fled Ukraine will return soon. Zelenskyy said he expects departed towns to receive airstrikes and shelling from afar and for the battle in the east to be intense. Its still not possible to return to normal life, as it used to be, even at the territories that we are taking back after the fighting, the president told his nation in a nightly video message. "We need wait until our land is demined, wait till we are able to assure you that there wont be new shelling. Moscow's focus on eastern Ukraine also kept the besieged southern city of Mariupol in the crosshairs. The port city on the Sea of Azoz is located in the mostly Russian-speaking Donbas region, where Russia-backed separatists have fought Ukrainian troops for eight years and military analysts think Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking to expand control after his forces failed to secure Kyiv and other major cities. The International Committee of the Red Cross planned to try Saturday to get emergency supplies into Mariupol and to evacuate residents. The Red Cross said it was unable to carry out the operation Friday because it did not receive assurances the route was safe. City authorities said the Russians blocked access to the city. Mariupol, which was surrounded by Russian forces a month ago, has been the scene of some of the wars worst attacks, including on a maternity hospital and a theater sheltering civilians. Around 100,000 people are believed to remain in the city, down from a prewar population of 430,000, and facing dire shortages of water, food, fuel and medicine. The city's capture would give Moscow an unbroken land bridge from Russia to Crimea, which it seized from Ukraine in 2014, but also has taken on symbolic significance during Russia's invasion, said Volodymyr Fesenko, head of the Ukrainian think-tank Penta. Mariupol has become a symbol of Ukrainian resistance, and without its conquest, Putin cannot sit down at the negotiating table, Fesenko said. The Mariupol city council said Saturday that 10 empty buses were headed to Berdyansk, a city 84 kilometers west of Mariupol, to pick up people who can get there on their own. Some 2,000 made it out of Mariupol on Friday, some on buses and some in their own vehicles, city officials said. An adviser to Zelenskyy, Oleksiy Arestovych, said in an interview with a Russian lawyer and activist, Mark Feygin, that Russia and Ukraine had reached an agreement to allow 45 buses to drive to Mariupol to evacuate residents in coming days. Such agreements have been reached before, only to be breached. On Thursday, Russian forces blocked a 45-bus convoy attempting to evacuate people from Mariupol and seized 14 tons of food and medical supplies bound for the city, Ukrainian authorities said. Zelenskyy said he discussed the humanitarian disaster in Mariupol with French President Emmanuel Macron by telephone and with the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, during her visit to Kyiv on Friday. Europe doesnt have the right to be silent about what is happening in our Mariupol, Zelenskyy said. The whole world should respond to this humanitarian catastrophe. On the outskirts of Kyiv, signs of fierce fighting were everywhere in the wake of the Russian redeployment. Destroyed armored vehicles from both armies left in streets and fields and scattered military gear covered the ground next to an abandoned Russian tank. Ukrainian forces recaptured the city of Brovary, 20 kilometers east of the capital, Mayor Ihor Sapozhko said in a televised Friday night address. Shops were reopening and residents were returning but still stand ready to defend their city, he added. Russian occupants have now left practically all of the Brovary district, Sapozhko said. Tonight, (Ukrainian) armed forces will work to clear settlements of (remaining) occupants, military hardware, and possibly from mines. Elsewhere, at least three Russian ballistic missiles were fired late Friday at the Odesa region on the Black Sea, regional leader Maksim Marchenko said. The Ukrainian military said the Iskander missiles did not hit the critical infrastructure they targeted. Odesa is Ukraines largest port and the headquarters of its navy. As the war dragged on, the U.S. Defense Department said Friday night it is providing an additional $300 million in arms to Ukrainian forces. Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said in a statement that the gear in the new package includes laser-guided rocket systems, unmanned aircraft, armored vehicles, night vision devices and ammunition. Also included are medical supplies, field equipment and spare parts. There was no immediate word Saturday on the latest round of talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, which took place Friday by video. During a round of talks earlier in the week, Ukraine said it would be willing to abandon a bid to join NATO and declare itself neutral Moscows chief demand in return for security guarantees from several other countries. On Friday, the Kremlin accused Ukraine of launching a helicopter attack on a fuel depot on Russian soil. Ukraine denied responsibility for the fiery blast at the civilian oil storage facility on the outskirts of the city of Belgorod, about 25 kilometers (16 miles) from the Ukraine border. If Moscows claim is confirmed, it would be the wars first known attack in which Ukrainian aircraft penetrated Russian airspace. Oleksiy Danilov, secretary of Ukraines national security council, said on Ukrainian television: For some reason they say that we did it, but in fact this does not correspond with reality. Later, in an interview with American TV channel Fox News, Zelenskyy refused to say whether Ukraine was behind the attack. ___ Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Andrea Rosa in Irpin, Ukraine, and Associated Press journalists around the world contributed to this report. Answers Foam concrete wall pouring method The purchasing pace at the demand end of the international thermal coal market continues to slow down and the international thermal coal price continues to decline. Prices for thermal coal at major international ports continued to fall last week as buyers in Europe slowed in recent days for April, coupled with weaker-than-expected import demand from End users in China. According to China Coal Market net monitoring: as of March 25, Australia Newcastle port thermal coal price index was 253 USD/ton, compared with 309.02 USD/ton as of March 18, down 56.02 USD/ton, down 18.13%. South Africa's Port Richards thermal coal price Index was $264.5 / mt, down the US $62.72 / mt or 19.17% from US $327.22 / mt as of March 18. The European ARA Tri-port thermal coal price Index was $281.8 / ton. Does the price of thermal coal in major international ports continue to decline to affect the price of the Foam concrete? Foam concrete wall casting methods can be divided into three types: removable formwork casting, formwork-free casting and sandwich wall casting. Among these three types of casting methods, the mold-free casting method is widely used. The so-called mold-free casting wall is mainly born for the construction of foam concrete walls in recent years. Because foam concrete is especially suitable for cast-in-place construction (such as roof insulation, floor heating insulation, floor cushion, filling works, etc.), People have always been studying how to apply it to wall casting to exert its good physical properties. However, due to the high fluidity of foam concrete, it is easy to cause accidents such as expansion of mold and slurry leakage for the high height of wall casting. At the same time, it is difficult for closed construction. The uniformity and stability in the pouring process are not easy to grasp. In the application of wall pouring technology in recent years, most of the constructions follow the traditional concrete construction technology, and there is no feasible construction technology that is organically combined with the technological characteristics of foam concrete. Although the application field of foamed concrete has a history of several decades, the application field has been limited to a very small range. It has been staying in a primitive state. In recent years, the foam concrete roof insulation cast-in-place has also been staying at the original technical level, but the consistency of the foam concrete has been increased. Only this improvement requires high-demand wall casting. It is far from enough. It needs to consider the construction organization design, the preparation process of foamed concrete and its physical properties. 1. Preparation technology of wall foam concrete Foam concrete free formwork wall pouring, solving the technology of expanding formwork and slurry leakage is the key factor. Foamed concrete for formwork-free wall casting can be divided into the preparation technology of pure ordinary Portland cement foamed concrete according to the application, and the preparation technology of foamed concrete with light aggregate added. (1) Preparation technology of ordinary Portland cement foam concrete. Ordinary Portland cement to prepare wall casting foam concrete is the most common wall casting foam concrete. The wall core generally has low eyeball strength, but has good sound insulation, heat preservation and fire resistance. No matter what kind of hollow wall this product is poured into, it has little requirements on the settlement and bleeding of foamed concrete. For these two indicators, one is to choose a good foaming agent, which must have good foam stabilization and anti-foaming properties. At the same time, it must have affinity with various cements, and it is allowed to add some admixtures. Animal protein foaming agents and composite foaming agents are recommended. These two foaming agents are the first choice for wall casting. (2) Preparation technology of adding lightweight aggregate foam concrete. For medium-height wall casting materials with higher requirements, it is necessary to add low-density lightweight aggregates to the foamed concrete, especially a part of lightweight aggregates, such as fly ash, ceramsite, polystyrene particles, perlite, vitrified Microbeads etc. However, ordinary foaming equipment cannot prepare foamed concrete with light aggregates. For this reason, Nanchang Golden Concrete Construction Engineering Co., Ltd. has introduced advanced equipment, which can effectively add materials such as vitrified microbeads, polystyrene particles, and perlite. Among the foamed concrete, the foamed concrete added with light aggregate has the characteristics of high strength, good crack resistance and good thermal insulation performance. 2. Wall pouring foam concrete conveying technology Foam concrete conveying technology is the key to the success of wall pouring. As an ordinary pump foaming equipment, due to its unreasonable conveying method, foam concrete will be unstable and difficult to operate and control. Foam concrete fails to be poured in a large number of walls. The majority of pour failures are due to poor conveying techniques. Foamed concrete has a certain compressibility due to the large amount of air bubbles, which will cause separation and fragmentation under different flow rates and pressure environments. Unreasonable conveying methods will cause the quality of foamed concrete to change, and these changes will cause pouring failure to a certain extent. After a large number of experiments, it is found that the transportation of foam concrete should be one-way, low-pulse, and uniform and constant flow. Among the conveying equipment hydraulic plunger pump, diaphragm pump, screw pump, hose pump and other pumps, only the latter two are close to the conveying requirements of foam concrete. The biggest advantage of these two kinds of pumps is that there are no inlet and outlet valves, one-way pulse output, and no negative pulse caused by back-and-forth motion, which maximizes the protection of the original state of the product. Therefore, it is best to choose a hose pump for the transportation of foam concrete, because the pressure of the pump can reach 2.5MPa, which is twice that of the screw pump. It is the preferred equipment within the range of the maximum effective height specified in the current foam concrete industry standard. 3. Foam concrete wall formwork Formwork-free foam concrete wall pouring is a composite composite of lightweight concrete slab, cement pressure slab, fiber cement slab, cement wood wool slab, calcium silicate slab and glass magnesium slab as permanent formwork and cast-in-place foam concrete. Insulated walls. The formwork of the composite thermal insulation wall is a combination of the wall, and there is no formwork removal procedure, which makes the construction process more simplified, the work efficiency is higher, the construction period is shorter, and the shrinkage cracks of the foam concrete are effectively controlled. Composite thermal insulation wall is a new type of self-insulating wall, which is an integrated product of wall, thermal insulation and decoration. TRUNNANO is a concrete additives supplier with over 12 years experience in nano-building energy conservation and nanotechnology development. We accept payment via Credit Card, T/T, West Union and Paypal. Trunnano will ship the goods to customers overseas through FedEx, DHL, by air, or by sea. If you are looking for high quality concrete additives, please feel free to contact us and send an inquiry. sales@cabr-concrete.com Prior to the impact of COVID-19 on the chemicals and materials industry and the price of the Foam concrete, many industry observers expected low to flat growth in 2021 in all regions outside Asia, with many countries seeing slower growth compared to recent years. Operational excellence has long been a hallmark of the Foam concrete chemical industry, and many companies are financially able to withstand short-term dips in end-market demand due to rapid leverage from reduced capex on hand. The analysis shows that, whatever the final course of the pandemic, we can expect the inevitable long-term effects. Workplaces are expected to slowly return to pre-COVID-19 practices. Companies investing in enterprise-wide digital initiatives saw these "payoffs" in the early pandemic environment. For more information about Foam concrete, please feel free to contact us. Inquery us Answers Microsilica Fume The purchasing pace at the demand end of the international thermal coal market continues to slow down and the international thermal coal price continues to decline. Prices for thermal coal at major international ports continued to fall last week as buyers in Europe slowed in recent days for April, coupled with weaker-than-expected import demand from End users in China. According to China Coal Market net monitoring: as of March 25, Australia Newcastle port thermal coal price index was 253 USD/ton, compared with 309.02 USD/ton as of March 18, down 56.02 USD/ton, down 18.13%. South Africa's Port Richards thermal coal price Index was $264.5 / mt, down the US $62.72 / mt or 19.17% from US $327.22 / mt as of March 18. The European ARA Tri-port thermal coal price Index was $281.8 / ton. Does the price of thermal coal in major international ports continue to decline to affect the price of the Microsilica Fume? Micro-silica is finely processed from silicon dioxide (SiO2), also known as quartz, through crushing, purification, grinding, grading and other processes. It has high purity, white color, and reasonable particle size distribution. It has unique properties and a wide range of uses. Because the micro-silica fume can fill the pores between cement particles, and at the same time form a gel with the hydration product, and react with the alkaline material magnesium oxide to form a gel. In cement-based concrete, mortar, concrete and refractory castables, mixing a proper amount of micro-silica fume silica fume can play the following roles: 1. Significantly improve the compression resistance, flexural resistance, impermeability, corrosion resistance, impact resistance and wear resistance. 2. It has the functions of retaining water, preventing segregation and bleeding, and greatly reducing the resistance of concrete pumping. 3. Significantly prolong the service life of concrete. Especially in harsh environments such as chloride pollution erosion, sulfate erosion, and high humidity, the durability of concrete can be doubled or even several times higher. 4. Significantly reduce the floor ash of sprayed concrete and castables, and increase the thickness of a single spray layer. 5. It is a necessary component of high-strength concrete, and C150 concrete has been used in engineering. 6. It has about 5 times the effect of cement, and its application in ordinary concrete and low-cement castables can reduce costs and improve durability. 7. Effectively prevent the occurrence of concrete alkali aggregate reaction. 8. Improve the compactness of castable refractories. When coexisting with Al2O3, it is easier to form a mullite phase, which increases its high-temperature strength and thermal shock resistance. For the design of the mixing ratio of micro-silica fume concrete, it is mainly based on the design requirements to determine the method of mixing silica fume, the optimal amount of micro-silica. Ordinary concrete design method 1. The method of mixing silica fume: There are generally two methods for micro-silica fume in concrete: one is internal mixing, and the other is external mixing, both of which are used in conjunction with a water reducing agent. The internal mixing method often uses micro-silica fume instead of cement, and is divided into equal replacement and partial equal replacement. The equal replacement is micro-silica fume content instead of equal cement, and the partial replacement is 1 kg micro-silica fume instead of 13. kg cement, as a research, the general mixing amount is 5% to 30%, and the water-cement ratio generally remains unchanged: while the external mixing method refers to the micro-silica fume is mixed into the concrete like an admixture, and the amount of cement is not reduced. Generally, it is 5% to 10%. Generally, the mechanical properties of concrete obtained by the external admixture method are much higher, but the amount of cementing material in the concrete is increased. 2. The optimum amount of silica fume: Too little silica fume is added to the concrete, which will not improve the performance of the concrete much, but if the amount is too much, the concrete will be too sticky and difficult to construct, and the shrinkage deformation will be large, and it will resist freezing Poor performance, therefore, when doping micro-silica powder, the optimal dosing amount should be found in order to obtain the best results. Under normal circumstances, the effect is more satisfactory if the dosage is less than 10%. The appropriate amount of micro-silica fume is generally selected according to the micro-silica fume, the type of cement and the nature of the aggregate, such as 3, 5, 7, 10%, etc., to form the concrete specimen and draw R-SF (Intensity-microsilica content) curve is determined. 3. The optimal dosage of water-reducing agent: Use micro-silica fume in concrete. If you want to keep the same fluidity without adding water-reducing agent, you must increase the water consumption and the water-cement ratio. Combined use of micro-silica fume and water reducing agent. The water-cement ratio of mixed micro-silica fume remains unchanged, that is, the water consumption does not increase, and the same fluidity and strength of micro-silica concrete can be achieved with concrete without micro-silica fume. Has been greatly improved. 4. Adjustment of the amount of sand and gravel: Generally, there is no need to adjust the amount of sand and gravel mixed with micro-silica powder. The volume of sand and gravel equal to the volume of the micro-silica powder should be reduced when the micro-silica powder is added. Overall, the demand for Microsilica Fumes is on the rise, and future Microsilica Fumes will continue to evolve. Although the prosperity of the brand name has rebounded, there are still many outstanding problems in production and operation. The proportion of enterprises reflecting high raw material cost, high labor cost, and capital shortage are 60.2%, 36.3%, and 32.0% respectively increased this month. In the future, the company will continue to adjust the structure, improve the quality of the Microsilica Fume, and the Microsilica Fume will develop steadilyif you need product nanme please contact us. Inquery us Products Concrete Early Strength Agent The biggest immediate challenge for the EU will be replenishing its depleted gas inventories. While the EU could still increase LNG imports from countries such as the US, such purchases would be more expensive. Refilling natural gas storage space to historical average levels this year could cost 70 billion euros, a sevenfold increase, compared to 10 billion euros in previous years. " A complete replacement for Russian gas is not only very expensive, but it also may not be possible. In the next 12 months, there is little way to meet the demand for a "normal" year in the absence of Gazprom, which also includes early strength agent. Overview of concrete early strength agent: Concrete early-strength agent can greatly change the final setting time while ensuring the quality of concrete is reduced. It is changed to demoulding as soon as possible. The sleeve accelerates the turnover of the formwork, saves the amount of formwork, saves energy and saves cement, reduces production costs, and improves the output of concrete products. Our early strength agent 31B can reduce the activation energy of the cement hydration reaction, increase the hydration reaction rate, promote the rapid development of the strength during the hardening period. And it can significantly improve the cement mortar products. Ultra-early strength within 12 hours. Abnormal, does not affect the durability of cement mortar products. Data of concrete Early strength agent: Item Unit Performance Required indicators Test results Appearance Grey powder Grey powder Water content % 4.0 3.6 Density g/cm3 3.25 pH 7-9 8 Total alkali % 10 5.8 Compressive strength ratio 1d,% 135 160 3d,% 130 143 7d,% 110 120 28d,% 100 113 Application of concrete Early strength agent: 1) 31B does not contain chlorine ions and has no rusting effect on steel bars. It is suitable for all civil, industrial buildings and prestressed reinforced concrete members, mortar, etc. (2) 31B is suitable for construction under low temperature in early winter and early spring; (3) 31B is used for Portland cement, especially for the reinforcement and modification of slag cement. The advantage of concrete Early strength agent: 1. Excellent super early strength performance, can greatly improve the strength development under normal temperature, low temperature or thermal curing temperature conditions 2. It can improve the durability of cement mortar and board, and won't shrink the strength of cement mortar and board. 3. Shorten demolding time and speed up mold turnover 4. Shorten or even eliminate steam curing process, save energy and reduce consumption 5.Reduce the amount of glue Package of concrete Early strength agent: 25kg/bag Suppliers of concrete Early strength agent: TRUNNANO is the global leader of Low-Density Cellular Concrete (LDCC), Celluar Light Concrete (CLC) and advanced engineered foam solutions. Known globally for its commitment to research, innovation, and applied expertise, we have been providing engineered foam solutions since the early 2012's. Our early strength agent 31B can reduce the activation energy of the cement hydration reaction, increase the hydration reaction rate, promote the rapid development of the strength during the hardening period. And it can significantly improve the cement mortar products. Ultra-early strength within 12 hours. Abnormal, does not affect the durability of cement mortar products. Add amount2-4 kg/m3 Appearance: Grey powder Application: The main function of early strength agent is to accelerate the hydration speed of cement and promote the development of early strength of cement. Cancer cells can "stretch out a big hand" and take away the mitochondria of immune cells. The Harvard Medical School research team cultured mouse and human breast cancer cells and immune cells, such as killer T cells, and used field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) to observe the relationship between cancer cells and immune cells. interactive. Interestingly, they found that cancer cells stick out long nanotubes, typically within 100-1000 nanometers in diameter, each of which connects to multiple immune cells along the way. The researchers used the drug L-778123, which inhibits the formation of nanotubes, for treatment. The higher the concentration of L-778123, the better the treatment effect. Product name are used in various high-tech fields, so the market demand for early strength agent will continue to rise. We are a quality supplier of early strength agent name, please feel free to contact us sales1@nanotrun.com Inquery us In February, Ingenuity Lab member Miranda Ntorinkansah was invited to speak on the student panel for the Midlands Racial Equality in Medicine 2022 Conference. Hosted by the University of Warwick, the MREM conference was designed to bring together medical schools in the Midlands to tackle racial inequalities and close the attainment gap in medicine. Miranda, a third-year Medicine student and Witty Entrepreneurial Scholar , founded Med2Be Consultants in 2021, inspired by her struggles when applying to Medical School. Growing up in London as the daughter of first-generation immigrants, she experienced first-hand how hard it can be for state-educated students and those from under-served communities to get the support needed to successfully apply to study Medicine. I had a fantastic time at the MREM Conference last month, said Miranda. I had the opportunity to meet my peers from various medical schools in the region and learnt more about Warwick Medical Schools initiatives like decolonising their curriculum and improving representation in their leadership. As a panellist, I also shared more about my story and some of my struggles as a black, first-generation medic. It was great to learn more about how to advocate for myself and others, and gave me the opportunity to meet different medics within the region. Miranda on the Student Panel at the MREM Conference Med2Be is a student-led organisation that aims to break down the barriers standing in the way of successfully achieving a place on a medical, dental or pharmacy course. Miranda and her co-founder Chiedza work with a team of medical, dental and pharmacy students from some of the top schools in the country, who know what it takes to get into these competitive courses. It was very difficult getting to where I am now, and I made many mistakes along the way, partly because I didnt have anybody I could go to for advice, she explained. My parents didnt go to university in the UK, so they didnt know how the system worked, and the school I went to didnt have the facilities or track record of sending students to medical school either. She has since been returned to her secondary school to work with young people who aspire to enter the medical profession. Five years ago, I didnt feel like those options were available to me, she said. My journey was a long and rigorous one with many hurdles and disappointments along the way. But I wouldnt change any part of it, as it taught me many key lessons, and formed the basis and passion that led me to start my business. Through the Witty Entrepreneurial Scholarship and her membership of the Ingenuity Lab, Miranda has been able to receive support and advice to help establish and grow her business, all while juggling her studies as a third-year Medic. Miranda added: Support from the Scholarship and the Lab has really helped, especially as I do not have that business background. Its so much more than just providing our services to students its how we market ourselves, how we grow our following its this side of things I didnt have much prior knowledge of. But being part of this is building my knowledge and makes me want to learn more about the business side of things. The first aid convoy in three months reached Ethiopia's war-stricken Tigray region on Friday, the UN said, a week after the government and Tigrayan rebels agreed to a conditional truce. The UN's World Food Programme said on Twitter that 13 trucks had "arrived safely" in the Tigrayan capital Mekele, adding: "More trucks & fuel will follow in morning." The 17-month war has created a humanitarian crisis in northern Ethiopia, with the UN saying hundreds of thousands of people were on the brink of famine in Tigray. It is the first such convoy to reach Tigray since December and follows the declaration last week by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government of an indefinite humanitarian truce, while the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) agreed to a "cessation of hostilities" if aid arrived. Earlier, the UN agency had announced the convoy was on its way to Tigray from the neighbouring Afar region carrying more than 500 tonnes of food "for communities on (the) edge of starvation". "Good progress, much more needed -- we need daily convoys flowing in safely to meet the needs of 5 million people," it said. The arrival of the aid could help shore up the shaky truce between the government and the TPLF. "This is one good step in the right direction," TPLF spokesman Getachew Reda said on Twitter, announcing that 20 WFP trucks had made it to rebel-controlled territory. "The bottom line, though, isn't about how many trucks are allowed but whether there is a system in place to ensure unfettered humanitarian access for the needy!" 'Extreme lack of food' Friday's development comes just days after both sides accused each other of blocking an aid convoy headed for Tigray, which has not seen any humanitarian supplies arrive by road since December 15. The government had announced on Thursday that 21 vehicles carrying relief supplies had started moving through Afar towards Tigray. "The government of Ethiopia reaffirms its commitment to work closely with stakeholders to ensure the full delivery of humanitarian assistance to those in need," it said. A humanitarian source said the convoy had been blocked on Thursday evening by regional forces in Afar but was able to resume its journey on Friday. The WFP on Twitter thanked the federal government and Afar authorities for the convoy's safe passage, which also comes after the US charge d'affaires in Ethiopia, Tracey Jacobson, travelled to Afar this week and met regional president Awol Arba. Nearly 40 percent of Tigray's six million inhabitants face "an extreme lack of food", the UN said in January, with fuel shortages forcing aid workers to deliver medicines and other crucial supplies sometimes by foot. Map of Ethiopia locating the region of Tigray. By Aude GENET AFP Since mid-February, humanitarian operations in the northern region have been virtually halted due to local shortages of fuel, food and cash, according to the UN. Tigray has also been subject to what the UN says is a de-facto blockade and is without elecricity or communications. The United States has accused Abiy's government of preventing aid from reaching those in need, while the authorities in turn have blamed the rebels for the obstruction. Both sides have issued demands in connection with the truce. The government has called on the rebels to "desist from all acts of further aggression and withdraw from areas they have occupied in" the neighbouring regions of Afar and Amhara. The rebels have in turn urged the Ethiopian authorities "to go beyond empty promises and take concrete steps to facilitate unfettered humanitarian access" to Tigray. The government previously declared a "unilateral ceasefire" in Tigray in June last year, after the TPLF mounted a shock comeback and retook the region from federal forces before expanding into Amhara and Afar. The fighting intensified in the second half of 2021 before reaching a stalemate. The rebels at one point claimed to be within 200 kilometres (125 miles) of the capital Addis Ababa. According to the UN, the war has displaced more than two million people, driven hundreds of thousands to the brink of famine and left more than nine million in need of food aid. The conflict erupted in November 2020 when Abiy sent troops into Tigray to topple the TPLF, the region's former ruling party, saying the move came in response to rebel attacks on army camps. Thousands of people have died as fighting has dragged on, while accounts have emerged of massacres and mass rapes, with both sides accused of human rights violations. The Minority in Parliament is suspecting foul play and corruption in governments Green Ghana Project. This comes after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo said during his State of the Nation Address (SONA) that seven million trees have been planted through the project. Before that revelation, the Minister responsible for Lands and Mineral Resource in Parliament earlier noted that about 4.89 million trees were planted. Accusing the government of contradicting figures, the Deputy Ranking Member for the Select Committee on Lands and Natural Resources, Alhassan Suhuyini says there is something wrong somewhere. According to him, the Minority will not stop at anything to ensure government properly account for the Green Ghana Project. We are preparing as a country to undertake second year of Green Ghana. I am sure you heard the President talk about how two million more trees were planted last year even though they projected five million trees. So in effect, the President made the claim that last year seven million trees were planted. Now, the records that is known to the House of Parliament where the President was speaking is clear that only a couple of weeks ago the Minister responsible for Lands and Mineral Resources in answering to a question indicated that only about 4.89 million trees were planted, Hon. Alhassan Suhuyini told Starr News in an interview. The Tamale North MP continued, Lets assume that the Minister is right because he is responsible for the operation of the institutions of the Forestry Commission that was undertaking this project. Where did the President get the figure seven million from? Was he lying to Ghanaians when he said they planted seven million trees last year? We are all in support of attempts to green our nation because we know the effect on the Ozone Layer and carbon emissions. But we will not stop asking the question of transparency and accountability because these seedlings are usually procured with the taxpayers money. Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), attends a press conference in Vienna, Austria, April 1, 2022. (Xinhua/Guo Chen) VIENNA, April 1 (Xinhua) -- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi said Friday that he would head an assistance and support mission to Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant "as soon as possible" to help ensure the facility's safety. Grossi tweeted on Friday that the mission "will be the first in a series of such nuclear safety and security missions to Ukraine." He also told a press conference in Vienna later on Friday that the IAEA mission would be in Chernobyl "very, very soon." The IAEA chief has just returned from his recent visits to Ukraine and Russia, during which he held discussions with officials on both sides about ensuring the security of Ukraine's nuclear facilities. The IAEA said on Thursday the agency had been informed by Ukraine that Russian forces which had been in control of the Chernobyl plant were leaving the facility and had transferred control of the plant to Ukrainian personnel. At Friday's press conference, Grossi said he had not discussed with Russian officials why Russian forces left Chernobyl. Grossi said the IAEA was still unable to confirm reports that Russian forces were contaminated with radiation at the Chernobyl plant. He added that the general radiation level around the plant was "quite normal." "There was a relatively higher level of localized radiation because of the movement of heavy vehicles at the time of the occupation of the plant, and apparently this might have been the case again on the way out," he said. Ukrainian authorities said Russian forces had been in control of the plant since Feb. 24. The Chernobyl plant, some 110 km north of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, suffered one of the worst nuclear accidents in human history on April 26, 1986. Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), speaks during a press conference in Vienna, Austria, April 1, 2022. (Xinhua/Guo Chen) Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), speaks during a press conference in Vienna, Austria, April 1, 2022.(Xinhua/Guo Chen) This week on The Sound Kitchen you'll hear the answer to the question about International Women's Day, plus a look at an extraordinary woman from India, Dr. Hemalatha Nomula. There's The Sound Kitchen mailbag, Ollia's Happy Moment, Music from Erwan, and of course, the new quiz question. Just click on the Audio arrow above and enjoy! Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday here on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll hear the winner's names announced and the week's quiz question, along with all the other ingredients you've grown accustomed to: your letters and essays, On This Day, quirky facts and news, interviews, and great music so be sure and listen every week. RFI Planete Radio is sponsoring a video contest, and we want you to enter! Planete Radio is an RFI department that reaches out to remote populations around the world. For the fourth consecutive year, Planete Radio is holding a video competition on environmental issues. The theme of this year's competition is Show how they feel: You are to create a 3-minute video about climate change, the environment, pollution - told by the people it affects. Here's what Planete Radio says about the competition: Environmental deterioration, climate change, pollution, everybody's talking about it. But amid articles, figures, and expert reports, what do we really know about the feelings of the people already impacted? The video clips produced by the ePOP community in more than 50 countries allow us to hear from those who never ask for anything yet have seen it all - those who are already living with these changes that deteriorate their quality of life. Your project can be intergenerational: Get together with your grandfather, your aunt, someone older in your community and ask them how they feel about what is happening to their surroundings or to the place where they grew up. Your project can also be about how you, or people your age, feel about climate change, given that your future will be affected by this phenomenon. Gather the words of those around you who are confronting the environmental crisis in their daily lives, investing, researching, and questioning the urgency of deploying solutions to face it. Prizes for this year's competition include equipment grants from 1,000 to 4,500 euros, as well as ePOP promotion kits and other goodies. For competition guidelines and more information about the four different categories you can enter, click here. You can also write to us at [email protected] if you need more help. We're very proud that the winner in the ePOP 2020 RFI Club category went to an English language club Adita Prithika's RFI Agnichiragu Phoenix Club in Tamil Nadu, India. Here's Adita's award-winning video. Please note that you do not have to be a member of an RFI English Club to enter. Everyone is welcome! The deadline for entries is 1 May, so get to work! Erwan and I are busy cooking up special shows with your musical requests, so get them in! Send your musical requests to [email protected] Tell us why you like the piece of music, too it makes it more interesting for us all! Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts! In addition to the breaking news articles on our site, with in-depth analysis of current affairs in France and across the globe, we have several podcasts which will leave you hungry for more. There's Paris Perspective, Africa Calling, Spotlight on France, and of course, The Sound Kitchen. We have a bilingual series - an old-time radio show, with actors (!) to help you learn French, called Les voisins du 12 bis. And there is the excellent International Report, too. As you see, sound is still quite present from the RFI English service. Keep checking our website for updates on the latest from our excellent staff of journalists. You never know what we'll surprise you with! To listen to our podcasts from your PC, go to our website and click on the three horizontal bars on the top right, choose Listen to RFI / Podcasts, and you've got 'em ! You can either listen directly or subscribe and receive them directly on your mobile phone. To listen to our podcasts from your mobile phone, slide through the tabs just under the lead article (the first tab is Headline News) until you see Podcasts, and choose your show. Teachers, take note! I save postcards and stamps from all over the world to send to you for your students. If you would like stamps and postcards for your students, just write and let me know. The address is [email protected] If you would like to donate stamps and postcards, feel free! Our address is listed below. Another idea for your students: my beloved music teacher from St Edward's University in Austin, Texas, Br Gerald Muller, has been writing books for young adults in his retirement and they are free! There is a volume of biographies of painters and musicians called Gentle Giants, and an excellent biography of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., too. They are also a good way to help you improve your English - that's how I worked on my French, reading books which were meant for young readers and I guarantee you, it's a good method for improving your language skills. To get Br. Gerald's free books, click here. Independent RFI English Clubs: Be sure to always include Audrey Iattoni ([email protected]) from our Listener Relations department in all your RFI Club correspondence. Remember to copy me ([email protected]) when you write to her so that I know what is going on, too. N.B.: You do not need to send her your quiz answers! Email overload! And don't forget, there is a Facebook page just for you, the independent RFI English Clubs. Only members of RFI English Clubs can belong to this group page, so when you apply to join, be sure you include the name of your RFI Club and your membership number. Everyone can look at it, but only members of the group can post on it. If you haven't yet asked to join the group, and you are a member of an independent, officially recognized RFI English club, go to the Facebook link above , and fill out the questionnaire !!!!! (if you do not answer the questions, I click decline). There's a Facebook page for members of the general RFI Listeners Club, too. Just click on the link above and fill out the questionnaire, and you can connect with your fellow Club members around the world. Be sure you include your RFI Listeners Club membership number (most of them begin with an A, followed by a number) in the questionnaire, or I will have to click Decline, which I don't like to do! This week's quiz: On 5 March, we had an early tribute to International Women's Day, which is celebrated every year on 8 March and to that end, the quiz was about the holiday. As I noted then, International Women's Day has a long history, with different countries proposing a Women's Day in the early 20th century. I asked you to do a little research and find out when the earliest version of Women's Day occurred, who organized it, and in which country. The answer is: According to the United Nations' article Background: International Women's Day, the earliest version of Women's Day was organized by the Socialist Party of New York, in New York City, on 28 February 1909. Then, at the 1910 International Socialist Women's Conference, the German delegates proposed an annual Women's Day which was adopted by various countries over the years. International Women's Day became a global holiday when it was added to the calendar of official United Nations Days in 1977. The winners are: RFI Listeners Club members Rachid Dahmani from M'sila, Algeria; Tasneem Saleh from Nilphamari, Bangladesh; Arne Timm from Harjumaa, Estonia; Radhakrishna Pillai N. from Kerala State in India, and RFI English listener Lata Khondaker from Bogura, Bangladesh. Congratulations winners! Here's the music you heard on this week's program: Dance with Waves by Anouar Brahem, performed by Brahem and his quartet; The Flight of the Bumblebee by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov; Africa Unity a Must by Femi Kuti, performed by Kuti and Positive Force, and Turbulences by Michel Portal, performed by Portal and his ensemble. Do you have a musical request? Send it to [email protected] This week's question ... You have to listen to the show to participate. After you've listened to the show, refer to Michael Fitzpatrick's article to help you with the answer. You have until 9 May to enter this week's quiz; the winners will be announced on the 14 May podcast. When you enter, be sure you send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number. Send your answers to: [email protected] or Susan Owensby RFI The Sound Kitchen 80, rue Camille Desmoulins 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux France or By text You can also send your quiz answers to The Sound Kitchen mobile phone. Dial your country's international access code, or + , then 33 6 31 12 96 82. Don't forget to include your mailing address in your text and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number. To find out how you can win a special Sound Kitchen prize, click here. To find out how you can become a member of the RFI Listeners Club, or to form your own official RFI Club, click here. Even though every government needs ministers to carry out various functions but to make it easier for the president to deal with a huge variety of issues, he has to appoint an advisor. The current Senior Presidential advisor to President Nana Akufo Addo is Yaw Osafo-Maafo but who is Osafo-Maafo? And why among all the NPP politicians, did Akufo Addo choose this particular man as his advisor? I dont have friends because I dont need them but if Im interested, I will make sure to find those that will build me up with more wisdom, since bad company ruins good morals. It's over five years since Akufo Addo became the president of Ghana, unfortunately, he has never been successful in anything. Poor decisions, corruption, waste of resources, huge debt without accountability, and the lack of job creation, have made him the worst president in the political history of Ghana. What good advice does Akufo Addo expect from Yaw Osafo Maafo, the former Education Minister sacked by ex-president John Agyekum Kufuor? If Yaw Osafo-Maafo is the Senior Presidential advisor to Akufo Addo and the president has failed in everything he does and the decision he makes, then we need to ask ourselves, what kind of advice does Osafo-Maafo give to Nana Akufo Addo? Why has Nana Akufo Addo failed as a leader, is it because he is an incompetent president, or is his Senior Advisor, Osafo Maafo, responsible for the president's failure due to his harmful advice? Why was the stone rejected by the ex-Ghanaian president, John Agyekum Kufuor became the cornerstone of Akufo Addos government? I don't understand Akufo Addo. Osafo Maafo, the current Senior Presidential advisor to President Nana Akufo Addo, was sacked by ex-president John Kufuor, when serving as the Minister of Education, over an alleged corruption scandal involving a $2 million. Akufo Addo ignored this fact and still appointed Osafo-Maafo as his Presidential Advisor. I don't know if Akufo Addo understands what he did and what it means to both the party and the ex-president, John Agyekum Kufuor. I do understand Akufo Addo sometimes, even though I am not a psychologist. Since the president knows he is not a saint but corrupt, he eats and dines with corrupt politicians but I hate his lies when he wants to convince Ghanaians that I Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo, Im not corrupt. The Ghanaian president is a Christian who loves God, thats why has promised Him a Cathedral, besides, it is written in his bible that Jesus did not come to call the righteous but sinners, therefore, Akufo Addo finds it comfortable to add corrupt politicians to his government. Unfortunately, Akufo Addo adding corrupt politicians such as Eugene Arhin, Charles Bissiw, Kwasi Anin-Yeboah, Paul Adom-Otchere, etc, to his government is not the same as Jesus looking for sinners because the Saviors mission is to heal them, while Akufo Addo is promoting corruption. Thats why his government has been the most corrupt in Ghanas political history, all because Akufo Addos decisions are very bad and his thinking ability very poor. He should have avoided Osafo-Maafo since Kufuor had him sacked. How can the NPP lick back the vomit of the NPP? How does any intelligent person expect Ghana to grow under Nana Akufo Addo who is still attached to Osafo-Maafo, giving him harmful advice every day? I am not saying this to discourage the common Ghanaians, yet the truth is, apart from the politicians that have enough to eat and, therefore, don't feel the impact of the country's economic disaster, no one should expect any better governance under this NPP government until they are no more in power. (Monrovia, Liberia): The City Government of Monrovia has condemned in the highest term an unprovoked and unjustified attack on Monrovia City Mayor Jefferson T. Koijee by contaminated and unscrupulous individuals who were seen wearing paraphernalia of different kinds on the Capitol Hill Campus of the University of Liberia. The City Government of Monrovia hereby calls on Authorities of the University of Liberia to launch an immediate probe to ascertain the hidden nature of the attack and as well bring the perpetrators to book and face the requisite punishment in consonance with the law; and sternly warns that it will not take lightly any form of violence meted out against the City Mayor or any other citizen residing in the city limit of Monrovia and it's environs. It can be recalled that on Thursday, March 31, 2022, Monrovia City Mayor Jefferson T. Koijee went to attend an occasion on the Capitol Hill Campus of the University of Liberia where a ceremony was held in honor of a fallen statesman Dr. Amos Claudius Sawyer, at which time he was unreasonably, unjustifiably attacked by individuals yet to be identified. An elaborate press conference was held at the Monrovia City Hall on Friday, April 1, 2022, in which Mayor Koijee lamented that people claiming to be students of the University of Liberia were sufficiently armed with machetes and other deadly weaponry. He added that stones were thrown at him and that his security at the moment was at a high risk. "We want to use this time to categorically condemn the unfortunate situation that ensued on the grounds of the Capitol Building particularly the University of Liberia where we witnessed the lost or the damage of properties and the severe body injuries on peaceful citizens" and added that "Under no form and manner somebody should encounter injury. It shouldn't be something that we are comfortable about". "We think it's wrong and is totally unaccepted. We want to use this time to call on the Authorities of the University of Liberia to launch a speedy investigation and to ensure that the culprits be brought to book", he noted. He also notified that it is prudent that the Liberia National Police get involve and work closely with authorities of the university to avoid reoccurrence of the situation. "We also think that the Liberia National Police can work with the authority of the university hands-in-hands so that we can be able to ensure that those attitudes that are totally uncalled for, be dealt with". Meanwhile, the City Government of Monrovia sees this unprovoked and unjustified attack on Mayor Koijee as an abuse to humanity and one's constitutional right to free movement as enshrined in the 1986 revised constitution of the Republic of Liberia. With a deep feeling of sadness, the City Government expresses great dismay over the situation and intimates that no citizen, regardless of political affiliation, cultural assimilation, or socioeconomic status deserves to be a victim of brute force attack coming from individuals who claim to have been the right set of people to be seated in lucrative positions in national government. Earlier on Saturday, March 26, 2022, Mayor Koijee received a call from the leadership of the Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA) asking to use the premises of the Monrovia City Government to celebrate Dr. Amos Claudius Sawyer, following his role played in the redemption struggle in Liberia. Mayor Koijee in excellent fate granted the permission with the Monrovia City Government shouldering the full responsibility of the occasion. According to Mayor Koijee, he saw it as an opportunity to partake in the home going of a great statesman. "But on the issue of Dr. Sawyer, we thought it wise to allow MOJA to be granted a free space. Fuel and all other expenses were shouldered by the Monrovia City Government." We have no regret; infact, we are very proud that we were able to have an opportunity to participate in the home going of a person that has been widely celebrated and considered one of our finest iconic figures who lived his life beyond a particular grouping in this country", he continued. Mayor Koijee did not go to speak at the occasion, he only attended to listen and watch. Unfortunately, when his name was called, 'claimed to be' leaders began to murmur. "When they pronounced my name, automatically there was an upheaval in the theater of which I am the Mayor of the city". I calmed myself in front of them. Too often we know the tendency where people who are unable to confront you in person, normally use either institution or individuals as surrogates and puppets and have them puppeteered." That program was being disrupted. In fact, Cllr. Tiawone gonglo was so embarrassed in front of me, and the microphone was being wrestled off his hand", Mayor Koijee iterated. It's an opened fact that we have the premises of the Monrovia City Government ranging from the Ballroom, the Theater, and the Presidential parlor which are all for renting. We use these places to generate resources to be able to sustain our operation and the upkeep of the Monrovia City Government. Normally when you come to use the Monrovia City Government's edifice, a stipulated percent is required. Against this background, the City Government of Monrovia has made tremendous progress in combating solid waste. The City Government of Monrovia has introduced a new model for waste control in Monrovia. It is intended to properly manage waste and a pilot test has been initiated on Front and Center Streets. It will extend to Bong Mine Bridge which is already 60% clean. Currently, central Monrovia is being stabilized and there are plans to extend to the northern and southern regions. More than fifty loads of garbage were taken from Rally Town Market which was an illegal dumping site created by marketers and community dwellers. The City Government of Monrovia also appreciates petit traders for their partnership in helping to keep Monrovia clean and calls on citizens to desist from bad sanitation practice. Residents are encouraged not to give their garbage to illegal and unrecognized individuals; rather, members of our test team formulated by the mayor. Abuja, April 1, 2022 Ghanaian authorities should swiftly investigate an attack on journalist Michael Aidoo and hold those responsible to account, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Friday. On March 5, two soldiers at a military hospital in the Ashanti region repeatedly slapped Aidoo, a member of an investigative journalism fellowship program organized by the local press freedom group Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), and forced the journalist to do push-ups for taking pictures of the hospital, according to the journalist, who spoke by phone with CPJ, and an MFWA report. The attack lasted around 30 minutes, during which the soldiers also briefly placed a cement block on Aidoos waist to make the push-ups more difficult and deleted all the photos and videos he took that day from his phone, Aidoo said. Authorities in Ghana must hold those responsible for the March 5 attack on journalist Michael Aidoo and ensure that the press can work safely without fear of violence or censorship by security forces, said Angela Quintal, CPJs Africa program coordinator, from New York. Far too often impunity prevails when journalists are violently attacked by those who are supposed to ensure their safety. These security officers make a mockery of the rights of the press and the people. Aidoo said he was assigned as part of his MFWA fellowship to investigate the alleged abandonment of the Afari military hospital, located in the Atwima Nwabiagya district of the Ashanti region. He had gone there at 6 a.m. on March 5, hoping that he would arrive early enough to avoid any authorities who might seek to interfere with his reporting. Aidoo said he met a military officer at the entrance to the hospital and after being granted access, he filmed the premises and interviewed a security guard. He was about to leave when he found that an office of Ghanas ruling New Patriotic Party was located within the hospital grounds and decided to film the office as well. Aidoo said that while filming the NPP office, the same military officer approached him and demanded that the journalist hand over his phone. When the journalist refused, the officer grabbed it and Aidoo said he then ran away, leaving the phone with the officer, but the officer chased him, slapped him five times on the face and head, and then took the journalist to the military base on the hospital grounds. At the base, another officer threatened to beat Aidoo if he did not unlock his phone, so Aidoo complied, the journalist told CPJ. The soldiers then called their commander, who instructed them to delete the journalists photos and videos and to return the phone to the journalist. After deleting the photos and videos, the soldiers called the commander again, who asked to speak with Aidoo on the phone; the commander asked why the journalist was filming and taking pictures of the hospital premises and said he had told his soldiers to slap the journalist after the commander learned about the pictures. According to Aidoo, the soldiers then told the journalist that he would be punished and instructed Aidoo to do 30 push-ups. The soldiers forced the journalist to start anew each time he failed to do the full 30 without stopping and the soldiers briefly placed a cement block on his waist to make it more difficult, he said. The soldiers removed the cement when Aidoo told them after two attempts that he could not proceed with the push-ups while carrying the cement, he told CPJ. The soldier returned Aidoos phone and told him to run from the hospital premises, but the journalist felt too weak to run and was experiencing leg pain, so he walked out; the soldiers threatened to further punish him if he did not run, he told CPJ. After leaving, Aidoo said he informed his employers and was advised to report the incident at the police station, which he did the same day. CPJs calls to the number listed on the Ashanti regional police website rang unanswered. Aidoo also said he visited the hospital, where he was given some medication to stop the pain but was told he had no major injuries. Aidoo, however, said he had a cut on his left hand that happened sometime when the first soldier forcefully took him to the military base. He added that because of the incident, he had difficulty breathing for three days. The MFWA wrote to Ghanas minister of defense, Dominic Nitiwul, requesting an investigation into the attack, according to the same report by the foundation. Muheeb Saeed, a senior programs officer with the MFWA, told CPJ by messaging app that they have not received any response from Nitiwul. CPJs calls and text messages to Nitiwul went unanswered. Author: Al Mukhollis Siagian 02.04.2022 LISTEN The unconditional right to freedom of expression is the basis of all freedoms and guarantees the security of people of different minds - Reviewer of The Interdisciplinary Social Science All nation-state regimes often regard criticism as an enemy, because they are smart to break the shackles. The way criticism works is by overtaking the duping of meaning and ridiculing the irrational interpretation of values, as the most effective and harsh act of human emancipation, of course also one of the most dangerous acts. Criticism, satire, and sarcasm always frighten the regime holders who want their desire for power to run smoothly anywhere. In fact, criticism anywhere in the world has become the most effective tool for breaking taboos and straightening out deviations. Critics play an important role in enabling conversations that seem nebulous from the public eye. This important point seems to have completely crossed the heads of liberals and regressive leftists with its tendency to intensify calls to ward off offensive criticism. By pressing for an end to critical dialogue about a perverted act produced by the regime, they will set a new standard for justifying the silence of dissenting voices. By engaging in communitarianism and becoming prisoners of political correctness, they have forgotten that any denial will always amplify evil. Since 2020, Freedom House has released reports on the freedom of speech of people in various countries. Where Indonesia has a global freedom score of 59 which consists of 30 points for political rights and 29 points for civil liberties. Furthermore, Indonesia has a score of 48 freedom on the internet. This means that Indonesia is in the status of partly free in the quality of democracy. The next report was also released by The Economist Intelligence Unit, the ranking of our latest democracy slumped to 64th position with a score of 6.39. Based on the categorization of The Economist Intelligence Unit, Indonesia's democracy has the status of flawed democracies. The two reports above are not inconsistent with the findings of the national version, a study conducted by Indonesian Political Indicators in 2020 has confirmed with the results that there has been an increase in threats to civil liberties. The majority of the public tend to agree that the public is increasingly afraid to voice their opinion (79.6%), it is difficult to demonstrate (73.8%), and the apparatus is considered to be increasingly arbitrarily arresting citizens who have different political views with the authorities (57.7%). The three releases of the findings show that the Indonesian people are afraid to voice their opinions and find it difficult to hold demonstrations. Real evidence is stifling the high level of silence on the progress of criticism in this nation-state. One of the manifestations of the regime's authority in the form of regulations to silence critics is through the ITE Law. In 2019, a prominent journalist and founder of the Watchdoc production house, Dandhy Dwi Laksono, was picked up by Polda Metro Jaya officials. He holds the status of a suspect and is charged with violating Article 28 paragraph (2), in conjunction with Article 45 A paragraph (2) Law Number 8 of 2016 concerning Information and Electronic Transactions (ITE) and/or Article 14 and Article 15 Number 1 of 1946 concerning Law Criminal. The accusation against him as a suspect was judged from uploads on social media regarding Papua with allegations of containing hate speech. Also for a noble cause, advocate and human rights activist Veronica Koman was silenced by the ITE Law regarding her point of view on Papua. Koman was determined by the East Java Police with layered articles from the Criminal Code, the Law on the Elimination of Racism and Ethnicity, and the ITE Law on September 4, 2019. Veronica escaped from police security because she was in Australia. The ITE Law's entanglement against government critics also targeted public policy researcher Ravio Patra on charges of inviting people to carry out national looting on April 30, which coincided with the plan for workers and students to demonstrate against the job creation bill. At the end of 2020 also targeting the Koalisi Aksi Menyelamatkan Indonesia (KAMI). A number of high-ranking alliance officials were arrested by the police on suspicion of spreading provocative messages related to demonstrations against the Omnibus Law on Job Creation. And finally, in August 2021, there were 15 cases and 18 victims of the ITE Law based on a release disclosed by Amnesty International Indonesia. The regime's mistakes have made future generations laugh and when the regime talks about them it is often seen as a form of responsibility for the crimes they have suffered and the anger they have caused. With the laudable intention of ending critical dialogue, they committed one of the greatest violations of freedom by trying to remove plural criticism and end debate. Exactly like the meaning behind the President's sentence Jokowi at the Presidential Palace, Thursday (10/24/2019) which reads "We want to build a mutual cooperation democracy. So I need to say that in Indonesia there is no such thing as a rich opposition in other countries. Our democracy is a mutual cooperation democracy. Contrary to what they think, contrary to what Jokowi explicitly said, criticism is open in the realm of democracy. Strictly speaking, Jokowi during his speech at the MPR Annual Session at the Parliament Building, Monday (16/08/2021) said that "constructive criticism is really needed and we always answer that by fulfilling our responsibilities, as expected by the people". All of the above activists, journalists, religious figures, free thinkers, and writers are evidence that criticism of the regime has led to a steep and thorny road in Jokowi's democracy. We have not included a number of policies that have received rejection from the public but have been ignored, such as the various controversial bills in 2019, the 2020 Job Creation Omnibus Law, and the 2022 IKN Law. With all of this they have proven that criticism cannot work in Jokowi's democracy, for generations of heirs to the spirit of the archipelago, this is a bad legacy. However, on the other hand, the Jokowi regime has also proven that the unconditional right to freedom of expression is the basis of all freedoms and security guarantees for a pluralistic and different-minded Indonesian society. In relation to this full of mourning, a community called the Paguyuban Korban UU ITE (Paku ITE) has been formed. They are survivors, critics who are silenced in a democracy. Three hungry lepers went to the market to buy some foodstuffs to prepare food. They went to a stall where a woman sold fish and vegetables. There were quite a number of people also waiting to buy from the market woman, and so the lepers had to wait for their turn, but their turn never came; the woman ignored them and decided to serve customers who came much later. Irked by this development, the lepers decided to scuttle the womans business. They forcibly made their way into the stall and started touching the foodstuffs with their severed fingers. Ye tapo, tapo, they spoke through their noses in unison while touching the foodstuffs. Away bus, all the customers left the stall no one wants to buy food items touched by lepers. Having finished with the story of the lepers, as citizens, it will be essential for us to discuss some matters of national interest which are worthy of analysis. The cost of living is now very high and prices of goods and services are skyrocketing. It is, therefore, believed that the passing and implementation of the E-levy will overburden the already suffering Ghanaian as it adds up to the numerous taxes citizens are already paying. Many also think that the E-levy is going to increase unemployment because it is going to collapse the Mobile Money Banking business popularly known as "momo". The most incensed group of people regarding the passing of the E-levy are market women and traders who have resorted to the use of "momo" to pay for goods because of attacks by highway robbers. As the economy continues to twist and turn, with dips and dives, tempers are rising, and Ghanaians especially market women and traders may not be easy converts to any unreasonable level of endurance. And they seem to be mimicking the ghost, "If you have managed to escape tonight, remember there will be other nights." True to the words of the ghost, there are many nights, and interestingly, one of it falls on December 7, 2024; so, a market woman whispered to me, "If government goes ahead to implement the E-levy, walahi talahi, ye b3 tapo, tapo." Anthony Obeng Afrane AngloGold Ashanti has made significant strides in efforts to ensure quality education delivery in Obuasi. The company through its Social Management Plan which was launched in 2019 has committed over GH 5million into educational development in the last three years. This was made known by the Senior Manager, Sustainability, Emmanuel Baidoo when he led AngloGold Ashanti to donate 1000 chairs and a modern Public Address system to the Obuasi Senior High and Technical School. Totalling GH 242,715, the chairs are expected to enhance interaction with students for better learning outcomes. It will help students sit comfortably during school gatherings which was not the case previously where students had to stand through school gatherings for long periods. The situation affected their concentration on issues being discussed coupled with the frustration that accompanied holding outdoor activities which involved large number of students without a powerful PA system. On investments made by Anglogold Ashanti towards educational development, Mr. Baidoo said a significant part of the investment has gone into the provision of infrastructure, building the capacity of teachers to enhance effective teaching and learning outcomes. "When we invest in education, it will definitely translate into developing the Human Resource capability that we need as a country to pursue the developmental agenda that we seek to push as a country", he added. He again lifted the lid on what should be expected in AGA's 10 year development plan which is yet to be outdoored. He said, in contributing to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), the 10 year development Plan will focus on developing these areas which Obuasi Senior High and Technical will have its fair share. The Headmaster of the school Ernest Wiafe who received the items thanked Anglogold Ashanti for coming to the aid of the school. He said the school had no furniture at its auditorium which was completed in 2017. Describing the donation as a timely intervention, the Headmaster said the donation has come at a time when the school is expecting about 1,800 first year students which will put a lot of pressure on the existing furniture of the school. Dr. Ernest Atiemo, the Global President of the Old Students Association of the school said the lack of furniture and PA system at the auditorium was of a major concern to the Old Students Association. He thanked Anglogold Ashanti for coming to their aid when they called on them for support. The Municipal Chief Executive for West Gonja, Musah Kusubari has admonished resource guards of the biggest game reserve in Ghana, the Mole National Park to endeavor at all times to protect the animals and plant species in the park. Speaking at a refresher training for some 75 resource guards deployed at the Mole National Park, the MCE said the protection of the resources in the park was not negotiable to the workers whose livelihood was dependent on the existence of the very park resources. He added that,"without the forest reserve and without these animals and plant species, you wouldn't be here...". He reiterated that discipline and patience were key ingredients to success, calling on the trainees especially, the newly inducted forest guards to humble themselves and learn from their leaders and those ahead of them. "Count yourself very lucky to be selected among the privileged few to work in this park. So, do your very best to protect the animals. "You are here to protect the forest, so that generations yet unborn will also come and benefit from your sacrifice. If the resources in the forest are depleted and destroyed, future generations will suffer from your negligence of duty," he stated. The Park Manager for the Mole National Park, Ali Mahama, called on staff to intensify their efforts at protecting the park as an important heritage for future generations. He admonished the trainees, especially the new staff to abreast themselves with the collective bargaining agreement and work towards the vision of protecting the park for the future generations. He also acknowledged the efforts of the CITES-MIKE programme for funding the refresher training which was aimed at empowering the trainees with skills to help improve park protection and field activities. The Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants(MIKE) programme in his words, was established by the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and is largely dependent on donor support with the European Union (EU) being the most important donor for the CITES-MIKE programme. Alfred Bara, who spoke on behalf of the instructors took trainees through an overview of the training modules and various sessions. He encouraged the trainees to take the course structures very seriously. According to him, one important tool for forest law enforcement was the establishment and manning of observation post. He commended the park and training group for working without casualties. He also encouraged the trainees to share the knowledge acquired and discipline themselves within the work ethics of the Forestry Commission. Instructors took trainees through intensive first aid and life saver training, parade deportment and drills, patrol formation, patrol tactics, bush craft, protected area conflict management, leadership and team building, and an introduction to the Forestry Commission's Human Resource policy as well as the consolidated Wildlife laws of Ghana. The Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) as part of its exchange program would host a training for firefighters across the west African sub-region later the year. This would help expand the horizons of the service personnel and open up a world of new educational and logistics opportunities. It will also allow the service to view new and current trends in the industry. Chief Fire Officer, Mr Julius A Kuunuor, who made this known mentioned that the Service had established a new forensic science laboratory at its national headquarters in Accra with the help of the National insurance Commission. The yet to be equipped and commissioned forensic science laboratory, he said would be responsible for the examination and analysis of evidentiary materials, in areas including chemistry, arson, firearms, biochemistry and trace evidence among others. This, he emphasized would go a long way to help the GNFS in fire investigation and report writing. Nonetheless, he stressed that the GNFS would need assistance with the construction of the fire service college and the special hospital at Kyebi in the Eastern Region. Divisional Officer Albert Aidoo of the Directorate of Policy Planning Monitoring and Evaluation said the GNFS existed with the vision to save lives and properties through firefighting, rehabilitation and other rescue services. He noted that the Service has contributed immensely to the well-being of the country since its inception in 1963. In the past decades, he indicated that the GNFS has demonstrated through the delivery of its valued services, training and development of human resource capacity, competence in fire engineering and rescue, equipment tool and logistics as well as local and international reputations as a credible institution. He said the Service was adequately working closely with the Civil Protection Department of the Republic of Malta to train officers in various capabilities such as forensics, fire investigation and report writing, incident command system, operational fire fighting among others. This, he said was to boost the operational capabilities of the personnel and enable them learn new approaches to handling different situations. He stressed that the service was preparing for the next batch of 20 officers to be deployed to Malta for their training in addition to the 40 that had already undergone the said training. Malta Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Jean Claude Malea Galea assured the Service of continued support and promised to strengthen the bilateral cooperation programme. He further pledged to work closely with the Service to train more officers in various capabilities to strengthen the operational capacities of personnel of the GNFS. 02.04.2022 LISTEN The Rwanda-Uganda border was reopened on 31st January 2022, following the closure of the border for about two years. The move to reopen the Katuna border, which has been among the critical issues at the centre of relations between the two countries, is a significant relief to the business community that has endured two years of trade disruption. The Katuna border reopening is great news for the Private Sector and Trade, opening up a chance to export Ugandan products. The Ugandan trade fraternity should resolve pending issues between Rwanda and Uganda to speedy normalize relations between the two countries. There have been complaints about delays in crossing at the Katuna border, spotlighting that even with the reopening, more needs to be addressed. After three years of closure, there has been a general breakdown in bilateral trade. The morale among exporters is particularly low, and infrastructure is in disrepair. But with the opening of the border, trade volume is expected between the two countries. The major concern is now for both countries to rethink their prevalent trade policies and practices to flourish free trade. For Uganda, improving infrastructure at the side of the border would go a long way to increase trade volume between the countries. There is a need to rehabilitate cracked parts of the Kabale-Katuna Highway that leads to the border. The potholes and mud have blocked heavy trucks, thereby hindering adequate transportation. Infrastructure enhances connectivity and encourages the number of exports. Boosting infrastructure would ensure that Uganda performs better in inter-state trade. Uganda should focus on increasing security in the Katuna area. Ensuring adequate border security and management is essential for preventing and countering the flow of suspected insurgents. Border security and management are imperative to curb the illicit cross-border movement. Both countries have a flourishing tourism industry, and activities like gorilla trekking cut across the borders. Therefore, it is essential to warrant security for crossing tourists. Giving Border Patrol sensor technology and having more security personnel available to search vehicles can improve safety. The unionisation of Ugandan exporters would boost the lagging trade at the border. Upon reopening, business at the border has been slow. To increase the volume of trade to Rwanda, the Uganda government should incentivize exporters to unionise. The formation of trade unions would bring about collective bargaining and increase bargaining power on the market. Ultimately, unionising would increase the price of Ugandan products in the Rwandan market, thereby boosting morale and productivity among traders. The opening of the Katuna border is an opportunity to strengthen bilateral ties between the two states. The renewed free movement of goods and services would accelerate economic development. However, Uganda must revise its trade policies for free trade to blossom. Preta Peace Namasaba is a writing fellow at the African Liberty Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi holds talks with Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai in Tunxi, east China's Anhui Province, April 2, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu) HEFEI, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks on Saturday with Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai in Tunxi, east China's Anhui Province, with the two sides agreeing to promote bilateral ties. Noting that this year marks the 10th anniversary of the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Thailand, Wang said China is willing to advance all-round cooperation with Thailand. Wang said both sides should step up consultations on the Belt and Road cooperation plan outline and joint action plan, and accelerate the construction of the China-Thailand railway. Wang also called on the two countries to take the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement as an opportunity to tap the potential of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and to expand cooperation in electronic technology, digital economy, new energy and other fields. Don Pramudwinai said that Thailand cherishes the traditional friendship between the two countries and is willing to work with China to jointly build the Belt and Road to a high quality standard and actively participate in the Global Development Initiative. Thailand hopes to expand agricultural trade, connectivity and cooperation, ensure the security of industrial and supply chains, and deepen cooperation on sustainable development, Don Pramudwinai said. The two sides agreed to solidly advance the China-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership and maintain in-depth communication on strengthening multilateral coordination. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi holds talks with Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai in Tunxi, east China's Anhui Province, April 2, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu) 02.04.2022 LISTEN The Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Decentralization (MLGRD), Dan Kwaku Botwe has asked the various assemblies to enforce sanitation by-laws to help rid the country of filth. He said they can also make their laws as well. His comments come on the back of a tour he embarked on to the various landfill sites in Accra. He said the country can be cleaned if the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) without fear or favour apply the laws to the letter. The assemblies have by-law, and they can also make their own laws as well to make sure the cities are clean. We continue to urge them to put in place sanctions because when there is filth in the communities, it has a great effect on our health. The MMDAs need to take charge of cleanliness in communities and cities; and it is our duty to make sure they take sanitation as their top priority. Any assembly that doesnt see sanitation as a priority will be sanctioned. With regard to the provisions of transfer stations in Accra to reduce the turnaround time for the trucks that will take the filth to landfill sites, the minister assured that these stations will be ready in due time. Even if you will sanction someone for doing the wrong thing, you have to first make it easy for them to do the right thing, then when they flout, you can sanction them. Hence, the transfer sites will be ready so that the tricycles can easily access them. The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Henry Quartey has begun a motion; Operation Clean Your Frontage, in the quest to make Accra Work, making it the cleanest city in Ghana. The Minister banned tricycles from using the highways for reasons that their pace is too slow, and that they liter the street with filth. This decision of his was battled against as the rubbish collectors argued that the highways, particularly the motorway, is the only route they can use to reach the dumping site at Kpone which is the only one that can house a lot of refuse. The Ministry hence assured that more dumping sites will be made available and very much operational to help see this course succeed. citinewsroom Member of Parliament for Ellembelle Constituency, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah wants the Ghana Police Service to launch a thorough investigation into the incident that caused the deadly violence at the forecourt of the Nkroful Magistrate Court on Friday, April 1. The incident left one person dead with four others injured. Two are said to have sustained life-threatening wounds and are battling for their lives at the Eikwe Catholic Hospital. A statement issued by Mr Armah-Kofi Buah, a former Minister of Energy and Petroleum, on Friday condemned the incident but called for a probe into its cause. He said the tension between the youth and Adamus Resources Limited is deepening by the day. A sad reminder of the tension that has characterized the relationship between the communities and Adamus Mining Company since this mining company began operations in the area, he noted. I call for a thorough investigation by the police to be followed by an independent investigation by CHRAJ to ensure truth and justice delivery. I also call on the affected communities to exercise restraint and calm while the investigations are carried out. He called for a united approach in engaging Adamus to deal with the root causes of the recurring incidents to ensure peace and justice. Background Some military officers Friday dawn rounded up small-scale miners who were on the concession of Adamus Resources Limited . The miners, all of whom are youth of the community, were immediately arraigned before the court that day. But the chief of Teleku-Bokazo was informed about the incident. He led some youth to the court and that is where the scuffle ensued between the miners and the military officers. One person by name Andrew Donkor of Teleku-Bokazo was killed after he sustained gunshot wounds. 3news.com A massive blaze has destroyed the central market in the northern Somali city of Hargeisa, wiping out hundreds of small businesses, officials said on Saturday. Fierce flames tore through the Waheen market late on Friday, sending huge clouds of smoke billowing into the night sky over Hargeisa, the capital of the breakaway region of Somaliland. The cause of the inferno that engulfed the sprawling market -- the economic lifeblood of the city and home to an estimated 2,000 shops and stalls -- is not yet known. Officials have issued urgent appeals for help to recover from the disaster that injured more than two dozen people and is certain to inflict further hardship on thousands more in the impoverished desert city. "The town has never witnessed such a massive calamity," Hargeisa's mayor Abdikarim Ahmed Moge told reporters at the scene. The fire gutted the Waheen market. By MATAAN YUUSUF AFP The fire broke out on Friday evening and firefighters battled the flames for hours before it was largely brought under control on Saturday. "This place was the economic centre of Hargeisa and even though the firefighters did their best to contain the fire, the market is destroyed," the mayor said. He added that the blaze could have been brought under control before causing such extensive damage but firefighters' efforts were hampered by problems of access. 'I have lost everything' The vast market is a crowded warren of shops and makeshift stalls, with no proper streets, only narrow pathways. Images of the aftermath in and around Waheen showed charred and blackened buildings, some still smouldering, with their windows blown out. The leaders of several countries including Britain, which once ruled Somaliland, and neighbouring Ethiopia, voiced their shock and sympathy over the disaster. Somalia's President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, better known by his nickname Farmajo, also telephoned Somaliland president Muse Bihi Abdi to discuss the damage wrought by the fire, his office said on Twitter. Abdi meanwhile said during a visit to Waheen that about 28 people, nine of them women, were injured, but that so far no loss of life had been reported. He said the government of Somaliland -- which declared independence from Somalia three decades ago -- would be releasing one million dollars to help with the emergency response to the blaze. Hargeisa is the capital of the breakaway region of Somaliland. By AFPFile Hargeisa Chamber of Commerce chairman Jamal Aideed said the loss of the market was immense as it accounted for 40 to 50 percent of the city's economy. "I have lost everything tonight, this fire was the biggest I have ever seen in my life," said market trader Bashi Ali. "I had several businesses in the market and all of them burned to ashes." 'We need your help' Hargeisa councillor Abdirahman Abdi appealed for people everywhere to come to the aid of the devastated city. "I want to ask everyone who hears of this disaster to help: fire brigades, national armies, media and the people of Hargeisa." British government ministers including Prime Minister Boris Johnson voiced their sympathy over the disaster in Somaliland, an area that was once a British protectorate. The fire-ravaged market in Hargeisa was vital to the city's economy. By SIMON MAINA AFPFile "We are in close contact with the Somaliland authorities, our international partners and aid agencies operating in-country, and are considering what assistance is needed," Britain's Minister for Africa Vicky Ford said on Twitter. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he was "shocked and saddened" by the blaze that he said had caused "incalculable losses". The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Somalia said the blaze had affected thousands of people including migrant workers, and pledged to work with the authorities to help people recover. Hargeisa, a trading and watering hub, is also a transit point along a people-smuggling route through the Horn of Africa and many migrants wind up stranded there. Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991, an act still unrecognised by the international community that has left the region of 4.5 million people poor and isolated. Somaliland has however remained a comparative beacon of stability while Somalia has been wracked by decades of political violence. The Upper West Region has unveiled its maiden Senior High School Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) League Table for 2021. Following the successful unveiling of the League Table, the Upper West Region has become the second region after the Northern Region to unveil a Senior High School WASH League Table (LT). The LT captured all the 33 government accredited Senior High Schools in the 11 Municipal and District Assemblies in the Upper West Region. The study was conducted by the Upper West Regional Inter-agency Coordinating Committee on Sanitation (RICCS). In the unveiling ceremony, the speakers call for a stronger commitment to WASH services in all spheres of life. The Upper West Regional Environmental Health Officer Madam Freda Naatu re-iterated their commitment and that of the Regional Coordinating Council to continue the course in realising the significant milestones in WASH interventions. In presenting performance indicators for the WASH assessment in the school, Mr. Bipuah Sulemani who was one of the consultants and Programs Manager of CDA- Ghana indicated that the assessment was carried out on seven thematic areas with each thematic areas compressing of specific indicators. The areas included; students access to latrines, Staff access to latrine, Access to hand washing facilities, Status of latrines/ WASH Facilities, School ODF status, Schools commitment to WASH activities and General Cleanliness Mr. Tahiru Lukman, Chief Executive Officer of Ideapath Consult who led the analysis in his presentation emphasizes that the agenda of the Senior High School WASH League Table is not to name and shame schools nor to create unhealthy competition. According to him, it seeks to help identify the availability of WASH facilities, examine access to WASH facilities, unveiled an SHS WASH League Table and intensify advocacy for interventions in schools WASH sector with the ultimate aim of improving Water, Sanitation and Hygiene behaviour and services in the Senior High Schools in the Upper West Region. Mr. Tahiru Lukman explained that the methodology included the use of a mixed-method approach (qualitative and quantitative), the use of questionnaires, observations and transact walk. Sampling was not encouraged since the study team can reach out to all the 33 government accredited senior high schools. To Mr. Tahiru Lukman, data were analyzed and presented in Microsoft word using pie charts, bar charts and tables. He noted, the conclusion from the study revealed that only 36% of schools have improved access to latrine facilities by Students, 24% moderately improved, while 40% have fair to very poor access. Again, 48.5% of schools have challenges regarding access to hand washing facilities. The finding also shows that the condition of 64% of the schools WASH facilities were in a very poor state and only 33% of them and in proper (improved) condition. In addition, 70% of schools practice open defecation. Other findings revealed that 67% of schools have an unkempt environment with 61% of schools not showing commitment to WASH. On the climax was the unveiling of the WASH League Table. Three Senior High Schools in the Nadowli/ Kaleo District took the top spots; Takpo Senior High School, Sombo Senior High School and St. Augustine Technical Institute as first, second and third respectively. The bottom three was share by Wa TI AMASS, Wa Islamic SHS, Eremon SHS as 33rd, 32nd and 31st. The result placed Nadowli/ Kaleo District as the most improved and WASH District with reference to the Senior High Schools performance whiles Wa Municipal is the worst. The Chairman for the occasion Mr. Martin Dery the Executive Director of ProNet North and a seasoned WASH expert with over three decades of experience in the WASH sector was full of praise to the RICCS most especially the study team for showing commitment and professionalism in the study. He stressed the need for all hand-on-deck approach to support WASH in-school interventions. The Upper West Regional Director of Education (Mr. Razak Abdul- Koray) on his part indicated that the study was an eye-opener and will provide a basis for his outfit in terms of planning and supporting WASH services in the Senior High Schools. He pledged his commitment to work with management of SHS and GES Directors at the Municipal and District to support the course of WASH in these schools. A WASH specialist with UNICEF Ghana Mr. Osman Mumuni remarked that the data would go a long way to help in ensuring WASH interventions since; data would now be used as a basis in the process for planning, decision making and implementation. He applauded RICCS for the in-depth of WASH data collected and analysed. He said major problem found in all spheres of Ghana's development is lack of data. Other partners present promised to contribute their quota to improving WASH situation in the Senior High Schools. A representative of the Upper West Regional Minister in his speech called for collaborative effort to scaling up CLTS interventions in the Region. He bemoaned the widening practice of open defecation in the Wa Municipality. Communities in the Ada West District Toflokpo Anukpenya, Hanya, Korpeynguam, SalomMadagber, Matsekope, Koluedor and others have been hit by a heavy rainstorm causing havoc and rendering some residents homeless as houses, churches, and a private school was destroyed. The rainstorm which lasted about two hours on Friday was accompanied by strong winds which ripped off the roofing of the homes, churches, and the school building thereby exposing; properties, textbooks, exercise books, expensive musical instruments, electricity installations and accessories as well as other vital documents to the rain. In an, interview Mr. Jerry Narh, the Deputy Director of the National Disaster Management Organization (NADMO) for the Ada-West District Assembly (AWDA) said the Faith Academy at Toflokpo Anukpenya near Seges roofing was ripped off and destroyed. He added that three church buildings were also affected with the Apostolic Faith Church at Toflokpo Anukpenya having its roofing completely taken off by the heavy storm and over 80 residential buildings also affected. "About 25 out of the pupils learning at the Faith Academy, a private basic school at Toflokpo Anukpenya before the incident, were injured and sent to the Sege Polyclinic where they were treated and discharged," he noted. Mr. Narh said electricity poles were also destroyed, leaving cables exposed which led to a temporal power cut-off. It was however restored after the Electricity Company of Ghana visited the affected communities. He explained that about 73 people have been rendered homes and were currently perching with other families as NADMO assesses the extent of damage adding that, "it is a very serious incident because we have big trees falling and all that". Mr. Sampson Tetteh Kpankpah, the Ada-West District Chief Executive told newsmen that, the incident was unfortunate and disastrous. He said NADMO would assess the cause of damage to the various communities and families, and present its report to the Assembly for further action. Mr. Daniel Tetteh Ajesiwor, a resident of Sege who also has his building affected described the situation as a catastrophe. Mr. Ebenezer Adabang, a resident of Toflokpo said, "I was at the farm but due to the storm, I went home only to find the roof of my house ripped off by the storm. I had no choice but to wander around until this morning. Madam Maamle, a victim at Matsekope also said she was lying on the carpet in her room, and suddenly my door opened forcefully due to the pressure of the heavy storm. Then the roof ripped off immediately and the wood on the roof fell into the room, I don't even know what to say nor do". Scores of affected residents who interacted with the media called for support from the government, NGOs, philanthropists and all individuals who are capable to help relieve them from the impact of the disaster on them. China rejects so-called U.S. "Hong Kong Policy Act Report" Xinhua) 09:20, April 02, 2022 BEIJING, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese Foreign Ministry Friday expressed strong dissatisfaction and firm opposition to the so-called Hong Kong Policy Act Report issued by the United States. It urged the U.S. to stop its erroneous acts and speak with prudence on issues related to Hong Kong. Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a daily press briefing when asked to comment on the report, which "made irresponsible remarks on Hong Kong affairs and made groundless accusations against the central government of China and the HKSAR government in total disregard of facts." Zhao said Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region of China. Hong Kong affairs are China's internal affairs which brook no foreign interference. Since Hong Kong's return to the motherland, the policies of "one country, two systems," "the people of Hong Kong administering Hong Kong," and a high degree of autonomy have been earnestly implemented, and the rights and freedoms enjoyed by Hong Kong residents are protected under the law, Zhao noted. China enacted and implemented the Law on Safeguarding National Security in the HKSAR and improved the electoral system in Hong Kong in accordance with law, in an effort to safeguard Hong Kong's prosperity and stability and the principle of "one country, two systems," Zhao said. He added that the national security law in Hong Kong targets a small number of criminals who endanger national security and protects the lawful rights and freedoms of Hong Kong citizens and foreign citizens in Hong Kong. Since the implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong, the rule of law in Hong Kong has improved and is guaranteed. It is an objective fact that cannot be denied, he noted. (Web editor: Peng yukai, Liang Jun) Aerial photo taken on March 28, 2022 shows the business service center in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province. (Xinhua/Zhu Xudong) BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- About 100 km south of Beijing, a "city of the future" is emerging with great potential five years after China announced plans to set up the Xiong'an New Area. A key move to advance the coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Xiong'an has been designed as a major recipient of functions relieved from Beijing that are nonessential to its role as China's capital and to explore a new model of development in densely populated areas. Under the guidance of President Xi Jinping, who has personally engaged in making decisions and arrangements and advanced progress in the new area, the development of Xiong'an is in full swing toward high-quality development. Efforts should be made to create "Xiong'an quality" and make it a national model for high-quality development, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, has said. METICULOUS PLANNING The country has pledged to build Xiong'an, located in north China's Hebei Province, into an innovative, green, smart and world-class city with blue skies, fresh air and clean water. For a city whose establishment will carry "lasting importance for the millennium to come," as central authorities have stressed, sound planning has been a priority in its development. Xi attaches great importance to the planning of Xiong'an. He has given directions on the guiding concepts, key stages and major issues of the planning. "Every inch of land should be clearly planned before construction," Xi has said on the development of Xiong'an. He urged meticulous efforts to advance the development to "avoid leaving historical regrets." To lay a solid foundation for high-quality development, more than 200 teams from China and abroad have participated in drafting the blueprint of the new area. China unveiled the master plan for Xiong'an New Area in April 2018. Now the blueprint is gradually turning into a tangible reality. An intercity railway linking Xiong'an and Beijing opened to traffic in December 2020, slashing the travel time between the two places from one and a half hours to about 50 minutes. So far, major roads to the city, main streets in the city and the urban water system have taken shape. Meanwhile, municipal infrastructure related to water, electricity, gas, heating and internet access in the area is being built in a systemic underground project, with integrated planning, design, construction and management. Digital technology makes it possible to turn plans into reality efficiently. A digital management platform shows a model for each building constructed in Xiong'an. Progress is accelerating to move companies and public services to the new area. Centrally administered state-owned enterprises, including China Satellite Network Group and China Huaneng Group, will soon start the construction of their headquarters. Locations have been decided for a group of colleges and hospitals from Beijing that will build branches or be relocated in the new area. Aerial photo taken on April 1, 2022 shows a view of Rongdong District in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province. (Xinhua/Xing Guangli) INNOVATIVE, GREEN CITY At the site of a smart transportation demonstration project in Xiong'an, unmanned transfer vehicles, unmanned mobile shops, unmanned road sweepers and patrol robots operate under unified management. This is part of the innovative future Xiong'an is pursuing. To spur innovation, a raft of institutional reforms have been made, including new mechanisms to improve fund-raising for construction, ensure housing supply and make it easier to start businesses in Xiong'an. So far, more than 3,000 enterprises have been registered in Xiong'an, with 80 percent of these being sci-tech enterprises from Beijing. Green development is also an indispensable part of the city's future. In line with Xi's instruction of "giving priority to ecological protection and pursuing green development," efforts in the past five years have led to significant improvement in the environment of Xiong'an. The local Baiyangdian Lake, the largest wetland ecosystem in northern China, has undergone the largest-scale systemic ecological restoration ever. Its water quality has seen a leaping improvement, while the latest data show that there are 230 species of birds in the lake area, 24 more than the amount before the establishment of Xiong'an. About 30,000 hectares of afforestation have been carried out in Xiong'an since November 2017, increasing its forest coverage rate from 11 percent to 32 percent. According to the urban planning outline, citizens of Xiong'an will be able to find greenery anywhere in the city and visit a park within 300 meters of their homes. While inspecting Xiong'an in 2019, Xi was delighted to see saplings planted in a forestry zone. "Let them take the time to grow together with the Xiong'an New Area," he said, noting that a good ecological environment is an important part of the value and appeal of the new area. The bank of the river Rhine is flooded in Cologne, western Germany, on July 15, 2021. (Photo by Tang Ying/Xinhua) According to Edenhofer, although global emissions started to decline with the emergence of COVID-19, they have largely returned to pre-pandemic levels by now. BERLIN, April 2 (Xinhua) -- To tackle the global challenge of climate change, it is essential for Europe to cooperate with China on the economics of climate change, Germany's leading expert Ottmar Edenhofer has said. Due to its sheer size and vast potential for innovation, China's involvement is crucial for the world to solve the climate problem, Edenhofer, director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview. China's goals to achieve carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 are in alignment with the European Union's (EU) plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, said Edenhofer. The fact that the United States has similar targets "means that the world's three most important economies are in alignment of the transformation pathway," he said. In particular, Edenhofer, whose institute has actively engaged in providing insights to decision-makers, expects to see close cooperation between the EU and China in the field of carbon pricing. China initiated its national carbon trading market in 2021. The EU has also started to launch a new emission trading scheme for the transport and building sectors as one of the main drivers of emission reduction in Europe. According to Edenhofer, the EU and China should work together to establish a minimum price for carbon emissions in order to create a level playing field. He acknowledged that the issue of carbon pricing was a complex one but said that it was "something we could start" with. He called a minimum CO2 price one of the "instruments that we could jointly implement." According to Edenhofer, although global emissions started to decline with the emergence of COVID-19, they have largely returned to pre-pandemic levels by now. This means that "the pandemic has not changed the underlying structure of our economy and our society." A burning ring on a gas cooker is seen in Manchester, Britain, March 17, 2022. (Photo by Jon Super/Xinhua) He said that a particularly worrying trend is the surge in the price of natural gas, which has led to the increased use of coal in the power sector and to a rise in global carbon emissions. Assessing Germany's experiences in combating climate change, Edenhofer said that it was important to focus first on developing technology, and in particular to support infant technologies in relevant fields. But technology alone cannot reduce carbon emissions, he said. Carbon emissions must be priced to avoid the increased use of traditional energy sources, such as coal, he stressed. Furthermore, low-income households should be compensated to offset the growing costs of green energy and to popularize climate policy, he said. Photo taken on Dec. 8, 2021 shows wind turbines at Changma wind farm in Yumen City, northwest China's Gansu Province. (Xinhua/Fan Peishen) Edenhofer's institute has been working closely with its Chinese counterparts at the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and has published a series of papers jointly with Chinese scientists, particularly on carbon peaking. "We are very pleased to be working with Chinese scientists," he said. Crude prices closed the books on a tumultuous March as markets were roiled by Russias invasion of Ukraine. Crude futures experienced massive intraday swings, trading in a $37 band during the month. The Biden administrations decision Thursday to release 1 million barrels a day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve daily over the next six months for a record 180 million barrels had the desired effect of cooling crude prices. West Texas Intermediate on the New York Mercantile Exchange closed below $100 for the first time in several weeks. WTI, which fell four of five trading days, fell $1.01 or 1 percent Friday to close at $99.27 and is down $14 from last Fridays close of $113.90 a barrel, the steepest weekly drop since 2011. The posted price ended the week at $95.75, according to Plains All American. Natural gas futures on the NYMEX enjoyed a good week, staying above the $5 barrier all week. Prices got off to a shaky start, falling 7 cents and 25 cents Monday and Tuesday before climbing 27 cents Wednesday, 4 cents Thursday and 8 cents Friday to end the week at $5.72 per Mcf, up from $5.51 at Mondays close and $5.57 last Friday. Michael Oestmann, president and chief executive officer of Tall City Exploration III, told the Reporter-Telegram by email the company had decided to increase activity before the run-up in oil prices. Tall City made the decision to ramp up from one to two drilling rigs in the summer of 2021, and we added a second rig in November, he wrote. Oil was in the 60s and 70s when we made the decision to increase activity. In other words, our activity plan was made prior to the run up in prices in 2022. We plan to continue at this activity level for the remainder of 2022, adding about 25 more wells to our production base this year. As a result, Tall City will exit 2022 at ~20,000 BOEPD, compared to ~6,000 BOEPD at year end 2021. He continued, Please note, and I think this is a key point: Increasing drilling activity takes a long period of time planning, permitting and coordinating supplies and services do not occur overnight, they require significant lead time. Secondly, given the current activity levels in the Permian Basin, securing services and supplies to add additional rigs is increasingly difficult. Again, it will take some time for services and supplies to catch up with increasing demand for those services and supplies. Considering the release of oil from the SPR, Oestmann noted, As far as release of oil from the SPRs impact on prices, history tells us that the impact is mild and temporary. This level of SPR release is historic in scale, so perhaps the impact will be more than what weve seen in the past. However, the long term and more sound solution is to increase production. He wanted to note that Tall City employees and friends donated a little more than $25,000 this week toward relief for Ukrainian refugees. In a town hall discussing energy and the economy, Lutz Killian, senior economic policy advisor with the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas said that unless the shortfall of petroleum exports from Russia can be contained, were looking at a large and persistent increase in oil prices in order to suppress demand to levels consistent with supply.. He listed a couple of scenarios that could impact what he called a dismal outlook for energy prices. One is a shock or shocks that could significantly reduce global demand for crude. One such shock is currently taking place in China, which is locking down millions of citizens to combat a fresh COVID-19 outbreak. That will not only reduce Chinese demand for crude but ripple through supply chains and could impact global oil demand, reducing prices. That, he said, has already been seen in the recent retreat in oil prices. A second scenario is the strong public support throughout Europe for banning energy imports from Russia, which would make it difficult for European financial institutions to fund those imports. Right now, he said, enough Russian petroleum is making it through despite sanctions that significant shortages are being avoided. But if that changes, he said the economic impact may trigger a response from Russians harmed by the sanctions. Edward Moya, senior market analyst, The Americas with OANDA, wrote in his daily newsletter that The knee-jerk selloff from the SPR announcement of the release of 1-million barrels a day from the SPR over the next six months wont have a lasting impact on oil prices, so if geopolitical risks continue to intensify, oil will recover most of this weeks losses. BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- China will finish screening outfalls in seven major river and lake basins and water near the coastline for problems by the end of 2025, Vice Minister of Ecology and Environment Qiu Qiwen said Saturday. Treatment of outfalls in the seven basins including Yangtze River, Yellow River and Taihu Lake will also be basically completed by then, Qiu told a press briefing. The announcement followed an earlier State Council guideline on tightening oversight and regulation on outfalls. Since 2019, the country has successively launched screening and treatment of outfalls in the Yangtze River, Bohai Sea and Yellow River, and obtained a more accurate tally. China will carry out differentiated treatment of the outfalls, removing, combining or rectifying problematic ones based on their types, said Qiu. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The path to zero flaring and venting lies in ensuring the natural gas meets the standards set by pipelines. Midstream operators have strict rules for the natural gas they take and if you dont meet their specifications, you have to flare, said Cody Blair, regional sales manager, Permian/New Mexico with EcoVapor. Speaking with the Reporter-Telegram by telephone, Blair said the presence of oxygen in the gas stream plays a huge part in operators having to flare their natural gas instead of selling it. Midstream companies dont like oxygen because it causes erosion, he explained. Jason Roe, EcoVapors president and chief executive officer, told the Reporter-Telegram in a telephone interview that oxygen is frequently introduced into the gas stream through truck loading or tank hatches. As we dug more and more into this problem, (we found) tanks create the largest emissions problem through fugitive emissions or venting, Roe said. The company, which got its start in Colorado, has developed a vapor recovery unit it calls ZerO2 that captures 100 percent of the tank vapor, which is run through the units precious metal catalyst which removes all the oxygen, which is burned off. Theres no waste, Blair said, and all that comes out is carbon and a little bit of water. By focusing on the low-pressure facilities where oxygen is more likely to be introduced, we can take out a sizable chunk of the emissions problem while allowing operators to sell their gas, Roe said. He added, The industry works so hard to produce this valuable resource, why are we wasting it? Agreed Blair, This is cash everyone is burning. Doing the math, he said if an operator is burning 100 Mcf a day, at $5 per Mcf, thats $500 a day being flared. By removing the oxygen and making the gas sellable, he said thats $15,000 a month added to an operators bottom line. And, he added, its additional production a marketer can sell. Roe said the company wants to be a life of production partner, offering various sizes of the units as production rates decline. The E1200 can process 1200 Mcf a day, the E300 300 Mcf and the E100 100 Mcf a day, and Roe said the company is working to develop a smaller unit to handle even smaller amounts of gas. After initial production, rates will decline, Blair said. As gas rates decline from 300 to 100 Mcf, we can replace units and lower the cost. As you produce less gas, it can cost less to have a unit. Alongside oxygen, hydrogen sulfide is another contaminant that causes operators to flare gas. EcoVapor also offers the Sulfur Sentinel, a treatment system that uses a solid, iron oxide-based catalyst to treat the H2S concentrations present before they enter the ZerO2 unit. The company has units placed with operators large and small in the Permian. Blair said 44 units so far have been placed with XTO Energy and other units have been placed with Shells Permian assets, which are now part of ConocoPhillips. There is a shop in Midland staffed with personnel to service the companys units, and Blair said a second shop is being considered in Carlsbad, New Mexico, because the company covers such a wide area. Everyone in the industry, from ExxonMobil to Chevron to Pioneer to XYZ Operating wants to cut emissions, Blair said. If they can sell 100 percent of the gas they capture, theyre making money and not flaring and third-party midstream companies are buying more gas to sell. Its a win-win. Reducing emissions is an obvious trend the industry cant ignore, said Roe, a trend being driven by stakeholders from customers to investors, regulators to the general public. Were being held accountable; our license to operate is being challenged, he said. With that in mind, we need to take steps to be good stewards. Besides, Roe added, in a world of energy scarcity were witnessing before our very eyes, we cant afford to waste this precious resource. Supply concerns in Europe amid Russias invasion of Ukraine highlight the increasingly important role natural gas is playing in providing energy to the world. Combine that with continued growing concerns about the energy industrys impact on the environment, and natural gas proponents continue to point to the commodity as a "bridge fuel" to a cleaner world. Even so, there remains significant skepticism about the cleanliness of natural gas, prompting producers to prove its environmental credibility. To do so, theyre turning to third-party companies, from MiQ to Equitable Origin to Project Canary, to certify their natural gas production as responsibly-sourced. A report on responsibly-sourced gas issued by Enverus Intelligence Research found that Appalachia leads in supplying certified gas, followed by the Haynesville. The Permian is taking part in the trend as XTO Energy, Laredo and Chisholm Energy have announced plans to have their production certified and Chevron and Project Canary have a pilot project in the Permian and Denver-Julesberg basins. We do expect the list of companies in the Permian to continue expanding with the primary goal of seeking environmental credibility, Jon Gutentag, associate at Enverus Intelligence Research and an author of the report, told the Reporter-Telegram by email. At this point, we are skeptical that a potential customer response will be the main driver of RSG certification, it is a supply-saturated market. The report found the supply of producer-certified responsibly-sourced gas will grow from 8.7 billion cubic feet per day in 2021 to about 20 Bcf per day by the end of this year, or about 18 percent of the North American market, based on announced projects. As Gutentag said, those commitments are driven more by a desire to demonstrate environmental credibility than expectations of higher prices for certified gas in the near-term. Project Canary is the most active certifier with a 38 percent market share across 13 partnerships, with seven more pilot projects announced. MiQ and Equitable Origin co-certify 42 percent of RSG volumes. In promoting natural gas as a bridge fuel, Gutentag said, We think that reducing the uncertainty around methane leakage across the natural gas value chain is an integral step in solidifying natural gas as a bridge fuel. RSG certification has the potential to provide more credibility to reported values, especially when paired with transparent disclosure, continuous monitoring and third-party verification. There are potential barriers to increasing acceptance of RSG, he noted. Those potential barriers include transparency as the current certification process is fairly opaque to the public. Standardization of what constitutes RSG is also a barrier as each certifier uses different standards and grading systems. There is also the need to move beyond primarily upstream certification to include gathering, processing and transmission in the process, allowing for wellhead to end-use certification and monitoring. Currently there is a lack of demand growth for certified natural gas. Gutentag said he and his fellow analysts and Enverus Intelligence Research are seeing signs that natural gas pipelines are already important to the process. First, there is the ongoing debate with FERC, Kinder Morgan and other interested parties as Kinder Morgan is trying to establish a process for pooling RSG separately from traditional natural gas, he wrote. We also saw the Rockies Express Pipeline commit to monitoring all compressor stations with continuous monitoring equipment. Lastly, we are seeing commitments from companies to operate net-zero pipelines where all emissions are reduced with the residual emissions being offset from various projects. The bottom line is we are seeing a rapid supply chain optimization as all companies seek ways to reduce their direct Scope 1 emissions. The report noted that roughly 90 percent or 18.6 Bcf per day of estimated 2022 certified gas volumes had been announced last year, highlighting the significant increase in producer interest in RSG over the past year. This year, Gutentag predicted, he expects expanded midstream certification along with more development surrounding the marketing of RSG. As often happens when the legacy media attempts to represent conservative beliefs, the Dallas Morning News hot take on Texas new energy discrimination law claiming it betrays free-market principles predictably misses the mark. Senate Bill 13, signed into law by Gov. Abbott last year, is the ultimate free-market solution to the dangerous precedent being set on Wall Street. Financial firms are trying to bully Americas responsible energy producers out of business in the name of the Paris Agreement, a foreign document that isnt even law. And they arent just limiting our energy resources theyre putting our tax dollars in jeopardy in the process. Heres how it works: under the new law, financial institutions that boycott, divest from or sanction the fossil fuel industry are ineligible to do business with the state of Texas. Every company is free to run its operations however it sees fit. They can freely engage in so-called sustainability initiatives, offer green investment funds, and make any perceived environmental or climate commitments they choose. But if they deliberately pursue anti-energy investing practices that harm our state, we simply will not reward them with control of Texans tax dollars. Senate Bill 13 is the pro-business, pro-taxpayer, pension protection approach to Wall Streets senseless energy discrimination campaign. This isnt a new concept, and Texas isnt alone in its concern that banks and investment managers may be prioritizing political agendas above their legal fiduciary duty. The legislation was modeled after existing laws prohibiting state contracts with companies that boycott Israel. Dozens of other states are considering similar legislation to SB 13 or have already withdrawn funds from companies like BlackRock that publicly endorse the anti-fossil fuel, climate alarmist narrative. At the end of the day, SB 13 isnt about fossil fuels, though. Its true that oil and natural gas are a key component of Texas economy and thriving job market and its worth noting that taxes on the energy industry make up more than 10 percent of the states budget. Energy is essential to everything we do every transaction we make, every item we own, every societal structure we depend on for our high quality of life. But whats more important is that SB 13 protects Texans tax dollars from politically influenced mismanagement. Texas state and local pension systems comprise more than $300 billion in assets money that should be stewarded with the utmost caution and respect. Our public servants thats teachers, peace officers, fire fighters, paramedics, correctional officers, state and local employees will depend on their pensions one day for survival. They deserve to know that their money is being managed well, and Texas taxpayers should never be left wondering if their investment in these funds is subject to political exploitation. It would be difficult to defend the Texas model of liberty, limited government, and low taxes without protecting those taxes from waste and abuse by corporations colluding to push an agenda. What most news reports about SB 13 miss is that the anti-fossil fuel investing movement known in financial circles as environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing doesnt just run contrary to the Texas state of mind. It likely violates several longstanding consumer protection laws. Federal law explicitly prohibits corporate conspiracies to restrain competition. Thats exactly what Wall Street is doing going far beyond mere political posturing to create a cartel, colluding to de-bank and discriminate against the energy industry. Their efforts to instead funnel investments into funds labeled green, without evidence these funds will provide the same return on investment, flies in the face of fiduciary obligations. Their clients should know their financial interests are the number one priority, but under ESG investing, the climate alarmist agenda is given equal or greater footing. It's an affront to the free market, and Texas is proud to lead a strong and growing coalition of states fighting back. Its unfortunate the media and leftist organizations are fixated on SB 13s focus on fossil fuels, because Texas commitment to the free market means the same provisions could, and should, be extended to any industry targeted by the ruthless cancel culture mob. The system of capitalism that made our state and nation so great depend on it as do Texas taxpayers. Perhaps SB 13 should have been called the Texas Taxpayer Protection Act. -- The Honorable Jason Isaac is director of Life:Powered, a national initiative of the Texas Public Policy Foundation to raise Americas energy IQ. He previously served four terms in the Texas House of Representatives. BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- China has released a circular demanding that online platforms not slander deceased heroes during the upcoming Qingming Festival, or Tomb-Sweeping Day, which falls on April 5 this year. The circular, issued by the Cyberspace Administration of China, aims to standardize the management of online tomb-sweeping activities. Online platforms are not allowed to spread vulgar, feudal, or superstitious information, said the circular, adding the platforms should promptly handle tip-offs from netizens. Winchester United Methodist Men's Cookout: 9 a.m., Three-way stop west of Scotty's, Winchester. Pork chops $4, hot dogs $1. COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic: 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Jacksonville NAACP, 300 E. Walnut St. Free | Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine is authorized for those 5 years of age or older. Schedule appointment at tinyurl.com/95hyz3nd. Walk-ins welcome. Breastfeeding Basics: 9:30 a.m., Jacksonville Memorial Hospital, 1600 W. Walnut St. | Depending on COVID-19 restrictions, class may be moved to a virtual format. Presented by lactation consultant. Story Time: 10 a.m., Carlinville Public Library, 510 N. Broad St. Free | Story time with Hannah Crawford, children's librarian. Jacksonville Kiwanis Club 0.5K Walk, Skip, Run or Roll: 11 a.m., Don's Place, 207 W. Morgan St. Registration $30. | Begins at Don's Place. Proceeds benefit Jacksonville Public Schools Foundation. For more information, contact Gary Scott at 217-370-9058 or gscott@wlds.com, Lauren Dwyer at 618-946-2323 or lauren@beardimplement.com, or Kristin Jamison at 217-719-9215 or kristin@jredc.org. Yacht Rockers: 3-7 p.m., The Loading Dock, 401 Front St., Grafton. | Live music. Gallery Opening: 6-8 p.m., The David Strawn Art Gallery, 331 W. College Ave. | Abstract paintings by Allison Pratt. Exhibit runs through April 24. Hookie: 6-10 p.m., Wild Pickins Winery, 14223 Illinois Route 111, Chesterfield. | Live music. White Lightnin': 7 p.m., Beardstown Elks Lodge, 205 E. Second St., Beardstown. | Live music. Cinderella: 7 p.m., Hoogland Center for the Arts, 420 S. Sixth St., Springfield. $18. | Featuring the Hoogland Teen Improv Troupe. For tickets or more information, go to hcfta.org. A Doll's House Part 2: 7:30 p.m., UIS Performing Arts Center, 1 University Plaza, Springfield. Ticket price varies. | For tickets and more information, go to uispac.com. Sunday Versailles Lions Club Fish Fry: 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Old Versailles School Gym, 211 N. Chestnut St. Donations accepted. | Menu includes buffalo and catfish, side items and dessert. Proceeds go to memorial being built at the Old Versailles School. Easter Egg Hunt: 1-2 p.m., Centenary United Methodist Church, 331 E. State St. Free | For kids up to fifth grade. Rain date is April 10 at 1:30 p.m. Cinderella: 2 p.m., Hoogland Center for the Arts, 420 S. Sixth St., Springfield. $18. | Featuring the Hoogland Teen Improv Troupe. For tickets or more information, go to hcfta.org. A Doll's House Part 2: 2 p.m., UIS Performing Arts Center, 1 University Plaza, Springfield. Ticket price varies. | For tickets and more information, go to uispac.com. Dave Horton: 2-5 p.m., Wild Pickins Winery, 14223 Illinois Route 111, Chesterfield. | Live music. Monday Produce and Bakery Giveaway: 9 a.m.-noon, Jacksonville Food Center, 316 E. State St. Free | For Morgan County residents. Free Noon Meal: 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m., The Salvation Army, 331 W. Douglas Ave. | Meals in to-go containers can be picked up at side door. Walking for Wellness: 12:30-3 p.m., First Christian Church, 2106 S. Main St. Free | Indoor walking program offered year-round Monday-Thursday. For more information, call 217-243-6445. Spirit of Faith Soup Kitchen: 3:30-4 p.m., Spirit of Faith Soup Kitchen, 105 E. Dunlap St. Free | Serving meals to go for anyone in need. Tuesday Produce and Bakery Giveaway: 9 a.m.-noon, Jacksonville Food Center, 316 E. State St. Free | For Morgan County residents. Triopia Preschool Screening: 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Triopia Elementary School, 2204 Concord-Arenzville Road, Concord. Free | To make an appointment, call 217-457-2284, ext. 1030. Story Time: 10 a.m., Carlinville Public Library, 510 N. Broad St. Free | Story time with Hannah Crawford, children's librarian. Free Noon Meal: 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m., The Salvation Army, 331 W. Douglas Ave. | Meals in to-go containers can be picked up at side door. Walking for Wellness: 12:30-3 p.m., First Christian Church, 2106 S. Main St. Free | Indoor walking program offered year-round Monday-Thursday. For more information, call 217-243-6445. Spirit of Faith Soup Kitchen: 3:30-4 p.m., Spirit of Faith Soup Kitchen, 105 E. Dunlap St. Free | Serving meals to go for anyone in need. Wednesday Produce and Bakery Giveaway: 9 a.m., noon, Jacksonville Food Center, 316 E. State St. Free | For Morgan County residents. Story Time: 10 a.m., Jacksonville Public Library, 201 W. College Ave. Free | Stories and a craft. For more information, call 217-243-5435 or email clangdon@jaxpl.org. Free Noon Meal: 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m., The Salvation Army, 331 W. Douglas Ave. | Meals in to-go containers can be picked up at side door. Walking for Wellness: 12:30-3 p.m., First Christian Church, 2106 S. Main St. Free | Indoor walking program offered year-round Monday-Thursday. For more information, call 217-243-6445. Commodity Food Distribution: 1:15 p.m., The Salvation Army, 331 W. Douglas Ave. Free | For income-eligible residents of Morgan County. Bring proof of residence and a box for food. Spirit of Faith Soup Kitchen: 3:30-4 p.m., Spirit of Faith Soup Kitchen, 105 E. Dunlap St. Free | Serving meals to go for anyone in need. County Line Dance Club Class: 6:30 p.m., The Hangout Bar & Grill, 901 W. Superior Ave. $5. Thursday Produce and Bakery Giveaway: 9 a.m.-noon, Jacksonville Food Center, 316 E. State St. Free | For Morgan County residents. Winchester Preschool Screening: 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Winchester Pre-K Building, 283 S. Elm St. Free | To make an appointment, call 217-742-9551, ext. 339 or ext. 342. Blood Drive: 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Jacksonville Police Department, 200 W. Douglas Ave. | To donate, contact Courtney Glass at 217-479-4630, ImpactLife at 800-747-5401 or go to bloodcenter.org and use code 60161 to locate the drive. Masks and appointments are required. Free Noon Meal: 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m., The Salvation Army, 331 W. Douglas Ave. | Meals in to-go containers can be picked up at side door. Walking for Wellness: 12:30-3 p.m., First Christian Church, 2106 S. Main St. Free | Indoor walking program offered year-round Monday-Thursday. For more information, call 217-243-6445. Spirit of Faith Soup Kitchen: 3:30-4 p.m., Spirit of Faith Soup Kitchen, 105 E. Dunlap St. Free | Serving meals to go for anyone in need. Forest Park Owls: Hiding in Plain Sight: 5:30 p.m., Carlinville Public Library, 510 N. Broad St. Free | 90-minute program presented by Mark H.X. Glenshaw, naturalist and expert from St. Louis. For more information, call 217-854-3505 or email mail@carlinvillelibrary.org. Poetry Open Mic: 7 p.m., Soap Co. Coffee House, 207 S. Sandy St. Free | Read or listen to poetry. Masks preferred. For more information, call 217-742-5777 or email robertseufert@frontier.com. First Thursday of each month. A Doll's House Part 2: 7:30 p.m., UIS Performing Arts Center, 1 University Plaza, Springfield. Ticket price varies. | For tickets and more information, go to uispac.com. Friday Produce and Bakery Giveaway: 9 a.m.-noon, Jacksonville Food Center, 316 E. State St. Free | For Morgan County residents. Winchester Preschool Screening: 9 a.m.-3 p.m., Winchester Pre-K Building, 283 S. Elm St. Free | To make an appointment, call 217-742-9551, ext. 339 or ext. 342. Free Noon Meal: 11:45 a.m.-12:30 p.m., The Salvation Army, 331 W. Douglas Ave. | Meals in to-go containers can be picked up at side door. Produce and Bakery Giveaway: 12:30-1 p.m., The Salvation Army, 331 W. Douglas Ave. Free. Morgan County Audubon Society: 7 p.m., First Presbyterian Church, 870 W. College Ave. | Featured speaker Kathryn Chapman, education program coordinator for the Center for American Archeology in Kampsville, will present "What the Archaeology Tells Us: Past People and the Plant Kingdom." Cinderella: 7 p.m., Hoogland Center for the Arts, 420 S. Sixth St., Springfield. $18. | Featuring the Hoogland Teen Improv Troupe. For tickets or more information, go to hcfta.org. A Doll's House Part 2: 7:30 p.m., UIS Performing Arts Center, 1 University Plaza, Springfield. Ticket price varies. | For tickets and more information, go to uispac.com. Alex Ortiz: 8 p.m., Casey's Pub & Columbian Hall, 2200 Meadowbrook Road, Springfield. | Presented by Donnie B's Comedy Club. For ages 18 and older. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate PLEASANT HILL Residents of the village of Martinsburg are speaking up against the possibility of a marijuana craft grow facility opening within walking distance of their homes the fight, to keep what they've worked for years: working toward a peaceful view of rural Pike County. "If the board approves it, I will sell my home and move out of Pike County ... if they will do it here, they will do it anywhere," said Jeff Ruzicka, who lives fewer than 200 feet from where the proposed cannabis craft facility could be. Ruzicka, a retired schoolteacher, has lived at his house with his wife, Misha. for the past 26 years and bought it for the peace and quiet so they can grow their food and enjoy the rural life, especially after a liver transplant. But, when learning that 10 acres of land was bought in sight of his back porch and the possibility of a cannabis craft grow, infuser and transportation facility was proposed, he took to the county board. During Monday's Pike County Board meeting, when the vote to change the zoning of land from agriculture to business was slated to take place, Ruzicka said asked board members "would you want it in your backyard?". "If they pass it, they can building anything," Ruzicka said, adding that what they're proposing has changed over time and that he feels that Ganja Thai LLC would need to build a larger facility to house what the company is projecting. The proposed craft grow facility would be located at 17766 County Highway 11 in Pleasant Hill and has a building that is 3,240 square feet in size. The zoning change was tabled during Monday's meeting due to the application not being complete, and it was not clear the stated plans for the possibility of future buildings. "It's still missing data," Pike County board Chairman Jim Shepparrd said. "It's all on the applicant's shoulders right now," he said. Sheppard said that it's unclear if the owner is planning to build a building that would range from 5,000 to 15,000 square feet. "They've given three different sizes," he said. Other concerns that Ruzicka expressed is that if a growing facility is approved, lighting would be a hindrance to the dozen homes within the village, in addition to parking lights and traffic of trucks to what the company is stating it would bring in revenue to the county. "My estimate, they would need at least four buildings," he said. "That whole area would be lit up like a shopping mall," adding that representatives said that lights would be motion sensor activated and only on for 13-hours and that wild animals would trigger the lights during the night. The process for growing marijuana consists of one to two weeks of germination, where seeds are encourages to grow to sprout; then two to three weeks of seedling, where seeds are moved to the growing stage where lights are used; two to eight weeks for the vegetative process, where plants require flowing dry air, fresh warm water and increased nutrients, especially nitrogen; then six to eight weeks for flowering, where light is gradually reduced to produced to increase phosphorous levels and decrease nitrogen with fertilizers that help bud formation. "If they build that, who's going to work there," Ruzicka said. Retired English teacher Bob Ring, also against the proposed location, is concerned of the people that will be working at the location. "If trimming marijuana is all they can do then they can leave the county," Ring said of his concern of the youth getting involved in addition of attracting other workers from areas outside of Pike County. Trevian Kutti, a consultant for Ganja Thai and based out of Georgia, said the location will not be a dispensary and it will only be used to grow cannabis that would be sent to dispensaries. "This would be $3.6 million a year in tax revenue for the county," Kutti said, adding that Pike County wasn't a random location and that there will be no retail sale of marijuana at the location. Additionally, Kutti said that it would have about 20 employees and, if approved by the state to have additional craft licenses, it could employ more at that time and adding buildings. "Expansion would be dictated on licensing," she said. "We're just selling the flowers to the dispensaries. The only traffic would be workers." For Sheppard, who said that he hasn't directly asked other board members their thought whether in favor or not, he feels that: "If I was a betting man, it will be denied," regarding the zone change. As of Friday, the item to vote on the zoning change had not been added to the April 25 county board meeting agenda. Although some groups have resumed meetings, others schedules may have changed because of pandemic restrictions. It is recommended you contact the group in advance to verify details. Any changes in meeting schedules can be emailed to JJCsocial@myjournalcourier.com. ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS 217-370-4002 Jacksonville locations: First Baptist Church, 1701 Mound Ave. Wheelchair-accessible. Club HOW, 638 S. Church St. Monday Closed discussion, 7:30 a.m. at Club HOW. Closed discussion, noon at Club HOW. Closed discussion, 8 p.m. at First Baptist Church. Bowen Group." Closed discussion, 8 p.m. at Club HOW. Tuesday Open discussion, noon at Club HOW. Womens open meeting, 5:30 p.m., First Christian Churchs Fireside Room. VIRGINIA: Closed discussion, 7 p.m. at Grace Lutheran Church, Main and Washington streets. ROODHOUSE: Closed discussion, 12-step/12 traditions, 8 p.m. at Grace Center, 114 W. Palm St. Wednesday Closed discussion, noon at Club HOW. Closed discussion, 8 p.m. at Club HOW. Thursday Closed discussion, 7:30 a.m. at Club HOW. Closed discussion, noon at Club HOW. Closed discussion, 8 p.m. at Club HOW. Newcomers Group. Friday Closed discussion, noon at Club HOW. TGIF Group. Closed discussion, 5:15 p.m., Big Book Study at Club HOW. VIRGINIA: Closed discussion, 8 p.m. at United Methodist Church, 401 E. Broadway Ave. Saturday Open speaker, 8 p.m. at Club HOW. Open meeting, noon at Club HOW. Sunday Closed discussion, 8 p.m. at Club HOW. 12 & 12 Group. Closed discussion, 10 a.m. at Club HOW. (Second Sunday is open) SPRINGFIELD: AA for Women, 10 a.m. at Discovery Club, 313 W. Cook St. AL-ANON Meetings are nonsmoking and open to anyone. The only requirement is that there be a problem of alcohol with a loved one or friend. 217-248-6434. Wednesday Al-Anon, 7:30-8:30 p.m. at Centenary United Methodist Church, 331 E. State St. (use Morgan Street entrance). Thursday Al-Anon, noon at First Presbyterian Church, 870 W. College Ave. (open meeting). NARCOTICS ANONYMOUS All meetings are nonsmoking. Not affiliated with any religious organization. Jacksonville locations: First Christian Church, 2106 S. Main St. (enter through far southeast door). 217-883-1975. Lutheran Church for the Deaf, 104 Finley St. (enter through back door). 217-883-1975. Wednesday Open discussion group, 8 p.m. at Lutheran Church for the Deaf. Friday Open discussion group, 7:30 p.m. at First Christian Church. OTHER MEETINGS Monday Hope Lives On support group for mothers who have lost children to suicide, 7 p.m., Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, 155 W. Morton Ave. Addicts Victorious, 7-8 p.m. at Faith Tabernacle, 571 Sandusky St. Use side entrance to church hall. PITTSFIELD: Addicts Victorious, 7-8 p.m. in the basement of Subway in Pittsfield. 1-800-323-1388. Tuesday Dementia Caregiver support group, 2-3 p.m., free virtual event. Call 800-272-3900 to register, which is required. Hosted by the Springfield office of the Alzheimers Association Illinois. American Legion Post 279, first Tuesday of every month, 7 p.m. at 903 W. Superior Ave. Wednesday Breastfeeding support group, 6 p.m., Passavant Area Hospital, Meeting Room 2. ROODHOUSE: Women with Hearts of Love (WWHOL), 6-7 p.m. at House of Restoration, 208 W. Franklin St. 217-602-1670. Thursday Jacksonville Area Chess Club, 6-9 p.m. at Jacksonville Public Library. 217-370-0882. Jacksonville Kiwanis Club, noon at Hamiltons. WHITE HALL: Addicts Victorious, teens 5:30-6:30 p.m.; adults 7-8 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall of New Life Church, 626 Curtis St. Friday Jacksonville Rotary Club, noon at Hamiltons. PITTSFIELD: Addicts Victorious, 6 p.m. at Assembly of God, 575 Piper St. 800-323-1388. Saturday Jacksonville Amateur Radio Societys Net, 9 p.m. Transmitted on K9JX repeater. K9JX.com. Compiled by Angela Bauer Like all effective satire, the Onion's headline had a ring of truth: "Putin Pleased as Plot to Ruin Russian Economy, Destroy International Standing Goes Exactly to Plan." A month after Russia invaded Ukraine, the comedy website has been willing to Go There, to look for humor in the most searing of stories even as it unfolds. The satirical site has identified Russian President Vladimir Putin's college major as "aggression," showed a coastal resort in Ukraine "with extremely affordable rates right now" and said the United Nations is escalating its response to the invasion from "warnings" to "stern warnings." Too soon? Too bad. "Finding comedy in the Ukraine situation serves several functions," says Chad Nackers, editor in chief of The Onion. "It is a powerful tool for exposing the folly and absurdity and human cruelty as well as providing some release from a stressful state of affairs and an endless cycle of misery. "Laughter," he says, "can fill the hole created by a sense of hopelessness." The war hasn't been ignored elsewhere in comedy. Late-night television has used Ukraine for familiar or tangential punch lines Tucker Carlson, Donald Trump or the quality of Papa John's pizza. Stephen Colbert suggested the United States add a T-shirt cannon to the weapons it sends to the Ukraine. After President Joe Biden called Putin a war criminal, Jimmy Kimmel suggested "stupid-head" was next. True to The Onion's nature as a brand sprung from the Midwest (Madison, Wisconsin) in 1988, there's a whiff of gentility to its Ukraine humor. None of its sarcasm touches on the human victims of the war. Its list of the war's potential outcomes ranged from "a lot of really bad speculative historical fiction" to "the Mets win the World Series." A map of Ukraine identifies the "only decent taco place in the whole ... country." A mock slide show on Putin's rise to power shows a pregnant woman with the caption, "Putin's parents decide to try for an evil megalomaniac." Under another picture of a gravestone, the caption reads: "Opponent for student council treasurer suffers mysterious organ failure." The Onion's decision not to ignore a thorny topic recalls one of its most impactful moments, when its print issue two weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks helped break a comedy barrier, says Sophia McClennen, a Penn State University professor and author of the upcoming book, "Trump Was a Joke: How Satire Made Sense of a President Who Didn't." That issue's cover pictured President George W. Bush under the headline, "U.S. Vows to Defeat Whoever it is We're at War With." Those were more influential days at The Onion, which stopped printing editions in 2013 and now exists as a website with traffic directed through social media posts. It has a great deal more competition online now and in late-night television comedy, which grew more satirical in the wake of Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show," says Robert Thompson, director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University. There's a rich history of satirical publications like Mad magazine and National Lampoon places where the news of the day collides with the potential for laughter that can reduce its heaviness. Spy magazine burned brightly and briefly in the 1980s. Private Eye and Punch were popular English magazines. Notoriously, the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo was the target of a terrorist attack in 2015. The Onion sometimes looks to be merely entertaining instead of satirical, says James Caron, author of "Satire as the Comic Public Sphere." "It's just kind of silly at times," Caron says. Yet it still has the capacity to hit a target squarely. In the wake of several mass shootings in the United States over the past decade, The Onion repeated essentially the same article, changing only a few details, under the headline, "'No Way to Prevent This,' Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens." "It's just this endless loop of horror," Nackers says. The way The Onion matched the repetitiveness with its stories "really struck a nerve with people. It hit it in a way that is respectful. It feels like there's a really strong point being made, but ... it doesn't feel like you're exploiting people." The Onion, now based in Chicago, has a staff of 20 people. It has gone through a handful of corporate overseers. The current owner, Great Hill Partners, purchased The Onion from the communications company Univision in 2019. Nackers started in 1997 as a photographer, earning $10 a photo. He began contributing jokes, became a writer and now runs the place. He watched the satire grow more serious after 9/11, as the world's insanity "kind of caught up with what used to be insane satirical premises." The focus tends to toggle between dark humor and the more frivolous as dictated by the times. "One thing that we can kind of do, because we have a lot of editorial freedom, is that we are basically a truth-teller," Nackers says. "We kind of get to the core of things and expose the real truth by using satire, making a joke, but showing things how they really are." During the past month, The Onion ran a mock "fact check" on Ukraine. To the statement that Russia claimed Ukraine is harboring biological weapons, The Onion said "fabricating allegations about enemies holding biological weapons is America's job." "CLAIM: Rudy Giuliani is a valued Russian asset acting against Ukraine in service of the Kremlin," The Onion wrote. "REALITY: Rudy Giuliani has not been of value to anyone for years." Occasionally, someone will think some of The Onion's "fake news" actually is true, like when a Chinese newspaper reprinted its declaration of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as the sexiest man of the year adding its own slide show. When those things happen, "it's a fun day at the office," says Jordan LaFlure, senior managing editor. "The story of The Onion is how little we've changed," LaFlure said. "We have a voice that endures across changing political climates. It's just a matter of deciding what is the best arrow in our quiver to fire at a particular target." The groundbreaking ceremony of the foundation treatment of Abu Qir Marine Port Container Terminal Project was held in the coastal city of Alexandria in Egypt on Thursday. It marked the official start of the onshore construction of the project and laid a solid foundation for accelerating the construction of the main body of the project. The terminal was constructed by China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC). Produced by Xinhua Global Service Journal-Courier The first of two people charged in the death of a former Jacksonville resident in Indiana has been sentenced to 61 years in prison. Justin M. Blake, 22, of Mooresville, Indiana, was convicted Feb. 23 of robbery and two counts of murder in the 2019 death of Alexander "Alex" Dashiell Jackson. He was sentenced Wednesday to 58 years on the murder charge the second of which was vacated, according to court records and three years on the robbery charge. GREENFIELD Investigators were continuing Friday to piece together details about a fire that claimed the lives of two people, one of them an infant, and injured three others. Greenfield Fire Protection District firefighters were dispatched to 1003 Green St. about 12:20 p.m. Thursday because of a kitchen fire. Three of the five people inside the house at the time were able to get out safely. A Greenfield Police officer and a Greene County sheriff's deputy were the first to arrive and were told two people still were inside the house. They tried to rescue the family members, but were unable to save them. Both officers and one of the people who escaped the burning house were treated for smoke inhalation. Firefighters said the house was fully engulfed in flames when they arrived. Roodhouse and White Hall firefighters were called for assistance. Coroner Danny J. Powell said Friday that 77-year-old Nancy L. Hillis and 11-month-old Danika C. Alderfer were pronounced dead at the scene. Autopsies were scheduled for Friday in Springfield. The news left many in the the community of just more than 1,000 people stunned. "Please, please pray for the people affected by the fire in Greenfield," one person wrote amid dozens of comments posted on social media. "My heart breaks for this family. My very worst fear as a mother," another commented. "May the Lord wrap his arms around everyone that was involved." Powell said it was a tragic and sad ordeal. "Our hearts go out to the victims and their families," he said. The fire is being investigated by the coroner's office, Greenfield Fire Protection District and the State Fire Marshals Office. Many Americans have taken significant steps back from once-routine coronavirus precautions, with fewer than half now saying they regularly wear face masks, avoid crowds and skip nonessential travel. Americans are letting down their guard even as experts warn a new wave of COVID-19 cases is coming. A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows fewer people taking protective measures than at any point in AP-NORC polls conducted since early 2021. The poll found 44% say they often or always wear a face mask around people outside of their homes, down from 65% in January when infections of the highly contagious Omicron variant were soaring. Just 40% say theyre largely avoiding nonessential travel, compared with 60% in January. And 47% say they regularly stay away from large groups, down from 65% in January. Most Americans say they at least sometimes still follow those safeguards. But they're increasingly returning to pre-pandemic norms as coronavirus infections have fallen to their lowest level since July. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention no longer recommends masking indoors for most Americans, while cities are liftingmask and vaccinerequirements to enter restaurants, bars and concert venues. And more U.S. workers are returning to offices after two years of doing their jobs at home. Judy Morgan, a retired teacher from Poulsbo, Washington, said she and her husband, a Navy veteran, have gradually become more relaxed about wearing masks and other precautions since getting their vaccine booster shots in late October. Roughly six weeks ago, she went back to shopping without a mask when the Navy base where she buys groceries stopped requiring face coverings. "I figured when the military starts easing up, because theyre pretty strict, thats a very good sign, said Morgan, 80. Morgan and her husband plan to put their masks back on at the airport later this week when they fly to Florida to celebrate her birthday. She said they were extra cautious earlier in the pandemic because her husband has a heart condition that makes him more susceptible to severe illness from COVID-19 and she's ready to go back to that behavior if another severe wave of infections hits. My hope is that its tapering off and every variation will be somewhat less viral or significant," Morgan said. "But my fear is something new will happen. Experts say the coronavirus isn't going away, and most Americans recognize the virus will stick around. In January, an AP-NORC poll showed just 15% of Americans said the pandemic will be over when COVID-19 is mostly eliminated. Most said they expect the pandemic to end when it's largely a mild virus. But that might not be the case just yet. Experts still say new variants could soon start another wave of rising infections in the U.S. Scientists are closely watching an extra-contagious spinoff of Omicron that already has case numbers climbing in parts of Europe and Asia, as well as a delta-Omicron hybrid, though so far infections of that variant appear to be rare. Sonia Montoya, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, isn't taking any chances. The 65-year-old bookkeeper still works remotely from her office colleagues, orders any restaurant meals to go and makes sure to wear a mask when shopping or attending church. Six of Montoya's relatives and friends died from the virus, and she said she's still very worried about getting sick even though she's vaccinated. It came back and hit us again once before, and I have a feeling if we aren't cautious we are going to do it again," Montoya said. Yes, its slowing down, but theres a lot of stupid people out there, especially the younger ones that don't think its serious. Since vaccines became widely available to the American public, AP-NORC polls have consistently shown that vaccinated people are more worried about infections and more likely to take preventive steps than the unvaccinated. The vaccinated are still more likely than the unvaccinated to say theyre always or often avoiding nonessential travel (44% to 29%), staying away from large groups (51% to 32%) and wearing face masks around other people (49% to 26%). But the new poll shows that over the past two months the vaccinated and unvaccinated alike have become less likely to regularly take those precautions. Likewise, both Democrats and Republicans are less likely than they were in January to say they frequently take protective measures. Jason Newman, of Greenville, Kentucky, said he never wears a mask unless he's required to, has no concerns about dining out and never got vaccinated. He said he's tested positive for COVID-19 twice but suffered no symptoms either time. The 43-year-old postal worker said in recent months he's noticed more people who seem to be treating the virus the way he does. Its always going be here no matter what, because they wont be able to eradicate it, Newman said. I think, by and large, theyre all over it." Malta's Prime Minister Robert Abela (C) attends his swearing-in ceremony presided over by Malta's President George Vella (1st R) in Valletta, Malta, March 28, 2022. (Photo by Jonathan Borg/Xinhua) BEIJING, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday congratulated Robert Abela on his reelection as the Maltese prime minister. In a congratulatory message, Li said that since the establishment of their diplomatic ties 50 years ago, China and Malta have always respected each other, treated each other as equals, and deepened their traditional friendship, which has become a model of mutual support and win-win cooperation between large and small countries. Li said that he looks forward to working together with Prime Minister Abela to push for greater development of China-Malta relations. Lawyers hope new evidence can stop Texas womans execution View Photo HOUSTON (AP) During hours of relentless questioning, Melissa Lucio more than 100 times had denied fatally beating her 2-year-old daughter. But worn down from a lifetime of abuse and the grief of losing her daughter Mariah, her lawyers say, the Texas woman finally acquiesced to investigators. I guess I did it, Lucio responded when asked if she was responsible for some of Mariahs injuries. Her lawyers say that statement was wrongly interpreted by prosecutors as a murder confession tainting the rest of the investigation into Mariahs 2007 death, with evidence gathered only to prove that conclusion, and helping lead to her capital murder conviction. They contend Mariah died from injuries from a fall down the 14 steps of a steep staircase outside the familys apartment in the South Texas city of Harlingen. As her April 27 execution date nears, Lucios lawyers are hopeful that new evidence, along with growing public support including from jurors who now doubt the conviction and from more than half the Texas House of Representatives will persuade the states Board of Pardons and Paroles and Gov. Greg Abbott to grant an execution reprieve or commute her sentence. Mariahs death was a tragedy not a murder. It would be an absolutely devastating message for this execution to go forward. It would send a message that innocence doesnt matter, said Vanessa Potkin, one of Lucios attorneys who is with the Innocence Project. Lucios lawyers say jurors never heard forensic evidence that would have explained that Mariahs various injuries were actually caused by a fall days earlier. They also say Lucio wasnt allowed to present evidence questioning the validity of her confession. The Texas Attorney Generals Office maintains evidence shows Mariah suffered the absolute worst case of child abuse her emergency room doctor had seen in 30 years. Lucio still advances no evidence that is reliable and supportive of her acquittal, the office wrote in court documents last month. The Cameron County District Attorneys Office, which prosecuted Lucio, declined to comment. Lucio, 53, would be the first Latina executed by Texas since 1863 and the first woman since 2014. Only 17 women have been executed in the U.S. since the Supreme Court lifted its ban on the death penalty in 1976, most recently in January 2021. In their clemency petition, Lucios lawyers say that while she had used drugs, leading her to temporarily lose custody of her children, she was a loving mother who worked to remain drug-free and provide for her family. Lucio has 14 children and was pregnant with the youngest two when Mariah died. Lucio and her children struggled through poverty. At times, they were homeless and relied on food banks for meals, according to the petition. Child Protective Services was present in the familys life, but there was never an accusation of abuse by any of her children, Potkin said. Lucio had been sexually assaulted multiple times, starting at age 6, and had been physically and emotionally abused by two husbands. Her lawyers say this lifelong trauma made her susceptible to giving a false confession. In the 2020 documentary The State of Texas vs. Melissa, Lucio said investigators kept pushing her to say she had hurt Mariah. I was not gonna admit to causing her death because I wasnt responsible, Lucio said. Her lawyers say Lucios sentence was disproportionate to what her husband and Mariahs father, Robert Alvarez, received. He got a four-year sentence for causing injury to a child by omission even though he also was responsible for Mariahs care, Lucios lawyers argue. In 2019, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Lucios conviction, ruling she was deprived of her constitutional right to present a meaningful defense. However, the full court in 2021 said the conviction had to be upheld for procedural reasons, despite the difficult issue of the exclusion of testimony that might have cast doubt on the credibility of Lucios confession. Three jurors and one alternate in Lucios trial have signed affidavits expressing doubts about her conviction. She was not evil. She was just struggling. If we had heard passionately from the defense defending her in some way, we might have reached a different decision, juror Johnny Galvan wrote in an affidavit. In a letter last month to the Board of Pardons and Paroles and to Abbott, 83 Texas House members said executing Lucio would be a miscarriage of justice. As a conservative Republican myself, who has long been a supporter of the death penalty in the most heinous cases I have never seen a more troubling case than the case of Melissa Lucio, said state Rep. Jeff Leach, who signed the letter. Abbott can grant a one-time, 30-day reprieve. He can grant clemency if a majority of the paroles board recommends it. The board plans to vote on Lucios clemency petition two days before the scheduled execution, Rachel Alderete, the boards director of support operations, said in an email. A spokeswoman for Abbotts office did not return an email seeking comment. Abbott has granted clemency to only one death row inmate, Thomas Whitaker, since taking office in 2015. Whitaker was convicted of masterminding the fatal shootings of his mother and brother. His father, who survived, led the effort to save Whitaker, saying he would be victimized again if his son was executed. Lucios supporters have said her clemency request is similar in that her family would be retraumatized if shes executed. Please allow us to reconcile with Mariahs death and remember her without fresh pain, anguish and grief. Please spare the life of our mother, Lucios children wrote in a letter to Abbott and the board. ___ Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70 ___ This story has been corrected to show that Lucio would have been the first Latina to be executed by Texas since 1863, not ever. By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press From The Heralds Files (The following story appeared in the Feb. 13, 1966, issue of The Herald and was written by the late L.D. Brown.) Remember the Big Snow? Well, if you lived in Plainview in 1956, the chances are pretty strong that you do. And with good reason. The snow that topped 30 inches in parts of this area was the most ever recorded in Plainview and for downright excitement and close calls with a minimum of damage, it probably will outlast in memory the Big Blow on Thanksgiving 1926, and the flood of 41. On Feb. 1, 1956, most of the Plains was ice-coated and at Plainview mist continued and froze during most of the day. Traffic slipped and slid helplessly. City employees spread sand at intersections and everybody held their breath in antici-pation of serious traffic mishaps. But an astounding thing about the week of violent weather was that there was not one report of serious injury as a result of the snow and ice and despite the paralysis of communication no one is believed to have really suffered. On Feb. 2, a Thursday, from 6 to 8 inches of snow fell over the Plainview area. Weather forecasts were for zero readings that night and clearing skies. In fact, at one time late Thursday, the overcast thinned and it looked just like another normally light snow. But the snowman was just getting his second wind. And wind it was, for the snow drifted considerably, slowing traffic and disappointing farmers because they would not receive even and maximum benefit from the moisture. It was the first appreciable snow here since 1947. The severe drifting marooned automobiles in driveways and in the streets. Telephone connections between Plainview and Floydada were interrupted, businesses were running two hours or more behind schedule and the community generally slowed down. An ambulance brought a patient here from Dimmitt as highway crews and others stood by to lend a hand in case the ambulance stalled. Joel Culp, who lives 10 miles south of Plainview, had 5 inches of snow, but not much on his fields. It was in the roads and in the fence rows in 2- and 3-foot drifts. Still it snowed and the region hadnt seen anything yet. The snow continued Thursday night and into Friday. By noon Friday, traffic was about at a standstill. The snow had changed from the light, powdery variety at the start to the heavy kind and was piling up on the level. Sleet and drizzle prevailed over North, Central and East Texas. Hereford had 24 inches of snow, Amarillo 16 and Lubbock 10 by Saturday. When Plainview awoke on Saturday morning, Feb. 4, the people were confronted with a spectacle that to those unaccustomed to such was ominous. Snow had drifted to the eaves of houses, shutting out the light from windows and blocking driveways. Three-foot deep overhangs jutted from gables and eaves. Trees and shrubs were encased still in the ice coat and on top of that was the snow covering. The landscape was sculptured in the clinging snow and there was a deadly stillness under the bright glare of the sun. Plainview and the area were paralyzed, transportation wise. The official snow measurement was 25 inches with some unofficial measurements at 29 inches and above. It was the heaviest snow recorded for Plainview since Nov. 6, 1906, when 24 inches fell. (Plainview holds the Texas record of the most snowfall in a 24-hour period for the 25 inches recorded from Feb. 3-4, 1956. Hale Center has the record for the maximum depth on the ground of 33 inches on Feb. 5, 1956.) Some stores didnt open that morning. Hospital personnel went to bed wherever they could find a place to sleep because some of them couldnt get home, and were afraid if they did they could not get back to their posts. Some residents were to be confined to their homes for 72 hours before streets were cleared. On Saturday morning, pilots flying over the area sighted abandoned automobiles on long stretches of highway. There were more than 30 cars abandoned between Plainview and Olton on U.S. 70. Farm families were blocked in by 6- and 7-foot snowdrifts. A husband and his wife who was expecting a baby momentarily started to the hospital while there was still time. A few miles from home their car stalled in a snowdrift. The husband walked to a farm house and telephoned for help. Southwestern Public Service crews with trucks went to the rescue. The woman reached the hospital where the baby was born several hours later. An ambulance on the way from Hale Center to Plainview was held up behind a stalled bus for four hours. The patient made the trip in good condition. Marooned motorists put up in hotels and motels here. Scores of others sat through Friday night in bus and railway waiting rooms. Les and Billy Weaks of Plainview with relatives started out late Friday to the country. Their car stalled on the Snyder community road, but the group made it to the Herman Meester farm residence, breasting drifts several feet deep. Their whereabouts were unknown until near noon Saturday. It was the kind of incident repeated numerous times during the height of the storm. No mail arrived or went out of Plainview from noon Friday until Monday. There was no city mail delivery and milk deliveries were suspended. Numerous families ran out of staple foods. Word went out for those with children who had to have milk to contact police or others lending public service for emergency deliveries. Near Hale Center, volunteer workers cleared five miles of country road with tractors to take an elderly man to relatives in order to reach medical aid. Farmers probably fared better than most people, for they used their tractors for transportation. The storm was another of the numerous occasions that have demonstrated the responsive neighborliness of Plains people. Everybody was determined that nobody would suffer. Those who could get around by tractor checked on their neighbors, making sure that no isolated family was overlooked. People living on the impossibly blocked country roads stomped out messages in the snow and volunteer pilots responded to their wants: D meant they needed a doctor X fuel and F food. Three Hale Center fliers donated their time and planes to the relief work, clearing a small landing field of snow. Some of the fliers with practice got pretty good with their drops. One hit a farmers front porch with the groceries. And on and on endlessly were incidents growing out of the storm. Many of them will live in memory of the participants through their lives and be passed along to their children and grandchildren. By standards in some parts of the country the 25-inch snow was not a big snow. But it was most unusual. The Associated Press made aerial pictures. A woman accused of poisoning her husband with a horse tranquilizer last year and burying his body in a California vineyard hanged herself in a jail cell, authorities said Sunday. Laren Sims, 36, had been held without bail in the Hernando County jail since her arrest March 18 in Destin. She was found hanging from a braided bed sheet early Saturday morning in an apparent suicide, and died Sunday, Hernando County sheriff's Capt. Alan Arick said. Several days before her death, Sims wrote a three-page confession detailing how she and a 21-year-old secretary from her husband's California law firm killed Larry McNabney and then buried his body, police said. Sheriff's officials in California were seeking her extradition when she died. McNabney, 53, was last seen alive Sept. 10 being pushed in a wheelchair by Sims at a Los Angeles horse show. A day later, authorities said, Sims started clearing out his office and sold his $110,000 horse trailer and truck. She shut down his law practice in January and disappeared with about $500,000 of his assets. Police said Sims described in her confession how she and Sarah Dutra, a secretary in McNabney's office, gave McNabney horse tranquilizers at a Los Angeles hotel, then drove to Yosemite National Park to bury him. When they discovered he was still alive, they took him back home to Woodbridge, in California's Central Valley, police said. McNabney died shortly afterward. Sims said she kept the body in a refrigerator for several months before burying it in a San Joaquin County vineyard, police said. Farmworkers unearthed the body in February. Dutra, the secretary, was arrested on murder and conspiracy charges a week ago in California. She has not yet entered a plea and was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday. Attorney Kevin Clymo, who represented Dutra at a recent hearing, said Sims' flight from California and suicide suggested she was feeling "consciousness of guilt." "I don't think it really affects Sarah's case one way or the other," he said. "I think the truth will come out. I think the truth is that Sarah is not guilty of murder and I do believe as this story evolves and is presented that that's what everybody will see." Authorities say Sims had a 113-page criminal record, was wanted in Florida and Washington for credit card and grand theft charges, and had more than a dozen aliases and multiple Social Security numbers. Three Florida counties with charges against her dropped them last week to speed her return to California. McNabney apparently never knew Sims' real name. When he met her in 1995, she had gone by Elisa Barasch, the last name of a former cellmate in Florida, where she served seven months for violating her parole for grand theft and fraud. Her latest arrest records in Florida refer to her as Elisa McNabney, Arick said. He confirmed that her maiden name is Sims. Sims had been married twice previously and had a 17-year-old daughter, Haylei Jordan, who was with her in Florida when she was arrested. San Joaquin County Sheriff Baxter Dunn said friends of the daughter turned her in, and the daughter was later turned over to Sims' parents, who had been estranged from Sims for a decade. Sims' death early Sunday appeared to be well-planned, Hernando County Sheriff's Lt. Phillip Wood said. She had been in the jail's medical unit, and officers said they had been regularly checking on her every 15 minutes. Her lawyer, Tom Hogan, didn't immediately return phone calls Sunday. March 23 A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported on March 23 at the 1500 block of N. I-27. The incident occurred in the Walmart Supercenter parking lot. No injuries were reported. Theft was reported at the 500 block of Dallas St. on March 23. Theft from a vehicle was reported at the 1300 block of W. 5th St. Multiple items were reported stolen. Criminal mischief was reported at the 1000 block of W. 5th St. on March 23. Damaged property was reported. Theft from a vehicle was reported on March 23 at the 3600 block of Grandview. An individual with Code Red Safety went to the police station to report several stolen items from the back of their truck. The items are estimated to be valued at $5,550. The items were taken while the individual was staying at the Comfort Suites. Two individuals were arrested on March 23 at the 400 block of W. 5th St. during a traffic stop initiated for a traffic violation. The individuals were found to have several outstanding warrants between them. Warrants for the 57-year-old included charges for credit card/debt card abuse, unauthorized use of a vehicle and assault of a family/household member. Warrants for the 41-year-old woman included one for theft and one for failure to appear/bail jumping. Police were called out to a theft at Allsups on the 400 block of W. 5th St. on March 23. An employee told officers a female wearing a green hoodie walked out of the store with several items including rice, Vienna sausage and Blue Def and proceeded to walk north. The individual was identified but not located, according to the incident report. Plainview police arrested a 27-year-old man on March 23 after responding to a location in reference to a disturbance. The individual was charged with assault. March 24 A 42-year-old woman was arrested on March 24 at the 1600 block of Ennis St. during a traffic stop for a criminal traffic violation. The individual was arrested and charged with driving without a valid license with previous conviction/suspension without financial resolution. A 36-year-old man was arrested on March 24 at the 1600 block of N. Date St. Officers were dispatched to the location in reference to criminal trespass. The individual was charged with criminal trespass of a habitat/shelter/superfund/infrastructure. A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the 3000 block of the east frontage road of N. I-27. A 37-year-old man was arrested on March 24 at the 600 block of W. 11th St. where officers were dispatched in reference to a domestic disturbance. Officers met with the reporting party who said she feared for her safety because a man at the scene had assaulted her a day before. The victim had visible bruising on her face, arms and shoulder. Officers conducted a warrant check and found the man John Marshall Zamora to have an active Hale County warrant. He was informed of the warrant and then resisted arrest refusing to be handcuffed and refusing to walk and pulled away from officers. He was taken to the Hale County Jail. Zamora was charged with resisting arrest, search or transportation; assault causing bodily injury, family violence; a warrant for bond surrender/assault causing bodily injury; and or abandonment/endangerment of a child, criminal negligence, which is a felony. March 25 Officers responded to the 400 block of W. 5th St. on March 25 in reference to an individual harassing customers at Allsups. The individual was issued a criminal trespass citation. Police stopped a vehicle at the 800 block of El Paso on March 25 for an expired registration. During the stop, the driver was found to be in possession of a controlled substance. The incident report indicates it was amphetamine but no arrests were indicated. This case remains under investigation. A 31-year-old man was arrested on March 25 at the 2600 block of W. 7th St. during a traffic stop. The vehicle was stopped for an expired registration and upon a check, the driver was found to have several active warrants and an invalid license. The individual was charged with driving with an invalid license with previous conviction/suspension without financial resolution. He was also arrested for the following warrants: no drivers license, open container and for failure to appear/bail jumping. A theft was reported at the 500 block of N. Date St. on March 25. A known person entered the business and consumed a drink then left without paying for it. Officers responded to the 1200 block of Joliet St. on March 25 for criminal trespass. A homeowner told officers a random individual identified at the scene entered his home without consent. An assault was reported at the 220 block of St. Louis St. on March 25. Officers were dispatched to the 1300 block of Oakland in reference to an assault that had already occurred and met with the reporting party who told them it happened on St. Louis St. The reporting party said a male kept her from leaving the residence and struck her with a shoe multiple times and a closed fist. The man also placed his hand on the reporting partys throat and pulled her hair. The man was not located. A theft was reported at the 2800 block of Olton Road on March 25. Officers were flagged down by a man at the Allsups two blocks down. The reporting party told officers their spouse made a purchase using a $50 and a $20 dollar bill. The Allsups employee did not pick up the money immediately and a man picked up and left the store with the $20. March 26 Police arrested 23-year-old Pablo Luis Serrano on March 26 at the 600 block of Denver St. after responding to the location in reference to an aggravated assault that had already happened. The victim told officers someone had pointed a shotgun at him. Upon further investigation, Serrano was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, which is a felony. Damaged property was reported on March 26 at the 300 block of W. 7th St. A stolen vehicle was reported on March 26 at the 1000 block of W. 5th St. An assault was reported at the 1300 block of Portland St. on March 26. Plainview police arrested 29-year-old Leonardo J. Hidalgo on March 26 at the 400 block of W. 7th St. Hidalgo was charged with possession of a controlled substance, which is a felony; failure to identify a fugitive with intent to give false information; and a warrant for assault causing bodily injury, family violence. The arrest happened during a bicycle stop. A 22-year-old man was arrested on March 26 at the 1800 block of W. 5th St. during a traffic stop for speeding. The driver was found to have an active warrant. He was arrested for a warrant for possession of marijuana and was taken to the Hale County Jail. March 27 A sexual assault was reported on March 27. A crash resulting in an injury was reported on March 27 at the 4000 block of Olton Road. Possession of marijuana was reported on March 27 at the 1100 block of W. 8th St. Theft from a vehicle was reported on March 27 at the 800 block of W. 8th St. A 30-year-old man was charged with burglary of a vehicle. March 28 A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the 1500 block of N. I-27 on March 28. A 27-year-old man was arrested on March 28 at the 300 block of N. Date St. Officers were called to the location in reference to criminal trespass. He was charged with making a terroristic threat. A case of animal cruelty was reported on March 28 at the 200 block of S. Broadway. Police arrested a 27-year-old man and charged him with cruelty to a non-livestock animal. He was also charged with multiple outstanding warrants including charges for driving with no license, violating a promise to appear and expired license plates. A theft was reported at the 3100 block of N. I-27 on March 28. A burglary was reported at the 2300 block of E. 5th St. on March 28. March 29 A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the intersection of W. 11th and Yonkers. The crash involved three vehicles. One vehicle failed to yield right-of-way at the stop sign. No injuries were reported. A burglary was reported at the 1300 block of Kokomo St. on March 29. A crash resulting in injury was reported at the 1500 block of W. 5th St. on March 29. A 20-year-old was arrested on March 29 at the 1500 block of N. I-27. Officers were dispatched to Walmart in reference to several males taking multiple items from the store. All of the individuals were identified and one was found to have multiple outstanding warrants. The five warrants included charges for two counts of driving with no license, one for failure to maintain financial responsibility, one for speeding and one for violating promise to appear. A 21-year-old man was arrested on March 29 at the 700 block of W. 5th St. The individual had multiple active warrants. Police responded to a residence in reference to a sexual assault where the suspect told officers the reporting party struck him with a bat. The suspect told officers he wants to press charges against the reporting party for the assault. Officers responded to a location in reference to a sexual assault. It was reported to police that a family member sexual assaulted a child in the family. The investigation continues. March 30 Harassment was reported at the 110 block of Yonkers St. on March 30. A sexual assault of a child was reported on March 30. A 27-year-old man was arrested at the 1000 block of CR V. Officers responded to a broken-down vehicle. Upon arrival, the driver identified himself and was known to have two active municipal warrants for theft and for failure to appear. The driver was arrested. A crash resulting in an injury was reported on March 30 at the 3100 block of Olton Road. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Shawn Vandygriff chose to retire last year after spending 28 years working for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Her own kids are growing up and she wanted to take some time to enjoy their transition to college. She retired in April 2021 from her position as regional director of Child Protective Services investigations across the Lubbock region, which includes Plainview and Hale County. By December, she decided she wasnt quite ready to let the work go and rejoined her colleagues with the word assistant tacked on to the end of her previous title. Its important work, she said, noting why she felt the desire to return. We have a mission of protecting kids, she said. On Friday morning, her peers praised her dedication as she was recognized as CPS Worker of the Year by the Texas Council of Child Welfare Boards. Vandygriff was in Plainview aiding the kick-off of Child Abuse Awareness and Prevention Month in Plainview surrounded by members from organizations that share in that same mission. The organization previously attempted to present Vandygriff with her Texas-shaped plaque but she was unavailable so the presentation was saved for Friday. Prior to her retirement, Vandygriff served the agency in several different capacities for, not just region 1, but region 2, both of which encompass the Texas Panhandle and dip into the South Plains. Anna Riggler, a member of the Texas Council of Child Welfare Boards, presented Vandygriff with her plaque taking a minute to publicly acknowledge her service. She went above and beyond to keep the council informed, acted as a spokesperson for her organization and for charitable causes and serves on numerous boards. That is just a brief highlight, Riggler said just prior to handing Vandygriff her award. The Obama portraits are finally here, and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH) is planning a full afternoon of fun activities on Sunday, April 3, to celebrate their arrival. In 2018, the Smithsonians National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., debuted The Obama Portraits, an exhibit with works by Kehinde Wiley and Amy Sherald portraying former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. The portraits have since gone on tour in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles and Atlanta. And now, its Houstons turn. The portraits will be on view at MFAH from April 3 to May 30. This Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m., MFAH is hosting an outdoor festival called Sunday Best to kick off the exhibits Houston stay. The afternoon will begin with remarks from U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas and Necole Irvin of the Mayors Office of Cultural Affairs. There will be performances from Texas Southern Universitys marching band, Ocean of Soul, as well as from the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses, and readings by Houston-based poet Joy Priest, author of "Horsepower" and winner of the Donald Hall Prize for Poetry, and Houston Poet Laureate Outspoken Bean. Attendees will also get to join in on a discussion with the Free Black Womens Library about White Teeth, a Zadie Smith novel recommended by Michelle Obama, and meet the folks behind Kindred Stories, a new bookstore that highlights Black authors and artists. Various craft activities will be available, from designing wearable art with Houston Community Colleges fashion faculty to decorating paper fans with artist Melissa Aytenfisu. Want your own portrait? The Jack Yates High School students featured in Eye on Houston: High School Documentary Photography will be there to take your picture. Finally, H-E-B is bringing the snacks at the Grab and Go stand, Third Wards Doshi House will sell vegan and vegetarian food, and Cafe Leonellione of the restaurant concepts inside MFAH's new Kinder Buildingwill have a happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m., serving $5 wine and focaccias. View the full Sunday Best schedule on MFAHs website. After Houston, the Obama portraits will head to San Francisco, then Boston. You may not believe this, but my parents put me in anger management classes at De Zavala Elementary School to teach me how to deal with my emotions when things didn't go my way. Yes, I was THAT kid. It worked. I was less of a moody kid until my know-it-all teenage years and stressful 20s. Therapy eases the pain, but sometimes breaking something is the release you need to get some rage out. Priscilla Aguirre, MySA.com That's the help 21-year-old Thalia Trejo wanted to offer when she suggested to her mother, Debra, that they should open a rage room on San Antonio's Southside. Debra knows more than a thing or two about opening a business. Debra has owned her store, I Got Clothes, for more than 20 years on 1602 SW Military Drive. She also invested in the space next to her shop for her son Michael Reyes open up a selfie museum. However, Reyes moved The Selfie Box to North Star Mall for more foot traffic, leaving the space available for Thalia to take over and run a rage room business. "I'm so proud of my kids," Debra said. "My son has his thing going and now Thalia brainstormed and creatively put together this cool concept San Antonio doesn't really have." Priscilla Aguirre, MySA.com Priscilla Aguirre, MySA.com Dubbing themselves as the only rage room in San Antonio, Thalia created a business where you can safely smash bottles, televisions, plates, glasses, and more. In the space, Thalia has two rooms for rage, another for expressive paint throwing, and an ax-throwing area. All include cool artwork from local artist Christopher Ramos. "I always saw these rooms in Los Angeles but it's not something you'll see in San Antonio," Thalia said. "The nearest one is in Austin, so I got with my dad and mom, and we decided to at least try it out." It opened on March 19 and has already sold out on weekends the past two weeks and I can understand why. Priscilla Aguirre, MySA.com When I raged with Thalia's best friend and employee, Denise Flores, on Wednesday, March 30, I felt my anxiety leave me the minute I threw a beer bottle at the wall. And when I used a bat to hit a plate and glass. It was a bit nerve-wracking at first because I don't have a lot of anger in me anymore. Those anger management classes helped. However, I unleashed some power from anger I didn't even know I had. I finished feeling empowered and joyful. "The biggest thing people say when they walk out is like, 'Oh, I feel so much better,'" Debra said. "People have said that over and over. It really does release a lot of stress." Priscilla Aguirre, MySA.com If you're worried about getting paint or glass cutting you, don't worry. The Rage Room offers you suits and goggles as part of the package deal. Along with the gear, you will get a bat or crowbar and 13 glass breakables for $29.99 for a 30-minute rage session. You can add other items like printers, large televisions and microwaves to the package if you want. For the rage painting, it's $29.99 for 30 minutes for three 4oz bottles of paint colors, one paint canvas, one poncho, and shoe covers. For more information on the Rage Room, visit its website at the rageroomsa.com. Brandon Bell/Getty Images Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday appeared to show support for mandating the death penalty for those who kill police officer in a now-deleted tweet. The Republican leader tweeted the message "Cop killers deserve the death penalty" from his personal Twitter account after sharing a statement about the shooting death of Harris County Sheriff's Deputy Darren Almendarez. Abbott deleted the tweet seconds after it was posted. The deleted message was sent out amid other tweets from the governor offering prayers for Almendarez's family and condemning those responsible for his death. Almendarez was shot confronting suspected car burglars at Joe V's Smart Shop in the 2900 block of FM 1960 on Thursday night. Two suspects have been arrested in relation to the shooting and one remains at large. Local villager Hasan Osman (2nd L) chats with workers at the drilling site of deepwater wells dug by the Chinese firm Zhongman Petroleum and Gas Group (ZPEC) in the Siwa Oasis, west of Cairo, Egypt, March 25, 2022. In a remote village in the Siwa Oasis of Egypt's Western Desert, part of the Sahara Desert, a Chinese drilling company, commissioned by the Egyptian authorities, is digging deepwater wells for the villagers in efforts to bring them sustainable and sufficient access to drinking water. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) SIWA, Egypt, April 2 (Xinhua) -- In a remote village in the Siwa Oasis of Egypt's Western Desert, part of the Sahara Desert, a Chinese drilling company, commissioned by the Egyptian authorities, is digging deepwater wells for the villagers in efforts to bring them sustainable and sufficient access to drinking water. "I offered a sheep to the Chinese drilling team on behalf of the whole village as a thank-you gift for drilling water wells for us," Hasan Osman, a 30-year-old villager, told Xinhua, looking at the huge drilling platform of the Chinese firm Zhongman Petroleum and Gas Group (ZPEC). The village where Osman lives is called Malol, located in the Siwa Oasis about 560 km west of the capital Cairo. Being close to the Egyptian border with Libya, Siwa is the most remote and inaccessible desert oasis in Egypt. "The water we have been drinking is salty and insufficient for drinking, let alone for growing crops," Osman said. With the arrival of the ZPEC drilling team comes the potential access to potable water. Like a long-awaited rain in the desert, the drilling site has become a magnet for villagers who talk about the promising project and make friends with the workers. "We're very happy that the Chinese company is digging a well for us! What a pleasure!" Osman said with an expectant grin. Li Wei, general manager of the ZPEC branch in Egypt, told Xinhua that the village heavily relies on underground water, but the existing wells are mostly shallow with a depth of 300 to 400 meters, offering water of high salinity well below ideal drinking water par. In February, the Egyptian authorities decided to stop drilling shallow wells in Siwa and contracted ZPEC to drill two deepwater wells with a depth of about 1,200 meters to tap quality water sources for the local people. This is not the first time for ZPEC to provide deep drilling services in Egypt. Since 2016, the Chinese company has been providing drilling services in Sinai Peninsula, where its highly efficient work quickly won recognition from the Egyptian government and resulted in more projects by contract in the North African country. The project in Siwa has never been easy. The team managed to transport a 550-horsepower drilling rig from Cairo all the way to Siwa for the project, before being put to the test of difficulties in technical work and management. "Due to the remote location of the project and some geological problems, the company's technical department has assigned specialized experts to study and implement leak prevention and plugging measures at the drilling site," Li said. Pointing to a well being drilled at hand, Fahmy Abdel-Hamid, a project manager who has been working for ZPEC for nearly five years, said the well has been drilled to a depth of over 400 meters so far, with 28 workers manning it in two shifts round the clock. Abdel-Hamid also praised the Chinese professional and technical expertise in the drilling field, noting he has gained a lot of experience from his work at ZPEC. "We're not only bringing a couple of deepwater wells to the village but also hope for the local people to live a better life," Li, the general manager, told Xinhua. Li Wei (L), general manager of the ZPEC branch in Egypt, talks with workers at the drilling site of deepwater wells dug by the Chinese firm Zhongman Petroleum and Gas Group (ZPEC) in the Siwa Oasis, west of Cairo, Egypt, March 25, 2022. In a remote village in the Siwa Oasis of Egypt's Western Desert, part of the Sahara Desert, a Chinese drilling company, commissioned by the Egyptian authorities, is digging deepwater wells for the villagers in efforts to bring them sustainable and sufficient access to drinking water.(Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) Laborers work at the drilling site of deepwater wells dug by the Chinese firm Zhongman Petroleum and Gas Group (ZPEC) in the Siwa Oasis, west of Cairo, Egypt, March 25, 2022. In a remote village in the Siwa Oasis of Egypt's Western Desert, part of the Sahara Desert, a Chinese drilling company, commissioned by the Egyptian authorities, is digging deepwater wells for the villagers in efforts to bring them sustainable and sufficient access to drinking water.(Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) Photo taken on March 25, 2022 shows the drilling site of deepwater wells dug by the Chinese firm Zhongman Petroleum and Gas Group (ZPEC) in the Siwa Oasis, west of Cairo, Egypt. In a remote village in the Siwa Oasis of Egypt's Western Desert, part of the Sahara Desert, a Chinese drilling company, commissioned by the Egyptian authorities, is digging deepwater wells for the villagers in efforts to bring them sustainable and sufficient access to drinking water. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) Aerial photo taken on March 25, 2022 shows the drilling site of deepwater wells dug by the Chinese firm Zhongman Petroleum and Gas Group (ZPEC) in the Siwa Oasis, west of Cairo, Egypt. In a remote village in the Siwa Oasis of Egypt's Western Desert, part of the Sahara Desert, a Chinese drilling company, commissioned by the Egyptian authorities, is digging deepwater wells for the villagers in efforts to bring them sustainable and sufficient access to drinking water.(Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) Photo taken on March 25, 2022 shows the drilling site of deepwater wells dug by the Chinese firm Zhongman Petroleum and Gas Group (ZPEC) in the Siwa Oasis, west of Cairo, Egypt. In a remote village in the Siwa Oasis of Egypt's Western Desert, part of the Sahara Desert, a Chinese drilling company, commissioned by the Egyptian authorities, is digging deepwater wells for the villagers in efforts to bring them sustainable and sufficient access to drinking water.(Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) Local children visit the drilling site of deepwater wells dug by the Chinese firm Zhongman Petroleum and Gas Group (ZPEC) in the Siwa Oasis, west of Cairo, Egypt, March 25, 2022. In a remote village in the Siwa Oasis of Egypt's Western Desert, part of the Sahara Desert, a Chinese drilling company, commissioned by the Egyptian authorities, is digging deepwater wells for the villagers in efforts to bring them sustainable and sufficient access to drinking water. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) Aerial photo taken on March 25, 2022 shows the drilling site of deepwater wells dug by the Chinese firm Zhongman Petroleum and Gas Group (ZPEC) in the Siwa Oasis, west of Cairo, Egypt. In a remote village in the Siwa Oasis of Egypt's Western Desert, part of the Sahara Desert, a Chinese drilling company, commissioned by the Egyptian authorities, is digging deepwater wells for the villagers in efforts to bring them sustainable and sufficient access to drinking water. (Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) Local villager Hasan Osman (2nd L) chats with workers at the drilling site of deepwater wells dug by the Chinese firm Zhongman Petroleum and Gas Group (ZPEC) in the Siwa Oasis, west of Cairo, Egypt, March 25, 2022. In a remote village in the Siwa Oasis of Egypt's Western Desert, part of the Sahara Desert, a Chinese drilling company, commissioned by the Egyptian authorities, is digging deepwater wells for the villagers in efforts to bring them sustainable and sufficient access to drinking water.(Xinhua/Sui Xiankai) (Natural News) Dr. Bryan Ardis is number one on Big Pharmas hit list. The popular chiropractor himself shared that bit of information to lawyer Tom Renz during the March 29 episode of Lawfare with Tom Renz on Brighteon.TV. Ardis said Dr. Vladimir Zev Zelenko, who is now famous for his Zelenko Protocol that has saved lives worldwide, told him during an interview last week that he was on a hit list or assassination list of Big Pharma, specifically Pfizer. Im number one on Big Pharmas hit list. And I just lost it laughing because Zev Zelenko said, Im not sure if I should be jealous of you or congratulate you that youre number one. And Im number two but then goes on to say that he knows were obviously doing something right because we are the targets, said Ardis, adding that Zelenko wanted the world to know how important both of them have become by being singled out and targeted by Big Pharma cabal. The ArdisLabs CEO added that he, Zelenko and other concerned medical professionals are trying to keep people outside of hospitals and protecting lives using early treatment. Ardis knows somebodys watching him Ardis mentioned that he has done tons of research into specific topics around the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) since the beginning of December 2021. And I know theyre tracking me. I know theyre watching me. Its very obvious that they are watching what Im doing and what Im saying because I have been on stages around the country. And I will actually pinpoint things on websites, and I will circle them with a laser pointer, the certain things I want people to read and notice that they have on their sites, Ardis said. And the very next day, theyll take those down. Theyll actually scrub one sentence that I highlight, theyll scrub one adverse event Ill highlight or theyll take down the whole page the next day. And I kind of find it humorous that weve gotten to their attention so much, but Ive been saying since December 16, that theyre watching me. So I know theyre watching what Im doing and what Im saying. The Dr. Ardis Show host said that he has been on a watch list after unloading a ton of documentation on the toxic effects of remdesivir and making people aware that it is a dangerous and toxic drug. (Related: Dr. Bryan Ardis tells Dr. Peter Breggin: Fauci is using remdesivir to mass murder Americans Brighteon.TV.) He also recalled the chart from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) website that actually said there were three drugs: remdesivir, ivermectin and another anti-parasitic drug that were approved or under evaluation for the treatment of COVID-19. Ardis said he had shared this information around the world and that American families have been using it to get their loved ones off of remdesivir and out of the hospitals. Ardis took note that the NIH updated its chart last December and started deleting specific adverse events aside from putting words right underneath the medications that remdesivir is the only drug approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for COVID-19. Pfizers COVID-19 drug paxlovid has a neurotoxin According to Ardis, Dr. Peter McCullough had talked about a drug that was coming out from Pfizer called Paxlovid, an oral pill that was already given an emergency use authorization for COVID-19 early treatment. He explained that this new drug from Pfizer has an ingredient widely known as a neurotoxin that suppresses the brains control of the diaphragm. Ardis added that it was not a good idea to swallow a pill that can suppress your ability to breathe, especially if a person was struggling with a respiratory virus like COVID-19. He warned people not to take the drug, which he described as toxic and deadly. The podcaster-doctor mentioned that theres a burning desire inside of him to protect as many innocent people as possible and he didnt know about it until he read Anthony Faucis memo in May 2020. And ever since then, Ive just wanted to call out all of their lies because they are physically trying to murder people. And they are finding every way to do it either by poisoning you and calling it COVID-19 or injecting it into your vein, calling it remdesivir or injecting it into you called mRNA technology. Vaccines are now with oral pills from Pfizer and Merck, Ardis said. Follow MedicalTyranny.com for more stories related to Big Pharma. Watch the full March 29 episode of Lawfare with Tom Renz below. Lawfare with Tom Renz airs every Tuesday at 11:30-12 p.m. on Brighteon.TV. More related stories: Dr. Bryan Ardis exposes the truth behind COVID-19 protocols Brighteon.TV. Dr. Bryan Ardis: Fauci knows remdesivir is KILLING PEOPLE. Thomas Renz to Americans affected by COVID pandemic lies: We need to hold them accountable Brighteon.TV. Sources include: Brighteon.com VladimirZelenkoMD.com TheDrArdisShow.com (Natural News) A proposal filed in the California State Senate aims to defund law enforcement departments that do not enforce Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) mask mandates. Democratic State Sen. Richard Pan introduced Senate Bill (SB) 1464 back in February. He wrote: Existing law authorizes each sheriff to enforce all orders of the California Department of Public Health (DPH), or of the local health officer, issued for the purpose of preventing the spread of any contagious, infectious or communicable disease. Pan added that SB 1464 would require sheriffs and peace officers to enforce those [health] orders. The bill would additionally prohibit state funds from being provided to any law enforcement agency that publicly announces that they will oppose, or adopt a policy to oppose, a public health order. In case police departments in the Golden State refuse to enforce public health orders, money originally allocated to them will be reallocated to the county public health department of the county in which the law enforcement agency operates for public health purposes. Republican State Assemblyman Kevin Kiley took to social media to denounce Pans proposal. The [California State] Senate considers legislation to defund police for not enforcing mask mandates. Its the most fanatical threads of progressivism knotted into one bill, he wrote. The state senator and practicing physician reiterated his support toward COVID-19 mask mandates through a Feb. 28 statement on his website. In following the science, I will continue to wear a mask indoors in public spaces and large mass gatherings where social distancing is not allowed. I [also] join [California Health and Human Services Agency] Secretary [Mark] Ghaly in asking all Californians of good conscience to continue to wear masks indoors to protect the most vulnerable among us. Too many have died of COVID-19, including over a thousand U.S. children, and too many others are suffering COVID-related disabilities including long COVID. (Related: Medical authoritarian Dr. Richard Pan believes government of California controls all medical choices for parents and their children, including forced vaccination.) Bill appears to target pro-health freedom LA County sheriff Pans SB 1464 appears to be aimed at Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva. The Democratic sheriff went against the grain by opposing mandatory face coverings back in July 2021, contrary to other Democrats that supported the mandate. Forcing the vaccinated and those who already contracted COVID-19 to wear masks indoors is not backed by science and contradicts the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines. The L.A. County DPH has authority to enforce the order, but the underfunded/defunded L.A. County Sheriffs Department (LASD) will not expand [its] limited resources and instead ask for voluntary compliance, Villanueva stated in a July 16, 2021 statement. The sheriff called on the county DPH to work with the countys Board of Supervisors and law enforcement to establish mandates that are both achievable and supported by science. Months later in October 2021, Villanueva again made it to the headlines by announcing that LASD will not enforce a COVID-19 vaccine mandate. I dont want to force anyone [because] the issue has become so politicized. There are entire groups of employees that are willing to be fired and laid off rather than get vaccinated, so I dont want to be in a position to lose five percent [or] 10 percent of my workforce overnight on a vaccine mandate, said the L.A. County sheriff. He also denounced the defunding effort against already bare bones police departments, coupling it with the COVID-19 vaccine mandate for city workers as the worst of two worlds. Villanueva later tweeted: When a decision must be made between responding to a violent felony in progress or serving as the vaccine mandate police, the choice is simple. [LASD] will continue requiring all of [its] employees to register [if they are vaccinated], but will only seek voluntary compliance and testing for the unvaccinated. Visit RichardPan.news to read more stories about the California state senator. Watch the Health Ranger Mike Adams discuss California State Sen. Richard Pan lying about human fetal cells in vaccines. This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: LA County Sheriff Alex Villanueva says he will not enforce COVID-19 vaccine mandate. California legislators, including Richard Pan, trying to force all schoolchildren to get vaccinated for covid. LA County admits covid vaccines are a hoax, tries to reinstate mask mandate, even for the fully vaccinated. Richard Pan says Americans who refuse experimental coronavirus gene therapy injections are domestic terrorists. Sources include: WesternJournal.com LegInfo.Legislature.CA.gov Twitter.com SD06.Senate.CA.gov LASD.org CBSNews.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) A propaganda campaign by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) showing people locked down in their homes with sufficient food has backfired as many complained about not having enough to eat. A leaked official memo addressed to CCP officials in the city of Changchun in the northeastern Jilin province called for a social media campaign. Jilin was ravaged by an outbreak of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19), with authorities imposing lockdowns to contain the virus in line with Chinas zero-COVID policy. The outbreak control task in our city has moved into a critical stage, it said. Prevailing negative sentiment about the lack of food in Changchun only exacerbated the problem, argued the memo. CCP authorities in Changchun then ordered city officials to launch the social media campaign dubbed show off your pack of vegetables. The campaign sought to promote a positive outlook to live and show that the populace enjoys ample food supplies with no concerns despite the harsh COVID-19 lockdowns. (Related: Chinese city implements harshest lockdown yet as Beijing aims for zero-COVID.) They instructed all [CCP] cadres across city agencies to post vivid short videos and photos of the food supplies they received on the Chinese Douyin and Kuaishou social media platforms. The cadres were also reminded that any photos posted on the two social media platforms must be authentic. Please rally your family and friends to actively participate and make their contribution to the outbreak containment work, it urged. Despite the officials warning that the memo about the social media campaign should not be made public, it was eventually released sometime after Changchun announced a lockdown on its nine million residents on March 20. The memo became viral on Chinese social media as soon as it was posted online on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, with many criticizing it. Most comments critical of the memo appear to have been removed as of March 31. State media later posted on Weibo that Changchun has held two officials responsible for causing a negative impact. CCP killing Chinese citizens through lockdowns One Weibo user wrote: The media kept saying food supplies are plentiful. We commoners demand to know: Where are these supplies? Another user echoed his sentiments, saying: We know they are lying. They know themselves [that] they are lying. They also know that we know they are lying but they still [continue to do so.] With many Changchun residents unable to leave their homes, they have relied on grocery apps to purchase food online. But even though they can conveniently order, there is still no guarantee that the food items would make it to their doorstep. Its not even a matter of price. You simply cant get any, even if you fight for them. To put it bluntly, no one cares even if you starve to death, revealed a migrant worker in Changchun who helped build the citys largest makeshift hospital. The lack of food amid COVID-19 lockdowns is not only limited to the borders of Changchun. A woman who lives in Taikang county in the central Henan province told the Epoch Times: We lack everything, [so] we need to eat sparingly. She added that thousands of other residents were quarantined in the surrounding areas, and healthy locals confined to their homes have resorted to rationing food. The stoppage of delivery services, which meant that no supplies are being sent into Taikang, made the problem worse. Activist Wang Wanying, who lives in Shanghai, lamented how neighborhood committee officers refused to provide her with food when her stocks ran out. They told her to order takeout after she finished the last of her vegetables at home. I dont have money to buy those. They are basically telling me to live or perish on my own, she lamented. One video that went viral showed an elderly Changchun resident who resorted to begging outside a supermarket, just so he could buy food. He was informed that he had to place his order through a mobile app after his provisions ran out, despite his apparent ignorance of this technology. The elderly man was forced to live by himself away from his children due to the pandemic. Visit FoodSupply.news to read more stories like this. Watch the viral footage of the elderly Changchun resident begging to be allowed inside a grocery to purchase food. This video is from the Chinese taking down EVIL CCP channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: China now facing its own food crisis is a food collapse also coming soon to the USA? Tonghua City residents imprisoned in their homes, low on food amid lockdown. Forced covid lockdowns in China are starving people to death. Sources include: TheEpochTimes.com Reuters.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) We have previously discussed allegations that Marc Elias, the former general counsel for the Clinton Campaign and partner at the firm Perkins Coie, lied to conceal the campaigns funding of the infamous Steele Dossier. The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has now fined the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clintons 2016 campaign for violating election rules in hiding that funding. Elias has previously been sanctioned for his conduct in litigation and recently lost an effort to gerrymander the Maryland voting districts. The alleged Elias lies would ordinarily seem a professional liability for any attorney but they seem an actual professional attraction for Elias. (Article republished from JonathanTurley.org) On March 29, the FEC imposed a relatively small fine of $8,000 for Clinton and $105,000 for the DNC. However, it is the basis rather than the size of the fine that is so notable. The FEC found that Clinton campaign and DNC payments to Fusion GPS were funneled through Perkins Coie and Elias. As the campaign denied funding the dossier, these payments were concealed as legal advice and services. The FEC said the law firm, Perkins Coie, paid Fusion $1,024,407.97 for the dossier in 2016. Elias has featured prominently in the filings of Special Counsel John Durham. The key to many of these operations is someone referred to by Durham as Campaign Lawyer-1, who is now known to be Elias. Elias was called before the grand jury. It was Elias who made the key funding available to Fusion GPS, which in turn enlisted Steele to produce his now discredited dossier on Trump and his campaign. During the campaign, a few reporters did ask about the possible connection to the campaign, but Clinton campaign officials denied any involvement. It was only weeks after the election that journalists discovered that the Clinton campaign hid payments for the Steele dossier as legal fees among the $5.6 million paid to Perkins Coie. New York Times reporter Ken Vogel said at the time that Elias denied involvement in the anti-Trump dossier. When Vogel tried to report the story, he said, Elias pushed back vigorously, saying You (or your sources) are wrong. Times reporter Maggie Haberman declared, Folks involved in funding this lied about it, and with sanctimony, for a year. It was not just reporters who asked the Clinton campaign about its role in the Steele dossier. John Podesta, Clintons campaign chairman, was questioned by Congress and denied categorically any contractual agreement with Fusion GPS. Sitting beside him was Elias, who reportedly said nothing to correct the misleading information given to Congress. Elias former partner, Michael Sussmann, has been indicted by Durham. It is not known if Elias is a target for possible indictment. Democrats continue to hire Elias despite his checkered past. Elias has unsuccessfully led efforts to challenge Democratic losses. Elias has been sanctioned in past litigation. Elias also was the subject of intense criticism after a tweet that some have called inherently racist. Democrats used the recent Georgia election law as a rallying cry for federalizing elections by labelling the law, as described by President Biden, Jim Crow on steroids. Biden has been repeatedly called out for demonstrably false statements about the law. Elias argued that Georgia voters could not be expected to be able to read their drivers licenses correctly a statement that seemed to refer to minority voters who would be disproportionately impacted by such a requirement. Elias was back in the news on another defeat in court last week. He filed in support of an abusive gerrymandering of the election districts in Maryland that a court found violated not only violated Maryland law but the state constitutions equal protection, free speech and free elections clauses. The court found that the map pushed by Elias subverts the will of those governed. Elias has been accused of making millions from gerrymandering and challenging election victories by Republicans (while condemning such actions by Republicans as anti-Democratic). He was involved in the New York redistricting that was ridiculed as not only ignoring the express will of the voters to end such gerrymandering but effectively negating the votes of Republican voters. It is clear that none of these controversies will alter Elias conduct or such tactics. Indeed, they appear to be a draw from some Democrats and the media. CNN recently asked Elias what should we be doing differently in covering elections. He chastised the media for not having enough of a a pro-democracy slant, which appears to mean a more Democratic slant. After the FEC fine, DNC spokesman Daniel Wessel called the complaints over their hiding the funding of the dossier (and public denials before the election) are silly. It has been a bad week for Elias, but these headlines only seem a draw for some in Democrats that Elias is the precisely the type of attorney that they want in case pursuing gerrymandering and election challenges. Read more at: JonathanTurley.org (Natural News) The deep state operatives running what amounts to Barack Obamas third term must have decided that its time for Joe Biden, the dementia gaffe machine, to go, which would explain the torrent of mainstream news reporting in recent weeks further exposing the Biden familys corruption. This month alone, The New York Times, CNN, the Washington Post and other legacy media outlets have confirmed what rational Americans knew in the weeks before the 2020 election: The New York Posts reporting on Biden family corruption using materials gleaned from a laptop Hunter Biden abandoned at a Delaware computer repair shop the previous year was indeed accurate. In essence, the materials and emails discovered on the laptop reveal that Hunter Biden and his uncle, James Biden, used Joe Bidens name and contacts to strike business deals worth tens of millions over several years, and with shady governments including Ukraine, Russia and China. Additional evidence that the deep state is setting Joe Biden up to fall: The Justice Departments investigation into Hunter Biden is said to be heating up, with some now projecting that he will be indicted. To that point, CBS News Catherine Herridge also reported this week that two former business associates of Hunter Biden testified before a grand jury last fall about a mysterious, shady and now-bankrupt Chinese energy conglomerate that was linked to the now-infamous 10 for the big guy email found on his laptop. Federal officials are looking at his foreign business dealings, including his ties to a Chinese energy company, said CBS Mornings host Tony Dokoupil. The investigation began as a tax inquiry years ago and has expanded into a federal probe involving the FBI and IRS, Herridge contributed. A source familiar with the investigation now tells CBS News, two men who worked with Hunter Biden when his father was vice president were called to the grand jury last fall. The investigation seeks to uncover evidence regarding whether Hunter and his pals violated tax, money laundering and foreign lobbying statutes. According to congressional documents and other records that were reviewed by CBS News, federal investigators are looking at multiple financial transactions involving an energy company called CEFC. Republicans have said that the conglomerate was an arm of the Chinese government, which means that, by default, it also has ties to the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA). The year Joe Biden left the vice presidency, 2017, a $1 million retainer was signed with a Chinese energy firm to use Hunter Bidens services as an attorney. His client, Patrick Ho, a CEFC official, was later convicted on money laundering and international bribery charges for unrelated work in Africa. The Hunter Biden investigation began as a tax inquiry years ago + expanded into a federal probe. Source familiar with the investigation now tells @cbsnews I-unit two men who worked w/Hunter Biden when his father VP were called to the grand jury last fall.pic.twitter.com/1LaXDiycWk Catherine Herridge (@CBS_Herridge) March 31, 2022 To recap, CEFC was the firm the Bidens allegedly took a $5 million interest-free loan from that outraged their business partner, Tony Bobulinski, who then flipped on the Bidens after a Senate report identified the loan. According to Bobulinski, he was introduced to Joe Biden by Hunter and they had an hour-long meeting where they talked about the Bidens business plans with the Chinese firm. He went on to say that Joe Biden was plainly familiar with all of the deal at least at a high level. In addition, texts from Bobulinski also reveal that there was a concerted effort to conceal Joe Bidens involvement in all of Hunters business deals, while he also confirmed that the big guy described in a leaked email is indeed Joe Biden. The Bidens are corrupt, and Joe Biden is incompetent. It seems apparent that the deep state has decided its time for him to go. Sources include: ZeroHedge.com ConservativeBrief.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) The government of the United Kingdom is pushing ahead with its planned rollout of a nationwide digital ID system. It will start this month with the launch of a system for verifying digital IDs and a portal where uploaded credentials can easily be accessed. On April 6, the British government is expected to introduce new technology for public use that can verify digital IDs. This verification system allows government agencies and businesses to get hold of private data uploaded by users to servers as part of their sign-up for the British digital ID system. (Related: Digital tyranny: Beware of the Governments push for a digital currency.) According to recent announcements from the British government, the verification technology will be made available to employers, landlords and letting agents who need the technology to carry out pre-employment criminal record checks, right to work checks and right to rent checks. The introduction of the verification technology is part of the British governments digital ID plans announced last month. The government claims that the digital ID can help U.K. citizens to easily and quickly prove their identity using digital methods instead of having to rely on traditional physical documents. British government to launch online portal where all citizen credentials are accessible to trusted organizations As part of the British governments nationwide digital ID plan, the verification technology is intended to pave the way for the trial launch of its proposed One Login for Government project. The first public version of the One Login for Government project is expected to go live this month, with full deployment scheduled for 2025. The One Login program is expected to be an online portal where British citizens can create an account to access all the public services they are entitled to, including healthcare, education, housing and other benefits. Under the British governments digital ID plans, so-called trusted organizations like employers, landlords and letting agents will be able to access any information they require from British citizens through the single digital identity uploaded in the One Login program. This information can be used in-person or online and either through a smartphone app or a website. The verification checks carried out by the so-called trusted organizations will supposedly help prevent the British government from losing over 52 billion pounds ($68.2 billion) to fraud every year and can save taxpayers up to one billion pounds ($1.3 billion) every week. Privacy concerns hamper launch of UK digital ID system The British government has been trying to launch some kind of digital ID system for nearly a decade. It has consistently been plagued with technical issues and a lack of support from different government agencies and a large portion of the U.K. public. The biggest constraint is making sure that the system is secure from potential breaches and does not put the privacy of citizens at risk. One survey of British citizens on current attitudes towards online personal data use and privacy carried out by Statista last year found that more than half of respondents were very concerned about their online privacy, more so compared to a year ago. Even if the U.K. government will somehow miraculously be able to create a system that is secure from potential breaches and data thefts, another challenge is getting citizens to actually use the digital ID system. Other recent surveys show that many people are still very reluctant to use it. One survey conducted earlier this year found that one out of every three people in Britain are hesitant to trust the government to handle digital services due to overcomplicated transactions, fears about data breaches and past issues with using digital services. Learn more about ID systems and other ways governments attempt to surveil their populations at Surveillance.news. Watch this clip from InfoWars as host Harrison Smith talks about how the World Economic Forum is preparing to launch a global digital ID system. This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com. More related sources: Vaccine passports pave the way for digital identity system, warns Nick Corbishley. Diabolical How digital ID will control your life. Worlds largest biometric digital ID program Aadhaar tracks medications, vaccines, purchases, and all movement of 1.3 billion people in India. Mark of the beast? UN rolls out biometric digital ID wallet and passport. Sources include: BlacklistedNews.com ReclaimTheNet.org TechHQ.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) The Biden administration has included 100 killer drones in its gargantuan weapons package for Ukraine. With the approval of Congress, the White House recently unveiled an $800 million weapons package to aid Ukraine in its war with Russia. This package includes 800 Stinger surface-to-air missile systems, 2,000 Javelin anti-tank missile systems, 6,000 AT-4 anti-armor systems, 1,000 other light anti-armor weapons and 100 Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems. (Related: Biden regime significantly escalating conflict likelihood with Russia after decision to send Switchblade kamikaze drones to Ukraine.) The 100 tactical drones were later confirmed to be Switchblade drones. Also known as kamikaze drones, suicide drones or suicide missiles, the Switchblades carry explosive payloads and are designed to be delivered to their targets by deliberately crashing into them, hence the nicknames. The Switchblade, designed by defense contractor AeroVironment, comes in two variants: Switchblade 300 and 600. The 300 can hit targets within six miles and is designed to hit groups of enemy combatants, unprotected weapons systems like mortar emplacements and machine-gun nests and unarmored vehicles like pickup trucks and other repurposed civilian vehicles. The 600 has a range of 25 miles and it carries an anti-armor warhead, making it useful for disabling heavier and armored military vehicles. Both Switchblades are designed to be easily carried into battle and set up during ongoing fights. The 300 weighs just 5.5 pounds, can be carried in a military backpack and can be set up and launched in under two minutes. The 600 is much heavier at 120 pounds with the explosive payload alone weighing 33 pounds and may need more than one person to transport into battle. It has a setup and launch time of under 10 minutes Once launched, the Switchblades can be directed to their targets by an operator on the ground who indicates where he wants the drone to look, where he wants the camera to point and what he wants the drones to focus on. Both Switchblades are designed to be able to loiter in the air for some time while it seeks a target the 300 for 15 minutes and the 600 for 40 minutes. If the operators directing them see that they no longer have targets, they can be called off and then recovered after their batteries are recharged. Kamikaze drones#AFPGraphics factfile on the US Switchblades or kamikaze drones, to be sent by US to Ukraine pic.twitter.com/fzAov9ncrQ AFP News Agency (@AFP) March 18, 2022 America sending more and more equipment to Ukraine According to Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Celeste Wallander, the proposal to send 100 Switchblade drones came after a request from the Ukrainian government. Weve heard the Ukrainians and we take that request very seriously, she said in a testimony before the House Committee on Armed Services. Before Wallanders testimony, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky made a plea to American lawmakers to send Ukraine additional military equipment. A diplomat familiar with the specifics of Ukraines requests said the government in Kyiv specifically asked the United States and its allies to send more man-portable surface-to-air missile systems like the American Stinger and the British Starstreak, more anti-tank weapons like Javelins, ground-based mobile air defense systems and combat drones. Ukraine also reportedly asked for long-range anti-ship missiles to deal with Russias Black Sea Fleet, off-the-shelf electronic warfare equipment, satellite navigation systems and communications jamming equipment. Ukraine also repeated its request for the U.S. and its allies to implement a no-fly zone to prevent Russian drones and jets from bombing Ukrainian cities and military targets. I think thats probably still a non-starter, said Republican Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia. That doesnt mean we cant up the amount [of supplies sent], do more with equipment and drones and other things that would be just as helpful. The U.S. is also pressuring its allies in Eastern Europe to send more air defense systems to Ukraine, including Russian-made surface-to-air missile systems like the SA-8 and the S-300. The former can intercept enemy aircraft, while the latter can intercept both aircraft and enemy cruise missiles. Learn more about the weapons being sent to Ukraine at MilitaryTechnology.news. Watch this clip from InfoWars as Alex Jones reacts to the news regarding the suicide drones being sent to Ukraine. This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories: RUSSIA on the march: Mayor of major Ukrainian city ordered residents to evacuate as Moscows forces take it over completely. Biden approves billions for defending Ukraines borders but refuses to finish building border wall for America. Assessment forecasts nightmare scenario of nuclear World War III over rising potential for operational miscalculation regarding Ukraine. A death warrant: Foreign volunteers being told by Ukraines government they wont be allowed to leave until war with Russia is over. Putin lays out his demands for peace with Ukraine in call with Turkish president, but agreement is far from being reached. Sources include: CNBC.com Politico.com PopSci.com Brighteon.com (Natural News) More evidence has emerged to suggest that not only are the Pentagon-run biolabs in Ukraine real, but that the Pentagon is planning to use them to attack Russia. Moscow says that records and other proof show that the U.S.-funded biolabs, which are linked to EcoHealth Alliance, the Biden crime family, and others, were going to be used for sending bioweapon-filled drones into Russia. Russias Defense Ministry claims to have discovered the names of specific U.S. personnel who have been engaged in bioweapons development in the Eastern European country, though no tangible proof, according to Great Game India, has yet been presented. Documents testifying to the plans of the Kiev regime to use unmanned aerial vehicles capable of carrying and spraying deadly substances are of special importance to Russian authorities, announced military spokesman Maj. Gen. Igor Konashenkov during a recent conference. Konashenkov went on to state that information now held by the Russian military prove[s] that the Kiev regime was seriously considering the possibility of using biological weapons against the population of the Donbas and the Russian Federation. Hunter Biden directly involved in developing bioweapons at Ukraine biolabs, says Russia Konashenkov also claims that Russia has uncovered the names of specific officials who took part in the creation of components of biological weapons, though he did not name any of them. All he would say is that they are the heads of divisions and employees of the U.S. Department of Defense, as well as its main subcontractors. These bioweapons campaigns, Konashenkov went on to say, are directly related to the son of the current U.S. president, Hunter Biden. This claim corroborates with revelations that came forward last week about how the Biden crime family has connections to the Pentagon contractor Metabiota, which specializes in investigating potential pandemic-causing pathogens that could be used as bioweapons. In another conference, Lt. Gen. Igor Kirillov, commander of the Russian Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Protection Forces, called out Biden as well for his alleged participation in financing these Ukrainian biolabs with American tax dollars. In the near future at a special briefing, Konashenkov promised, more details about the investigation and the biolabs will be released. Western media and governments are still claiming that this is all just an unsubstantiated conspiracy theory and Russian disinformation, but it is increasingly proving to be true. We know from the recent admissions of U.S. diplomat Victoria Nuland, who testified before the Senate earlier this month, that the Ukrainian biolabs do, in fact, exist, and are not just a conspiracy theory. She told Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), however, upon him prompting her to say such, that if anything goes wrong at the labs, it is automatically Russias fault. Nuland also claimed that these biological research laboratories in Ukraine exist as part of a collaboration with Kiev to ensure that the materials of biological research do not fall into the hands of Russian forces. This is not a war against the Ukrainian people, but is rather Putins dismantling (in a hostile manner) of the Deep States Toy Factory, a.k.a. the Nation of Ukraine, suggested someone at Great Game India about the situation. This explains all the rage of State Department, the CIA, & deep state politicians / media who are against Putin. Another wrote that he has personally spoken with Dr. Alan Zabrosky, who used to be the education director at the Pentagon War College, who told him that almost every general and admiral still on duty was hand-picked by Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld going all the way back to 1969. Cheney was only 27 years old and Don Rumsfeld was 32, this person added. These two picked generals. More related news coverage about the conflict in Ukraine can be found at Chaos.news. Sources for this article include: GreatGameIndia.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Remember when George W Bush said Saddam Hussein had WMDs so the USA could bomb Iraq and steal all their oil? Now there really are WMDs, but theyre not in Iraq, theyre in Ukraine, and created there at secret bio-labs funded by the USA. Thats why the Biden Regime is so adamant about trying to destroy all evidence those labs exist and existed, while violating international treaties to do so. These are serious war crimes (think biowarfare gain of function research) by Fauci and his cohorts that Vladimir Putin may be about to reveal to the world. Russia has discovered USAs biological materials developed in Ukraine primarily for military purposes, while U.S. pretends for decades to be searching for others The United States is building dirty bombs and biological weapons on another continent and in a territory that borders Russia, while we complain about Russia trying to protect their own borders. Meanwhile, the southern border of the USA is wide open for anyone to cross, including terrorists and foreigners with their own dirty bombs, biological weapons and COVID-19 infections. Go figure. Russia now has evidence that cannot be refuted, that USA has given instructions to Ukraine on how to use these biological weapons, to what end, and with what deadlines. Even our own State Department official, Victoria Nuland, has admitted during testimony that the US has bio-labs in Ukraine, even as fake news MSM is scrambling to deny it. Is this why the Biden Regime is so concerned about American citizens and conservatives looking into every Ukraine affair and dirty dealings in that country? Maybe its not so much about crackhead Hunter and money laundering, and more about this biological war that is being waged and was about to be waged on the world just a few years back. USA has over 300 biological labs stationed all over the world, with two dozen or more of those in Ukraine Is Ukraine the real hub of the COVID war? Is Ukraine ground zero for the pandemic, rather than the Wuhan lab in China? Why is NATO so concerned with protecting a country that castrates soldiers they capture, creates bio-terror weapons and makes billion-dollar-deals with a crackhead pervert from America? Talk about collusion. This is conspiracy to commit mass murder on a world scale. Is Fauci funding these Ukraine labs, like Obama did? This could all be happening right now, as fake news and the Biden CCP Regime scrambles to con Americans into feeling sorry for Ukraine and hating everything Russia. The US is currently violating the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention. Russia has officially and formally announced, as stated by a Russian Federation official, We have found your biological weapons! Its coming time to vote these corrupt American officials out of their offices where they are supposed to represent the ethics and morals our founding fathers put in place. This planning of biological terror by the USA all around the world needs to end, and the people who fund it and lie about it need to be held accountable. Why do so many Americans put up with this? People who hated Trump certainly dont want to die from lab-made viruses that the rich gurus running our country right now are covering up. Whether these gain of function bat viruses come from Wuhan or Ukraine, the end result is the samedepopulation. Now you know why the Biden Regime is making Russia look so bad and Ukraine so good. Its a cover up of these labs. As it turns out, WE are the ones with the WMDs parked all over the world, threatening every other nation. Pay close attention as the biological war on terror unfolds under our own noses and the Biden Regime attempts to destroy those labs using NATO forces and weaponry. Stay tuned and stay frosty. Tune your internet to Censored.news for huge swaths of truth news about the war in Ukraine thats being censored from the rest of media as you read this. Sources for this article include: TheGatewayPundit.com DailyExpose.uk TheGatewayPundit.com NaturalNews.com (Natural News) Rep. Matt Gaetz is pushing to have the security clearances stripped of dozens of former U.S. intelligence officials who signed on to a letter ahead of the 2020 election claiming that they believe materials gleaned from a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden was Russian disinformation. Some of the contents from the laptop, which included damning photographs of the first son as well as emails that indicated he and his entire family are corrupt, were first reported by the New York Post, the countrys oldest newspaper, in mid-October 2020, just a few weeks before the election. While the mainstream media went into full denial, 51 deep state intelligence officials gave them cover with their letter, which claimed, in part: We want to emphasize that we do not know if the emails, provided to the New York Post by President Trumps personal attorney Rudy Giuliani, are genuine or not and that we do not have evidence of Russian involvement just that our experience makes us deeply suspicious that the Russian government played a significant role in this case. If we are right, this is Russia trying to influence how Americans vote in this election, and we believe strongly that Americans need to be aware of this. But in fact, they were lying all of them. And they knew it. But their opposition to another four years of the best president in the modern era, Donald Trump, led them to dump their impartiality and offer an opinion they knew to be false, meaning they were attempting to influence our election, not Russia. Though the Posts reporting was spot-on, in recent days the same legacy media outlets that touted the Russian disinformation lie have now confirmed that the contents of Hunters laptop indeed are genuine, which is likely the beginning of the process to can Joe Biden who obviously has early-stage dementia and has to have everything that comes out of his mouth either explained by his White House or walked back completely, which is unprecedented in our history. That aside, Gaetz, a Florida Republican, now believes those dozens of intelligence officials should pay a professional price for their purposeful lie and 2020 election manipulation operation. His Spook Who Cried Wolf Resolution seeks to strip all of them of their security clearances, which would dramatically impact their current ability to use that clearance to their financial advantage. On October 19, 2020, 51 former intelligence officials signed a letter titled, Public Statement on the Hunter Biden Emails, which claimed Hunter Bidens emails were a part of a Russian information operation. Following the censorship of the New York Posts expose on the emails by Big Tech and media tycoons, the New York Times confirmed the legitimacy of the emails on March 17, 2022. As of March 22, 2022, 4 of the 51 signatories maintained their support for the erroneous letter, said a press release touting the resolution, which also contained the names of the aforementioned former intelligence officials. The 51 signatories of the letter who publicly and falsely decried Hunter Bidens laptop to be Russian disinformation should be barred from holding any level of security clearances indefinitely, the resolution states, in part. The resolution goes on to point out that the Posts reporting began on Oct. 15, 2020, and that a few days afterward 15 days before the Nov. 3 election the letter was distributed and it was picked up by the legacy media, not the Posts reporting. In fact, the Posts reports were legitimately censored on all the major social media platforms, while Twitter locked the Post out of its account for weeks. The resolution also notes that then-Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe publicly discounted the letter and rebuked the intelligence officials who signed it, saying during an interview on Fox Business: Hunter Bidens laptop is not part of some Russian disinformation campaign, and I think its clear that the American people know that. Its clear that Americans can no longer trust their governing institutions because we no longer have ethical people running them. Sources include: PatriotsForPresidentTrump.com Gaetz.House.gov Li Zhanshu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, chairs a symposium on the revision to the country's Vocational Education Law in Xuancheng Vocational and Technical College in east China's Anhui Province, April 1, 2022. Li made an inspection in Anhui Province from March 30 to April 2. During the inspection, Li chaired symposiums on learning and implementing the guiding principles from the Central People's Congress Work Conference, the work of deputies to the people's congresses at all levels, and the revision to the country's Vocational Education Law. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) HEFEI, April 2 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Li Zhanshu has urged the implementation of the guiding principles from the Central People's Congress Work Conference and adherence to the path of socialist political advancement with Chinese characteristics. Li, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, made the call during an inspection in east China's Anhui Province from March 30 to April 2. During the inspection, Li chaired symposiums on learning and implementing the guiding principles from the Central People's Congress Work Conference, the work of deputies to people's congresses at all levels, and the revision to the country's Vocational Education Law. Stressing the need to uphold the Party's overall leadership over the work of people's congresses, Li called for unswerving adherence to the path of socialist political advancement with Chinese characteristics and leveraging the role of people's congresses in practicing the whole-process people's democracy. Li called on deputies to people's congresses to maintain close ties to the people and urged efforts to solve prominent problems in vocational education through legal means to cultivate more high-quality technicians and skilled workers. He also inspected work related to rural vitalization and visited revolutionary heritage sites in the province. Li Zhanshu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, inspects work related to rural vitalization in Hongcun, in east China's Anhui Province, March 30, 2022. Li made an inspection in Anhui Province from March 30 to April 2. During the inspection, Li chaired symposiums on learning and implementing the guiding principles from the Central People's Congress Work Conference, the work of deputies to the people's congresses at all levels, and the revision to the country's Vocational Education Law. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) Li Zhanshu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, inspects the Xuancheng Vocational and Technical College in east China's Anhui Province, April 1, 2022. Li made an inspection in Anhui Province from March 30 to April 2. During the inspection, Li chaired symposiums on learning and implementing the guiding principles from the Central People's Congress Work Conference, the work of deputies to the people's congresses at all levels, and the revision to the country's Vocational Education Law. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) Li Zhanshu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, inspects iFlytek Co., Ltd. in east China's Anhui Province, April 2, 2022. Li made an inspection in Anhui Province from March 30 to April 2. During the inspection, Li chaired symposiums on learning and implementing the guiding principles from the Central People's Congress Work Conference, the work of deputies to the people's congresses at all levels, and the revision to the country's Vocational Education Law. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei) (Natural News) New research published in the Journal of Pediatrics reveals that more than 66 percent of all adolescents who develop Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine-related myopericarditis after the second jab still end up suffering from persistent heart abnormalities months after their initial diagnosis. This revelation suggests that, contrary to what the government claims, Fauci Flu shot adverse effects can be long term, even in children. And the saddest part is that children have a zero percent risk of dying from the disease in the first place, so what is the rationale behind them getting the shots? Published on March 25, the study challenges the position held by multiple government agencies in the United States, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) which claims that heart inflammation caused by Pfizer and Moderna mRNA (messenger RNA) injections is always mild. Researchers at Seattle Childrens Hospital looked at cases of younger patients under age 18 who came to the hospital with chest pain and elevated serum troponin levels between April 1, 2021, and Jan. 7, 2022, which covers the height of the Operation Warp Speed mass injection campaign. All of them had received their second dose of Pfizer within the previous week. Of the 35 patients who fit the criteria, 16 were determined to be suitable for evaluation purposes. All 16 underwent cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests three to eight months after their first examination. Of these, 11 were found to have persistent late gadolinium enhancement (LGE), though levels were lower than in previous months. The presence of LGE is an indicator of cardiac injury and fibrosis and has been strongly associated with worse prognosis in patients with classical acute myocarditis, the study explains. Fully vaccinated children have troponin levels more than 20 times higher than a heart attack patient A meta-analysis of eight studies found that LGE is a predictor of all-cause death, cardiovascular death, cardiac transplant, rehospitalizations, recurrent acute myocarditis, and is a requirement for mechanical circulatory support. Another 11-study meta-analysis found the presence and extent of LGE to be a significant predictor of adverse cardiac outcomes. While some of the child patients in the new study showed symptoms that were transient and most patients appeared to respond to treatment, there was still a persistence of abnormal findings, the team found. All of this rais[es] concerns for potential longer-term effects, the researchers wrote, adding that they plan to take more MRIs at the one year mark to see whether any of the abnormalities have resolved. The paper provides more evidence that myocarditis in adolescents that result from COVID-19 vaccines is very serious, says Dr. Madhava Setty, the senior science editor for The Defender, a project of Childrens Health Defense (CHD). All patients had significantly elevated serum troponin levels indicative of heart damage. And LGE, which is indicative of poor outcome, was present in more than two-thirds of the kids. These young patients had a median troponin level of 9.15 more than 20 times greater than the levels found in people suffering heart attacks. Commenting on the findings on Twitter, Dr. Marty Makary, a surgeon and public policy researcher at Johns Hopkins University, wrote that the CDC has a civic duty to rigorously study the long-term effects of vaccine-induced myocarditis. New follow-up study 3-8 months after myocarditis shows the MRI heart abnormality of late gadolinium enhancement seen in 63% of children, he added. Merits further study. According to Dr. Anisha Koka, a cardiologist, the study also suggests that upwards of 70 percent of teenagers who develop myocarditis from covid injections will be left with a scar on their heart. The latest news coverage about Wuhan coronavirus (Covid-19) vaccine injuries can be found at ChemicalViolence.com. Sources for this article include: ChildrensHealthDefense.org NaturalNews.com Scientists have created a radio message that will be broadcast into outer space and, perhaps, comprehended by an intelligent extraterrestrial race. The message is essentially an updated version of the renowned Arecibo message, which was broadcast in 1974 and had the same objective. The message, which was broadcast from Puerto Rico's Arecibo Radio Telescope, was made up of 1,679 bits divided into 73 lines of 23 characters. Sending a message from the outer space When we find that intelligent life exists beyond Earth, the first thing we are going to ask is, how can we communicate? As we approach the 50th anniversary of humanity's first effort to send out a message understandable by an alien intelligence, the question feels more pressing than ever. Remote sensing technology advancements have shown that the great majority of stars in our galaxy contain planets and that many of these exoplanets are capable of harboring liquid water on their surfaces, which is required for life as we know it, as per Scientific American. The chances of at least one of these billions of planets producing intelligent life appear to be good enough to invest some time learning how to say "hi." Scientists have now created a new message to improve the Arecibo transmission. The Beacon in the Galaxy message provides more fundamental mathematics and scientific knowledge than the Arecibo message. It is believed that these notions will be universally comprehended by living forms with an intellect comparable to humans. Matthew Chong, a Cambridge University physics and math student and co-author of a draft paper explaining the research, as per Newsweek. The main part of this BITG Message, which is an extension of the 1974 Arecibo statement and the 1999/2003 Cosmic Call, contains a new set of graphical information in a format of pictures and special 'alphabets' to represent numbers, elements, DNA, land, ocean, and human, beginning with an artificial header and footer that consists of prime numbers. Every interplanetary communication must answer two basic questions: what to say and how to express it. Almost all of the signals that humans have sent into space so far begin by establishing common ground with rudimentary instruction in physics and mathematics, two areas that we and extraterrestrials are supposedly familiar with. If a culture outside our planet is capable of constructing a radio telescope to receive our message, it most likely understands physics. Read more: Is There Evidence That Ancient Aliens Existed But Are Now Extinct? Stephen Hawking is very concerned The late physics professor Stephen Hawking voiced worry on several occasions about mankind screaming out into space and meeting aliens. Hawking spoke at an event in 2015 to announce the commencement of the Breakthrough Listen project, which investigates radio waves to see if any of them are artificial in origin. Hawking expressed support for efforts to locate extraterrestrial life by listening but cautioned against actively reaching out ourselves, citing humanity's past actions as evidence that aliens will not always be nice. Despite the drawbacks, many argue that the possible benefits of active SETI exceed the dangers. According to the reasoning, first contact would be one of the most significant events in the history of our species, and if we simply wait for someone to call us, it may never happen. Concerning the possibility of destruction by a malignant space alien: We blew our cover a long time ago. Any extraterrestrial capable of getting to Earth would be more than capable of detecting traces of life in our atmosphere's chemical fingerprints or the electromagnetic radiation that has been seeping from our radios, TVs, and radar systems for the past century. Related article: No, Space Aliens are Not Communicating Through Strange Signals From Stars SHANGHAI, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Sun Chunlan on Saturday urged resolute and swift moves to stem the spread of COVID-19 in Shanghai in the shortest time possible, issuing her call during an inspection visit to the city. Sun, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, stressed unswerving adherence to the dynamic zero-COVID approach and mobilizing COVID-19 testing capacity, medical personnel, and COVID-19 prevention supplies to support Shanghai in the fight against the epidemic. The vice premier called for stepping up efforts to ensure that all those in need are tested, isolated, hospitalized or treated. During the inspection, Sun listened to the report from medical experts and visited a makeshift hospital and a residential community in Shanghai. "It is an arduous task and huge challenge to combat the Omicron variant while maintaining the normal operation of core functions in a megacity with a population of 25 million," Sun said. She urged the improvement of the nucleic acid testing capacity as soon as possible and the organization of mass testing to get a clear picture of the epidemic situation. The epidemic control measures in communities should be further strengthened, while people's basic living conditions and normal medical needs should be ensured, Sun said. It is necessary to expand makeshift hospitals and designated hospitals for COVID-19 treatment, Sun said, calling for the preparation of sufficient quarantine venues and swift action on the transfer and treatment of patients. She also stressed strict closed-loop management for key industries and institutions to ensure the normal operation of core functions and the stability of supply and industrial chains. Before arriving in Shanghai, the vice premier was on an inspection visit in the virus-hit city of Jilin in northeast China. New COVID-19 infections from communities in Jilin city are decreasing significantly and the epidemic spread in the city has been brought under effective control. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Cloudy with occasional showers this afternoon. Thunder possible. High 56F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 46F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Rain likely. Thunder possible. High around 55F. Winds N at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.. Tonight Cloudy. Periods of light rain early. Low 46F. Winds N at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%. UN envoy urges Lebanon to join UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities Xinhua) 09:24, April 02, 2022 BEIRUT, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Najat Rochdi, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, urged on Friday the country to join the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), according to a UN statement. On March 29, the Lebanese parliament adopted a law authorizing the government to proceed with the ratification process to join the UN convention. Rochdi praised the Lebanese step, and called on its government "to join the current 185 States parties to the Convention and fully commit to promote, protect, and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights by persons with disabilities." (Web editor: Peng yukai, Liang Jun) LAGOS, April 2 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian Navy on Friday launched a special operation to stop oil thieves from further sabotaging the nation's oil and gas installations. Awwal Gambo, the country's chief of naval staff, who spoke at the launch of the operation, blamed the nation's economic downturn on attacks on oil and gas facilities by saboteurs. He said about 40 warships, 200 gunboats, five helicopters, the Special Boat Service, and several other units would take part in the three-month operation. "We will identify where the problem (breach on pipelines) is," he said, adding that they will track the oil thieves and secure the pipelines for the economic prosperity of the country. He said the navy was fully committed to eliminating all acts of criminality in Nigeria's maritime environment and the Gulf of Guinea. "We will use this operation to dominate the nation's backwaters through aggressive and intelligence-driven patrols," he added. (Newser) Who can forget the mass smash-and-grab at a San Francisco Louis Vuitton in November? As CNN and others reported, it was just one example of a property crime rampage in several major cities. Nationally, the reported property crime rate has actually dropped steadily since the 1990s, per Statista, and SFist notes overall property crimes in San Francisco are down 11% compared to 2019 (though up over 2020 numbers). Be that as it may, the trend feels different on San Francisco's streets, where smashed storefronts are a regular occurrence and thefts from cars averaged 57 a day in 2021. According to the Wall Street Journal, which examines the San Fran's efforts to address the issue, everyone is looking for solutions and casting blame. The city is trying to help, not only with more cops and investigators but also a new grant program to help repair storefronts; it's doled out more than $500,000 to roughly 400 business. The city's Small Business Commission raised funds from businesses to offer rewards "up to $100,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those involved in criminal rings," particularly fencing operations that move stolen goods, per the San Francisco Standard. Business owners are also beefing up security with costly upgrades. The finger-pointing is multidirectional. Locals tend to blame the city's homeless population and drug users, but law enforcement blames organized gangs. The police departments no-chase policy for nonviolent crimes makes it easy for getaway drivers, but police say they don't bother with arrests because they doubt the district attorney will file charges. DA Chesa Boudinelected in 2020 as part of what Journal calls a "national progressive prosecutor movement"points back at police for not arresting thieves in the first place. His version was bolstered by surveillance footage that showed officers passively observing a robbery in progress at a cannabis dispensary in November, per the San Francisco Chronicle. Still, Boudin faces a recall election in June. (Read more smash-and-grab stories.) (Newser) In 1911, when American explorer Hiram Bingham first reached the ancient Incan city in the clouds, his guide told him it was called Huayna Picchu. Soon after, per NPR, another guide called it Machu Picchu, and thats the name Bingham carried to the outside world. At the time, the city had been abandoned for over 400 years and nobody knew much about the ruins. The mislabeling was due to a simple misunderstanding over toponyms (place names derived from topographical features), according to a new research paper. After poring over historical documents and maps, Peruvian and American researchers determined, "There's really no doubt about it." The site is Huayna Picchu, or simply Picchu; Machu is not mentioned anywhere. Early Spanish references refer to a region and town named Picchu, including a document from 1588a half-century after Spains conquest and about 15 years after the city was abandoneddescribing local inhabitants' desire to return to the town of Huayna Picchu and restore their own religion. There is also mention of Huayna Picchu in a 1904 atlas, but explorer Bingham evidently did not have a copy. Its all fascinating, but NPR notes the find doesn't mean a name change is looming. As one Latin American history put it to the Guardian, "Machu Picchu is an established brand very linked to Peruvian identity, so what would be the point of changing it? (Read more Machu Picchu stories.) YANGON, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar received a batch of 3 million COVID-19 vaccine syringes donated by China on Saturday, according to a statement from the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Myanmar has received China's support including COVID-19 vaccines, oxygen concentrators and face masks, the statement said. According to the Health Ministry, Myanmar reported 135 new COVID-19 cases with a daily positivity rate of 1.04 percent on Saturday. The number of infections in the country has increased to 611,809, while death toll stood at 19,432. With 210 new recoveries, a total of 589,842 patients have been discharged from hospitals and over 7.6 million samples have been tested for COVID-19 so far. (Newser) The president of Panama has declared an annual national holiday to commemorate Panamanians who died during the 1989 US invasion of the country. The decree signed Thursday by President Laurentino Cortizo establishes Dec. 20, the date of the invasion, as a national day of mourning, the AP reports. People in Panama will have the day off. "By enacting this law, we settle a debt with the nation, with those who died in that tragic event, who we remember with respect," Cortizo said. A truth commission set up years ago documented about 20 disappearances from the US military action that toppled strongman Manuel Noriega. About 300 Panamanian soldiers and 214 civilians were killed during the invasion, according to official estimates, while the US military reported 23 deaths among its troops. Human rights groups say the number of Panamanian dead could be higher. "It took us a long time to achieve this demand, and finally, the day has arrived," said Trinidad Ayola, president of the Association of Friends and Relatives of Victims of Dec. 20. Questions remain about where some of the Panamanians were buried. Forensic workers have exhumed several bodies from a Panama City cemetery to determine their identities. The cemetery contains more than 100 people killed during the invasion that were first exhumed months after the invasion because they had been buried in common graves. DNA testing is expected to take months. (Read more Panama stories.) (Newser) The International Committee for the Red Cross said it was unable to carry out an operation to bring civilians out of the shattered and encircled city of Mariupol by bus on Friday, but Ukraine said thousands of refugees nevertheless made it to safety. The Red Cross said its team had to turn back before reaching the city, the AP reports, after being blocked by Russian forces. "We do not see a real desire on the part of the Russians and their satellites to provide an opportunity for Mariupol residents to evacuate to territory controlled by Ukraine," an adviser to the city's mayor wrote on the Telegram app. But about 1,800 refugees reached Zaporizhzhia on Friday, per the Washington Post, traveling on 42 buses. They had been picked up by buses on the edge of Berdyansk, a city down the coast from Mariupol that's controlled by Russian forces. Thousands of other refugees, most of whom were from Mariupol, arrived in Zaporizhzhia by car, officials said. The city is several hours inland from Mariupol. The Red Cross said it will try to get its team through to Mariupol again Saturday. Russian forces also "are categorically not allowing any humanitarian cargo, even in small amounts, into the city," the aide to Mariupol's mayor said. Also Friday, Russia accused the Ukrainians of a cross-border helicopter attack on a fuel depot, per the AP. The governor of Russia's Belgorod region said a fiery raid on Russian soil by two helicopter gunships left two people wounded, though state oil company Rosneft denied anyone was hurt. "Certainly, this is not something that can be perceived as creating comfortable conditions for the continuation of the talks," a Kremlin spokesman said, five weeks after Moscow began sending more than 150,000 of own troops across Ukraine's border. The Russian claim could not immediately be verified. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said he could "neither confirm nor reject the claim that Ukraine was involved in this, simply because I do not possess all the military information." (Read more Russia-Ukraine conflict stories.) (Newser) Facing an investigation and a disciplinary hearing over his assault of comedian Chris Rock on the Oscars stage, actor Will Smith has resigned as a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. In a statement issued Friday, Smith apologized for his behavior Sunday and said he'll accept any consequences the academy's board decides on, per the Hollywood Reporter. "I betrayed the trust of the Academy. I deprived other nominees and winners of their opportunity to celebrate and be celebrated for their extraordinary work. I am heartbroken," the statement says. "I want to put the focus back on those who deserve attention for their achievements and allow the Academy to get back to the incredible work it does to support creativity and artistry in film." Suspension or expulsion from the academy are among the punishments the board said it was considering against Smith for slapping and screaming at Rock during the broadcast. The organization said Wednesday that Smith had to explain his actions in writing within 15 days, per Variety. Smith's statement Friday said that he had answered the board's notice of the hearing. He has apologized to the academy and to Rock, though in his speech later Sunday night as he accepted the best actor Oscar, he seemed to be trying to justify the slap. His new statement includes a more specific apology, and he promised to work "to ensure that I never again allow violence to overtake reason." The academy said Friday that it accepted Smith's resignation and will continue its disciplinary process. Resignation would not keep Smith from attending the ceremony in the future, or from being nominated for and winning an Oscar, per the Reporter. "The list of those I have hurt is long and includes Chris, his family, many of my dear friends and loved ones, all those in attendance, and global audiences at home," Smith's statement says. (Read more Will Smith stories.) (Newser) Update: The mob hit man who escaped federal custody has been captured, one week later. Dominic Taddeo was taken back into custody in Florida's Miami-Dade County without incident Monday around 11am, CNN reports. That's about 273 miles south of the halfway house he was assigned to in the state, NBC News reports. Our original story from Saturday follows: In mid-February, Dominic Taddeo, a convicted hit man for organized-crime families in Rochester, NY, was transferred from a medium-security prison in Coleman, Fla., to a nearby residential halfway house. His stay there, however, was short-lived: According to the Bureau of Prisons, Taddeo has escaped from federal custody, never returning after an approved medical appointment last month, reports the Democrat & Chronicle. The "find an inmate" section of the Bureau of Prisons website shows the 64-year-old escaped on Monday. Taddeo, who fatally shot three men in 1982 and 1983, had just one year or so left before his release. The Guardian notes Taddeo pleaded guilty in 1992 to racketeering charges that included those killings, for which he was sentenced to 54 years in prison. Taddeo also tried twice in 1983once in April, then again in Novemberto assassinate Thomas Marotta, one of Rochester's most notorious mob leaders, after being contracted to do so. Although Taddeo hit Marotta both times, the latter man survived the murder attempts. In 2020, Taddeo lobbied for a compassionate release, due to COVID and his own supposed health issues, but his request was denied. Prosecutors say medical records didn't indicate Taddeo had any particularly serious health issues that would've necessitated release. Meanwhile, experts are scratching their heads on why he chose now to flee, with such a short time left behind bars. "It's the dumbest thing he could have done," Jerry Capeci, an ex-New York Daily News journalist who now writes a column about the Mafia for Gang Land News, tells the New York Times. "Either there's something wrong upstairs, or something bad happened to him." Gary Jenkins, a former mob investigator in Kansas City, Mo., says that despite Taddeo's innocuous appearancehe wore glasses and was a little overweighthe was "one of the most vicious hit men of the Rochester family" and may prove savvy at eluding authorities. "If you look back, he thinks big," Jenkins says. "I wouldn't be surprised if he was gone for a long time." (Read more mobsters stories.) (Newser) The nation's oldest active park ranger is hanging up her Smokey hat at the age of 100. Betty Reid Soskin retired Thursday after more than 15 years at the Rosie the Riveter WWII Home Front National Historical Park in Richmond, Calif., the National Park Service announced, per the AP. Soskin "spent her last day providing an interpretive program to the public and visiting with co-workers," a Park Service statement said. She led tours at the park and museum honoring the women who worked in factories during wartime and shared her own experience as a Black woman during the conflict. She worked for the US Air Force in 1942 but quit after learning that "she was employed only because her superiors believed she was white," according to a Park Service biography. "Being a primary source in the sharing of that historymy historyand giving shape to a new national park has been exciting and fulfilling," Soskin said in the Park Service statement. "It has proven to bring meaning to my final years." Soskin won a temporary Park Service position at the age of 84 and became a permanent Park Service employee in 2011. She celebrated her 100th birthday last September. Soskin was born Betty Charbonnet in Detroit in 1921, but she recalled surviving the devastating Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 while living with her Creole family in New Orleans, according to the Park Service biography. Her family then moved to Oakland, Calif., and Soskin remained in the San Francisco Bay Area, where in 1945 she and her first husband founded one of the first Black-owned record stores in the area, the biography said. She also was a civil rights activist and took part in meetings to develop a general management plan for the Home Front park. Soskin has received several honors. She was named California's woman of the year in 1995, and in 2015, she received a presidential coin from President Barack Obama after she lit the National Christmas Tree at the White House. In June 2016, she was awakened in her home by a robber who punched her repeatedly in the face, dragged her out of her bedroom, and beat her before making off with the coin and other items. Soskin, then 94, recovered and returned to work just weeks after the attack. The coin was replaced. Soskin also was honored with entry into the Congressional Record. Glamour magazine, meanwhile, named her its woman of the year in 2018. "Betty has made a profound impact on the National Park Service and the way we carry out our mission," Director Chuck Sams said. "Her efforts remind us that we must seek out and give space for all perspectives so that we can tell a more full and inclusive history of our nation." (Read more uplifting news stories.) (Newser) Three men have been sentenced to federal prison as part of a broad investigation into what authorities say was a wide-ranging conspiracy to bring workers from Central America to the United States for forced labor on southern Georgia farms. The three men were charged in separate but related cases related to a federal investigation dubbed "Blooming Onion," prosecutors said in a news release. Authorities say the farm workers were brought into the US on the H-2A agricultural visa program, after which the suspects profited from their work by underpaying them and forcing them to live in substandard conditions, per the AP. Prosecutors said the investigation into forced labor in south Georgia and elsewhere is continuing through a federal case in which 23 people are charged in an alleged conspiracy to commit labor trafficking, visa fraud, and money laundering. Javier Sanchez Mendoza Jr., 24, of Jesup, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in forced labor and was sentenced to serve 30 years in prison. Aurelio Medina, 42, of Brunswick, pleaded guilty to forced labor and was sentenced to five years and four months. Yordon Velazquez Victoria, 45, of Brunswick, received a sentence of 15 months after pleading guilty to conspiracy. Mendoza and Medina are Mexican citizens living illegally in the US and are subject to deportation once they serve their prison terms, prosecutors said. Mendoza admitted that from August 2018 to November 2019, he was a leader in a scheme to provide labor and services for farms and other businesses in Glynn, Ware, and Pierce counties, the release says. He recruited more than 500 people from Central America and unlawfully charged them for H-2A visas, then withheld their ID papers and forced them to work for little or no pay in terrible conditions by threatening them and their families back home, prosecutors said. One victim testified during sentencing that Mendoza picked her from a work crew after she arrived from Mexico and brought her to live with him, making her believe falsely that she'd married him. He controlled her using threats and intimidation, repeatedly raping her, for more than a year, prosecutors said. After she escaped, Mendoza kidnapped her at knifepoint from the front yard of a home where she was babysitting, prosecutors said. Law enforcement officers who found her at Mendoza's mobile home in Jesup and rescued her found a shrine to Santa Muerte, "Saint Death," decorated with her hair and blood, the release says. Mendoza faces state aggravated assault charges related to that. Medina admitted that from April 2020 to October 2020, he charged foreign workers for H-2A visas and then withheld their identification documents in Glynn and Effingham counties. Victoria, a naturalized US citizen, admitted that he allowed Medina to use his name to apply to use H-2A workers and was paid $600 a week to bring the workers from their housing to work. "These men engaged in facilitating modern-day slavery," US Attorney David Estes said in a news release. "Our law enforcement partners have exposed an underworld of human trafficking, and we will continue to identify and bring to justice those who would exploit others whose labors provide the fuel for their greed." (Read more forced labor stories.) (Newser) The head of Russia's space program said Saturday that the future of the International Space Station hangs in the balance after the US, the European Union, and Canadian space agencies missed a deadline to meet Russian demands for lifting sanctions on Russian enterprises and hardware. Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Roscosmos, told reporters that the state agency is preparing a report on the prospects of international cooperation at the station to be presented to federal authorities, the AP reports. Rogozin implied on Russian state TV that the Western sanctions, some of which predate Russia's invasion of Ukraine, could disrupt the operation of Russian spacecraft servicing the ISS with cargo flights. Russia also sends manned missions to the space station. He stressed that the Western partners need the space station and "cannot manage without Russia, because no one but us can deliver fuel to the station." Rogozin added that "only the engines of our cargo craft are able to correct the ISSs orbit, keeping it safe from space debris." Rogozin later Saturday wrote on his Telegram channel that he received responses from his Western counterparts vowing to promote "further cooperation on the ISS and its operations." Space is one of the last remaining areas of cooperation between Moscow and Western nations. US-Russian negotiations on the resumption of joint flights to the space station were underway when Russia attacked Ukraine last month, prompting unprecedented sanctions on Russian state-linked entities. So far the US and Russia are still cooperating in space: A NASA astronaut caught a Russian ride back to Earth on Wednesday after a US record 355 days at the International Space Station, returning with two cosmonauts. (Read more International Space Station stories.) NEW YORK, April 2 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of millions of dollars were supposed to go to building a community health workforce after the American Rescue Plan Act was signed into law in March 2021, but much of the money is being quickly spent instead on health departments or national initiatives rather than local, community-based organizations, reported St. Louis Post-Dispatch on Friday. Community health workers were positioned as key to U.S. President Joe Biden's public health agenda, but the funding situation has been making them difficult to maintain in the United States without consistent ways of payment, according to the report by this major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. "For bills and a car note, rent or children, that's just not sustainable," Denise Smith, the founding executive director of the National Association of Community Health Workers, was quoted as saying. "We can't do it for free." Smith is optimistic that the association's current programs will secure money to keep its community health workers on staff and then use the goodwill they've built up in communities to focus on disease prevention. However, "the fragmented American health care system -- and its systemic inequities -- won't disappear with COVID," while millions of people are poised to lose their insurance coverage as pandemic benefits run out, said the report. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com The Bahrain Information Affairs Ministry has launched a tender for hiring event management companies for the upcoming GCC TV and Radio Festival. It was agreed last year in November that the fifteenth session of the Festival will be in Bahrain during the first quarter of 2022. This decision was in the presence of Minister of Information Ali bin Muhammad Al-Rumaihi during a meeting of the Permanent Committee of the Gulf Radio and Television Festival. The Minister of Information, at that time, stressed the importance of the Festival as a Gulf meeting to celebrate creativity in media. The minister had also stressed the significance of the Festival in unifying media visions at the level of the Arab Gulf, celebrating excellence and honouring the youth for their creativity in this vital domain. The current tender by Bahrains Ministry of Information Affairs seeks a specialised company to prepare for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Radio and Television Festival. The exact dates of the closing and opening ceremony are not published. The tender says a successful contractor should plan, design and execute an event venue branding for the programme. The contractor should also produce an opening and a closing show that will incorporate and promote GCC media to the audience, the tender adds. Works also include designing and executing an exhibit with 3 x 9meter dimensions, conducting the awarding event, and providing 5-star dining for the 500 guests for two nights (Opening and Closing Ceremony). The tender invites bids only from service providers having a minimum of five years of experience in event management. Those interested in the works should make bids before the 13th of this month with a BD1,000 bond and BD50 tender fees. National Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities coming soon: Bahrain minister National Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities coming soon: Bahrain minister TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com Bahrain today joins hands with the world nations in marking the International Day for Awareness of Autism Spectrum Disorder, established by the United Nations in 2008. The United Nations General Assembly unanimously declared the 2nd of April as World Autism Awareness Day to highlight the need to help improve the quality of life of those with autism, to help them lead meaningful lives as an integral part of society. Autism is known as a spectrum disorder because there is wide variation in the type and severity of symptoms people experience. People of all genders, races, ethnicities, and economic backgrounds can be diagnosed with ASD. The 2022 theme for World Autism Awareness Day is Inclusive Quality Education for All. On this occasion, the Minister of Labour and Social Development, Jameel Humaidan, said Bahrain has made remarkable progress in understanding the nature of autism and its accompanying disorders. Labour ministry, Humaidan said, is drafting an executive plan for the National Strategy for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2022-2026), which will be launched during the second quarter of 2022. He stressed that supporting the rehabilitation of children with autism is one of the priorities of the five-year plan. 12 centres, BD1.2 million The minister also revealed supporting all civil rehabilitation centres with an annual budget of 1.2 million dinars. There are now 12 centres concerned with providing services to people with disabilities (those with determination), including six centres for people with Autism: Alia Center for Early Intervention, Tawafa Center for Special Education, Al-Wafa Centre for Autism, Al-Rashad Centre for Autism, Al-Amal Centre for Early Care and Al-Amal Institute for Special Education. A total of 200 students benefit from the services of these institutions. "This is in addition to the 25 private centres licenced by the ministry for autism spectrum disorder," the minister said. Electronic ID The total number of students with autism spectrum disorder registered with the ministry is 1,100, who also benefit from the monthly disability allowance. In 2020, Bahrain launched an identity card integrated with the disability ID and an electronic identity chip for people with disabilities. "There are now about 13,000 people registered with the ministry, including those with autism spectrum disorder," the minister said. The minister also called on renewing identity cards with the upgraded version, which includes disability data and enables them to obtain all the benefits granted by the previous disability identification card. Discounts These include discounts from institutions and shops of 5 % to 50%, sticker for private parking from the General Traffic Department, a path at the King Fahd Causeway Corporation, 50% discount on the bridge crossing fees, access to all facilities and free games in parks, and complexes, in addition to facilities in government hospitals and health centres. Cardholders also get free medical supplies monthly, and 11 government institutions and more than 100 institutions in the private sector provide various privileges and discounts to holders of the integrated card with the ID and disability icon. The minister said work is underway to include more institutions in the private sector to support the ID card for people with disabilities. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune www.newsofbahrain.com An agreement to establish an Omani-Bahraini Investment Holding Company, with a joint capital of 10 million riyals, to boost food security has been signed during the Bahrain-Oman Business Forum. The forum, held at the headquarters of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Muscat, was attended by Ahmed Abdullah bin Hindi, the President of the Bahrain Businessmen Association, and Rida bin Juma Al Saleh, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry. This decision came during the bilateral sessions on the sidelines of the forum. Dr Juma bin Ahmed Al Kaabi, the Ambassador of Bahrain to Oman, Dr Saleh bin Saeed Al-Masn, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Omani Investment Promotion, and members of the business community were present. Bin Hindi stressed the depth of the commercial ties, where the volume of trade exchange during the past year reached 672 million US dollars, compared to nearly 616 million US dollars in 2020. Bahraini exports to Oman grew by more than 19% last year to 570 million US dollars from 479 million US dollars in 2020. Electrical equipment, food distribution devices, cleaning materials, jewellery and perfumes are among the most prominent Bahraini exports to the Sultanate, while electrical cables, aluminium, medicines and building materials are among the top Bahraini imports from Oman. Bin Hindi called on the Omani business sector to visit the Kingdom to explore investment opportunities. Ambassador Dr Juma bin Ahmed Al Kaabi pointed out that there are about 490 Bahraini-Omani partnerships in various fields and nearly 900 Bahraini commercial establishments operating in Oman, the majority of which are small and medium enterprises. The forum included dialogue sessions, feasibility studies and an overview of the business environment in Oman. TDT | Manama The Daily Tribune - www.newsofbahrain.com Staff Reporter Thirteen Indian nationals are serving life sentences in Bahrain jails, according to the Indian Government. The Daily Tribune earlier reported that 162 Indian nationals are being sentenced in Bahrain for various offences, quoting a Central Indian Minister. As many as 8,278 Indian prisoners, including undertrials, are lodged in foreign prisons at present, with 156 of them serving life sentences, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan informed Lok Sabha, Indian Lower House of Parliament. He asserted that the government attaches the highest priority to the safety, security and well-being of Indians in foreign countries, including those in prisons there. Indian missions and posts abroad remain vigilant and closely monitor the incidents of Indian nationals being put in prisons for violation or alleged violation of local laws, the minister pointed out. All matters regarding the repatriation of Indian nationals lodged in foreign prisons are regularly pursued by Indian missions and posts abroad with the local authorities concerned. The Daily Tribune earlier quoted Dr Babu Ramachandran, the Chairman of the Indian Community Relief Fund (ICRF), saying that the Kingdoms government has been putting in its best efforts to ensure the best humane treatment of prisoners. ICRF is a non-government, non-profit organisation working under the patronage of the Indian Ambassador for the general welfare of Indian workers in the Kingdom. ICRF would regularly conduct prison visits before the pandemic struck the Kingdom. The Kingdom has one of the worlds best prison systems in the world. All requirements of prisoners are being attended to, matching the best of world standards. We have been earlier conducting regular prison visits that have to be stopped following the pandemic outbreak. We are hopeful that ICRF teams will be able to resume jail visits again once the pandemic is brought under absolute control. Since it debuted in November 2020 on the pages of the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump by Shueisha, Sakamoto Days little by little it has managed to carve out a niche for itself among Japanese readers consolidating in the last year and a half as one of the titles to take into account. This work, written and illustrated by Yuuto Suzuki, arrived in Spain from Editorial Ivrea on March 31st and, if you havent seen it yet, we can assure you that if you like crazy characters, ultraviolent comedies and totally exaggerated action , this is your sleeve. However, do not expect a very dense plot, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Starting Sakamoto Days is enjoy one bow after another with the only common thread being that an association of villains wants to eliminate Sakamoto and he just wants to live his life in peace. But, if we havent convinced you yet, heres why Sakamoto Days is a purchase you wont regret. Japan premier Kishida pledges to relax border controls by next month straitstimes.com - May 06 Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he would loosen Japan's virus-related border controls in line with other wealthy democracies next month, as he sought to boost consumer spending to fight an economic slowdown. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he would loosen Japan's virus-related border controls in line with other wealthy democracies next month, as he sought to boost consumer spending to fight an economic slowdown. Global supplies shortage and dependence on West spell urgency, opportunity Nikkei - May 06 Japanese pharmaceutical and medical material makers are expanding domestic output of ingredients and production materials for vaccines in response to a creeping shortage of supplies globally. Japanese pharmaceutical and medical material makers are expanding domestic output of ingredients and production materials for vaccines in response to a creeping shortage of supplies globally. Putin warned over 'barbaric' invasion as UK and Japan reach historic agreement on trade express.co.uk - May 06 Boris Johnson has agreed to deepen defence and trade links with Japan following diplomatic talks with the country's premier in Downing Street. Boris Johnson has agreed to deepen defence and trade links with Japan following diplomatic talks with the country's premier in Downing Street. Kanye West emerges in Japan with his new muse msn.com - May 06 Kanye West was spotted in Japan alongside his new muse Chaney Jones, after laying low for a while following his public bitter divorce from ex-wife Kim Kardashian. Kanye West was spotted in Japan alongside his new muse Chaney Jones, after laying low for a while following his public bitter divorce from ex-wife Kim Kardashian. Kishida announces new sanctions on Russia NHK - May 06 Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has announced additional sanctions on Russia, freezing the assets of about 140 more individuals, as well as more assets of Russian banks. Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio has announced additional sanctions on Russia, freezing the assets of about 140 more individuals, as well as more assets of Russian banks. Tokyo consumer prices rise at fastest pace in seven years Nikkei - May 06 Core consumer prices in Tokyo, considered a leading indicator of Japanese price trends, rose 1.9% in April from a year earlier, marking the fastest annual pace in seven years, government data showed on Friday. Core consumer prices in Tokyo, considered a leading indicator of Japanese price trends, rose 1.9% in April from a year earlier, marking the fastest annual pace in seven years, government data showed on Friday. Child victims of 2011 disaster remembered with carp streamers NHK - May 06 Child victims of the major earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan in 2011 have been remembered with hundreds of streamers painted with a blue carp pattern fluttering in a clear sky. Child victims of the major earthquake and tsunami that struck northeastern Japan in 2011 have been remembered with hundreds of streamers painted with a blue carp pattern fluttering in a clear sky. Autistic adults in Japan stay active in their communities, households spectrumnews.org - May 05 Most autistic children in Japan grow up to live somewhat independently as adults, engage in community activities and form friendships, according to a new longitudinal study. Most autistic children in Japan grow up to live somewhat independently as adults, engage in community activities and form friendships, according to a new longitudinal study. Climate and currents shaped Japans hunter-gatherer cultures eos.org - May 05 The island prefecture of Hokkaido, Japans second-largest island, has a rich cultural history of hunter-gatherers both on land and at sea. The island prefecture of Hokkaido, Japans second-largest island, has a rich cultural history of hunter-gatherers both on land and at sea. The history and meaning of Childrens Day in Japan theconversation.com - May 05 In Japan, Childrens Day Kodomo no Hi is held on May 5 and marks the final national holiday of the period known as Golden Week. In Japan, Childrens Day Kodomo no Hi is held on May 5 and marks the final national holiday of the period known as Golden Week. M4.8 quake jolts areas near Tokyo, no tsunami Kyodo - May 05 An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8 jolted Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures near Tokyo on Thursday, but no tsunami occurred, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 4.8 jolted Ibaraki, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures near Tokyo on Thursday, but no tsunami occurred, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. Baseballs biggest fans return to the stands in South Korea and Japan South China Morning Post - May 05 Baseball is a national obsession in South Korea and Japan and for the first time since the pandemic, crowds returned to the stands to sing, dance and cheer on their favourite teams. Baseball is a national obsession in South Korea and Japan and for the first time since the pandemic, crowds returned to the stands to sing, dance and cheer on their favourite teams. COVID-hit Japan travel agency looks for growth in agriculture Japan Today - May 05 Major Japanese travel agency H.I.S. Co has decided to move into agriculture to diversify its revenue sources after a tough period in which the coronavirus pandemic dealt a heavy blow to the tourism sector. Major Japanese travel agency H.I.S. Co has decided to move into agriculture to diversify its revenue sources after a tough period in which the coronavirus pandemic dealt a heavy blow to the tourism sector. South Korea, Japan condemn Pyongyang for firing ballistic missile CNA - May 05 South Korea and Japan have condemned North Korea for launching yet another ballistic missile. South Korea and Japan have condemned North Korea for launching yet another ballistic missile. Stonehenge exhibition explores parallels with Japanese stone circles theguardian.com - May 05 They were separated by thousands of miles and the two sets of builders could not conceivably have met or swapped notes, but intriguing parallels between Stonehenge and Japanese stone circles are to be highlighted in an exhibition at the monument on Salisbury Plain. They were separated by thousands of miles and the two sets of builders could not conceivably have met or swapped notes, but intriguing parallels between Stonehenge and Japanese stone circles are to be highlighted in an exhibition at the monument on Salisbury Plain. Russia has begun more military drills following one a week ago in an area that includes islands it controls but are claimed by Japan. The move is seen as an attempt by Moscow to send a warning to Japan, which imposed sanctions on Russia for invading Ukraine. The Russian defense ministry announced on its website on Friday that more than 1,000 Army troops and about 200 military vehicles are taking part in the drills on two islands, Etorofu and Kunashiri in Japanese. The two are part of the four islands Japan calls the Northern Territories. The Japanese government maintains they are an inherent part of Japan's territory. It says the islands were illegally occupied after World War Two. The Russian ministry says the troops are practicing procedures to launch anti-tank missiles and use state-of-the-art drones to locate targets for artillery batteries. It announced on the same day that a drill was also conducted on the island of Matua, northeast of the four islands. They say a surface-to-ship missile system called Bastion was used to practice blocking the landing of a potential enemy. Russia conducted military drills with more than 3,000 troops in the area in late March, following its unilateral decision to suspend talks on a peace treaty with Japan. Japan has been protesting these moves. Russia also designated Japan as one of the countries that took "unfriendly" action against Moscow. The wait to see the doctor at Japans popular fertility clinic Saint Mother Hospital just got longer. Starting yesterday, public health insurance will reimburse 70 percent of the costs of advanced fertility treatments as part of the governments attempt to halt a decline in one of the worlds fastest-aging populations. Atsushi Tanaka, doctor and director of Saint Mother in Kita Kyushu, southern Japan, expects more patients at his clinic, already packed with couples seeking treatments such as in-vitro fertilization (IVF) which previously cost over 500,000 yen (US$4,090) per cycle more than the average households monthly income. I think well see a huge number of patients, he said, adding that nationwide IVF attempts may even double. Yet Tanaka and other specialists say this wont be enough to reverse Japans demographic decline, with patients still facing considerable costs, and insurance coverage excluding procedures such as genetic screening and the use of donor eggs. With the number of women of child-bearing age dropping off in the coming years, they said, the government needs to do more. Japans experience will serve as a test case for advanced economies facing declining birth rates. While free, or mostly free, IVF treatments are already available in a handful of countries including Denmark and France, Japan is the biggest economy to subsidize most costs for such treatments. Japanese lingerie brand Peach John is often coming out with cute underwear. Sometimes its anime-themed, like the Gundam lingerie that came out earlier this year, and sometimes its more traditional in design. But would you have ever expected them to take a classical work of art like Sandro Botticellis The Birth of Venus and put it on a bra and panties? Well, they did! Meet the Peach John Boticelli Green lingerie. Featuring one of the most famous Italian Renaissance paintings, this lingerie is almost like a work of classical art all on its own. The main images of the painting are depicted on the bra (4,378 yen/US$36.06) over a base of sea green to represent the spring ocean depicted in the painting, so theres no mistaking the inspiration behind this unique lingerie set. On the left cup is Venus herself, standing on her scallop shell with her hand to her chest and holding her golden hair, flanked by one of her attendants holding a cloak for her. On the right is the wind god Zephyr holding a young woman as they blow Venus to shore. Theyre meticulously embroidered on to the cups of the bra, giving it quite a luxurious feel. The lacey border on the cups and the decorative straps give the embroideries the feel of being in a frame, and the lightly translucent back strap is equal parts sexy and pretty. ...continue reading THE winners of the by-elections held on March 26 will be sworn in this week, after the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) gives Parliament the full list of successful candidates, Clerk of Parliament Mr Kennedy Chokuda has said. Further, Parliament business is expected to move to the new Parliament building during the first half of this year, with Government set to decide what will happen to the current building. In an interview with The Sunday Mail, Mr Chokuda said: The swearing-in of members will be done at the earliest possible date, most probably the first week of April, once ZEC has officially written to Parliament giving us the full list of all the successful candidates. We note that on 31st March 2022 ZEC gazetted the list of successful candidates and hence we expect that communication any time from now, he said. Mr Chokuda said the benefits due to Members of Parliament (MPs) will be extended to the new members and these will include the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) for this year and next year. In respect of vehicles this will be treated on a case by case basis depending on the status of the member. The new members will get a vehicle as expected. Those returning to Parliament and who had received a vehicle during the life of this Parliament have already been covered and hence will not get a new vehicle. The law says a Member is only eligible for one vehicle every five years. However, if a Member was recalled before they received a vehicle they will still be eligible to receive a vehicle, he said. Mr Chokuda said the uptake of CDF by MPs has been good with more than 80 percent of members having accessed it last year. There have been many impactful and exemplary CDF Projects around the country and across the political divide. Examples include the completion of several clinics, classroom blocks, solar-powered boreholes, and dams in some constituencies, he said. All Portfolio Committees have also been instructed to engage with the respective Ministries to ensure that all bills that were outlined in the State of the Nation Address by President Mnangagwa are brought to Parliament timeously, said Mr Chokuda. He said Parliaments plans to establish a television station were very much alive and this would be done once the digitalisation of airwaves has been completed. As a short term measure, a Parliament radio station will be set up. Sunday Mail A HARARE duo appeared in court yesterday for allegedly conniving to steal a vehicle from the Office of the President and Cabinet. The car was parked along Nelson Mandela Avenue in Harare. The duo of Lameck Phiri and Last Chinamasa appeared before Harare magistrate, Shane Kubonera, who remanded them in custody. He advised them to approach the High Court for bail. The complainant is Obey Mbofana, who is employed by the OPC. The court heard that on March 17, Mbofana parked a silver Toyota Quantum in the Harare CBD. He left the car keys on the ignition, while the engine was idling, as he negotiated the price of a pair of shoes, which were being sold on the pavement. The court heard that Chinamasa and Phiri took advantage, opened the car from the passenger side and drove off at high speed. Mbofana tried to give chase but the duo turned into Leopold Takawira Street and disappeared. On March 29, detectives from the Vehicle Theft Squad received information that Crynonce Kasenga was in possession of one of Mbofanas stolen cellphones. Kasenga told detectives he bought the cellphone from Phiri who in turn implicated Chinamasa. The court heard that when the police conducted a search they recovered the stolen vehicle key attached to a Honda Fit key. They also recovered, from Chinamasa, a battery and a starter which he had stripped from the stolen Toyota Quantum. Chinamasa allegedly led detectives to Zinanga Village, Chief Seke in Ziko where his father Simon stays. He told detectives the vehicle, which was parked at his homestead, was brought by his son. Detectives inspected the motor vehicle and identified it by its Chassis number. They found out that the engine, gearbox, battery, starter and number plates had been removed. Phiri led the police to a maize field in Sunningdale 2 where he had stashed the number plates. The gearbox was also recovered. The duo is also facing another count of vehicle theft where the State alleges that they connived to steal Isaac Chiveros Toyota Runx in the CBD. The court heard that Chivero parked his car along Rezende Street and left the key in the ignition. The duo pounced and stole the car. It was stripped and the majority of the parts were sold. In the third count, the duo allegedly stole and stripped Marvelous Wasakaras Blue Honda Fit, which he had parked along Leopold Takawira. Phiri also appeared before Harare magistrate, Barbra Mateko, facing vehicle theft charges after he allegedly stole Owen Muleyas beige Honda Fit. The court heard that on January 20, Muleya parked his car and went into a restaurant along Chinhoyi Street, in Harares CBD. Phiri is alleged to have pounced and stole the car. Tapiwanashe Zvidzai and Marian Furidze appeared for the State. H Metro REDDING Some parents expressed frustration this week over how finance board members referenced the increasing burden of special education costs on the school districts budget. The discussion came at a Board of Finance meeting on Monday where the board voted on a $23.8 million school budget that would bring the proposed spending increase from 3.6 percent to 3.2 percent. Superintendent Jason McKinnon said the request to drop almost $100,000 from the budget would lead to the reduction of a teacher position, and funds originally allocated to purchase school supplies and support teacher training. The board, however, singled out the rising cost of special education in its meeting with the superintendent and Board of Education Chair Chris Parkin, drawing criticism from some parents over their request that the school district find ways to mitigate what they see as a continuing financial burden on the school district. There is an explosion of need, I got it, Board of Finance Member James Barickman said. But another five yearsits just going to consume the entire budget because you cant pass those kinds of increases weve been cheating the general education programs that entire time. Over the last 20 years, he has been around, Barickman said the total cost of special education services have gone from $3 million to $8 million, with the cost per pupil rising from $2,400 to $9,100. I am really eager to pressure the boards of education to find some better solution for how were managing long term, the special education needs of the students that are only going to increase because its just not sustainable for us, he added. Robert Dean agreed with his colleague over what he called the very weighty burden of special education but recognized this is not a problem unique to Redding. Special education programs meet the needs of students who qualify for them under 13 disability categories including dyslexia, autism, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and hearing or visual impairment, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Connecticuts statewide special education costs increased from approximately $1.9 billion to $2.5 billion between 2007 and 2019, even as overall enrollment declined over the same period, according to a report released by Connecticut Voices for Children last fall a dynamic the advocacy groups research found led to an overall decrease in state and federal funding for schools and shifted the burden of special education costs to individual school districts and municipalities. I am not minimizing the importance [of providing special education], Dean said. But we have to find a way to do it that doesnt bankrupt us. The comments drew consensus from members of the board but received criticism from residents and parents during the meetings public comment period. I think how we talk about our special education budget really needs to be done in a sensitive manner, especially when the district is already below the state average, said Kristen Anstett. Compared to the statewide average of 16.3 percent, data provided by the Redding school district put the overall percentage of the towns students receiving special education at 15.4 percent this year a decline of roughly three percentage points from the 2019-20 school year. Earlier in the meeting, members had commented on the declining rate as a sign of progress. When we say things like, our special education has movedin the direction we want to see, and, theres been incremental progress, we need to make sure that doesnt actually mean denying children who have learning disabilities or who require supports just for the sake of our budget, Anstett said. Meredith Ferris is the co-chair of the special education committee for Easton, Redding and Region 9. Like her, both her children are diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD and she praised their schools support for them. My daughter is a straight-A student, and my son could not read last year and this year he can read, she said. However, Ferris added, the experience felt by her children is not the same for others in the community. Specifically, she said she is aware of several students who, after producing a physicians report and diagnosis on their learning disability, were denied special education services by the school district over the past year. We have to support all students a student is a student, one might need more than another but the thing that most upset me was the fact that they said special education is moving in the right direction, Ferris told the News-Times. When the school gives you the services, they do an excellent job of supporting students, however, my concern in listening to this meeting, and then talking to community members and other parents is there are children that are being denied, she added. Board of Finance Chair Dr. Kimberly Yonkers responded to the criticism. People certainly dont ask to have a child or to be somebody who has additional needs, Yonkers said. Just to clarify, one of the things people were talking about is receiving more assistance from the state in terms of managing the cost [of the interventions they need], which people are entitled to receive. McKinnon, who took the superintendent position earlier this school year, said the school districts three boards have been looking at strategies to contain the special education costs. Under state law, school districts must provide transportation and tuition for any student requiring special education services that cannot be provided in house. According to the superintendent, the average tuition cost for placing a student in an outplacement program is $250,000 per year, with transportation costs on average totaling $44,000 annually. Its really important for districts to work together to share transportation and bus rides to different programs and that we are developing programs in house, McKinnon said. The superintendent disagreed that special education costs in Redding are crowding out general education costs. I just think that costs are going up in general and special education costs tend to be going up at a higher rate, so they are more noticeable, he added. /NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES/ VANCOUVER, BC, March 31, 2022 /CNW/ - Monumental Minerals Corp. ("Monumental" or the "Company") (TSXV: MNRL) (FSE: BE5) is pleased to announce that the Company has entered into an arm's length definitive option agreement dated March 30, 2022 (the "Option Agreement") with Lithium Chile Inc. ("Lithium Chile") (TSX-V: LITH) to acquire up to 75% of the 5200-hectare Salar De Laguna Blanca project (the "Laguna Project") located near the town of San Pedro de Atacama, Chile (see news release dated March 9, 2022). The Laguna Project is located within the prolific lithium triangle, a zone within the central Andes high desert that includes Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. This zone is estimated to contain more than half of the world's lithium supply beneath the many salt flats, also known as salars, that are common to the region. The Laguna Blanca property consists of 23 exploration concessions totaling 5,200 hectares, 100% owned by Lithium Chile through its wholly owned Chilean subsidiary Minera Kairos Chile Limitada. The Laguna Project includes both active and paleo salar brines and salts. Jamil Sader, Monumental's CEO comments: "The Laguna Blanca lithium asset has the potential to become a significant cesium-lithium deposit in the region. The Project is complimentary to the Company's flagship Jemi heavy rare earth element project in Coahuila, Mexico, and the strength of these two assets will position Monumental to take advantage of the global shift of decarbonization, and to add significant value for shareholders. Certain members of the Company's team are currently in Chile conducting a site visit and will be on the Jemi project in Mexico shortly thereafter." About Critical Metals The US government has identified lithium and select rare earth elements (REEs) as critical metals, and there is currently a strong push to curtail the US reliance of these metals from sources that are not politically friendly. On February 22, 2022, US government announced government financial incentives for both lithium and REE producers to develop downstream processing and refining of REEs and lithium. Additionally, a bi-partisan US senate bill recently passed, which would make it illegal for US defense contractors to procure REEs from China. Monumental Minerals is positioned to play a significant role in lithium and REE stability and sustainably in the Americas. TERMS OF THE OPTION AGREEMENT In order to exercise the option to acquire a 75% interest in the Laguna Project, Monumental must issue common shares, make certain staged cash payments to Lithium Chile and incur exploration expenditures on the Laguna Project as follows: (a) Make cash payments of an aggregate of Cad$1,500,000 according to the following schedule: (i) $200,000 within thirty (30) days of final TSX Venture Exchange (the "Exchange") approval of this transaction (the "Acceptance Date"); (ii) $250,000 on or before the eighteen (18) month anniversary of the Acceptance Date; (iii) $300,000 on or before the second anniversary of the Acceptance Date; and (iv) $750,000 on or before the third anniversary of the Acceptance Date. (b) Incur minimum expenditures on the Laguna Project of not less than an aggregate of Cad$1,500,000 according to the following schedule: (v) $200,000 on or before the first anniversary of the Acceptance Date; (vi) $500,000 on or before the second anniversary of the Acceptance Date; and (vii) $800,000 on or before the third anniversary of the Acceptance Date. (c) Within thirty (30) days of the Acceptance Date, issue 3,401,874 common shares of Monumental to Lithium Chile (the "Payment Shares"). The number of Payment Shares will be reduced if required by the Exchange. Subject to the exercise of the option to acquire 75% of the Laguna Project, Lithium Chile would retain a 1% net smelter returns royalty payable upon the commercial production of the Laguna Project. In addition to the statutory hold period of four months and a day from the date of issuance, the Payment Shares will be subject to a 12-month voluntary hold period from the date of issuance. Upon Monumental earning a 75% interest in the Laguna Project, Monumental and Lithium Chile will use commercially reasonable efforts to negotiate and execute a joint venture agreement for the purpose of jointly carrying out exploration, evaluation and development of the Laguna Project. In connection with the Option Agreement, Monumental has entered into a finder's fee agreement (the "Finder's Agreement") with Blackhill Consulting Corp. ("Blackhill"), an arm's length party, in consideration for services in transaction advisory services and introducing the Company to Lithium Chile, pursuant to which Blackhill shall receive consideration of 194,515 common shares of Monumental (the "Finder's Shares") if the Option Agreement is approved by the Exchange. The Finder's Agreement and the issuance of the Finder's Shares are subject to Exchange approval and will be subject to a four month hold period. The transaction between Monumental and Lithium Chile is subject to Exchange approval. Private Placement Financing Monumental intends to complete a non-brokered private placement (the "Private Placement") for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $5,000,000. The Private Placement will consist of units (each a "Unit") at a price of $0.45 per Unit. Each Unit will consist of one common share of the Company ("Shares") and one-half of one transferable common share purchase warrant of the Company ("Warrants"). Each whole Warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one Share at a price of $0.65 per Share for a period of two years following the closing of the Private Placement. The Company intends to use the net proceeds raised from the Private Placement for: cash payments related to the Option Agreement, to fund its maintenance and exploration expenses on its properties (including the Laguna Project, the Jemi Project, and the Weyman Project), and for general corporate purposes and working capital. The Private Placement is subject to Exchange approval and all securities issued are subject to a four month hold period. Finder's fees may be payable in connection with the Private Placement, all in accordance with the policies of the Exchange and applicable securities laws. Qualified Person The scientific and technical information contained in this news release has been reviewed and approved by Kristopher J. Raffle, P.Geo. (BC) Principal and Consultant of APEX Geoscience Ltd. of Edmonton, AB, a Director of the Company and a "Qualified Person" as defined in National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects. About Monumental Minerals Corp. Monumental Minerals Corp. is a mineral exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of mineral resource properties in the critical and electric metals sector. The Company's flagship asset is the Jemi HREE project located in Coahuila, Mexico near the Texas, USA border which the Company has an option to acquire 100% of the 3,650-hectare project. The Company has an option to acquire a 100% interest and title to the Weyman property located in the Kamloops and Nicola Mining Divisions and in the Thompson Nicola Regional District, British Columbia. On behalf of the Board of Directors, /s/ "Jamil Sader" Jamil Sader, Chief Executive Officer and Director Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of any of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful, including any of the securities in the United States of America. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to, or for account or benefit of, U.S. Persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) unless registered under the 1933 Act and applicable state securities laws, or an exemption from such registration requirements is available. Forward Looking Information This news release contains "forwardlooking information or statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, which may include, without limitation, obtaining Exchange approval and completing the proposed transaction with Lithium Chile, completing the Private Placement and the expected use of proceeds, the potential plans for the Company's projects, other statements relating to the technical, financial and business prospects of the Company, its projects and other matters. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, are forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes the expectations expressed in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the price of metals, the ability to achieve its goals, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner and that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms. Such forward-looking information reflects the Company's views with respect to future events and is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including the risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of exploration results, risks related to the inherent uncertainty of exploration and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses and those other risks filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR at www.sedar.com. While such estimates and assumptions are considered reasonable by the management of the Company, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and regulatory uncertainties and risks. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions, failure to secure personnel and equipment for work programs, adverse weather and climate conditions, risks relating to unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalation, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters), risks relating to inaccurate geological assumptions, failure to maintain all necessary government permits, approvals and authorizations, failure to obtain surface access agreements or understandings from local communities, land owners or Indigenous groups, fluctuation in exchange rates, the impact of Covid-19 or other viruses and diseases on the Company's ability to operate, an inability to predict and counteract the effects of COVID-19 on the business of the Company, including but not limited to, the effects of COVID-19 on the price of commodities, capital market conditions, restriction on labour and international travel and supply chains, decrease in the price of rare earth elements, lithium, cesium and other metals, loss of key employees, consultants, or directors, failure to maintain community acceptance (including from the Indigenous communities), increase in costs, litigation, and failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations. The Company does not undertake to update forwardlooking statements or forwardlooking information, except as required by law. SOURCE Monumental Gold Corp For further information: Email: [email protected] Or Email: [email protected] On being asked if he had indeed ordered a strike on the Russian fuel depot, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he only discusses military affairs with personnel of the armed forces. Russia has accused Ukraine of attacking one its fuel depots in Belgorod, a Russian city near the Ukrainian border. Russia claims that a fire at the fuel depot was caused by an airstrike by Ukrainian attack helicopters. The Russian Ministry of Defence on Friday alleged that two Ukrainian Mi-24 attack helicopters carried out an assault on a civilian fuel storage facility in southern part of the country. A statement by the Russian Defence Ministry said, On April 1, at about 5:00 a.m. Moscow time, two Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters entered the airspace of the Russian Federation at extremely low altitudes. Ukrainian helicopters launched a missile attack on a civilian oil storage facility located on the outskirts of Belgorod. As a result of the missile hit, individual tanks were damaged and caught fire. On being asked if he had indeed ordered a strike on the Russian fuel depot, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that he only discusses military affairs with personnel of the armed forces. He replied to the question, Im sorry I do not discuss any of my orders as commander in chief, the leader of this state. There are things which I only share with military armed forces of Ukraine and when they talk with me. Speaking to CNN, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov said that he had no information about the incident. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also stated that he could not verify the accusations by Russia. As per a report, three "options" were mutually discussed between the government and the military side and that Imran Khan agreed to the option of dissolving assembly and holding early elections. The Pakistan Army has denied allegations by Prime Minister Imran Khan that it had given three options to the latter amid the volatile political situation in the country. Resignation, dissolution, or no-trust vote the three options that Imran Khan claims were given to him by the military. The Pak military has denied the allegations and claimed that the ruling party approached the Pak militarys top brass to fix a meeting between PM Imran Khan and Pak Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa to discuss the political scenario in the country. According to sources cited by The News International, the meeting of Pak PM Imran Khan with the countrys Army chief and DG-ISI was fixed at the request of the ruling government. As per a report, three options were mutually discussed between the government and the military side and that Imran Khan agreed to the option of dissolving assembly and holding early elections. However, the opposition rejected the proposal of dissolution of assembly, as per Pakistani media reports. According to a source cited by The News International, the military is staying neutral but encourages both Khan and the Opposition to sit together and discuss the economy and political stability of the country. This comes amid the volatile political scenario in Pakistan where Imran Khan is set to face a no-confidence motion supported by the united opposition and many disgruntled ruling party lawmakers. In an apparent reference to United Kingdom, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Friday said that his Russia visit angered a powerful country. Speaking at the Islamabad Security Dialogue, Khan said as reported by Geo TV, Today, I read the statement of the British Foreign Secretary that mentioned that they cannot say anything to India as it is an independent state I dont blame them for this support, this is our mistake. This comes amid the volatile political scenario in Pakistan where Imran Khan is set to face a no-confidence motion supported by the united opposition and many disgruntled ruling party lawmakers. On the other hand, the West is strongly opposing Russias invasion of Ukraine. During his address to Pakistan on Thursday, Imran Khan said that he wanted an independent foreign policy for Pakistan. He also hinted at the involvement of the US in destabilizing his government. He further stated that Pakistan being an ally of the US in the 80s during Soviet invasion of Afghanistan was a wrong move. Being an ally of the US in 80s was a mistake. Under the Islamabad Security Dialogue, Pakistan is hosting 17 international speakers from the United States, China, the United Kingdom, Russia, European Union, Japan, the Philippines and other countries. Both the countries inaugurated a 35-km long cross-border rail link connecting Jayanagar in Bihar to Kurtha in Nepal, and a passenger train service built under India's Grant Assistance. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Nepali PM Sher Bahadur Deuba met on Saturday during the latters India visit. The two Prime Ministers exchanged their views on ways to further strengthen bilateral ties and advance cooperation in multiple areas for the mutual benefits of the peoples of both countries. They also launched multiple projects to boost connectivity between India and Nepal. Both the countries inaugurated a 35-km long cross-border rail link connecting Jayanagar in Bihar to Kurtha in Nepal, and a passenger train service built under Indias Grant Assistance in a joint address at Hyderabad House. Modi and Deuba also jointly inaugurated the Solu Corridor 132 KV Power Transmission Line and Substation in Nepal built under financial aid by the the Government of India. One of the key emerging pillars of India-Nepal cooperation is energy. PM @SherBDeuba and I talked about augmenting cooperation in the power sector. I also welcome Nepals decision to join the International Solar Alliance, tweeted Prime Minister Modi. Another key development arising out of the bilateral visit was the launch of RuPay cards in Nepal. PM stated on the occasion, The introduction of RuPay card in Nepal will add a new chapter to our financial connectivity. PM Modi lauded Deuba for playing a key role in strengthening India-Nepal ties. Held fruitful discussions with PM @SherBDeuba, who has always played a key role in boosting the India-Nepal friendship. We took stock of the full range of bilateral relations including important development projects that will deepen economic as well as cultural linkages, Narendra Modis tweet. The UN special envoy will visit Moscow and Kyiv to discuss the ongoing situation between the two countries and the prospects of a ceasefire. UN Under-Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths will visit Russia and Ukraine amid the ongoing military conflict between the two countries in eastern Europe, informed the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday. According to Guterres, Griffiths visit will take place on April 3. The UN special envoy will visit Moscow and Kyiv to discuss the ongoing situation between the two countries and the prospects of a ceasefire. Antonio Guterres said during a press conference, My special envoy, Martin Griffiths, was asked by me to pursue a humanitarian ceasefire in Ukraine. He will be flying to Moscow on Sunday and after that he will be going to Kiev. Meanwhile, the talks between Russian and Ukrainian negotiators resumed online on Friday after meeting in Turkeys Istanbul. After the delegation-level talks in Istanbul, Russia announced steps for a drastic reduction in military activity in the Kyiv and Chernihiv directions. The Russian side also stated that a meeting between the Russian and Ukrainian presidents is The US cancelled the test launch of its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Minuteman III in order to avoid sending out a wrong signal to Russia amid the latter's "special military operation" in Ukraine. The United States cancelled the test launch of its intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Minuteman III in order to avoid sending out a wrong signal to Russia amid the latters special military operation in Ukraine, the US Air Force said on Friday (local time). The US Air Force further said that an earlier launch of the missile was also cancelled due to the same reason. In a statement to Xinhua news agency, US Air Forces spokesperson Ann Stefanek said, The Department of the Air Force recently cancelled the routinely planned test flight of an LGM-30G Minuteman III missile scheduled for March 2022. The launch had been previously delayed due to an overabundance of caution to avoid misinterpretation or miscommunication during the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine and was cancelled for the same reason. Stefanek added that the Air Force has another launch planned for later this year. Our next planned test flight is later this year. The Department is confident in the readiness of the strategic forces of the United States. Russian President Vladimir Putin in February ordered his countrys nuclear deterrent forces to be put on high alert after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Divorce orders obtained fraudulently by some greedy men with a view to stripping their spouses in the Diaspora of matrimonial property, are now on the increase amid reports that a Deputy Sheriff was recently fired while another is under investigation for fraudulent service of court documents. Some couples are now living separately as women leave the country for greener pastures. Men who remain in Zimbabwe, at times, rope in some corrupt elements at the Sheriffs office to misrepresent to the court that they would have personally served the wives with divorce papers. Proof of service is filed at court, with the Sheriff confirming personally serving the parties for the case. The court will then treat the cases as if they were unopposed. Judges end up granting divorce orders without the wives knowledge. In some cases, men engage female friends who pose as their spouses to obtain decrees of divorce and favourable sharing of property without their wives knowledge. The men use the hired women to file fake divorce proceedings, file consent papers and agree to a property sharing model which favours the husbands. Judicial Service Commission (JSC) Secretary Mr Walter Chikwana this week said an officer had since been fired while another is under investigation for fraudulent service of documents. We have one case where we fired an officer at the Sheriffs office over fraudulent service of documents. In respect of the story published last week where fraudulent divorce was exposed, another officer who handled the case, is now under investigation. If found guilty, the officer will be discharged, he said. Mr Chikwana said the new electronic court system will help to end corruption in the serving of court papers. We are introducing electronic service of court documents and the Sheriff will not be involved in that. The electronic system will end such challenges, he said. This month the High Court exposed the case of a woman who wedded an ailing married man in the week he died and sought to take over the property he acquired together with his wife who was fending for the family in the Diaspora. Mrs Martha Singizi, who has been based in the United Kingdom for almost 20 years, got the shock of her life upon discovering that her late husband had divorced her using fraudulent documents. The discovery sparked fears that the Sheriff of the High Courts office could have played a role in the fabrication of service papers. Presented with fraudulent return of service documents from the Sheriffs office confirming Mrs Singizi had been personally served with divorce papers at her Chitungwiza house, but decided to default court, Justice Tendai Uchena in 2015 granted the divorce in favour of the now late Mr Edmore Singizi. Two houses, one in Waterfalls and the other one in New Zengeza 4, Chitungwiza, that were jointly owned by the couple, were awarded to Mr Singizi. Mrs Singizis travel documents show she never set foot in Zimbabwe during the period of the said service, but the Sheriffs papers filed on record claiming she had personally been served with the divorce papers. Based on the fraud, the husband started living with another woman Ms Josephine Makuwaza. Mr Singizi fell sick and tied the knot with Ms Makuwaza under the monogamous Marriages Act, Chapter 5:11. Barely a week after the marriage, he passed on. Ms Makuwaza then registered the estate at the Master of High Courts office as the surviving spouse. In another case, Justice Garainesu Mawadze urged lawyers to be on the lookout for fraudsters in divorce cases. He made the remarks while setting aside a judgment in which a UK-based nurse Mrs Lucia Vela had been divorced and lost property as a result of fraud. In view of the apparent increase in the number of cases of fraud of this nature in divorce proceedings (I dealt recently with a chamber application for substituted service in which I recommended the investigation as applicant in that matter also claimed not to have instituted any divorce proceedings like in casu), I have directed the Registrar of the High Court to bring this judgment to the attention of the Law Society of Zimbabwe so that legal practitioners are alerted to prevalence of this obnoxious practice which threatens to erode confidence in our judicial system in unopposed divorce matters . . . said Justice Mawadze. This was after Ms Velas lawyer Mr Cephas Mavhondo of Mhishi Legal Practice convinced the court that the judgment was fraudulent. The judge said the practice was dangerous in the sense that judges can even be duped into believing that the parties before them are the correct ones and subsequently grant the orders sought. Mrs Vela married Mr Costa Magolis in 1998 in terms of the Marriages Act Chapter 5:11 and the union was blessed with three children. The woman relocated to the UK in 2001 and is staying there with her children.Mr Magolis later followed his wife to the UK and they had marital problems that culminated in a separation in 2007. Ms Vela later returned to Zimbabwe where she discovered that she had been fraudulently divorced. The records showed that she had been divorced in 2009 when she neither filed any divorce papers nor consented to any divorce proceedings. Investigations by the womans lawyers revealed that Mr Magolis approached a lawyer, only identified as Mr Mapondera of Mapondera and Company, accompanied by a certain woman who posed as Ms Vela seeking legal representation in the divorce case. They indicated that they were agreeable to divorce and the manner in which property would be shared. The court granted the order.In a related pending court case, Harare businessman Mr Rochford Biggie Munjoma allegedly engaged a woman who forged his wifes signature and obtained a divorce order. Mr Munjomas wife, Febby Christina Munjoma, at the time of the filing of the summons, was in a Chinese prison where she was serving a sentence for smuggling ivory. She only discovered the divorce when she returned to Zimbabwe and took the matter to court. Justice Tendai Uchena nullified the fraudulent divorce. The divorce proceedings issued out under HC4789/09 on the 7th of October 2009, processed by the respondent (Mr Munjoma) and another person known to the respondent who purported to be Febby Christina Munjoma (nee Ushamba), the real and actual applicant herein and which proceedings were finalised by this Honourable Court granting an order of divorce between the applicant and respondent are hereby declared null and void. The divorce order granted by consent as a result of those defective proceedings referred to in paragraph 1 herein above is hereby revoked. Everything that done by the divorce in case number HC4789/09 granted on the 20th of November 2009 by the Honourable Justice Chitakunye is hereby declared null and void, reads part of the court order. Herald A statement by the White House read, "Singh consulted with Indian counterparts on the goals and mechanisms of U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia and ways to cooperate on addressing global food insecurity and global energy prices." The US Deputy NSA for International Economics Daleep Singh discussed about the economic sanctions on Russia with Indian officials during his two-day visit here, said a White House statement on Friday (local time). The White House statement read, Singh consulted with Indian counterparts on the goals and mechanisms of U.S. sanctions imposed on Russia and ways to cooperate on addressing global food insecurity and global energy prices. Singh, known as the architect of US sanctions on Russia, was on a two-day visit to India from March 30-31. The statement also stated that Singh held talks with his Indian counterparts about the impact of sanctions on the Russian economy. continued our close consultations with Indian counterparts about the destabilizing economic impacts of Russias war against Ukraine, read the statement. Daleep Singh met with Principal Secretary P.K. Mishra, Minister of Commerce and Indian G20 Sherpa Piyush Goyal, Foreign Secretary Harsh V. Shringla, Deputy National Security Advisor Vikram Misri, and Department of Economic Affairs Secretary Ajay Seth during his visit to India. The Indian and US sides also discussed about the development of an Indo-Pacific Economic Framework and strengthening the global economy, said the statement. This week, Deputy National Security Advisor Daleep Singh was in New Delhi to discuss ways to deepen U.S.-India economic cooperation and advance our shared interest in a free and open Indo-Pacific, said the statement from White House. The preservation of historic resources is laudable. But as observers have noted, such efforts often conflict with equally laudable efforts to address the need for an adequate housing supply, and ultimately the availability of housing that is affordable to persons of moderate and low income. Theres always the danger that historic preservation can become an exclusionary tool. The Greenwich Preservation Network, dedicated to preserving the towns historic resources, is circulating a petition against demolition of seven houses in Greenwichs Fourth Ward Historic District. This district, placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000, was nominated for this recognition because of its historical significance as the towns oldest major urban settlement that developed as a neighborhood of moderate-income households. The towns immigrant Irish population, its first Roman Catholic Church, and its African American population are significant factors in this historic designation. The Fourth Ward is a prime example of that kind of affordable housing which is increasingly under siege in the town, the protection of which is important if the towns origins are to remain visible, was the rationale in a 1998 evaluation of the Fourth Ward as eligible for the National Register. In addition to a seven-story residential building at 20 Church St. built in 1949, the Fourth Ward historically consisted of single-, two-, and three-family homes that were affordable to persons of modest means. However, over the last two decades since historic designation, it has ceased to be that originally affordable neighborhood. Since historic designation, many once affordable homes have been demolished (18 by one count), and others significantly altered through redevelopment into luxury housing. The Fourth Ward is becoming increasingly unaffordable to persons with incomes below $200,000. This transformation of the district, including demolitions, did not meet with any significant opposition, not until now. Although there have been no applications for demolition of the seven houses named in the Greenwich Preservation Network petition, the Networks opposition efforts have already gone beyond the petition. On March 25, demolition opponents brought these properties to the attention of the State Historic Preservation Review Board, which is a state board that plays a role in evaluating properties on the National Register that face demolition. With these actions, the Greenwich Preservation Network has entered into battle as one of the fierce combatants in Greenwichs raging war against 8-30g of the Connecticut General Statutes, legislation thats successfully created thousands of affordable units in the state. Its doubtful anyone would have singled out these particular seven houses for preservation if a proposed 192-unit apartment building on two acres between Church Street and Sherwood Place did not require their demolition to provide housing units affordable to low- and moderate-income persons. This 35 Church St. development is the same height as the seven-story 20 Church St. residential building across the street and comparable in height to seven residential buildings within a half mile. Its being proposed under 8-30g, the provisions of which allow developers to submit applications that do not comply with existing zoning regulations if 30 percent of the units are deed restricted as affordable to low and moderate income persons for 40 years. This Church Street proposal includes 58 affordable units. Should a municipalitys regulatory agency deny an 8-30g application, the burden of proof on appeal is on that agency to demonstrate that, based upon record evidence, (1) (A) the decision is necessary to protect substantial public interests in health, safety or other matters which the commission may legally consider; (B) such public interests clearly outweigh the need for affordable housing; and (C) such public interests cannot be protected by reasonable changes to the affordable housing development ... Its intended that such public interests be limited to serious health and safety concerns. Efforts to include historic preservation as a public interest have little to draw upon beyond a 1994 ruling in United Progress V. Stonington P.Z.C., which upheld historic grounds for denial of an 8-30g application, a decision of questionable relevance to the Fourth Ward. And resting on uncharted legal ground is the Preservation Networks effort to invoke the Connecticut Environmental Protection Act through the State Historic Preservation Review Board. Wouldnt it be more constructive, in keeping with Fourth Ward history, to welcome 58 new affordable units? Alma Rutgers served in Greenwich town government for 30 years. Zimbabwe is battling against time to administer over 14 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines that are already in its stocks amid concerns of public complacency and hesitancy, it has been established. There are fears the vaccines might expire before use or become less effective as they draw closer to their best-by date. The government on March 20 launched a Covid-19 vaccination blitz that includes jabbing children aged 12 and above to revive the faltering inoculation campaign after targets to vaccinate at least 70% of the population in order to reach herd immunity by December 2021 were missed. In March last year, Zimbabwe set targets to vaccinate 60% of its population of nearly 16 milliontranslating to herd immunityto halt the spread of the coronavirus and re-open an economy that has been battered by two years of lockdown restrictions. The threshold was later reviewed upwards to 70% by the World Health Organisation (WHO) by mid-2022. Governments in Africa, including in Zimbabwe, have been struggling to roll out the Covid-19 vaccination programme due to logistical problems, hesitancy that is largely blamed on lack of information and misinformation as well as complacency. Investigations by The Standard in collaboration with the Information Development Trust (IDT), a non-profit organisation that supports journalists to investigate issues of corruption in the public sector and bad governance, showed that Zimbabwe has received 22.4 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines since March 2020, but had only used eight million of the jabs at the beginning of this month. The investigations involved tracking vaccination rates and delivery of Covid-19 vaccines since the first batch of 200 000 doses was received on February 15, 2021. Zimbabwe mainly bought Sinopharm and Sinovac Covid-19 vaccines from China in addition to regular donations from Beijing as we reported from the time the vaccine rollouts began. The country also received the same type of vaccines from the WHOs Covax facility. It also received donations from Indias Covaxin and Russias Sputnik. Less than 2% of all received doses have been donated. The rest have been procured using domestic funding, which means the country has devoted significant amounts of its health budget to Covid-19 vaccination. Zimbabwes vaccines uptake has remained low compared to the doses in its stockpiles, data from the Health and Child Care ministry shows. According to the ministrys situational reports, on March 13, Zimbabwes first dose vaccine coverage was 45% of the target population and 29% of the total population. About 35% of the target population was fully vaccinated or had received two doses. Medical experts said the fact that Zimbabwe had only managed to administer eight million doses of the Covid-19 vaccines in one year meant that exhausting 14 million doses would be a tall order. Some countries in Africa are being forced to dispose of their Covid-19 vaccines after they expired without being used. In Nigeria up to one million Covid-19 doses are estimated to have expired without being used in December last year. South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo last year had to send some of their Covid-19 vaccine doses back to manufacturers because they could not distribute them in time. Namibia last year warned that it may have to destroy thousands of expired doses due to a low uptake. Zimbabwe, despite being a beneficiary of donated vaccines, handed 50 000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccines to Botswana in February this year and donated another 20 000 doses to Namibia. Agnes Mahomva, the national coordinator on governments response to Covid-19, said the vaccine donations were done because of Zimbabwes good relations with other countries when asked if this was meant to get rid of doses that were close to expiry. Zimbabwe has very good relationships with its neighbours and some have struggled to get vaccines, Mahomva said. It is, therefore, only strategic to help them. She said it was unlikely that the vaccines that were already in stock would expire before use. Remember access to vaccines needs to be for everyone in order to end this pandemic, Mahomva added. Most of our vaccines expire at the end of 2023 and that is the end of next year. Johannes Marisa, the Medical and Dental Private Health Practitioners of Zimbabwe Association president, said ordinarily vaccine manufacturers do not indicate expiry dates on their products, but it was common knowledge in the medical field that vaccines lose their potency a year after being produced. Zimbabwes last vaccine deliveries were received in September 2021. (Not indicating expiry dates) is done for security reasons on the part of manufacturers, but we rightfully know that after 12 months, the vaccines lose their potency, Marisa said. So you cannot keep a vaccine for more than 12 months. So ideally, we must try to limit the shelf life of vaccines. Mahomva said the government had come up with a new strategy to increase the uptake of Covid-19 vaccines to reach the WHO targets to vaccinate 70% of the population by mid-year. She said Zimbabwes Covid-19 vaccination programme was one of the strongest programmes in Africa. The country has, however, had its fair share of vaccine uptake challenges, Mahomva said. This is despite the fact that the country has plenty of vaccines in stock. Uptake challenges are mostly associated with low-risk perception, misinformation and access issues. The country, therefore, recently went through a re-planning process and put in place additional vaccination strategies to address identified challenges. She said innovative approaches, including outreach services and targeted vaccination messages for key community groups, will be used in order to address the challenges. The main aim of the campaign is to ramp up the vaccination coverage in order to reach 70% of the total population by end of July 2022 in line with the WHOs new global target of 70% total population coverage by mid-2022, she said. The campaign is in collaboration with all stakeholders including community and church leaders. She said additional vaccine doses had been procured and paid for and were awaiting delivery once the government gives a green light to the manufacturers. Itai Rusike, director of the Community Working Group on Health, said instead of donating vaccines, Zimbabwe must be pushing for a higher uptake to effectively fight the pandemic. Instead of donating our vaccines to other countries, Zimbabwe needs to come up with innovative communication strategies in order to increase vaccine uptake and accelerate towards achieving the required herd immunity of vaccinating at least 70% of the population of about 13 million Zimbabweans, he said. Standard With just a month left in the legislative session, supporters of a bill that would allow terminally ill patients to determine when they might die is in a race with the calendar. After clearing the General Assemblys Public Health Committee in a 22-9 vote last month, the 33-page bill, which outlines safeguards and responsibilities for physicians and patients, is likely to get referred to the Judiciary Committee, where the legislation expired without a vote last year amid bipartisan opposition. This year, however, proponents of the aid-in-dying bill think they have some new momentum that maybe, for the first time since the legislation was introduced back in 1994, there is hope for people who want to avoid the painful final stages of terminal illness and end their lives while there is still some quality. Proponents will likely find out early next week on the further review in the law-writing Judiciary Committee, where supporters including state Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, co-chairman of the Public Health Committee, plan to convince colleagues on the 39-member panel to approve it and send it to the floor of the Senate. There are parts of the bill that are very crucial, from a legal perspective, said Anwar, a physician, in a Friday phone interview. In recent years, hundreds of people have provided public testimony on the legislation and more than a few of them came to the end of their lives without legislative action, including Kim Hoffman, 59, of Glastonbury who died in January after an eight-and-a-half-year battle with ovarian cancer. This is one of the bills that nearly every year we have individuals like Ms. Hoffman, who plead to try to get the Connecticut legislature to have some recognition, empathy and understanding of their pain and suffering, Anwar said. There are many more than that who died. I hope my colleagues in the Judiciary Committee will have the kindness to listen. It is the dying wish for so many people who say that while they might not make it, they want to make sure others dont suffer, and theyre requesting us as a state to do the right thing. Gov. Ned Lamont on Thursday said he supports aid-in-dying legislation, but it first has to pass the Senate and House before it reaches his desk. In recent years, the Connecticut State Medical Society has shifted from opposing the legislation, to supporting the individual decisions of doctors. All humans are hard-wired to protect everyones life, especially doctors, whose training is about saving lives, said Anwar, noting that with the legal guardrails in the legislation, only those ptients whose doctors believe they have six months or less to live would be eligible. Only a tiny percentage of patients would fall outside of current palliative and hospice care protocols, Awar stressed. This is an important bill, he said. Many people have spoken over hundreds of hours, and I hope my colleagues will be thoughtful rather than vote based on internal biases. State Rep. Steve Stafstrom, D-Bridgeport, co-chairman of the Judiciary Commission, said Friday that in 2021, it was bipartisan opposition in the panel that showed there wasnt enough support to bring it to a committee debate and vote. Last year, when we caucused the bill and did a vote count, it was short votes by a pretty clear margin, with no Republican support and a very mixed reaction from Democrats. If it comes again well likely caucus it again. The Judiciary Committees deadline is Monday afternoon to finalize bills that originated in that committee. Once a bill is referred to it from another committee, there are only a few days to review legislation, and it can expire without action. Time is growing short in the 12-week budget-adjustment session that ends at midnight the night of May 4. And with State Supreme Court Justice Christine Keller announcing her move to senior status, it means that Gov. Ned Lamont will want to quickly nominate another member to the high court. Nominees are scrutinized by the Judiciary Committee before votes in the House and Senate. Sen. Will Haskell, who is also a member of both the Judiciary and Public Health committees, said Friday that when he was first elected in 2018, he hadnt thought much about aid-in-dying. Its one of those things that you get to know through your constituents, Haskell said. We have let these people down by not passing aid-in-dying in previous legislative sessions. This really deserves a vote, one way or the other, in Judiciary. My gut says people who are of sound mind deserve the choice, said state Rep. Jason Doucette, D-Manchester, whose fathers painful death from cancer in March of 2021, helped change his mind. I was someone who was raised Catholic. Although now I am not a practicing Catholic, I have always had a doubt about this issue that I would attribute to that. Palliative and hospice care did not help his father. For around the last five months of his life, he expressed on a daily basis his desire to end his life and we had to suffer along with him. That sort of crystalized it for me. We should have trust in patients that they can make this determination, and we should trust these physicians who care for these patients, said Timothy Appleton, state campaign director for the Compassion & Choices Action Network, an advocacy group. Ten states plus the District of Columbia have aid in dying, or physician-assisted suicide laws, the nearest being New Jersey. Were only seeking one more option on the continuum of the end-of-life care, Appleton said in a phone interview Friday. This isnt new legislation. It is absolutely unconscionable that someone in Middletown, Connecticut has fewer options than someone in Middletown, New Jersey. These are real people who seek out just one more option. I cannot express enough that this is an urgent matter of life and death. For some, having an option under certain circumtances doesnt impact those who dont want that option. Right now the government is deciding how we should die in this state. kdixon@ctpost.com Twitter: @KenDixonCT This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate TORRINGTON Torrington and North Canaan are two of many towns across the state to receive funding for development and health care in the northwest corner. Torrington is receiving $500,000 for riverfront development of the former Torrington Manufacturing Company site on Franklin Street. Torrington is using the money to support the construction of riverfront apartments, which are being built by Pennrose LLC and began in August 2021. The project includes a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom units for a range of incomes. There will be 60 apartments in total, 75 percent of which will be reserved for households earning up to 70 percent of the area median income. The remaining units will be rented at market rate. The apartment building is expected to be completed later this year. This project will breathe new life to a site that has been vacant for over a decade and it will bring vibrancy to downtown Torrington, said Rep. Michelle Cook, D-Torrington, in a release. Our state is experiencing a shortage of affordable housing and this project helps take steps to address our regions housing needs. Cook said she is grateful for Gov. Ned Lamont and the State Bond Commission for understanding this projects importance local economic growth. The redevelopment of the riverfront helps address critical housing needs throughout the region, and brings economic vitality to the center of Torrington, and represents an investment that will pay off in years to come, said Rep. Maria Horn, D-Salisbury, in a release. Thank you to the Governor and the Bond Commission for your support of this critical project. New health care center In North Canaan, $3 million is being provided by the state for a new federally qualified health center, Horn said. The new health center will provide much-needed increased access to comprehensive, quality primary and behavioral health care to the area for everyone in Northwest Connecticut, regardless of their ability to pay, Horn said in the release. Federal qualified health centers serve vulnerable individuals and families, including people experiencing homelessness, agricultural workers, residents of public housing and veterans. Patients will be able to receive primary care, mental health, and non-emergency services no matter the economic, geographic, or cultural barrier, according to a statement. In December 2020, Cook and Horn worked alongside city leaders and the State Bond Commission to secure $3,528,400 to assist with the development of the apartment project. The project has an estimated price tag of $19,965,422. Of the total amount, approximately $2,880,000 will be financed. A total of $12,148,786 will be offered in low-income housing tax credits. Horn said opening a health center in North Canaan has been a top priority for many years. By approving a $3 million grant for construction of a health center by Community Health and Wellness Center, the state made sure this project will at last become a reality, she said. At a time when we are seeing the withdrawal and constriction of healthcare services in rural communities throughout the country, I am deeply grateful for the states full-throated support for this project, and for the crucial financial support from the Foundation for Community Health. For several years, the town of North Canaan along with the Community Health and Wellness Center of Greater Torrington and the Foundation for Community Health have worked to get this project off the ground and into the community, Horn said. We at Foundation for Community Health have been excited to partner with Community Health and Wellness Center, Rep. Maria Horn, the state, as well as members of the local community to bring this project to fruition, said Nancy Heaton, MPH, CEO, Foundation for Community Health, in a statement. Federally Qualified Health Centers go beyond providing medical care and seek to work with people and families to address other needs that may impact their health and wellbeing like coordinating transportation or connecting them to other needed resources or programs. Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Saturday said the resumption of investigation into the murder of a former Attorney General of the F... Nobel laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, on Saturday said the resumption of investigation into the murder of a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige, was already hamstrung and disrobed of credibility with the emergence of a prime suspect in the case as the National Secretary of the ruling All Progressive Congress. The playwright expressed the view in a statement on Saturday titled, Perhaps closed files should remain just that-closed? He said, With the emergence of the said prime suspect as National Secretary of the ruling party, is the Inspector-General of Police equipped to confront political obstacles in a resumption of investigation? Is there any guarantee that the result will see the light of day? How suspect, ab initio, will be the conclusions, given the present political ordering? To this layman, that investigative revisit is already hamstrung and disrobed of credibility. I think the nation should simply relieve President Buhari of his pledge. I am certain the Inspector-General of Police will be equally relieved and can now turn his mind and energy to the national accustomed posture Business as Usual. The elder statesman in December last year urged the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to ensure the exposure of Iges killers to reinstate what he termed the broken lines of justice. Soyinka wondered then what happened to the Presidents pledge to open an enquiry into the countrys spate of political murders. Ige, also an ex-governor of old Oyo State, was assassinated by unidentified gunmen at his Bodija, Ibadan, Oyo State, home on December, 23, 2001. The essayist stated that barely three months had passed since the twentieth anniversary of Iges murder; an occasion which he said he utilised to remind the President of a subsisting election pledge. He added, That pledge was to re-open the files on the spate of unsolved political assassinations that had plagued the nation in recent decades. Prominent among those cases was that of the Minister of Justice, murdered on his way to take up a prestigious position with the United Nations. Presidential response was swift. Buhari ordered the Inspector-General of Police to re-open those files and resume investigations. The nation has patiently awaited even a hint of work in progress. Most, I am certain, expect no less than a revaluation of prior investigative efforts. None, to my knowledge, has attempted to rush the Chief of Police and his team into judgment. We all take solace in the knowledge that the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they arrive. Eventually. Soyinka, however, stated that an unusual turn of events had raised questions because the ruling party, headed by the same President, had just elected as its National Secretary one of the prime suspects of the most notorious of the nations unsolved murders. He stated, Not for a moment does one suggest that mere accusation, even trial, presumes guilt. More than a mere verdict is involved in any trial, however. The process of arriving at that ultimate destination justice is integral to the very concept of democracy and equality under the law. That process is one of the structures of civic education. Unresolved till today were quite a number of untidy, even suspect aspects of investigation, prosecution and trials, aspects which revealed improper cell co-habitation by suspects under custody. That this led necessarily to recantations of earlier depositions is not thereby proven, but the fact remains that such U-turns did take place. One was so brazen that it induced a heart attack that proved fatal to the victims wife, another Justice Mrs. Atinuke Ige. That the prime suspect was privileged in a number of improper ways went beyond mere allegation. Political interventions, including pressure on the judiciary during bail hearings, cannot be denied. A judge under such pressure kept a diary with accusations, pages of which he consigned to friends for safe keeping. Jon Batiste has served as the face of New Orleans ahead of Saturday night's Final Four at the Caesars Superdome, and the musician had a full 4 minutes to put a spotlight on the city ahead of the TBS broadcast of the Kansas-Villanova game. Batiste was at the forefront throughout the lively bit that included tunes from his Grammy-nominated Album, "We Are," and the production put a spotlight on his growing status as an ambassador for the Crescent City. The video turned out all the hits of New Orleans culture - from the music to the food to the nightlife. If you can't see the video below, CLICK HERE. Batiste, 35, comes from a well known lineage of New Orleans musicians, including Lionel Batiste of the Treme Brass Band. He recorded his first album, "Times in New Orleans" at the age of 17. In 2015, Batiste and his band, Stay Human, became the house band for "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." Batiste, who grew up in Kenner, received 11 Grammy nominations for his latest album in November. The Grammys broadcast starts at 7 p.m. on Sunday on CBS. Wishing Town Bakery Cafe in March opened the second location of its bakery and dim sum restaurant in Uptown, and a technology failure dealt the business an unwelcoming surprise on its first day. We designed all of our ordering and checking out to be online and on portable devices, says Aisha Chen, a partner in the business originally founded by pastry chef Vivi Zheng and her husband, chef Kevin Zheng. When it came time to open the doors, there was a line down the block and dozens of online orders in the queue. We so appreciate our customers, but the kitchen couldnt keep up, Chen says. Our internet capacity wasnt strong enough to handle everything. We had to cancel orders and people waited. Chen posted a message on Instagram at the end of the day, explaining what happened and apologizing for the inconvenience. Instead of rants from internet trolls, Wishing Town received an outpouring of love and support from new and longtime customers alike. The comments were so touching, Chen says. One customer said, Dont worry, we have nothing but love and patience. It almost made me cry. Now it has boosted tech working well, and Wishing Town has stayed busy. The menus dim sum section includes 13 types of dumplings, and there also are hot pots with beef or seafood, marinated chicken over noodles, cold glass noodle salads and more. People loved the dumplings, Chen says. Dumplings arrive freshly steamed in bamboo baskets, most with four to six dumplings to an order. So far, the best-selling items include the mini steamed buns, stuffed with seasoned ground Angus beef or ground pork mixed with Chinese cabbage, ginger and scallions. Tender Dragon shrimp dumplings feature whole shrimp combined with garlic, ginger and crab stick with bits of seaweed and sesame on top. One of Chens favorites is the cheeseburger pocket dumpling, shaped like an open purse and filled with ground beef, onion, ginger, scallion, mozzarella cheese and crumbled bacon. The same shape works well with a tofu skin to deliver nibs of char siu, or Cantonese-spiced barbecued pork, combined with cabbage, ginger and scallion. Most of the dishes are not highly spiced, except for the spicy dumpling soup, a chile-oil fueled broth bobbing with beef or pork dumplings. For dessert, slices of Vivi Zhengs beautiful but not overly sweet treats are featured in flavors like almond Chantilly, Oreo Chantilly and tiramisu. Wishing Town took over a refurbished Victorian cottage that formerly housed the coffeeshop Cafe Luna, which closed during the pandemic. The Zhengs added an expansive deck for outdoor dining. A large live oak tree and table umbrellas shade the space, and solar-powered light fixtures illuminate the patio at night. Currently, the restaurant opens daily at 11 a.m. and serves food until closing, but dim sum isnt available from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wishing Town Bakery Cafe What Wishing Town Bakery Cafe Where 802 Nashville Ave., (504) 885-8272; Instagram, @wishingtownbakerycafe When Lunch and dinner daily How Dine-in, takeout and outdoor seating available Check it out Dim sum and more in a new bakery and cafe in Uptown The second location is a milestone for what started as a much smaller business. Vivi Zheng started making egg tarts in her home and sold them to a mostly Chinese clientele. The Zhengs opened a bakery in a little strip shopping center on David Drive, and later moved to a more central location near Lakeside Shopping Center. The name Wishing Town was inspired by the sound of the Chinese phrase wei xin tang, which translates to a heart and mind dedication that sums up the couples dedication to their business. Chen moved to New Orleans nine years ago from California when her husband took a research job at Tulane University. She met the Zhengs, who were their neighbors in Kenner. They are my best friends, Chen says. I was helping them with paperwork and things in English when they opened their original business on David Drive in 2018. One day they just said, Why dont you come into the business, so I did. Although her background is in engineering, Chen has taken to hospitality, and fills in wherever shes needed which, because of staff shortages, is everywhere. We are very encouraged by our customers faith in us, Chen says. We are proud to be part of this Uptown community. Almost 60 years ago, a historic Black community founded as a home for newly freed slaves was demolished to expand the national park commemorating the Battle of New Orleans and Civil War casualties. Now park rangers and iris enthusiasts think they have found a botanical reminder: Louisiana iris and African lilies that the village's residents might have planted. The dark purple iris and white and pink crinum lilies were first noticed last spring, more than a half century after tiny Fazendeville was torn down to join the national park's two sections. One part is the land where the Battle of New Orleans was fought; the other is a national cemetery where about 7,300 Union soldiers and sailors rest with later U.S. military members. We may never know for certain that the flowers were planted by Fazendeville residents, but it seems very likely, said Gary Salathe, who created a group to rescue native irises and who first noticed those on the battlefield. Fazendeville, called The Village by people who lived there, was founded around 1870 by Jean-Pierre Fazende, a grocer from a family prominent in the social class known as free people of color, said Bill Hyland, historian for St. Bernard Parish, where the national park is located. Fazende wanted to give recently freed slaves a place to live. So he subdivided an inherited strip of land, wide enough only for a single row of houses, into 33 lots for a freedmens colony. The land eventually included 30 homes, a church, bars, a grocery store and a school that was used at night as a dance hall. Like so many people of his class, he understood that the transition of the enslaved to freedom would be a long and arduous process, Hyland said. For decades families lived and worked in the small community, built where U.S. forces defeated the British military on Jan. 8, 1815. In the early 1960s, with an eye toward unifying the national park in time for the Battle of New Orleans' 150th anniversary in 1965, the National Park Service tried to buy the land. Owners refused. Eventually, Congress approved expropriation, and the community was demolished. Homeowners were paid about $6,000, at a time when new homes in the area cost $16,000, according to a 2014 article in 64 Parishes magazine, published by the Louisiana Endowment for the Humanities. In later years, the park service addressed the expropriation in an article on its website. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up The choice to preserve one history sacrificed another, the park service said. While we may be able to better visualize the experience of soldiers during the War of 1812 as a result of this choice, it leaves us less able to appreciate the struggles and triumphs of later generations, and less aware of the complex layers that make up our shared history. In 2010, a marker commemorating Fazendeville was erected near the battlefield road. In February 2021, Salathe and other members of his Louisiana Iris Conservation Initiative were planting a small group of blue iris in another part of the park. Salathe, whose group seeks to save Louisiana iris from areas slated for development and plant them in visible spots in nature preserves and parks, noticed long, tall leaves growing in the grass a distance from the road. They looked like iris. A closer look confirmed it. He and park rangers went back a month later when the iris bloomed and got two surprises. First, they were dark purple, not the better known blue iris that is the state flower. Then came a more startling discovery: crinum lilies. Volunteer Paul Christiansen recognized them as a species from Africa, possibly brought by enslaved people, that could not have been growing wild there. They would have had to be planted by people, he said. The group then found the slight depression where Fazendeville's road once ran. The stands of iris all were on the side where houses once had stood, ending about where the backyards would have ended, Salathe said. Salathe said he asked permission to move some of the iris and lilies to an area where they can be more easily seen. The park is considering such a display, park ranger Kim Acker said. Near the end of 2020, three local government agencies denied tax breaks for planned improvements to the Folgers coffee plants in New Orleans East. But only now, more than a year later, has the assessor put the properties onto the tax rolls, making the company liable for $5.1 million in real estate levies. Assessor Erroll Williams blames the Louisiana Department of Economic Development for the delay. That agency blames Williams. Even with the delayed taxation, the company is now claiming a far smaller investment in its plants than it originally said the project would entail. That translates into significantly less in taxes for the company and less revenue for City Hall, public schools and other agencies. The additional improvements now being put on the tax rolls are worth about $77.4 million, Orleans Parish Assessor Erroll Williams said Friday, based on filings made by The J.M. Smucker Co., the coffee giants parent. Thats less than half the amount the company said it would spend on projects at its plants on Chef Menteur Highway and Old Gentilly Road when it was seeking exemptions through the Louisiana Industrial Tax Exemption Program. All told, that means about $5.1 million in revenue will be split between various local governing authorities for taxes in 2022 and the past three years, a period in which some of the work had been completed but the application for tax breaks was still pending government review. The upgrades will also be taxed going forward. J.M. Smucker did not respond to questions Friday about why its latest filings included only a portion of the investments it touted in its tax exemption application. It was not clear whether the companys plans were scaled down, some spending is still in the works or the company omitted the full investment from its filings. Exemptions denied in 2020 Folgers is one of the few New Orleans companies that uses the Industrial Tax Exemption Program, and its tax breaks have been in dispute for years. The state Economic Develoment Department oversees the program, but in recent years local governments have been given the authority to reject the tax breaks which hit their budgets, not state coffers. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up For the Folgers projects, the City Council, Orleans Parish School Board and Orleans Parish Sheriffs Office denied the request at the end of 2020. But the new equipment installed in the plants remained off the tax rolls until March. Williams said his office was following its standard practice: Don't put properties on the rolls while their applications for tax breaks are still pending. He said his office asked the state about Folgers in February because the state database did not yet show the tax breaks were denied and he had received no formal paperwork from any agency saying a decision on the breaks had been made. "This office hasnt gotten a letter from the School Board, city of New Orleans or the Sheriffs Office that theyve decided to vote the contract down, so I cant put a taxpayer on the rolls based on what I read in the newspaper," Williams said. The status was not changed to denied until March, at which point Williams said his staff began working to put the properties on the tax rolls. The state agency said it does not notify local taxing authorities about the actions of local government entities involved in the ITEP application review process. Questions about when and how the exemption is applied at the local level are best directed to each local taxing authority. Activist group critical The activist group Together New Orleans which led the charge to deny the exemptions has blasted the assessors office for failing to make the properties taxable in the time since their exemptions were denied. On Friday, Together New Orleans lead organizer Broderick Bagert said the fault fell on the assessors office. Once it is rejected and on the front page of the newspaper, the idea that a database maintained by LED is the adjudicator of this - they have never set themselves up to play that role, Bagert said. They dont have the infrastructure to play that role. The organization also contested earlier estimates put out by the assessors office of what Folgers would owe, saying Williams had under-charged them. The group said it was reviewing Folgers' new figures after being provided with them by The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate on Friday afternoon. We think, obviously, his office needs to make some changes in how they deal with this kind of property, Bagert said. But the assessor is recognizing the most important thing, which is that a company that didn't get a tax exemption shouldn't be treated as though it got a tax exemption. That's progress. The Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office is investigating the death of a Metairie woman found fatally shot inside a Harvey home Thursday night. The Jefferson Parish Coroner's Office identified her as Brandie Franklin, 36. An autopsy determined she had a gunshot wound to the head, according to authorities. Franklin's body was discovered about 8:45 p.m. inside a house on Ravenna Street (map), said Capt. Jason Rivarde, a Sheriff's Office spokesperson. Deputies went to the residence after receiving a report of an unresponsive woman. Franklin was pronounced dead at the scene. The case is under investigation, and detectives did not have any information about a suspect or motive, Rivarde said. Anyone with information about the death of Brandie Franklin is asked to call the Sheriff's Office investigations bureau at 504-364-5300. The public can also call Crimestoppers at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-7867. Callers do not have to give their names or testify and can earn a reward of up to $2,500 for information that leads to an indictment. Plotting to crash vehicles for the insurance money would be its own felony in Louisiana under a bill backed by Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon, amid a federal probe in New Orleans that has spawned a slew of indictments, guilty pleas, and possibly a murder. The legislation introduced by state Rep. Sherman Mack, House Bill 15, would make it a felony to cause a collision in exchange for anything of value; to scheme to document phantom wrecks; or to help in filing fraudulent insurance claims after staged crashes. The bill would set a prison sentence of up to five years for those convicted of the charge of staging a motor vehicle collision. If the accident causes death or serious injury, a prosecutor could file aggravated charges. The sentence then would be 5 to 30 years. Donelons office said it modeled the legislation on laws passed in Florida, Georgia and New York state, as insurance companies and regulators aim to stiffen criminal laws around a fraud they say has grown more rampant, brazen, and costly to ratepayers. At least 15 people have pleaded guilty so far in New Orleans to charges in a series of federal indictments that describe parallel schemes in which teams of slammers, spotters and local lawyers conspired to create whopping insurance payouts by packing people into vehicles and aiming them at tractor trailers. Cornelius Garrison, a veteran slammer and ringleader for one of those bands, was gunned down days after a federal grand jury indicted him last year. His death, with no suspects identified, raised the stakes for a prosecution that has promised more indictments to come. Among more than 30 defendants indicted so far, nearly all were accused of directly participating in the allegedly staged wrecks. Only one, Danny Keating, is a lawyer. He stands accused of counseling a different slammer, Damian Labeaud, on how to maximize profits. Keating faces a charge of wire- and mail-fraud conspiracy, and a May 10 trial date. Top stories in New Orleans in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up But other players identified in court documents as participants in the alleged schemes, including more lawyers, have so far skirted prosecution. Insurance defense attorneys have raised suspicions as well around a cadre of doctors who performed surgeries on many of those who claimed injuries from suspect wrecks. But former U.S. Attorney Peter Strasser cast doubt before he left office in February that charges were coming against any surgeons, citing a challenge to prove knowledge. Donelons office argues that Louisianas insurance fraud laws, though they also set a five-year maximum prison term, arent tailored to prosecuting the varied players who may be looking to score off a staged crash. Prosecutors currently need to rely on a mix of state and federal laws, including federal laws about health care fraud, to handle cases like the recent staged accident case in New Orleans, Donelon's office said in a statement. The bill is meant to help prosecutors bring legitimate charges against not only those who were directly involved in the staged accident but any third parties who knowingly assist in the planning (planted passengers), fabrication of false evidence (fraudulent doctors) and those who knowingly assist in the filing of false claims (attorneys). The bill has been referred to the House Committee on the Administration of Criminal Justice. A 22-year-old New Orleans man who admitted to painting swastikas on a Mandeville synagogue in 2018, but later said he was remorseful and had come to reject Nazi ideology, has pleaded guilty to a hate crime and simple criminal damage to property, authorities said. Caine Zander Brown was given a five-year suspended sentence and two years of probation by 22nd Judicial District Judge Reginald Badeaux, according to a news release from north shore District Attorney Warren Montgomery's office. He must also make restitution to the Northshore Jewish Congregation, write the congregation a letter of apology, perform 54 hours of community service and complete an online course on the history of the Holocaust. Brown defaced the Mandeville synagogue in September 2018, spray-painting the words "synagogue of Satan" and two swastikas and a cross on the outside of the building. He also painted the word "burn" and 14/88, code for a 14-word white supremacist slogan and "Heil Hitler" which both start with h, the eighth letter in the alphabet. The vandalism touched off an outpouring of community support. The owner of a pressure-washer business came and cleaned off the graffiti, an artist painted a mural on the wall and many flocked to a community support event hosted by the congregation. The Mandeville Police Department, which initially investigated the matter, was not able to immediately identify a suspect. But Brown came to the attention of law enforcement when the FBIs Joint Domestic Terrorism Task Form interviewed him concerning the deadly attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh in October 2018. FBI interview During the interview, Brown expressed knowledge of the vandalism in Mandeville. Investigators were then able to determine that he had been in the Mandeville area at the time the synagogue was vandalized and had lived for a time in a nearby apartment complex. St. Tammany top stories in your inbox A weekly guide to the biggest news in St. Tammany. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up Brown also had posted extensively on social media, espousing Nazi beliefs, including denying the Holocaust and had used the term "synagogue of Satan." He also posted pictures of himself in Nazi headwear making Nazi salutes. A search warrant was issued for his cellphone records in October 2019, and mapping was able to locate the phone in the area for about four hours on Sept. 5, the day that the graffiti appeared. A former roommate also told investigators that Brown had admitted his responsibility. Brown was arrested on March 11, 2020. Rejecting Nazi ideology He told The Times-Picayune shortly after his arrest that he was remorseful about his actions and had rejected the Nazi ideology that he said had attracted him as an angry and socially isolated young person. During the sentencing, four victim impact statements were read into the record, including one written by a founding member of the congregation. "Anyone who knows me, understands that I come from a place of love for my fellow human beings, however, this incident is a hate crime which even crosses the line of human decency," the letter said. "It is hurtful, insulting, unacceptable and should not go unpunished, lest the feelings expressed on the walls of our religious home are perpetuated. It violates the basic tenants (sic) of Humanity. Assistant District Attorney Matthew Caplan prosecuted the case. Theres a widely held assumption in political circles that Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards successor will be a Republican. That outcome would jibe with the states general political leanings. And it would follow a consistent pattern in elections, which is that after eight years of one thing, even something voters generally like, they tend to look for something different. A Bill Cassidy run for governor next year could both confirm and upend assumptions. The senator, who admits hes at least considering it and said hell decide by the end of the year, is a Republican, so go ahead and check that box. But what makes him appealing to the influential folks bending his ear is not that hed set the state on a different path, but that hed largely stay the course. In fact, Edwards and Cassidy have a lot in common. While both embrace many of their respective parties principles, they each have independent streaks. Edwards opposes abortion and defends gun rights, although he rejects the 2nd Amendment absolutism of todays movement conservatives. He brings a moderate approach and temperament to business and economic issues. Since his 2020 reelection, Cassidy has broken with many congressional peers on several high-profile matters. He was the only Louisianan in Congress on Jan. 6, 2021 who voted to certify President Joe Bidens win in all states, and the only one who voted to hold Trump accountable for inciting the insurrection at impeachment. He also joined with Biden and the Democrats to pass a massive infrastructure bill that the rest of the state's GOP delegation opposed. By all reports, Cassidy and Edwards maintain a strong working relationship across party lines, which suggests a similar approach to governing. Those urging him into the race clearly see Cassidy as their best hope to avert the extreme partisanship that other Republicans might espouse, and that Louisiana has somewhat sidestepped during Edwards tenure, at least compared to states such as Florida and Texas. Hed be the best hedge, this theory goes, against someone like Attorney General Jeff Landry, who relishes the politics of confrontation and tacks much further to the right. Cassidy enthusiasts think he could combine support from Republicans who are tired of all the dysfunction with backing from independent voters and Democrats who appreciate Cassidys willingness to be his own man, and his pragmatism on priorities such as infrastructure, which once upon a time wasnt actually divisive. They also note that voters are less tied to party labels in governor races than in national contests for President and Congress, with Edwards two victories as evidence. So thats the case for a Cassidy candidacy. The case against stems from Louisianas open primary system, which gives the senator a potential path, but an extremely narrow one. If Louisiana had party primaries, a Cassidy run would be a nonstarter, given Trumps continued popularity and his own high disapproval rate among Republicans, which showed up in a recent survey by pollster John Couvillon. But the states open primary system presents its own challenges. Cassidy would likely face Landry, Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, Treasurer John Schroder and possibly others on the Republican side, so his best-case scenario would be split support among them. Should one build and hold a significant base, that would make his road rockier. Likely even more challenging would be the task of convincing Democrats and independents that supporting him is the best way to block Landry or someone of his ilk. For this to work, Democratic leaders would have to either clear the field a difficult proposition given that anyone can sign up or sell the message that a Democrat has no realistic shot. Working against them is that even in state-level races, voting is becoming more polarized these days, and many voters, particularly in higher turnout elections, might not be politically attuned enough to follow the complicated strategic maneuvering. Or they might not want to; the Couvillon poll gave Cassidy a 38% overall approval rating, meaning that while Republicans arent embracing him right now, neither are many Democrats. The endgame would be to get Cassidy into a runoff against a more conservative Republican, which would make him a heavy favorite, but theres no guarantee at all that hed make it that far. Which makes me wonder how serious he really is about trying. Governor says Ukrainian helicopters attacked oil depot in Russia, causing fire Xinhua) 09:24, April 02, 2022 MOSCOW/KIEV, April 1 (Xinhua) -- A fire broke out at an oil depot in the Russian city of Belgorod after two Ukrainian military helicopters attacked the fuel storage facility, Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the Belgorod Region, said Friday. Hours later, spokesman for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry Olexandr Motuzyanyk said he does not confirm or deny the information about Ukraine's involvement in the fire at the oil depot in Russia's Belgorod, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported. "I will neither confirm nor deny this information," Motuzyanyk told reporters at a media briefing in Kiev. Ukraine has been carrying out a defensive operation to repel "Russian armed aggression" on the territory of Ukraine, he said. "This does not mean that Ukraine should be responsible for all miscalculations, all catastrophes, and all the events taking place in Russia," Motuzyanyk added. The fire at the oil depot occurred "as a result of an airstrike carried out by two helicopters of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which entered the Russian airspace at a low altitude," Gladkov wrote on his Telegram channel earlier on Friday. All emergency services are on the scene, he said, adding that civilians are not in danger. Gladkov said that two oil depot workers had been injured in the fire. (Web editor: Peng yukai, Liang Jun) According to the well-known leaker Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is actively testing a rather large 9-inch foldable device, which could hint at the prioritized development of a possible iPhone-iPad hybrid instead of a more compact smartphone in this new form factor. 4 Reviews , News , CPU , GPU , Articles , Columns , Other "or" search relation. 3D Printing , 5G , Accessory , AI , Alder Lake , AMD , Android , Apple , ARM , Audio , Benchmark , Biotech , Business , Camera , Cannon Lake , Cezanne (Zen 3) , Charts , Chinese Tech , Chromebook , Coffee Lake , Comet Lake , Console , Convertible / 2-in-1 , Cryptocurrency , Cyberlaw , Deal , Desktop , E-Mobility , Education , Exclusive , Fail , Foldable , Gadget , Galaxy Note , Galaxy S , Gamecheck , Gaming , Geforce , Google Pixel , GPU , How To , Ice Lake , Intel , Intel Evo , Internet of Things (IoT) , iOS , iPad , iPad Pro , iPhone , Jasper Lake , Lakefield , Laptop , Launch , Leaks / Rumors , Linux / Unix , List , Lucienne (Zen 2) , MacBook , Mini PC , Monitor , MSI , OnePlus , Opinion , Phablet , Radeon , Raptor Lake , Renoir , Review Snippet , Rocket Lake , Ryzen (Zen) , Science , Security , Single-Board Computer (SBC) , Smart Home , Smartphone , Smartwatch , Software , Storage , Tablet , ThinkPad , Thunderbolt , Tiger Lake , Touchscreen , Ultrabook , Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR) , Wearable , Wi-Fi 7 , Windows , Workstation , XPS , Zen 3 (Vermeer) , Zen 4 Ticker It's an open secret that the Cupertino-based iPhone maker is diligently working on its very first folding device. Since its main South Korean competitor Samsung is one of the leaders in this new market segment thanks to its continuously improving Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy Z Fold lineup, Apple now appears to be conducting more tests regarding its highly-anticipated foldable. According to a recent tweet by the popular leaker Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is specifically working on a foldable device with a rather large 9-inch screen, which would be significantly bigger than Samsung's comparable Fold smartphones. Kuo suggests that Apple may envision a folding iPhone-iPad hybrid, whose OLED display could feature a pixel density that falls right between the PPI found on its current smartphones and tablets. The according OLED panel may be developed in collaboration with the long-time supplier LG. Kuo further notes that Apple currently seems to prioritize the development of a medium-sized foldable, which appears plausible in consideration of the purported 9-inch display found in the prototype or test device. Subsequently, the tech behemoth could release an even larger device in this new category, while a smaller folding iPhone supposedly only comes third on Apple's to-do list. However, the leaker also confirms that the release of Apple first product in the foldable segment is still years away as it won't launch before 2025. Buy the unlocked Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 5G Android smartphone on Amazon The latest on the RussiaUkraine crisis, April 2. Click here for updates from April 1. Kremlin Says Talks With Ukraine Not Easy, Important That They Continue Russias talks with Ukraine have not been easy, but the main thing is that they are continuing, RIA news agency quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying on Saturday. He also said Russia would like to continue talks with Ukraine in neighboring Belarus but Kyiv opposed the idea. Russia and Ukraine held several rounds of talks in Belarus last month before their delegation met in Istanbul last week. RIA said Peskov had been speaking in an interview with Belarus television which is due to be shown later on Saturday. ___ Ukraine Regains Control of Whole Kyiv Region The Ukrainian armed forces have retaken the whole Kyiv area, Ukraines Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said on Saturday. Irpin, Bucha, Gostomel, and the whole Kyiv region were liberated from the invader, she wrote in a Facebook post. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier in the day that Russian armed forces are withdrawing from northern Ukraine in a slow but noticeable mode and being accumulated in Donbas, a disputed area. The UK Ministry of Defense confirmed that Ukrainian forces are retaking territory on the outskirts of Kyiv. Read the full article here ___ Breakaway Area Denies Russian Troops Massing Authorities in the tiny breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova denied absolutely untrue claims Saturday by Ukraine that Russian troops based there are massing to conduct provocations along Ukraines border. Earlier Saturday, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Russian troops already in Transnistria were preparing for a demonstration of readiness for the offensive and, possibly, hostilities against Ukraine. The information disseminated by the General Staff of Ukraine is absolutely untrue, Transnistrias Foreign Ministry said in a statement, adding that leaders have repeatedly declared the absence of any threat to Ukraine. Moldovas Foreign Ministry also said Saturday there is no information to confirm the mobilization of troops in the Transnistrian region and that state institutions are closely monitoring the security situation in the region. Transnistria is a Russia-backed region of Moldova that broke away after a short civil war in the early 1990s, and is unrecognized by most countries. An estimated 1,500 Russian soldiers are stationed there. ______ Anti-Russian Sanctions Dont Work: Polish PM The recovery of the Russian ruble indicates that the sanctions on Moscow are not serving their purpose, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said on Saturday. A large number of states, including EU members, imposed sanctions on Russia after it attacked Ukraine in late February. I must say this very clearly: the sanctions we have imposed so far dont work. The best evidence is the ruble exchange rate, Morawiecki said on Saturday. The ruble exchange rate, this litmus test, has returned to the level it was before the Russian aggression against Ukraine. What does it mean? It means that all economic, financial, budgetary, and monetary measures have not worked as some leaders wished. It needs to be said very loudly, he added, speaking at a center for Ukrainian refugees in Otwock near Warsaw. _____ A Series of Explosions Took Place in Energodar Nearby Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant A series of blasts has torn through the Ukrainian city of Enerhodar nearby the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Ukraines state nuclear agency reported about Saturdays attacks on its official Telegram channel. Both the city and the plant, which generates over a fifth of Ukraines electricity and is one of the largest nuclear facilities in Europe, have been under Russian control since March 4, according to Interfax Ukraine. A video clip accompanying the Telegram post by Ukraines Energoatom appeared to feature loud blasts and flying debris. A second post on the state enterprises channel claimed that explosions and mortar bursts could be heard in the vicinity of the Sovremennik cultural center, where residents held a rally in support of Ukraine. As protesters began to disperse, the invaders arrived in police vehicles, and began to force local residents into them, the post read. A few minutes later, the city was rocked by massive explosions and shelling. The agency claimed that four people were injured and received medical assistance. Energoatom also claimed that Russian forces began to jam phone and internet communications throughout Enerhodar. The agencys claims could not be immediately verified. _____ Thousands Evacuated from Mariupol Thousands of people were successfully evacuated by buses from the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol on Friday, according to Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who called the situation there a humanitarian catastrophe. Zelenskyy said in a video address early Saturday that a humanitarian corridor was operational in Zaporizhzhia, allowing for the evacuation of 3,071 residents from Mariupol. Tens of thousands of people have been trapped in the besieged city, with scant access to food and water. Read the full article here ____ Finnish Government to Discuss Potential NATO Membership in Spring Finlands prime minister says her country should make a decision on NATO membership during this spring after the government and lawmakers have carefully assessed the pros and cons of joining the military alliancea topical issue in the Nordic nation after Russias invasion to Ukraine. Prime Minister Sanna Marin said Saturday that both joining (NATO) and not joining are choices that have consequences. We need to assess both the short-term and long-term effects. At the same time, we must keep in mind our goal: ensuring the security of Finland and Finns in all situations. Marin said Finlands relationship with neighboring Russia has changed irreversibly after Moscows invasion of Ukraine last month, and it takes a lot of time and work for confidence to be restored. Finland shares a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia, the longest by any European Union member. _____ Italian Foreign Minister Visits Azerbaijan Amid Energy Crisis Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, visiting Azerbaijan, has described his talks there as laying the bases for even stronger cooperation on energy, as Italy seeks to quickly reduce its heavy reliance on Russian gas. In comments to reporters in Baku on Saturday, Di Maio described Azerbaijan, which is Italys largest supplier of oil and third-largest supplier of gas, as a priority partner in Italys quest to diversify its sources of energy. Di Maio arrived in the South Caucasus country on Friday, following previous energy-focused missions to Algeria, Qatar, Angola, and Congo. Italy is eyeing the possibility of increasing the supply of natural gas from Azerbaijan through the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline, or TAP, which transported its first gas in 2020. _____ Russian Troops Disperse Pro-Ukraine Rally in Occupied Town, Local Authorities Claim Local authorities in the occupied Ukrainian town of Enerhodar claimed Russian forces had violently dispersed a pro-Ukrainian rally on Saturday and detained some participants. Residents had gathered in the center of the town in the south of the country to talk and sing the Ukrainian national anthem when Russian soldiers arrived and bundled some into detention vans, the local administration claimed in an online post. The occupiers are dispersing the protesters with explosions, it said in a separate post on Telegram, sharing a video of what appeared to be multiple stun grenades landing in a square and letting off bangs and clouds of white smoke next to the towns main cultural center. It also accused Russian forces of shelling another part of the town on Saturday and said as a result four people had been wounded and were being treated in hospital. Reuters could not immediately verify the video or the local administrations reports. Enerhodar lies on the Dnipro river in southern Ukraine and is home to workers of the nearby Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europes largest, which has also been occupied by Russian troops. _____ Ukrainian Journalist Killed in Combat Zone A prominent Ukrainian photojournalist who went missing last month in a combat zone near the capital has been found dead. Ukraines Prosecutor Generals office claimed in a statement Saturday that Maks Levin was killed with two gunshots, fired allegedly by the Russian military. Levins body was found in the Huta Mezhyhirska village on Friday. Levin, 40, worked as a photojournalist and videographer for many Ukrainian and international publications. Levin has been missing since March 13, when he contacted his friend from Vyshhorod near Kyiv to report on the fighting in the region. An investigation into his death has been launched. _____ Russian Missiles Strike Several Ukrainian Cities: Local Officials Russian missiles hit two cities in central Ukraine early on Saturday, damaging infrastructure and residential buildings, the head of the Poltava region claimed. Poltava. A missile struck one of the infrastructure facilities overnight, Dmitry Lunin wrote in an online post. Kremenchuk. Many attacks on the city in the morning. Lunin later said at least four missiles hit two infrastructure objects in Poltava while, according to preliminary information, three enemy planes attacked the industrial facilities of Kremenchuk. Poltava city is the capital of the Poltava region, east of Kyiv, and Kremenchuk is one of the areas major cities. There was no immediate information about possible casualties, Lunin said. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. In the Dnipro region in southwestern Ukraine, missiles hit an infrastructure facility, wounding two people and causing significant damage, Valentyn Reznichenko, head of the region, claimed in an online post. In the city of Kryvyi Rih a petrol station has been shelled, causing fire, he added. _____ UK Wont Get Russian Gas: Moscow British energy major Shell will not be able to buy Russian gas due to Londons anti-Russia sanctions, Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin, told the media on Saturday. London wants to be the leader of everything anti-Russian. It even wants to be ahead of Washington! Thats the cost! Peskov outlined. He was referring to the fact that the UK is the only country to have imposed sanctions on Russias Gazprombank, through which payments for Russian natural gas are made. The measure effectively denies Britain the ability to pay for the commodity. ____ Ukraine Recaptures City of Brovary Near Capital Kyiv, Says Official Ukrainian officials claim their forces have recaptured the city of Brovary, 20 kilometers (12 miles) east of the capital Kyiv. Brovarys mayor said during a televised address on Friday evening that Russian occupants have now left practically all of the Brovary district. He added that the Ukrainian forces would begin working to clear the region of remaining Russian soldiers there as well as military hardware, and possibly from mines. The mayor claimed that many Brovary residents had already returned to the city, and that shops and businesses were reopening. Earlier on Friday, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said that satellite towns northwest of Kyiv were being targeted after Ukrainian fighters pushed back Russian troops, and that fighting had also taken place in Brovary. ____ Turkey Offers to Evacuate Civilians From Ukraines Mariupol City Turkey has offered to help evacuate civilians from the besieged Ukrainian port city of Mariupol by ship. The Turkish defense minister said Saturday that we can provide ship support for the evacuation of civilians and injured Turkish and other countries citizens in Mariupol from the sea. State-run Anadolu Agency reported that Hulusi Akar said Turkey was coordinating possible evacuations with the authorities of the Russian Federation and Ukraine. Mariupol, on the Sea of Azov, has seen some of the worst suffering of the war. The International Committee for the Red Cross is attempting to remove some of the 100,000 people who are believed to remain in the city. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Friday that some 30 Turkish nationals were still in the city. ____ The Netherlands Urges Its People to Save Energy The Dutch government has launched a campaign urging people to turn down their central warming and take showers to save energy amid spiraling energy costs and reduce the countrys dependence on Russian imports. The government took the lead, announcing Saturday that it will turn down the temperature in 200 of its office blocks from 21 to 19 degrees Celsius (7066 degrees Fahrenheit) in the winter and use less air conditioning in the summer. The government also is setting aside 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) to help fund moves by home owners, social housing corporations, and municipalities to improve insulation of houses in coming years. ____ Death Toll From Mykolaiv Strike Keeps Growing At least 33 people have been killed and 34 injured in a Russian rocket strike on the regional government building in the southern Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv, Ukrainian officials claimed in a statement Saturday, updating the numbers of the deadly strike that hit Mykolaiv on Tuesday. Rescuers sent by the State Emergency Service have been searching the wreckage for survivors since Russian forces struck the building, which housed the office of regional governor Vitaliy Kim. The governor, who was not on the premises at the time of the attack, later posted social media images showing a gaping hole in the nine-story structure. Mykolaiv, a strategically important city en route to Ukraines largest port of Odesa, has withstood weeks of shelling by the Russian forces. _____ Ukraine Says Seven Humanitarian Corridors Planned for Evacuations on Saturday Seven humanitarian corridors to evacuate people from Ukraines besieged regions are planned for Saturday, Ukraines Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said. The planned corridors include one for people evacuating by private transport from the city of Mariupol and by buses for Mariupol residents out of the city of Berdyansk, Vereshchuk said. _____ Red Cross Plans Fresh Evacuation Effort From Ukraines Mariupol A Red Cross convoy will try again to evacuate civilians from the besieged port of Mariupol on Saturday as Russian forces looked to be regrouping for new attacks in southeast Ukraine. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) sent a team on Friday to lead a convoy of about 54 Ukrainian buses and other private vehicles out of the city, but they turned back, saying conditions made it impossible to proceed. They will try again on Saturday to facilitate the safe passage of civilians, the ICRC said in a statement on Friday. A previous Red Cross evacuation attempt in early March failed. An advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he was hopeful about the Mariupol evacuations. Russia and Ukraine have agreed to humanitarian corridors during the war to facilitate the evacuation of civilians from cities, but have often traded blame when the corridors have not been successful. Seven such corridors were planned for Saturday, Ukraines Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said, including one for people evacuating by private transport from Mariupol and by buses for Mariupol residents out of the city of Berdyansk. In an early morning video address, Zelenskyy said Russian troops had moved toward Donbass and the heavily bombarded northeastern city of Kharkiv. I hope there may still be solutions for the situation in Mariupol, Zelenskyy said. Before dawn on Saturday, as sirens sounded across Ukraine, the Ukrainian military reported Russian air strikes on the cities of Sievierodonetsk and Rubizhne in Luhansk. In that eastern region and neighboring Donetsk, pro-Russian separatists declared breakaway republics that Moscow recognized just before its invasion. The Ukrainian military also said defenders repulsed multiple attacks in Luhansk and Donetsk on Friday and that Russian units in Luhansk had lost 800 troops in the past week alone. Reuters was unable to verify those claims. _____ Russian Official Says Future of ISS Uncertain Russias top space official says the future of the International Space Station hangs in the balance after the United States, the European Union, and Canadian space agencies missed a deadline to meet Russian demands for the lifting of sanctions on Russian enterprises and hardware. The head of Russias Roscosmos state agency told reporters on Saturday morning that the agency was preparing a report on the prospects of international cooperation at the station, to be presented to federal authorities after Roscosmos has completed its analysis. Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin implied on Russian state TV that the Western sanctions, some of which predate Russias military action in Ukraine, could disrupt the operation of Russian spacecraft servicing the ISS. He stressed that the Western partners need the ISS and cannot manage without Russia, because no one but us can deliver fuel to the station. Rogozin added that only the engines of our cargo craft are able to correct the ISSs orbit, keeping it safe from space debris. Later on Saturday, Rogozin wrote on his Telegram channel that he received responses from his Western counterparts vowing to promote further cooperation on the ISS and its operations. He reiterated his view that the restoration of normal relations between partners in the ISS and other joint (space) projects is possible only with the complete and unconditional lifting of sanctions, which he referred to as illegal. Responding to Western sanctions on Telegram last month, Rogozin warned at the time that without Russias help, the ISS could fall down into the sea or onto land, and claimed that the crash site was unlikely to be in Russia. Space is one of the last remaining areas of cooperation between Moscow and Western nations. U.S.Russian negotiations on the resumption of joint flights to the ISS were underway when Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine last month, prompting unprecedented sanctions on Russian state-linked entities. ____ Ukraine Expects Good News Over Weekend Regarding Mariupol Evacuations: Presidential Adviser Ukraine expects good news over the weekend regarding evacuations of people from the besieged southeastern city of Mariupol, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelesnskyy said on Saturday. Our delegation has reached an agreement in Istanbul (during Ukraine-Russia peace talks) to provide evacuations, Oleksiy Arestovych told Ukraines television. I think that today or maybe tomorrow we will hear good news regarding the evacuation of the inhabitants of Mariupol. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) sent a team on Friday to lead a convoy of about 54 Ukrainian buses and other private vehicles out of the city, but they turned back, saying conditions made it impossible to proceed. They were due to try again on Saturday. Encircled since the early days of Russias five-week-old invasion, Mariupol has been Moscows main target in the southeastern region of Donbas. Tens of thousands of people are trapped in the city with scant access to food and water. ____ Ukraine Continues to Advance Against Russian Forces Near Kyiv, UK Claims Ukrainian forces continue to advance against withdrawing Russian forces in the vicinity of Kyiv, British military intelligence claimed on Saturday. Russian forces are also reported to have withdrawn from Hostomel airport near the capital, which has been subject to fighting since the first day of the conflict, Britains Ministry of Defence claimed in a regular bulletin. In the east of Ukraine, Ukrainian forces have secured a key route in eastern Kharkiv after heavy fighting, the ministry added. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. _____ Ukraines Economy Could Contract 40 Percent in 2022, Ministry Says Ukraines economy shrank 16 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of this year and could contract 40 percent in 2022 as a result of Russias invasion, the economy ministry said in a statement on Saturday, citing preliminary estimates. Areas in which remote work is impossible have suffered the most, it said. _____ US Cancels ICBM Test Due to Russia Nuclear Tensions The U.S. military has canceled a test of its Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile that it had initially aimed only to delay in a bid to lower nuclear tensions with Russia during the war in Ukraine, the Air Force told Reuters on Friday. The Pentagon first announced a delay of the test on March 2 after Russia said it was putting its nuclear forces on high alert. Washington said at the time it was important both the United States and Russia bear in mind the risk of miscalculation and take steps to reduce those risks. But it had publicly stated its intent only to delay the test a little bit, and not cancel it. Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek said the decision to cancel the test of the LGM-30G Minuteman III missile was due to the same reasons as when it had been first delayed. The next Minuteman III test is scheduled to take place later this year. Altering the test schedule for Americas ICBM force can be controversial. Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, expressed disappointment in March at the delay of a test he said was critical to ensure Americas nuclear deterrent remains effective. Jeffrey Lewis, a missile researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), played down the impact of the cancelation. Theres a value to doing the tests but I dont think missing one test in the grand scheme of things is a really big deal, said Lewis, adding the Minuteman III was extremely reliable. The nuclear-capable Minuteman III is a key part of the U.S. militarys strategic arsenal and has a range of 6,000-plus miles (9,660-plus km) and can travel at a speed of approximately 15,000 miles per hour (24,000 kph). Russia and the United States have by far the biggest arsenals of nuclear warheads after the Cold War that divided the world for much of the 20th century, putting the West against the Soviet Union and its allies. ____ EU Says It Eyes Further Russia Sanctions That Will Not Affect Energy Sector The European Union is working on further sanctions on Russia but any additional measures will not affect the energy sector, the EUs Economic Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni said in Cernobbio on Saturday. The 27-nation bloc will be faced with a growth slowdown caused by the war in Ukraine but not a recession, he added, saying the 4 percent growth forecast was too optimistic and the EU would not reach it. ____ Japan Will Not Exit From Oil and Gas Project With Russia, Kishida Says Japan will not pull out from the Sakhalin-2 liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Russia despite the withdrawal of other companies over Russias invasion of Ukraine, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday. It is an extremely important project in terms of energy security as it has contributed to the long-term, stable supply of inexpensive liquefied natural gas, Kishida said in a parliamentary meeting, Kyodo News reported. Kishida added that Japan would increase efforts to reduce reliance on Russian energy in coordination with the Group of Seven (G7) advanced countries plan. Russia is Japans fifth-largest LNG supplier, accounting for about 8 percent of the countrys consumption. The Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project in the Russian Far East was one of Japans main LNG supply sources, with an annual capacity of 9.6 million tons. Read the full article here ____ Russia Trades Accusations With Ukraine on Drifting Black Sea Mines Russia accused Ukraine on Thursday of laying hundreds of mines near its coast and said some were drifting into open waters of the Black Sea and creating dangers for merchant shipping, a day after Kyiv said Moscow was responsible for planting mines. The Black Sea is a major shipping route for grain, oil, and oil products. Its waters are shared by Bulgaria, Romania, Georgia, and Turkey as well as Ukraine and Russia, which have been at war since President Vladimir Putin invaded his southern neighbor on Feb. 24. Ukraines foreign ministry claimed on Wednesday that Russia was planting naval mines in the Black Sea as uncontrolled drifting ammunition, turning them into a de facto weapon of indiscriminate action. Russias defense ministry claimed on Thursday that from Feb. 24 to March 4, the remnants of the Ukrainian navys mine-sweeping forces had placed about 420 sea anchor mines370 in the Black Sea and 50 in the Sea of Azov. As a result of storms in the Black Sea and due to unsatisfactory technical condition, cables with bottom anchors broke on about 10 Ukrainian mines, the defense ministry said. Since then, under the influence of wind and surface currents, Ukrainian mines have drifted freely in the western part of the Black Sea in a southerly direction. No one can know where the remaining Ukrainian mines are drifting today. Earlier this month Russias main intelligence agency accused Ukraine of laying mines to protect ports and said several hundred of the explosives had broken from cables and drifted away. Kyiv dismissed that account as disinformation. In recent days Turkish and Romanian military diving teams have been involved in defusing stray mines around their waters. Turkeys defense ministry said it had not yet identified the source and number of drifting mines and had been in contact with Ukrainian and Russian counterparts over the issue. Five merchant vessels have been hit by projectileswith one of them sunkoff Ukraines coast, with two seafarers killed, shipping officials say. _____ Germany Looks to Buy Israeli or US Missile Defence System Berlin is considering buying a missile defense system from Israel or the United States to defend against threats including Russian Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad, German weekly Welt am Sonntag reported on Saturday. The Iskander missiles can reach almost all of western Europe and there is no missile shield in place to protect against this threat, Germanys chief of defense Eberhard Zorn told Welt am Sonntag in an interview published on Saturday. The Israelis and the Americans possess such systems. Which one do we prefer? Will we manage to establish an overall [missile defense] system in NATO? These are the questions we need to answer now, Zorn said. He did not specify the names of the systems but was most likely referring to Arrow 3 built by Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) and the U.S. system THAAD produced by Raytheon. Russia said in 2018 it had deployed Iskander missiles to its Kaliningrad exclave, a slice of Russia wedged between Poland and Lithuania. A mobile ballistic missile system, the Iskander replaced the Soviet Scud missile and its two guided missiles can carry either conventional or nuclear warheads. In a landmark speech days after Russias invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Berlin would hike its defense spending to more than 2 percent of its economic output by injecting 100 billion euros ($110 billion) into the military. Zorn belongs to a group of high-ranking officials consulting with Scholz on how to spend this money. So far, only one thing is clear: We have neither the time nor the money to develop these [missile defense] systems on our own because the missile threat is known to already be there, Zorn said. Referring to Germanys lack of a short-range missile defense, which can be used to protect troops on the move or under threat while deployed, he said Berlin had started looking into the purchase of such systems and it now had to make a decision. ____ US Investigators Find Evidence Russian Oligarchs Trying to Evade Sanctions: Official U.S. prosecutors have found evidence that Russian oligarchs are trying to evade sanctions put in place to pressure Moscow to stop its invasion of Ukraine, the head of a new Justice Department task force claimed on Friday. Andrew Adams, a veteran prosecutor tapped to lead the KleptoCapture task force established last month, told Reuters in an interview that in some cases, even oligarchs who have not yet had sanctions imposed on them are trying to move assets ahead of potential future sanctions. But even as they try to hide yachts, planes, or other mobile property in countries they believe to be secretive, Adams claimed that oligarchs trying to evade sanctions are facing an all-time high level of international cooperation to track the ill-gotten gains of Russian elites. The task forces goal is to put the finances of Russian oligarchs under strain in a bid to pressure President Vladimir Putin to cease his weeks-long assault on Ukraine. The United States and its allies have imposed several rounds of sanctions targeting Putin, many of his wealthy friends, and dozens of Russian businesses and government agencies. Tracing oligarchs assets is often difficult because they are hidden behind layers of shell companies scattered around the globe, Adams said. U.S. prosecutors are receiving information from places previously thought to be safe havens, Adams said. He declined to provide details of specific jurisdictions that have provided the task force with information, or to name specific people under investigation. He said targeting assets located overseas was a major component of the units work, adding that the United States has not been an attractive country for supporters of Putins government since around 2014 due to a series of sanctions over Moscows annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. European countries have already found and detained the yachts of a number of wealthy Russian businessmen. Adams said that criminal charges and asset seizure warrants could come in the early days of the unit, which was also prepared for lengthy legal battles by oligarchs seeking to prevent the United States from permanently confiscating their assets through civil forfeiture. Those cases can allow the department to take ill-gotten property in cases where people are outside the country and cannot be extradited. Criminal forfeitures, meanwhile, can accompany an indictment against the property owner. _____ Allen Zhong, Tom Ozimek, Aldgra Fredly, Reuters, and The Associated Press contributed to this report. Anyone looking to advance their career in business with a master of business administration degree can take advantage of some of the best MBA programs in the country right in their own backyard. U.S. News and World Report recently released its list of the 2023 Best Business Schools. Universities in Indiana and Chicago took many of the top spots. The Booth School of Business at the University of Chicago tied with The Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania for No. 1 nationally. The Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Evanston ranked third. Indiana University's Kelley School of Business, which offers both a full-time MBA program and an online program, tied for 22nd with the University of Washington in Seattle. It got high marks for its focus on integration, leadership, career guidance, and experiential learning. Its notable alumni include Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales, former Ford CEO Harold Arthur Poling and Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers. The Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame ranked 25th nationwide. The college offers an accelerated program and caters to career changers. It has produced notable alumni like Raymond James Financial Director and CEO Paul Reilly, ADERANT Holdings President Michael Kohldorf and Chicago Bears President and CEO Ted Philips. U.S. News and World Report was a national print magazine that has since migrated online. It's internationally renowned for its education rankings. U.S. News continues to update the Best Graduate Schools methodology and add new programs to keep the rankings relevant and valuable for prospective students, said Robert Morse, chief data strategist at U.S. News. Utilizing a robust data-collection process surveying more than 2,100 programs and more than 23,000 academics and professionals allows us to provide students with useful, quality data to determine the best program for their individual needs. Love 1 Funny 1 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. The main Twitter account of the Indiana State Police was briefly taken over Saturday afternoon in an apparent hack of the state law enforcement agency. At 1:46 p.m. the verified @IndStatePolice Twitter account retweeted a March 27 Wall Street Journal article about actor Sean Penn vowing to melt his Academy Awards if Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wasn't invited to speak at the annual Oscars ceremony. The retweet came with the following message that appeared to be sent by state police: "I dont like that that was poo poo head I dont like that." The police agency seemingly regained control of its account shortly afterward and issued the following statement: "It appears our Twitter account was recently hacked. The previous tweet sent 15 minutes ago was not sent by ISP personnel. Please notify us if you see any suspicious activity from our account." Sgt. Glen Fifield, ISP public information officer for Northwest Indiana, said passwords on all state police social media accounts were changed in response to the hack. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. CHICAGO One person was taken to a local hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening after a Friday afternoon shooting on the Dan Ryan Expressway, police said. At about 3 p.m. Friday, officers responded to a reported shooting on Interstate 94, according to a news release from the Illinois State Police. At about 5:05 p.m., the northbound express lanes were shut down at Marquette Road for the investigation. The lanes were reopened at about 6:45 p.m., police said. Anyone who witnessed or has knowledge of the shooting is asked to call the ISP by calling 847-294-4400 or emailing ISP.CrimeTips@Illinois.gov. Persons providing tips may remain anonymous. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Sign up for our Crime & Courts newsletter Get the latest in local public safety news with this weekly email. Sign up! * I understand and agree that registration on or use of this site constitutes agreement to its user agreement and privacy policy. CHICAGO - The state of Illinois on Thursday finalized a deal to sell the James R. Thompson Center for $70 million and then buy back about one-third of the building for more than double that amount. The sale to a company led by Michael Reschke, chairman and CEO of real estate developer The Prime Group, will spare the states controversial Helmut Jahn-designed Loop headquarters from the wrecking ball. The state entered into negotiations with Rechkes JRTC Holdings in December, and the deal was signed just ahead of a Tuesday deadline set in state law. The $70 million upfront payment to the state is dwarfed by the roughly $146 million the state will pay to buy back office space once the notoriously rundown building is renovated, a net cost of $76 million. In the long run, however, state officials say the deal is good for taxpayers, who would otherwise bear the full cost of needed upgrades to the 17-story glass-and-steel structure estimated at $325 million or of purchasing or leasing other office space in the central business district. Gov. J.B. Pritzkers office estimated the deal will save the state $20 million per year over the next 30 years by consolidating office leases and reducing operating expenses. The sale, expected to close this summer, also will add vitality to Chicagos LaSalle Street corridor by honoring the original design through a modern lens, Pritzker said in a statement. JRTC Holdings is working with the late Jahns firm on its plan to revamp a building, named for former Gov. James R. Big Jim Thompson, that has inspired strong opinions since opening in 1985. The redevelopment plan calls for installing a glass curtain wall to separate the office floors from the soaring atrium, which should alleviate many of the heating and cooling issues and noise problems the building has faced, Reschke said late last year when the tentative agreement was announced. That atrium will become the monumental entrance to the future office building, and it will be unlike any other entrance in the city, and for that matter in the country, he said. The overhaul is expected to take about two years, and Reschke estimated it will cost about $280 million. The CTAs Clark/Lake station that occupies part of the building will remain in operation throughout construction. Once completed, the state will occupy 425,000 of the buildings 1.2 million square feet. Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0 Until recent events at the Oscars, the film seasons most memorable best actor speech belonged to Caleb Landry Jones. In July, the Cannes Film Festival awarded Jones its top male thespian prize for his portrayal of a mass shooter in the Australian drama Nitram (now in theaters and on digital). The 32-year-old actor had been to Cannes twice before and had experienced its queasy jitters, spurred by drinking too much, sleeping too little and feeling eyeballs scan his face to gauge his importance. (L.A., but times 50, he said.) But this time, all eyeballs were fixed on him as he clutched the awards podium like a fainting chaise. I think Im going to throw up, he sputtered. The audience tittered, uncertain if his panic was a bit. Then Jones fled the stage, leaving in his wake a few exhalations that lingered like dust clouds from a cartoon roadrunner: I am so sorry I cannot do this. Thank you so much. I wanted to be invisible, Jones recalled. I was barely forming words, and I thought, Ive got to give up. Re-enacting the moment, he bellows, Caleb Landry Jooooones, seal claps and then pantomimes his flailing heebie-jeebies. The Texas-born actor who still speaks in a singsong twang looked exponentially more relaxed the day we spoke in the backyard of his 101-year-old ramshackle rental house in Los Angeles. In a corner of the city that doesnt yet have a gentrified name, the people around him (mostly) dont mind if he plays guitar at 2 a.m., or if he and his girlfriend, the artist Katya Zvereva, set out paper plates of tuna for the stray cats. Here, its OK if Jones steels himself for stress by rolling joint after joint in the sunshine, as he did during our talk. Later that afternoon, he was headed to the dentist for four root canals. Thats why Im getting as loaded up before I go in as I can. In the last two weeks, Hillsong has lost nine of its 16 American church campuses, a swift and stunning decline for one of the worlds largest and most influential evangelical churches. Just a few years ago, Hillsong was the leading edge of cool Christianity, a quickly expanding network that appealed to young people and city dwellers with energetic, stylish preachers and an upbeat atmosphere. Hillsong translated the charismatic church experience, which emphasizes miracles and personal encounters with the Holy Spirit, for a hip, upscale audience. Justin Bieber and the N.B.A. star Kevin Durant attended services. One of the churchs worship bands won a Grammy Award and the church produced soaring anthems that became staples in smaller churches that imitated its sounds, style and Instagram-friendly aesthetic. Now, Hillsongs U.S. presence is in collapse. The departures are partly the fallout from a series of crises most recently the sudden resignation of its charismatic founder that have left the church with a tarnished reputation and instability that pastors say they found increasingly difficult to endure. WASHINGTON The Biden administration will work with allies to transfer Soviet-made tanks to bolster Ukrainian defenses in the countrys eastern Donbas region, a U.S. official said on Friday. The decision to act as an intermediary to help transfer the Soviet-made tanks, which Ukrainian troops know how to use, comes in response to a request from President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, the official said. It marks the first time in the war that the United States has helped transfer tanks. The official said the transfers would begin soon, but declined to say how many tanks would be sent, or from which countries they would come. They will allow Ukraine to conduct long-range artillery strikes on Russian targets in Donbas, said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. The tanks arrival could be another signal of a new phase in the war, which is five weeks old and has been dominated by Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities and installations from the air, and a stalled Russian advance on the ground. Earlier this week, Russian officials indicated that they were refocusing their efforts on eastern Ukraine, where Russian-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian soldiers since 2014. BNEI BRAK, Israel A recent wave of terrorist attacks in Israel, the deadliest in seven years, has presented a stark challenge to Israels fragile coalition government, which has come under criticism from both ends of the political spectrum for policies that critics claim have compounded the risk of violence. On the right, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has been criticized for including an Arab party within the coalition, a decision that right-wing critics say has dampened the states willingness to police Israels Arab minority and limited its ability to respond to the recent attacks, two of which were carried out by Arab citizens of Israel. On the left, Mr. Bennett has been criticized for making small concessions to the Palestinians while ruling out peace talks or any moves toward the formation of a Palestinian state an approach that left-wing critics say has increased Palestinian despair, encouraging a minority to respond with violence. Mr. Bennett is also constrained in his options in responding to the violence by the composition of his ideologically diverse coalition, an eight-party alliance that includes right-wingers like Mr. Bennett, centrists, leftists and a small Arab Islamist party, Raam the first independent Arab party to join an Israeli government. Ten months into their tenure, the alliance has consistently found ways of circumnavigating their differences, but the violence has accentuated the gaps in their worldviews. Sarah Pinborough specializes in steamy mysteries with wacky resolutions cooked up in the outer reaches of her imagination. With her diverting new book, INSOMNIA (Morrow, 322 pp., $27.99), she hugs the shores of reality more closely, at least at first. Who among us has not spent some part of the last two years in a sleepless fugue, nights of endless agita interspersed with days of exhausted incoherence? If only that were all that was bothering Emma Averell, the books unraveling heroine. Emma has been struck with insomnia as her 40th birthday approaches alarmingly, the age when the same thing happened to her mother, Patricia, as a prelude to a complete breakdown. Not only did Patricia wander through the house reciting random numbers in a guttural voice the way Emma is starting to, she also locked Emma in the cupboard under the stairs and tried to murder her other daughter, Phoebe, before being sent to a mental hospital. Emmas going to go crazy too, Patricia liked to say, and now it seems that she might have been right. Sleeplessness makes you feel that youve lost your mind, but does losing your mind make you unable to sleep? Is fate a circular concept? These are the sorts of questions that keep even nonfictional characters tossing in bed at night, and in the book they urgently present themselves to Emma as her home and work lives begin to implode at an alarming clip. In the first dark days of the pandemic, as an Amazon worker named Christian Smalls planned a small, panicked walkout over safety conditions at the retailers only fulfillment center in New York City, the company quietly mobilized. Amazon formed a reaction team involving 10 departments, including its Global Intelligence Program, a security group staffed by many military veterans. The company named an incident commander and relied on a Protest Response Playbook and Labor Activity Playbook to ward off business disruptions, according to newly released court documents. In the end, there were more executives including 11 vice presidents who were alerted about the protest than workers who attended it. Amazons chief counsel, describing Mr. Smalls as not smart, or articulate, in an email mistakenly sent to more than 1,000 people, recommended making him the face of efforts to organize workers. The company fired Mr. Smalls, saying he had violated quarantine rules by attending the walkout. In dismissing and smearing him, the company relied on the hardball tactics that had driven its dominance of the market. But on Friday, he won the first successful unionization effort at any Amazon warehouse in the United States, one of the most significant labor victories in a generation. The companys response to his tiny initial protest may haunt it for years to come. Photos and video that showed young children isolated from their families and crying at a Shanghai hospital led to an outburst of anger online on Saturday, as Chinas largest city struggled to contain an outbreak of the highly contagious Omicron version of the coronavirus. In the images, a series of hospital cribs, each holding several young children, appeared to be parked in the hallway of the Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center in the citys Jinshan district. A video showed several of the children crying. The images and video could not be independently verified, but in a statement, the health center said they were real and did not deny that parents with Covid were being separated from their children. The fury and concern of parents over what might become of their children if they fall sick is the latest in a series of crises faced by Shanghai officials, who are in the middle of a staggered lockdown to facilitate mass testing in the city. Things have not gone smoothly. Lockdowns have differed by neighborhood, panic shopping has emptied grocery store shelves and people with life-threatening conditions have posted calls for help online when they could not get to the hospital. A year ago, while many countries were still reeling from Covid-19, China seemed to be one of the few places prospering through the pandemic. It was also the only major economy that reported growth in 2020. Global investors were bullish on Chinese stocks even as Beijings regulatory crackdown on its private sector became more like a political campaign. That led some people in China to argue that its one-party authoritarian rule offered a compelling alternative to traditional liberal democracy. The United States was declining politically and economically, they said, and the world was gravitating toward China. Many Chinese cheered the narrative online. A year later, the tone within China is more one of anxiety, anger and despair. In the past month, hundreds of millions of people there have struggled under lockdowns as coronavirus outbreaks spread across the country. Foreign investors are dumping Chinese stocks over geopolitical, regulatory and pandemic uncertainties. And the governments support of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia as he wages war in Ukraine has risked the worlds criticism, and potentially sanctions. Its all leading to increasingly anxious questions about the countrys path and even about whether too much power has been concentrated in the hands of the countrys leader, Xi Jinping, who is seeking a third five-year term at the Communist Party congress late in the year. Overall, more than 20 tankers that have departed from Russian ports since the invasion together carrying almost 8.5 million barrels of oil now list their status as For Orders or Drifting, which indicates a lack of destination, according to the Russian Tanker Tracking Group, an initiative led by the Ukraine government to observe Russian oil sales. Other tankers now list final destinations like ZZZ. Mr. van Schaik said it was uncommon to see so many tankers sailing under for orders status, and it likely had to do with the U.S. ban on Russian imports combined with self-sanctioning among oil companies. (Tankers sometimes do change destinations or are turned back if there is a mishap at the accepting refinery, for example.) Its not always possible to know where the oil will end up, he said, but traders could quietly sell it to refiners that cared less about their reputation than about price. Once you put the crude somewhere in a tank on land, it is anonymous, Mr. van Schail said. You blend it with some other crude, load it on another tanker and sell it as European Sour Blend and nobody knows its origin was Russia. At the same time, at least seven tankers are still sailing toward the United States to offload their shipments before the U.S. ban on Russian oil takes full effect on April 21. The United States imports only a small fraction of its oil from Russia, but nevertheless gasoline prices in America have been soaring in part because of the uncertainty over global supplies caused by the Ukraine invasion. On Thursday, President Biden, under pressure to bring down high American gasoline prices, said that the United States would release up to 180 million barrels of oil from its emergency reserves, a release at an unprecedented scale. The British government on Friday shut down or scaled back a number of its Covid surveillance programs, curtailing the collection of data that the United States and many other countries had come to rely on to understand the threat posed by emerging variants and the effectiveness of vaccines. Denmark, too, renowned for insights from its comprehensive tests, has drastically cut back on its virus tracking efforts in recent months. As more countries loosen their policies toward living with Covid rather than snuffing it out, health experts worry that monitoring systems will become weaker, making it more difficult to predict new surges and to make sense of emerging variants. Things are going to get harder now, Samuel Scarpino, a managing director at the Rockefeller Foundations Pandemic Prevention Institute, said. And right as things get hard, were dialing back the data systems. Since the Alpha variant emerged in the fall of 2020, Britain has served as a bellwether, tracking that variant as well as Delta and Omicron before they arrived in the United States. After a slow start, American genomic surveillance efforts have steadily improved with a modest increase in funding. It is not surprising then that so many would choose seemingly more difficult alternatives. During the first 12 days of the citys encampment-clearing plan a period during which 239 makeshift residences were struck down only five people agreed to go into shelters, even as temperatures plummeted to frigid levels this past week. Most of those living in encampments are adult men and it is this population that the city has had the least success trying to house. Over the past decade, as the rate of family homelessness has shown a slight decline, the number of single men in the shelter system has roughly doubled to more than 14,000. Part of the problem is pushback from communities who are especially averse to the notion of mens shelters when the city tries to develop them. Another issue is an inadequate plan for those coming out of jails and prisons. The criminal justice system has moved toward decarceration, but people coming out of custody are almost 10 times more likely to experience homelessness. Two years ago, I spoke with a man who was stuck in a Brooklyn shelter, where he had been remanded after a technical parole violation, even though he had a girlfriend (and young daughter) with an apartment in Queens who wanted him home. His experience was so awful that he told his parole officer he was leaving the shelter and that she could send him back to Rikers if she wanted, because jail was preferable. People are often hesitant to acknowledge the connection between homelessness and prison, Lincoln Restler, a city councilman in Brooklyn, told me. They dont want to create stereotypes or fear about the homeless, he said. But the state government is failing people coming out of prison. One of the encampments removed this week was on a stretch of Meeker Avenue, underneath the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in Mr. Restlers district, where images soon surfaced of mattresses and other things being thrown into the backs of garbage trucks. When theres a tornado, Anderson Cooper searches through the rubble with someone to find a family memento, Ms. Quinn remarked. That trauma of having things taken from you and thrown away is not going to drive you into service. Its going to frighten you. Benjamin Adam, a volunteer coordinator for North Brooklyn Essentials, a group that distributes food, clothing and other resources to people living in encampments under the expressway, said that many who were staying there were Spanish-speaking day laborers working in construction. They relied on outreach workers for food, batteries, MetroCards, over-the-counter medications and so on, and Mr. Adam said he believed that they would rebuild. The path forward will rely on the citys ability to renovate or construct buildings big enough to accommodate individual rooms and bathrooms, recreation space and services for those struggling with issues around mental-health or addiction, where they may live until they can transfer to permanent housing. While Mayor Adams stressed in a news conference on Wednesday that all people deserved to live with the dignity tents and other makeshift structures could not provide, and that supportive housing was crucial, his preliminary budget for the upcoming fiscal year does not increase capital allocations to the citys office of Housing Preservation and Development. The city he envisions is still far in the distance. Ida B. Wells-Barnett, in a contemporaneous account, called it the greatest outrage of the century. W.E.B. Du Bois devoted an entire chapter of his 1920 memoir, Darkwater: Voices From Within the Veil, to the riot, which he described in nearly apocalyptic terms: The white men drove even black union men out of their unions and when the black men, beaten by night and assaulted, flew to arms and shot back at the marauders, five thousand rioters arose and surged like a crested stormwave, from noonday until midnight; they killed and beat and murdered; they dashed out the brains of children and stripped off the clothes of women; they drove victims into the flames and hanged the helpless to the lighting poles. Fathers were killed before the faces of mothers; children were burned; heads were cut off with axes; pregnant women crawled and spawned in dark, wet fields; thieves went through houses and firebrands followed; bodies were thrown from bridges; and rocks and bricks flew through the air. The background to the riot is mostly straightforward. St. Louis, at the time, was one of the largest cities in the United States, with a population of nearly 700,000. St. Louis and East St. Louis, a neighboring community across the river in Illinois, were homes to a number of major industries that, during the years of World War I, attracted Black migrants from the South and white migrants from around the country, as well as immigrants from Europe. For Du Bois, there were two forces that made this a combustible situation. The first was white racism, which kept or drove Black workers out of unions and divided labor in the city. The best electrician in the city was refused admittance to the union and driven from town because he was black, Du Bois wrote. No black builder, printer, or machinist could join a union or work in East St. Louis, no matter what his skill or character. The second was the war in Europe. It supercharged demand for industrial products like steel and aluminum, which, in turn, supercharged demand for labor. When white workers took advantage of this demand to strike for higher wages, employers used Black workers excluded from union work as scabs and strikebreakers. Here were black men, Du Bois wrote, trying to capture the rage of the white workers, guilty not only of bidding for jobs which white men could have held at war prices, even if they could not fill, but also guilty of being black! In a more recent account, American Pogrom: The East St. Louis Race Riot and Black Politics, the historian Charles L. Lumpkins argues for a third force, namely, politics. As their population grew, African Americans in East St. Louis became skilled in mobilizing as a voting bloc, swinging elections, and winning patronage. By 1915, he continues, black residents had become a source of fear for white inhabitants who thought that black voters held the balance of political power. And as an increasingly assertive black population reshaped the citys political culture, white political bosses and progressive reformers firmed their resolve to reverse the expansion of black political strength that they viewed as a threat to white entitlements. In 1917, agents of the state would opt for violence to solve the Negro problem. The violence began on May 28, 1917, after the Aluminum Ore Company had hired several hundred Black workers to replace white workers who had gone on strike. At a City Council meeting that evening, nearly 1,000 people gathered to protest to the mayor about the influx of the negro, Lumpkins writes. During the meeting, two white city police detectives spread the word that patrolmen had just arrested a black man for shooting a white man. As if on cue, people rushed to the city jail, attempting to seize and lynch the suspect. There were assaults on nearby Black residents and some property damage, but the mob spirit eventually left the crowd. It would emerge again, on July 2 and 3, organized and supported by figures in the white political class. The July pogrom represented a political solution planned by certain white real estate men, politicians, and businessmen, Lumpkins writes. The mass racial violence of July accomplished what the May riot had failed to achieve: the elimination of the black communitys influential role in local electoral politics. Right now Vladimir Putin is losing the battle for Ukraine. His maximal goals have been abandoned (for now); his troops around Kyiv are in retreat; his imperial dreams are being disavowed. He has more modest goals to fall back on, resources and territories that he may be able to hold but a month of Ukrainian valor and Western support has dealt his ambitions a devastating blow. Putin is not losing, however, in the battle for Russia. From the start of hostilities, the Western answer to his maximalist ambitions not an official goal, but a hope that informs policy and punditry and slips out of Joe Bidens lips in excited moments has been regime change in the Kremlin, a failed war toppling Putin and bringing a more reasonable government to power. This was always a thin hope, but despite military quagmire and unprecedented economic sanctions, it appears even thinner now. In polling and anecdote alike, Putin appears to be consolidating support from the Russian public, rallying a nation that feels itself to be as he portrays it unjustly surrounded and besieged. His approval ratings, according to Russias main independent pollster, look like George W. Bushs after 9/11. His inner circle has always been unlikely to break with him, for reasons sketched by Anatol Lieven in The Financial Times a few weeks ago: Its members mostly come from the same background, share the same geopolitical assumptions, and are far more likely to fight on ruthlessly for a long time than to suddenly turn against their leader. But even in the wider circle of Russian elites, the war so far has reportedly generated more anti-Western solidarity than division. INTERNATIONAL An article on Friday about Syrian fighters deployed to join Russian forces in Ukraine paraphrased incorrectly comments by John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman. He said that the Wagner Group is believed to recruit Syrians, not that Syrians are among the 1,000 mercenaries who are believed to be focused on the Donbas region of Ukraine. METROPOLITAN A picture caption with an article on Page 4 about the many books returned after New Yorks public library systems ended late fees misstates the author and title of a work shown. It is Ninon de Lenclos by Emile Magne, not Magne by Ninon de Lenclos. WEEKEND ARTS A theater review on Friday of the play I Agree to the Terms misidentified the home state of one of the workers who participates in the play. Noel is from New Mexico, not Arizona. ARTS & LEISURE An article this weekend on Page 6 about the return of the play For Colored Girls to Broadway omits the given name and the title of a representative from the Shange estate. Donald Sutton is the literary trustee for the estate. The look at a recent trivia night at the Colony Hotel in Palm Beach, Fla., was anything but trivial. It wasnt modest either. Quilted bags said money. Feathered bags said peacock along with tiaras, sky blue blazers, slim white jeans and tweedy hot pants. Men wore velvet slippers. Women wore white ankle boots, espadrille wedges and Chanel spectator pumps, a perfectly named shoe for a voyeuristic poolside scene. The crowd of 20 to 30-somethings skewed surprisingly young for a cloistered resort town that is known for its septuagenarian snowbirds, discriminatory private clubs, old-money socialites and former President Donald J. Trumps Mar-a-Lago resort. Social observers have called it a youthquake. Theyre embracing venerable old places like the Colony, a midcentury jewel that was rediscovered during the pandemic, after languishing as a staid pink-and-bamboo relic. Now, it has become the kind of social media chum that tracks half its bookings to Instagram links, according to hotel management. Young people are discovering all the old things down here and posting about them, and the old people are amused watching them make such a fuss, said Celerie Kemble, 48, the interior designer who, along with her mother, Mimi McMakin (both are Palm Beach natives), renovated the Colonys lobby and 90 rooms. Its all kind of a hoax but its fun. A Delta Air Lines flight from Salt Lake City to Washington made an emergency landing in Denver on Thursday after the planes windshield shattered midair. After the crew of Delta Flight 760 declared an emergency due to a cracked windshield, the flight landed safely at Denver International Airport around 11 a.m. local time, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. What caused the windshield to crack is still undetermined, but the F.A.A. said it would conduct an investigation. Melissa B. Long, a Delta spokeswoman, confirmed that the plane, a Boeing 757, had a maintenance issue mid-flight, but did not offer information about when the windshield started to crack or why. Out of an abundance of caution, the flight crew diverted into Denver and the plane landed routinely, Ms. Long said in a statement on Saturday. Our team worked quickly to accommodate customers on a new plane, and we sincerely apologize for the delay and inconvenience to their travel plans. For well over a century, the Pledge of Allegiance has been a pillar of Americas national identity. New evidence has emerged, though, to indicate that perhaps the man who pledged that he originated it did not. Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister and Christian socialist from upstate New York, went so far as to swear in at least two affidavits that he had formulated the oath one blistering August night in 1892 in the Boston headquarters of a magazine for young people that he was promoting. Bellamys authorship was reaffirmed during the 20th century by, among others, the American Flag Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, the Legislative Research Service (now the Congressional Research Service) and the Library of Congress. He was credited again as recently as last year in a resolution by the United States Senate and a citation by the New Yale Book of Quotations. In February, however, simmering doubts about the oaths origin resurfaced. A New York history buff discovered a newspaper account that appears to contradict Bellamys. State courts in both Democratic and Republican states have been aggressively striking down gerrymandered political maps, as this years redistricting fights drag on and begin to create chaos in upcoming primary elections. In Maryland, a state judge last week threw out a congressional map drawn by Democrats, citing an extreme gerrymander. In North Carolina, the State Supreme Court in February struck down maps drawn by Republicans. And in New York, a state judge ruled on Thursday that a map drawn by Democrats had been unconstitutionally drawn with political bias. The flood of rulings reflects an emerging reality: that state courts, rather than federal ones, have become a primary firewall against gerrymandering as both Democrats and Republicans try to carve out maximum advantages in the maps they control. The parties have been emboldened to do so by a 2019 Supreme Court decision that federal courts cannot hear challenges to partisan gerrymandering, though they can still hear challenges to racial gerrymandering. At the same time, however, state judges in at least five states many, though not all, from the opposing party of the one that drew the districts have slapped down contorted maps as illegal partisan gerrymanders. WASHINGTON Immediately after Merrick B. Garland was sworn in as attorney general in March of last year, he summoned top Justice Department officials and the F.B.I. director to his office. He wanted a detailed briefing on the case that will, in all likelihood, come to define his legacy: the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol. Even though hundreds of people had already been charged, Mr. Garland asked to go over the indictments in detail, according to two people familiar with the meeting. What were the charges? What evidence did they have? How had they built such a sprawling investigation, involving all 50 states, so fast? What was the plan now? The attorney generals deliberative approach has come to frustrate Democratic allies of the White House and, at times, President Biden himself. As recently as late last year, Mr. Biden confided to his inner circle that he believed former President Donald J. Trump was a threat to democracy and should be prosecuted, according to two people familiar with his comments. And while the president has never communicated his frustrations directly to Mr. Garland, he has said privately that he wanted Mr. Garland to act less like a ponderous judge and more like a prosecutor who is willing to take decisive action over the events of Jan. 6. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Mr. Garland said that he and the career prosecutors working on the case felt only the pressure to do the right thing, which meant that they follow the facts and the law wherever they may lead. GUANTANAMO BAY, Cuba The U.S. military on Saturday delivered to Algeria a prisoner whose repatriation from Guantanamo Bay was arranged during the Obama administration but then delayed for five years. The prisoner, Sufyian Barhoumi, 48, was captured in Pakistan in March 2002 and soon taken to Guantanamo Bay, where he never faced trial. He was notified in August 2016 that he was eligible for release, but his case was sidelined by a Trump administration policy that generally halted transfers. The transfer was the second this year and the third since President Biden took office with the goal of closing Guantanamo. Now, 37 detainees remain, including 18 who are approved for release to the custody of another country if U.S. diplomats can arrange secure deals for them to go. The United States appreciates the willingness of Algeria and other partners to support ongoing U.S. efforts toward a deliberate and thorough process focused on responsibly reducing the detainee population and ultimately closing of the Guantanamo Bay facility, the Pentagon said in a statement on Saturday. For decades, the police in Shelby County, Ind., could not identify the man who broke into houses at night, armed with a knife or a gun, woke his victims, and then bound and sexually tortured them. He often disguised himself in a bulky coat and covered his face with a ski mask or leggings. Then, in 2020, 35 years after his last known assault in the county, investigators were finally able to identify the attacker as Steven Ray Hessler, and arrest him. The breakthrough came, prosecutors said, when DNA extracted from the envelope of a water bill that Mr. Hessler had licked matched DNA that had been left at the scene of his last known crime in the county, on Aug. 17, 1985. On Friday, Mr. Hessler, 59, was sentenced to 650 years in prison. The sentence came a month after a jury convicted Mr. Hessler of two counts of rape, six counts of unlawful deviate conduct, seven counts of burglary resulting in bodily injury, three counts of criminal deviate conduct and one count of robbery. James B. Landwerlen, the prosecutor in Shelby County, southeast of Indianapolis, said that from Aug. 14, 1982, to Aug. 17, 1985, Mr. Hessler brutally assaulted 10 victims: seven women, a 16-year-old girl, and two men, including a former Marine whom he had handcuffed, hogtied and beat with a gun, leaving him in a coma for months. Like many countries, Brazil has a brutal history of racism. From the arrival of the first European settlers, Indigenous people were slaughtered for hundreds of years. Brazil imported more slaves than any other country and was the last nation in the Americas to abolish slavery, in 1888. And today, in a country where more than half the population is Black, Black people hold fewer than 1 in 100 corporate management positions, according to one study. The fight for equality has gained steam in recent years, in part fueled by a surge of affirmative action programs. In 2020, Magazine Luiza, a Brazilian retail giant with more than 1,400 stores, announced that its executive trainee program would be open only to Black candidates. The announcement ignited a national debate. Many conservatives in Brazil criticized the company, calling its policy racist, while many on the left cheered it on. We were canceled on social media, even by congressmen, said Frederico Trajano, Magazine Luizas chief executive. Yet since then, similar policies in Brazil have taken off, he said. The number of new initiatives is impressive. In the United States, companies including Google, Twitter and J.P. Morgan have introduced internship programs in recent years that are limited to certain minorities, framed as a way to create a more diverse pipeline of talent. But while there have been broad efforts to diversify the white-collar workforces at many American companies, U.S. law generally prohibits job ads that show a preference for a specific race. In Brazil, several recent court decisions have upheld affirmative action policies, making the law more clear that companies can give preference to Black and Indigenous employees, said Elisiane Santos, a prosecutor in the federal labor prosecutors office. It certainly is legal, she said. As a result, companies have become bolder. So when Laut, a research institute in Sao Paulo, posted its ad for a financial coordinator that gave preference to Black and Indigenous candidates, the move was hardly groundbreaking. It was more surprising when, three days later, on Feb. 28, LinkedIn removed the ad and told Laut, the Center for the Analysis of Freedom and Authoritarianism, in an email that the listing violated its policies. BANGKOK Each morning in her market stall in the Bangkok Noi district of the Thai capital, Jintana Rapsomruay rolls balls of dough into a snack known for its resemblance to the eggs of an oversize lizard. The sweet treat, which looks like a doughnut hole, was supposedly invented by a consort of the first king of the Chakri Dynasty, which continues to reign 240 years later. The 18th-century monarch liked to nosh on the eggs of water monitor lizards, so the story goes, but the concubine couldnt get her hands on any, so she substituted dough stuffed with sweet bean paste. The king among whose accomplishments was moving the Thai capital to its present location was pleased. The snack remains popular to this day, but Ms. Jintana can barely get by. Like millions of Thais struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic, her income has plummeted by half. In 2013, the federal government challenged the millions of dollars in legal and administrative fees the Catholic Church intended to count as part of its settlement payments at Court of Queens Bench for Saskatchewan. Disagreements over a proposed settlement of that case set off a legal chain reaction. In the course of it, a lawyer for the church told the court that the Catholic fund-raising drive came up with only 3.9 million Canadian dollars for the settlement about 1.3 million of which was paid to a private fund-raising company. What happened to the remainder is unclear. The government contended that, in exchange for a payment from the church of 1.2 million Canadian dollars, it agreed to settle the dispute over the churchs claim for fees. The churchs lawyers, however, said that the relatively small payment was to relieve the church of all settlement obligations, including the 25 million Canadian dollars. Last October, the CBC and The Globe and Mail reported, based on newly released documents, that the judge sided with the church. The decision allowed the church to walk away from its reparations payments. Then the federal government started an appeal of the courts decision, only to drop it. Among the many people shocked last fall by the revelations was Marc Miller, the minister responsible for Indigenous relations, who, like all members of the Liberal government, believes that the church should have been held to its commitment of 25 million Canadian dollars. As everyone, Im dumbfounded by it, Mr. Miller told The Canadian Press in November, making particular note of his confusion over the governments decision to end the appeal. I want to get to the bottom of it, he said. DEBRECEN, Hungary The towering memorial, erected on the battlefield where the Russian imperial army routed Hungarian troops, mourns Russias 1849 victory over brave homeland defenders. It is a reminder of how, for centuries, the Hungarian psyche has been shaped and scarred by the specter of Russian domination. There has been a constant fear of Russia, said Gyorgy Miru, a history professor in Debrecen, a Hungarian city near the border with Ukraine where the battle took place. Under Prime Minister Viktor Orban, however, this fear has turned into a trusting embrace. Mr. Orban, a political bruiser who revels in defying what he scorns as liberal conventions, has for years looked to Russia as a reliable source of energy and its president, Vladimir V. Putin, as a beacon of no-nonsense nationalism and muscular leadership, emulating in a milder form the Kremlins stranglehold on media and its one-party system. Amid the agonies inflicted on neighboring Ukraine over the past five weeks by Moscow, Mr. Orbans stance has left many in Hungary and beyond dismayed and angry that a nation with such a long and painful experience of Russian aggression could fall so far out of step with the rest of Europe. BERLIN Lithuania has stopped importing natural gas from Russia as of April and will be able to rely instead on deliveries from other countries to meet its energy needs, the countrys president announced on Saturday, saying the move was an example for other European Union members. Before Russias invasion of Ukraine, the E.U. had been looking for ways to reduce its dependency on Russian fossil fuels, including coal and oil, but especially gas. Nearly 40 percent of the blocs total natural gas came from Russia. But since Moscow ordered tanks into Ukraine on Feb. 24, member states have been more actively seeking ways to cut their gas needs. If we can do it, the rest of Europe can do it too, Gitanas Nauseda, Lithuanias president, said on Twitter on Saturday. While Lithuania is a tiny country with only 2.8 million people and an economy more reliant on trade than industry, it is the largest economy in the Baltic States and also a member of the eurozone. So while losing Lithuania as a customer is unlikely to significantly hurt Gazprom, Russias state-owned energy group, the move has geopolitical significance in setting a precedent for the E.U. ROME Pope Francis on Saturday inched closer to blaming President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for invading Ukraine and said that a trip to Kyiv was possible as he arrived in Malta for a short visit emphasizing the plight of migrants, an issue that has long topped the pontiffs agenda and that has become critical with the war in Ukraine. On the flight to Malta from Rome, Francis responded to a reporters question about visiting Kyiv, Ukraines capital, by saying that it was on the table. Then in his address to the dignitaries and officials in a frescoed government chamber in Malta, Francis blamed a potentate, sadly caught up in anachronistic claims of nationalist interests, for casting dark shadows of war from Europes east. Francis has refused to explicitly cite Mr. Putin or Russia as the aggressor for a variety of reasons, including the Vaticans hopes of playing a part in a potential peace agreement, and out of precaution so as to not endanger Roman Catholics across the world. But on Saturday, he clearly seemed to be speaking about Mr. Putin, who, Francis said, was provoking and fomenting conflicts. Ukrainian soldiers inspecting the remains of a Russian military vehicle on the road outside of Kyiv on Saturday. BUCHA, Ukraine The Russian forces that were intent on overwhelming Kyiv at the wars start with tanks and artillery retreated under fire across a broad front on Saturday, leaving behind them dead soldiers and burned vehicles, according to witnesses, Ukrainian officials, satellite images and military analysts. The withdrawal suggested the possibility of a major turn in the six-week war the collapse, at least for now, of Russias initial attempt to seize Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, and the end of its hopes for the quick subjugation of the nation. Moscow has described the withdrawal as a tactical move to regroup and reposition its forces for a major push in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. While there are early indications that the military is following through on that plan, analysts say it cannot obscure the magnitude of the defeat. The initial Russian operation was a failure and one of its central goals the capture of Kyiv proved unobtainable for Russian forces, Michael Kofman, the director of Russian studies at C.N.A., a research institute in Arlington, Va., said in a telephone interview Saturday. Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russian attacks continued unabated, and the Pentagon has cautioned that the formations near Kyiv could be repositioning for renewed assaults. In the south, an aid convoy organized by the International Committee of the Red Cross that had stalled on its way to bring some relief to the besieged city of Mariupol was on the move again. The hope, repeatedly frustrated by Russian shelling, was to bring emergency supplies to trapped residents and to evacuate hundreds of those who have endured weeks of bombardment that has left shortages of food and water. In the suburban towns north of Kyiv, the Ukrainian army was advancing through a tableau of destruction, with dozens of wrecked tanks on streets, extensive damage to buildings and the bodies of civilians still lying uncollected. Kyiv and its surroundings, which had echoed with artillery booms and gunfire for weeks, had gone quiet. Image Ukrainian soldiers from the Azov Battalion near the remnants of a Russian military convoy in the recently liberated town of Bucha on Saturday. Credit... Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times Ukraines military on Saturday moved into Bucha, a key town on the west bank of the Dnipro River which divides Kyiv days after Russian forces had sacked it on their way out. They went from apartment to apartment collecting televisions and computers, loaded them on their tanks and left, Svetlana Semenova, a retiree, said of the Russian departure, which she described as chaotic. They left in a hurry. A few dozen people who had been living mostly in basements for a month staggered outside to collect food bags of potatoes and bread brought by Ukrainian soldiers. Elena Shur, 43, an accountant for Ukraines national airline, said the first sign of the Ukrainian military came on Friday, when a civilian car carrying soldiers drove through town waving the countrys flag. We saw people on the street, and soldiers, Ms. Shur said. I cried. Reporters counted six bodies of civilians on the streets and sidewalks of Bucha. It was unclear under what circumstances they had died, but the discarded packaging of a Russian military ration was lying beside one man who had been shot in the head. As photos of casualties in Bucha emerged, a senior adviser to Ukraines president said on Saturday that some of the dead wearing civilian clothes appeared to have been bound and executed. The bodies of people with tied hands, who were shot dead by soldiers lie in the streets, the adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter. These people were not in the military. They had no weapons. They posed no threat. He included an image of a scene, photographed by Agence France-Presse, showing three bodies on the side of a road, one with hands apparently tied behind the back. The New York Times was unable to independently verify Mr. Podolyaks claim the people had been executed. Image Residents of Bucha walk past the body of a civilian left in the street on Saturday. Credit... Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times The town was the site of a major Ukrainian ambush of a Russian armored column in the first days of the war, and one street was blocked by dozens of incinerated tanks and trucks. Despite that setback, the Russians had captured Bucha and held it for about a month. They executed half a dozen members of the Territorial Defense Force the volunteer army many Ukrainians joined when the war started leaving the bodies in a heavily mined part of town, said Varvara Kaminskaya, 69. The Ukrainians have advanced at least another 15 miles to the northwest of Bucha, where they now fly Ukrainian flags over former Russian checkpoints. After their initial assault on the capital failed, the Russian army had dug into defensive positions outside of Kyiv, suggesting an intention to hold a front line near the city. In an artillery war, trenches afford soldiers the best chance of survival. Those were abandoned in and around Bucha on Saturday. On the northern edge of town were the abandoned berms that had sheltered Russian artillery emplacements, surrounded by green boxes and hundreds of empty shell cases. According to our information, they are running away from all areas around Kyiv, said Sgt. Ihor Zaichuk, the commander of the 1st company of the 2nd Azov battalion in the Ukrainian army, which fought in Bucha. They can say on their own television stations, if they want, that they are the second most powerful army in the world, he said. But they arent anymore. He cautioned, however, that the Russians might return. Only their commanders know if they will be re-equipped and return. Even as cars lined up on some roads, making their way back into Kyiv, workers were building new defenses from heavy logs. On the east bank of the Dnipro, Ukrainian forces were pressing forward in villages dozens of miles from the capital, according to an intelligence officer with the S.B.U., the Ukrainian domestic intelligence service, who declined to be identified for security reasons. Analysts said that Moscows stated decision to refocus its military on the Donbas in eastern Ukraine is likely to be accurate, but mostly because they had little option. The Russians are adjusting their goals to reality, Lawrence Freedman, emeritus professor of war studies at Kings College London, said in an interview on Saturday. I think they know theyre in trouble, so I dont think its a ruse to say theyre concentrating on the Donbas, because in reality thats all they can do. Mr. Kofman, the expert on the Russian military, said the Russian army had lost about 2,000 pieces of equipment that was either destroyed, captured or abandoned, including about 350 tanks. As the Russians retreated, they left mines and booby traps behind in an effort to slow the Ukrainians pursuit, according to Ukrainian officers in different towns. In the suburb of Irpin, which the Ukrainians had recaptured before Bucha, demining operations were in full swing on Saturday. Some civilian bodies had been booby-trapped to kill emergency workers, Ukrainian officials said. One group of military engineers, dressed in heavy blue Kevlar armor, had tied a rope to a body. They pulled on it, to see if the motion would trigger booby traps. By late in the day, however, the body remained there, with the engineers apparently unable to ascertain if it was safe to collect. In the village of Dmytrivka, west of the capital, there were signs of a hasty Russian retreat from a scene of carnage. On a forest road leading out of the village, nine tanks and armored vehicles lay destroyed and gutted by fire, the detritus of a tank battle three days earlier. The turrets and heavy guns of two tanks lay tossed aside. Inside one armored personnel carrier, the burned human remains of men were visible. Image Burned-out remains of Russian armored vehicles littered a forest road near Dmytrivka on Saturday. Credit... Ivor Prickett for The New York Times Valentina Yatsevich, 58, a villager walking past the wrecks toward her home, said, They did not leave, they were destroyed. In Russia itself, the retreat caused consternation among the wars cheerleaders, with state television having previously raised expectations that the Russian military would capture Kyiv. Semyon Pegov, a popular pro-Kremlin war blogger embedded with the Russian troops, posted a video to the social messaging app Telegram on Saturday describing the move as a withdrawal, not a flight. The retreat was necessitated, he said, by Russias stretched-out supply lines and the threat of further losses as its troops tried to survive in field conditions facing a much better supplied and fortified enemy. It was an effort, mirrored by other pro-Kremlin outlets, to explain why Russia seemed to have sharply scaled back its war aims in recent days, after taking painful losses in fighting for the Kyiv suburbs. Russian hard-liners calling for an assault on Kyiv saw the retreat as a disappointment. I dont know why this decision was made, Aleksandr Kots, a war correspondent for the Russian tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda, wrote on Telegram. The war is only beginning. Well figure out later who was right and who was at fault. Image Residents of the recently liberated town of Bucha reach for food being distributed by Ukrainian soldiers with the Azov battalion on Saturday. The town had not received food, or had gas or electricity to cook, for more than 30 days while Russian forces fought in the streets. Credit... Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times The Kremlin maintained its defiance as state television released an interview with Dmitri S. Peskov, Mr. Putins spokesman, characterizing the United States as being at the root of Europes ills. He expressed confidence that European countries would renew relations with Russia once they sober up a little from the American bourbon. In Lithuania, President Gitanas Nauseda announced that his country would no longer import Russian gas starting this month. If we can do it, the rest of Europe can do it too, he wrote on Twitter. The European Union is looking for ways to reduce Europes dependency on Russian oil and gas. In other developments on Saturday, Pope Francis, visiting the Mediterranean island nation of Malta, edged closer to blaming President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia for the war in Ukraine than he had before. In an address to Maltese dignitaries and officials, the pope blamed a potentate, sadly caught up in anachronistic claims of nationalist interests for casting dark shadows of war from Europes east. Francis has declined to explicitly blame Mr. Putin or Russia as the aggressor for various reasons, including the Vaticans hopes of playing a role in a potential peace agreement. But on Saturday, he clearly seemed to be speaking about Mr. Putin, who he said was provoking and fomenting conflicts. Image Russian forces retreated from Irpin, a strategic town just 12 miles outside of Kyiv, after weeks of heavy fighting and ceaseless bombardment. Credit... Daniel Berehulak for The New York Times Andrew E. Kramer reported from Bucha, Ukraine, and Neil MacFarquhar from New York. Reporting was contributed by Anton Troianovski in Istanbul; Carlotta Gall in Dmytrivka, Ukraine; Megan Specia in Warsaw; Steven Erlanger in Brussels; Maria Varenikova in Bucha, Ukraine; and Jason Horowitz in Rome. Some analysts believe that Mr. Putin is risking a similar fate. He will lose Russia because of Ukraine, said Mr. Fishman, who has just finished a book about why democracy failed to take hold in Russia after the Soviet collapse. Others are less emphatic, especially in the short term, and note the popular signs of support for him inside Russia. Still, they caution that Mr. Putin is uncharacteristically playing a poker game with an unpredictable ending. This has been a major failure in Europes biggest land war since 1945, and that is a big failure, said Clifford Kupchan, chairman of the Eurasia Group, a political risk assessment firm. I would not bet futures in Russian political stability over a five-year period. While Mr. Putin has publicly emphasized the security threat posed by a westward leaning Ukraine as a reason for going to war, others say his deepest concern is the possible political fallout from living next door to a boisterous democracy with decent economic prospects. Putins ultimate nightmare is a color revolution in Russia, and that is the lens through which he views people voting in Ukraine, said Mr. Kupchan. Because it is so close, culturally, the threat of contagion as he perceives it is even greater. Mr. Putins successes are legion, especially his entire career arc from an obscure, midlevel intelligence agent forced to drive a taxi to make ends meet after the collapse of the Soviet Bloc to becoming one of the longest-running leaders ever to occupy the Kremlin. Yet in Ukraine, Mr. Putin, 69, has taken repeated missteps. In 2004, he campaigned personally in the presidential election on behalf of his preferred candidate, Viktor F. Yanukovych, whom he twice congratulated on his win. But widespread accusations of voting fraud sparked a nationalist backlash and the Orange Revolution, with street protests culminating ultimately in the election of Viktor A. Yushchenko (who was poisoned during the campaign) as president in a Western-oriented government. MADRID Antonio Ledezma, a former mayor of Caracas, jokes that he sometimes forgets that Madrid is not the capital of Venezuela, from where he escaped five years ago. Whenever I walk around or take a bus, I probably bump into two or three other Venezuelans, he said of the Spanish capital. Its a bit strange, but this sometimes feels to me just like Sabana Grande, he added, referring to one of the main boulevards of Caracas. While people from Latin America have long sought work in Spain often in low-wage jobs as cleaners, waiters or on construction sites turmoil in the region in recent years has brought an influx of prominent and affluent exiles. Now, the Spanish capital is rivaling Miami as a haven for Latin Americans and often for their money, too, according to the new arrivals and others catering to them. A Ukrainian photojournalist who went missing over two weeks ago while documenting the Russian invasion of Ukraine near the capital, Kyiv, has been found dead, according to the office of Ukraines prosecutor general. The photojournalist, Maks Levin, 40, was a prominent freelancer who had spent years covering the conflict in Ukraine. There had been fears for his safety after he and a colleague went missing in mid-March while reporting near the front line of Russian fighting in the Vyshhorod area. His body was found in a village in the Vyshhorod district north of Kyiv on Friday, according to the Institute of Mass Information, a Ukrainian civil society organization focused on press freedom. He is survived by his wife, four sons and his parents. The prosecutors office said in a statement that based on preliminary information, Mr. Levin was shot by Russian armed forces with small arms fire, and that a criminal investigation into his death was underway. They went from apartment to apartment collecting televisions and computers, loaded them on their tanks and left, Svetlana Semenova, a retiree, said of the Russian departure, which she described as chaotic. They left in a hurry. A few dozen people who had been living mostly in basements for a month staggered outside to collect food bags of potatoes and bread brought by Ukrainian soldiers. Elena Shur, 43, an accountant for Ukraines national airline, said the first sign of the Ukrainian military came on Friday, when a civilian car carrying soldiers drove through town waving the countrys flag. We saw people on the street, and soldiers, Ms. Shur said. I cried. Reporters counted six bodies of civilians on the streets and sidewalks of Bucha. It was unclear under what circumstances they had died, but the discarded packaging of a Russian military ration was lying beside one man who had been shot in the head. As photos of casualties in Bucha emerged, a senior adviser to Ukraines president said on Saturday that some of the dead wearing civilian clothes appeared to have been bound and executed. The bodies of people with tied hands, who were shot dead by soldiers lie in the streets, the adviser, Mykhailo Podolyak, said on Twitter. These people were not in the military. They had no weapons. They posed no threat. He included an image of a scene, photographed by Agence France-Presse, showing three bodies on the side of a road, one with hands apparently tied behind the back. The New York Times was unable to independently verify Mr. Podolyaks claim the people had been executed. VASYLKIV, Ukraine The accounts of resistance in the small garrison town of Vasylkiv have already taken on the sheen of legend. There are reports of Russian transport planes shot down, paratroopers hunted in the woods and even an unknown Ukrainian pilot nicknamed the Ghost of Kyiv defending the skies. Hyperboles aside, the people of this quiet provincial town of tree-lined streets and low-rise buildings dating back to the Russian empire managed to fight off Russian troops in the critical opening days of the war, preventing Russian forces from capturing strategic bases that could have allowed the nations capital, Kyiv, to be encircled. Vasylkiv home to an aviation school that has trained generations of pilots, a counterterrorism task force and an air defense command center that protects the capital and central Ukraine became one of the first targets of a Russian attack in the first hours and days of the war. Cruise missiles slammed into the air base, and then Russian airborne forces attacked in a series of ground assaults. They did not prevail. Accounts from residents, government officials, armed forces personnel and civilians who have enlisted territorial defense units described how Ukraine rebuffed the Russian assault and helped prevent Russias wider aims to seize control of the country. JERUSALEM Israeli security forces killed three Palestinian militants in the occupied West Bank early Saturday morning, as they continued to scale up their operations in response to a wave of terrorist attacks in Israel. The Israeli police said in a statement that the militants had been intercepted while driving through the northern West Bank, after the authorities received a tip that they were about to carry out an attack. The three men were killed in a subsequent shootout that also left four Israeli soldiers wounded, the police said. The Islamic Jihad militant group later confirmed that three of its members had been killed by Israeli security forces on Saturday morning, but it did not comment on the claims about a potential attack. The episode brings the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli military operations in the West Bank this week to at least six. Three others were killed on Thursday morning during an Israeli raid in Jenin, a city in the northern West Bank, Palestinian health officials said. BEIRUT, Lebanon A two-month truce between the warring parties in Yemen went into effect on Saturday, providing some hope for a reduction of violence in a war that has roiled the Arabian Peninsula and caused a crushing humanitarian crisis. The truce, the first coordinated cease-fire in years, which was brokered by the United Nations, includes a stop to all attacks inside Yemen and outside its borders; the entry of fuel ships to a rebel-controlled port; and the resumption of some commercial flights at the international airport in Yemens capital, Sana. The aim of this truce is to give Yemenis a necessary break from violence, relief from the humanitarian suffering and, most importantly, hope that an end to this conflict is possible, Hans Grundberg, the United Nations special envoy for Yemen, said in a statement announcing the agreement on Friday. President Biden welcomed the truce. The cease-fire must be adhered to, and as I have said before, it is imperative that we end this war, he said in a statement. After seven years of conflict, negotiators must undertake the hard and necessary work to reach political compromises that can bring about an enduring future of peace for all the people of Yemen. Although the U.S. government is running low on money for medications, vaccines and testing, Senate Democrats and Republicans neared agreement to cut by more than half President Bidens request for $22.5 billion in emergency coronavirus relief aid. We need to secure additional supply now, Mr. Biden said on Wednesday, shortly before receiving his second booster shot. We cant wait until we find ourselves in the midst of another surge to act. Itll be too late. That sentiment seemed especially timely because the highly transmissible Omicron subvariant known as BA.2, which led to a surge of coronavirus cases in Europe and Asia, has become the dominant version of the virus in new U.S. cases, according to estimates that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released on Tuesday. On Tuesday, federal regulators, concerned that the subvariant could lead to a surge in the United States, too, authorized second booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna coronavirus vaccines for everyone 50 and older. From Wyoming to Maine, an outbreak of the highly contagious bird flu has swept across farms and backyard flocks in the United States this year, prompting millions of chickens and turkeys to be culled. Iowa has been particularly hard hit, with disasters being declared in some counties and the state canceling live bird exhibits in an order that may affect its famed state fair. Here is what we know about the bird flu. What is avian influenza? Better known as the bird flu, avian influenza is a highly contagious and deadly virus that can prey on chickens, turkeys and wild birds, including ducks, geese and eagles. It spreads via nasal secretions, saliva and fecal droppings, which experts say makes it difficult to contain. Symptoms of the virus include a sudden increase in the mortality of a flock, a drop in egg production and diminished consumption of feed and water. Russian leadership was deluded that Ukraine would collapse at the first sign of fighting, and that President Volodymyr Zelensky would flee, said Nick Reynolds, a military analyst at the Royal United Services Institute. That was a catastrophic failure to understand Ukrainian society and the Ukrainian state, Mr. Reynolds said. Even outnumbering Ukrainian fighters by 10 to one might not be enough to take the city, given Russias inability to coordinate its ground forces with intelligence, air power and engineering, some analysts said. You need to be good at this, said Scott Boston, an analyst at RAND who studies the Russian military and land warfare. And I dont think I have any real evidence that Russia has trained to do large-scale urban warfare. Food technology company Primeval Foods plans to launch an entire menagerie of exotic meats that didnt actually come from animals, including lion burgers, tiger nuggets or giraffe ham. As the meat-alternatives market becomes increasingly competitive, food tech companies are coming up with new and ingenious ways of making their products stand out. Primeval Foods, a London-based startup specializing in cellular agriculture, plans to start selling exotic meats cultivated in a laboratory. And were not talking expensive and hard-to-come-by beef either, but the types of meat most people never even imagined were edible, like lion or tiger meat. No animals are actually hurt in the process of growing these exotic meats in a laboratory, as they are actually grown from cultured cells, but the simple idea of consuming lion or tiger is just weird, if not downright offputting for a lot of people. Thats because theyre not the kind of meat were used to eating, but Primeval Foods considers this an opportunity worth investing in. The reason we consume traditional species like beef and chicken today is not they are the tastiest, healthiest, or most nutritious ones. Its because they are the easiest to domesticate. Since cultivated meat allows to go beyond domesticated species,, now we can explore the tastiest, healthiest and most nutritious options, Yilmaz Bora, Managing Partner at Ace Ventures (the company behind Primeval Foods) told Food Navigator. Cultivated exotic meat consumption might lead humanity to a new evolution for our brain and gut microbiome because of the unique protein and amino acid profile, without the downside, such as cholesterol and saturated fats, Bora added. We are envisioning a future where we consume cultivated jaguar meat to have better sleep and mood, or cultivated elephant meat to improve our cognitive performance. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Primeval is also betting on the fact that most people are always eager to try and experiment with new things, including new culinary experiences. And even though some of the meats on its menus might sound a bit weird at first, since they dont come at the expense of nature, people might be willing to at least try it. So how is the food-tech startup getting the cells it needs to grow its own exotic meats. Well, it sourced some of them from captive animals, like the big cats, and some come from exotic meat markets. In the coming months, we are planning to have a tasting event in London with one of our cultivated exotic meats, to give the world a taste of what the next chapter of food would look like, Yilmaz Bora said. Towards net zero emissions in Denmark Denmark has been a frontrunner in policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and now plans to cut emissions by 70% by 2030 from 1990 levels and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Such ambition induces halving emissions from 2019 levels and making the same emission abatement effort in ten years than the past thirty years. Cutting emissions at such fast pace will be challenging with substantial disruptions and macroeconomic consequences. A balanced mix of pricing policies, public investment, regulation and enabling policies should allow smoothing the potential economic and social shocks and accompanying the reallocation of resources. This paper investigates further sectoral climate strategies in Denmark. In the energy sector (electricity and district heating), past progress made to ramp up clean technologies provides a good blueprint to achieve further decarbonisation, but the focus will need to be put soon on lowering reliance on woody biomass. In the transport sector, emissions have continued to increase despite the shift to more fuel-efficient vehicles, highlighting the need for more transformative policies to expand alternatives to individual car uses. In agriculture, little has been done so far to cut emissions, especially from livestock. The sector is subject to leakage risks, but nonetheless should be encouraged to transform its practices. Helping farmers to monitor their GHG emissions should be combined with more stringent regulation. In series:OECD Economics Department Working Papersview more titles Gardai in Offaly are investigating two incidents of advance fee fraud where victims in Offaly lost sizable sums of money. The losses were from 1,000 to 4,000. Gardai in Tullamore say both victims thought they were dealing with legitimate loan and mortgage websites. Advance fee fraud requires individuals to pay a fee before receiving a promised sum of money which is never paid. Gardai say they have noticed an increase in this practice recently with a number of websites offering quick, easy, unsecured loans. The victim is required to fill in a short application that looks for their details. Once these details have been submitted a follow up phone call is received from what appears to be an Irish number. The victim is informed via the telephone call that their loan has been approved but they are required to make a payment in advance of the loan being paid into their account. Reasons for fees can vary but can include: Insurance fees Set up fees First instalment in advance The websites used in these scams look professional in nature but there are a number of Red Flags which the public should look out for. These include (but not limited to): 1. The common trend with all these sites is that they are offer quick and easy money. 2. No guarantor or security is sought and no checks on the individuals ability to pay will be made and no documents / proof of ID will be sought 3. The requirement that a fee is paid in advance of the service being provided. 4. The fraudster will put pressure on the victim to act quickly or the opportunity will be lost 5. The company offering the loans is not be regulated by the Irish Central Bank. Even though they may claim to be so regulated or will say they dont need regulation as they are experienced. An Garda Siochana advise the public to: Never apply for a loan from an entity that is not authorised by the Central Bank do your checks in advance of any agreement and before sending any money. ALWAYS check the official Central Bank website to see if the firm is authorised by the Central Bank. The register of authorised firms can be accessed at http://registers.centralbank.ie/ There may also be instances where a firm clones the details of an authorised entity by taking the details of an authorised entity and claiming to either be that entity or an associated entity. Further information in respect of unauthorised firms that have already come to the attention of the Central Bank is available on the Central Banks website at https://www.centralbank.ie/.../authori.../unauthorised-firms but please be warned that there may be scams out there that have not yet come to the attention of the Central Bank. Never allow your account to be used by another to move money or to hold money for any period (long or short) as this enables Fraudsters to complete their crimes, and deprives innocent Victims of their hard earned cash. Unfortunately there are no cheap easy loans available in the market and if the offer sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is too good to be true. Always report the matter to your local Garda station. Stop and think BEFORE ENGAGING Never give away personal data to people you dont know Always be fraud aware, particularly when you receive an unsolicited phone call, email, text or other communication that leads to a request for personal or banking information. Never click on a link in an email, text or other message unless you know the source Shoppers have been warned not to buy or consume Wonka branded chocolate bars due to concerns over fake products being unsafe to eat. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) is warning consumers not to buy or eat Wonka branded chocolate bars, due to an increase in reports that counterfeit chocolate bars bearing this brand name are for sale on the market in Ireland. The counterfeit chocolate bars may be unsafe to eat, as there is a possibility that they may not have been produced in line with food safety, hygiene and/or food traceability legal requirements to protect public health. Some examples of the issues identified to date with these counterfeit Wonka branded chocolate bars include: * failure to provide an accurate ingredients list e.g., undeclared ingredients and allergens on the label * false business name and address on the label * the rewrapping of various shop bought or homemade chocolate bars in Wonka wrappers * unregistered food businesses selling products online Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive, FSAI urges consumers to be aware of the possible risks posed by these counterfeit chocolate bars. "The FSAI is working closely with the food inspectors in the Environmental Health Service of the HSE to ensure any counterfeit Wonka branded chocolate bars where there is a known or suspected consumer health risk are removed from sale. Consumers have a right to safe food and counterfeit foodstuffs will be pursued using the legal powers available to us, Dr Byrne said. 2008-2022 One News Page Ltd. All rights reserved. One News is a registered trademark of One News Page Ltd. She fled North Macedonia after she was assaulted, urinated on and almost raped. But German authorities have designated her home country as "safe" and now they want to deport her and her family. With each day of the invasion, the pressure grows on Western companies to shutter their operations in Russia. Businesses that continue to operate there will have to withdraw sooner or later, DW's Miodrag Soric writes. Pope Francis took an elevator to board his flight to Malta to "avoid unnecessary strain." The trip to Malta comes one day after he apologized to Canada's indigenous communities for abuses at residential schools there. Liverpool beat struggling Watford to complete a remarkable return to the top of the Premier League - for a few hours at least. As the contest at the top of the Premier League intensifies, will next weekend's Manchester City-Liverpool match ultimately determine the title? A United States official confirmed that Ukrainian helicopters attacked a Russian oil depot, an incident that could jeopardize peace negotiations. However, Ukrainian authorities have denied the allegations and said that what affected peace talks was Russia's continued attack on the mainland and its people. Officials from Russia and Ukraine met for another day of talks about a potential cease-fire, as fighting continued in Ukraine on Friday. (April 1) SeattlePI.com 20 Apr 2022 WARSAW, Poland (AP) After spending weeks with no electricity or water in the basement of her family's home in Ukraine,.. Biden was far from the first U.S. president to say what he thought about Russia or its leaders or to pay a price for it. President Joe Biden recently announced that the US would welcome up to 100,000 refugees from Ukraine. MANISTEE -- Nothing is more exhilarating for a young author than to see the fruits of their labor published for the first time and appear in print on the shelves of a book store. Author and lawyer Logan Tomaszewski, who writes under the pen name T.C. Pendragon and has strong ties to the Manistee area, recently published his magic/fantasy thriller "Martin Blackbriar and the Necronomicon." Tomaszewski is the son of Randy and Kellie Tomaszewski, of Onekama. He grew up primarily in the Grand Rapids area, but also lived several other locations where his parents were working in their careers. However, he grew to love Manistee as a second home as a result of his frequent trips to this area to visit grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins over the years. My fathers side of the family has roots in Manistee and that is where he grew up, so we always had a connection to it as our ancestral home, said Tomaszewski. We would always vacation in Manistee to visit family. The 27-year-old author's book "Martin Blackbriar and the Necronomicon" is in the spirit of the "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings" type of books that were the favorites of his youth. This book really came from a mixture of a couple different things, said Tomaszewski. I grew up loving to read Lord of the Rings and all those fantasy things that came out. I also loved Stephen Kings work with It and The Dark Tower and whenever those books came out I realized it was possible to break with convention to write your story. Tomaszewski said the book is about a brother and sister finding magic and discovering a new world together. He said what also influenced this book was the close relationship he has with his sister, Olivia, who he considers his hero. That mirrors what comes out of this first novel with the interaction between the main characters Martin Blackbriar and his sister Ali, but he said other characters were also based on people and even pets that have been a part of his life. Olivia was always the strong one between the two of us and I admire her tenacity, bravery and ability to stand up for people when they need it, so I kind of based the characters off us he said. The book is about Martin and Ali and where they fit in the larger world of magic. Tomaszewski said the two careers of law -- he's a recent graduate of Cooley Law School -- and writing has made for an interesting journey in his life. He loves practicing law, but has always had the passion for becoming an author from the time he was young. I am working on the writing process and the act of publishing coming off the coattails of law school, he said. It was a very interesting process just learning the law and figuring out how to help people in a legal context, but what I was really passionate about doing since I was a kid is writing. He said what helped in his personal journey was finding a publisher -- Long Overdue Publishing in Chicago. When I first started looking for a publisher it was very difficult, said Tomaszewski. I was very lucky in having a dear professor of mine from my college days who said she knew someone who graduated from there who was publishing books in Chicago. They helped make the connection for me and it just worked out perfectly. Tomaszewski also explained the reason for and how his pen name came about. ... My name of Logan Tomaszewski never just felt right for the author of this book, he said. So I was writing the name of a character for a mystery book I am working on and wrote the letters T.C. and stopped. I thought that was a pretty good start to a name. Looking around the room I saw a book on Arthurian Legend and Pendragon came to me. He said the name T.C. Pendragon just felt right when it hit the pages and he knew it would work with this story. Tomaszewski also credits both of his parents for instilling in him a true love of literature from an early age by reading to him. It is something he said helped lead him down the path to becoming an author. "Some of my earliest memories are of my mother reading to me," said Tomaszewski. "It didn't matter what the book it was. I just remember pages turning, her smiling and me falling in love with literature. That is where the spark started for me, as I saw there was a lot of power in how people told stories." He said that concept about how stories can bring things to life really hit home with him as his late grandfather, Jerome Tomaszewski, died before he got to know him. I really came to know him, meet him and love him through the stories my family always shared about him, said Tomaszewski. His father, Randy, also opened his eyes to books like "Lord of the Rings" and "Harry Potter" and what they have to offer in the world of fantasy. My dad used to read me 'The Hobbit,' 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'Harry Potter' which I just loved hearing, he said. Tomaszewski has written several other books and hopes this one will be the first of many to follow in his writing career. I am working with my publisher going through the other ones, said Tomaszewski. We really hit it off and realized there is more to writing than just writing one book. I have always been interested in writing and improving my skills. He said suddenly many things are now possible for him in the world of writing and the other stories he wrote are no longer just a pile of dreams that may or may not get published. Now there is a chance that someday all of them could get into print. We have more works coming down the line that will hopefully get published this year and the following one, he said. There is a spinoff from the Martin Blackbrier book, but some of those books are very different. I also have one that is science fiction and looking at a future world kind of like the books 1984 or Brave New World. The young author said he tries to write something every day. Sometimes it will be more than other days, but the key is writing on a continual basis to keep the creative juices flowing. My dad always says that some days I get peanuts and other days I get shells, he said. There is nothing wrong with that. However, for now the writing career that he dreamed of since a child is off and running with the road ahead looking bright for more works by T.C. Pendragon coming in the future. You only get this far in the process with people behind you who love you, trust you and want to see your stories get told, he said. If you have a story you really want to tell, it is extremely rare that it gets done without someones help. It is something to revel in and appreciate. People can find the book locally at the Happy Owl Book Store in Manistee and at Studio 231 in Elberta. It can also be purchased online from Long Overdue Books at Longoverduebooks.com and on Amazon. MANISTEE COUNTY The following includes reports made to the Manistee County Sheriffs Office from March 4-7. All calls may not be reported. This is part of a lengthy report and is compiled by assistant editor Arielle Breen. March 4 A dog was reported to have been running at large at 8:44 a.m. in Marilla Township. A property damage crash and abandoned vehicle were reported at 6:05 a.m. in Springdale Township. A suspicious person was reported at 9 a.m. in Dickson Township. A verbal domestic incident was reported at 1:49 p.m. in Manistee Township. A Manistee County resident was reported to have a parole violation warrant at 10:55 a.m. in Otsego County. A vehicle-deer accident was reported at 8:22 p.m. in Springdale Township. Larceny was reported at 7:51 p.m. in Filer Township. A person was arrested in Manistee on a Mason County warrant at 9:21 p.m. A civil dispute and standby situation was reported at 9:40 a.m. in Manistee Township. A liquor inspection was conducted at 9:36 a.m. in Arcadia Township. A person was reported to have left the scene of a property damage crash and malicious destruction of property incident at 10:48 a.m. in Norman Township. A well-being check was conducted at 11:18 a.m. in Filer Township. A dog was reported to have been missing and running at large at 4:46 p.m. in Manistee Township. Deputies conducted a well-being check at 8:25 p.m. in Manistee Township. March 6 Deputies assisted a person and attempted to locate a persona at 1:30 a.m. in Arcadia Township. A vehicle-deer accident was reported at 6:20 a.m. in Springdale Township. Deputies assisted Michigan State Police at 11:41 a.m. with a domestic incident in Kaleva. Deputies assisted Michigan State Police at 4:53 p.m. with a breaking and entering in Stronach Township. A vehicle-deer accident was reported at 7:12 p.m. in Onekama Township. Deputies assisted the Manistee City Police Department at 11:06 p.m. in Norman Township. March 7 A property damage crash was reported at 7:19 a.m. in Filer Township. A dog was reported to have attacked a person at 9:53 a.m. in Manistee Township. Deputies assisted a person at 9:54 a.m. in Manistee Township. A property damage crash was reported at 10 a.m. in Manistee Township. A two-vehicle property damage crash was reported at 10:09 a.m. in Stronach Township. Truancy was reported at 10:30 a.m. in Dickson Township. Truancy was reported in Dickson Township. Truancy was reported at 10:30 a.m. in Dickson Township. Truancy was reported at 10:30 a.m. in Dickson Township. Truancy was reported at 10:30 a.m. in Dickson Township. Truancy was reported at 10:30 a.m. in Dickson Township. A private property damage crash was reported at 11:40 a.m. in Manistee Township. A person was reported to have been in possession of heroin at 11:10 a.m. in Manistee Township. A property damage crash was reported at 12:32 p.m. in Filer Township. Sexual harassment was reported at 4:57 p.m. in Springdale Township. Deputies assisted a driver at 7:15 p.m. in Filer Township. The following editorial was published in the Los Angeles Times: In recent weeks, revelations about political activity by Virginia Thomas, the wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, have evolved from alarming to beyond the pale. First came a New Yorker investigation in January that detailed numerous ways Thomas and her political-lobbying firm, Liberty Consulting, are linked to right-wing groups with high-stakes cases before the court on abortion, affirmative action and gun rights. In some instances, she was paid by groups filing amicus briefs that her husband would presumably read in the course of his deliberations. Then came a New York Times investigation showing how Thomas used her husbands relationship with then-President Donald Trump to try to influence policy and personnel decisions in the White House. It also reported that she helped unite various groups participating in the Jan. 6 rally that resulted in the deadly attack on the Capitol as Congress was certifying Bidens election. (Virginia Thomas rejected the report in an interview with the Washington Free Beacon, saying that she did not help organize the rally, but that she attended it until she got too cold.) Most recently, a Washington Post investigation revealed that after the 2020 election, Virginia Thomas repeatedly pressured Trumps chief of staff, Mark Meadows, to pursue efforts to overturn Joe Bidens victory. In a series of jaw-dropping text messages Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!! and The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History, among them Thomas spread falsehoods as she urged the presidents team to attempt to reverse the election results. All this was happening as Trump and his allies vowed to take their cockamamie allegations of election fraud to the Supreme Court. Those cases, of course, were so flimsy that they never made it to the nations highest court, preventing us from knowing if Justice Thomas would have recused himself from ruling on the matter in which he clearly had a conflict of interest. But in January, we got a glimpse of the justices frightful lack of judicial ethics. Thats when the Supreme Court rejected Trumps plea to shield his White House records which included communication with Virginia Thomas from the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. Only one justice sided with Trump and dissented from the ruling: Clarence Thomas. What a disgrace. Of course Thomas should have recused himself from that case. And he must, for the sake of fairness and public trust, recuse himself from any other Jan. 6 cases that may come before the court. Beyond that, the disturbing chain of events demonstrates that the Supreme Court desperately needs stronger ethics rules. Right now the nine justices of the Supreme Court the most powerful judges in the country essentially police themselves when it comes to ethics. While theyre supposed to be guided by the same code of conduct that other federal judges must follow, justices decide whether to recuse themselves in any given situation. That must change. The Supreme Courts power rests in the trust it earns from the public. Americans may not agree with every ruling from the court, but they need to trust that the justices decisions are fair, backed by integrity and driven by sound interpretations of the law. There is no room for personal favors from the bench. Its time for the Supreme Court to establish a code of ethical conduct and stick to it. Chinese FM meets with Uzbek deputy PM on bilateral ties Xinhua) 09:25, April 02, 2022 Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov on the sidelines of the third foreign ministers' meeting among the neighboring countries of Afghanistan in Tunxi, east China's Anhui Province, March 31, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu) HEFEI, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi Thursday met with Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov on the sidelines of the third foreign ministers' meeting among the neighboring countries of Afghanistan in Tunxi, east China's Anhui Province. Wang said that, since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Uzbekistan 30 years ago, the two countries have trusted and supported each other, and cooperation in various fields has been continuously deepened, reaching an unprecedented high level. He said China will continue to support Uzbekistan in exploring a development path suited to its own national conditions and stands ready to work with Uzbekistan to jointly implement the important consensus reached by the two heads of state to promote the development of bilateral relations. China is willing to strengthen the docking of the Belt and Road Initiative with the plan to build a new Uzbekistan, enlarge cooperation on trade and investment and new energy, and foster a diversified and multi-dimensional cooperation framework, Wang said. For his part, Umurzakov said Uzbekistan firmly adheres to the one-China policy and is committed to deepening friendly bilateral relations. Uzbekistan appreciates China's development achievements and expects to draw on China's experience in governance, especially its experience in poverty reduction, Umurzakov said, adding that Uzbekistan is willing to strengthen cooperation with China in various fields. The two sides agreed to strengthen connectivity cooperation; explore the potential for cooperation on agriculture; advance cultural and people-to-people exchanges as well as cooperation at local levels; and deepen cooperation on health care and pandemic response. They agreed to strengthen communication and coordination in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Wang said that China fully supports Uzbekistan in hosting the SCO summit in the city of Samarkand and is willing to jointly oppose external interference and fight against the "three evil forces" of terrorism, extremism and separatism. The two sides also exchanged views on the Afghan issue. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets with Uzbek Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investments and Foreign Trade Sardor Umurzakov on the sidelines of the third foreign ministers' meeting among the neighboring countries of Afghanistan in Tunxi, east China's Anhui Province, March 31, 2022. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu) (Web editor: Peng yukai, Liang Jun) We have used your information to see if you have a subscription with us, but did not find one. Please use the button below to verify an existing account or to purchase a new subscription. Washington DC, US (PANA) - The United States has welcomed steps by the Government of Ethiopia and regional authorities to implement a cessation of hostilities in the country and commended them on the delivery of humanitarian assistance over recent days in the Tigray and Afar regions Photo: (Photo : Getty images ) The world is raving about a rare birth phenomenon on Wednesday in a hospital in Vinaros, Castellon Valencia Region in Spain. A Spanish twin was delivered in a one in 80,000 "mermaid birth" or was born while still inside an intact amniotic sac. The amniotic sac usually ruptures when a mother's water breaks before the labor begins. The Mirror reported that the twins were born with the amniotic sac intact and successfully delivered via caesarian section. Gynecologist and obstetrician Ana Teijelo, the medical team handling the C-section, ensured that the delivery went smoothly. She shared the photos and videos of the delivery on Twitter. The doctors posted the pictures of the twins with the parents' permission. She posted that this is the first veiled caesarian section she has seen, and she loves it. Las fotos preciosas, no os parece? La primera cesarea velada que he visto y me ha encantado, y no os digo nada a los estudiantes (aunque reconozco que la de los gritos soy yo). Pasa aproximadamente una vez cada 80000 partos y hoy nuestros estudiantes han tenido un dia de 10. pic.twitter.com/FSQiUdqJnQ AnaTeijelo (@AnaTeijelo) March 23, 2022 Mermaid birth or en caul A mermaid birth occurs when a baby is delivered wrapped in a soft, jello-like bubble called the amniotic sac. It is also called veiled birth or en caul birth. This birth takes place once in 80,000 times. The amniotic sac, according to Healthline, has two layers. It is filled with amniotic fluid in which the baby floats during the pregnancy. The sac protects the baby and keeps them warm throughout fetal development. The babies drink amniotic fluid, and it also aids in developing the lungs and other organs. It also helps the baby excrete for the first time after birth. Usually, the amniotic sac breaks when the mother goes to labor, hence, the "water breaking." But in en caul or mermaid births, they remain intact even after childbirth. Mermaid births are less common in vaginal births than caesareans, but they can still happen, especially if the baby is premature. The doctors can cut through the sac to give birth, but in some cases, doctors decide to deliver the babies fully contained in the sac. However, many babies have been seen slowly breaking open the sac they are covered in. Read Also: 87-Year-Old Wife Reunites With Wedding Ring She Lost in the 1960s With the Help of Neighbor Attributed to fame and fortune According to Beach Cities Midwifery, en caul births or mermaid births have been attributed to fame and fortune and are associated with magical and spiritual abilities. In Old Nordic beliefs, a child born en caul is believed to have the unique ability to navigate the world and foresee the future. In the 16th century, some physicians began to scorn any superstitious beliefs associated with en caul births. Nonetheless, being born en caul is good luck for both the baby and the parents. In some cultures, parents and midwives save and dry the caul as a good luck charm. In many parts of Europe, the amniotic sac or "caul" is often sold as a token of good luck and protection. One of the myths associated with en caul is that babies can never drown. Folklores also associate babies born en caul with being destined for greatness. Whether one believes in the myths associated with en caul birth, being born and witnessing an en caul birth is a rare and fortunate event. Most delivery doctors and midwives have never seen an en caul birth in their careers. Related Article: UK.'s Most Premature Twins Finally Comes Home After 5 Months in the Hospital and Given 0 chance of survival Photo: (Photo : ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images) The youngest group eligible to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in the United States, children whose ages range from 5 to 11, is also the demographic with the lowest vaccination rate. CNN analyzed data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with the numbers showing that less than 10 percent of kids ages 5 to 11 are fully vaccinated in about half of the counties in the U.S. Majority of the counties with low vaccination rates against the coronavirus among children are in the South. Nearly two-thirds of counties that have vaccinated fewer than 10 percent of children ages 5 to 11 are from that particular region in the United States. Maldonado concerned with low vaccination rates for children Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, the current chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases, is disappointed with the low vaccination rates in the 5 to 11 age bracket, saying, "This has been a constant concern for all of us." Maldonado added that it is very disturbing to see that families have not embraced vaccination. She told the New York Times that messaging on behalf of public health agencies needs to be more strategic. According to the study, about 1,500 counties in the United States have less than 10 percent of this particular age group vaccinated. The figures are even worse in at least 500 U.S. counties, with less than 5 percent of this age group vaccinated. According to the CDC, about 66 percent of the entire U.S. population is fully vaccinated overall, including nearly 90 percent of seniors and three-quarters of adults. The vaccination rate is higher than 50 percent nationally among adolescents ages 12 to 17. That makes the vaccination rates for children ages 5 to 11 hugely disappointing. Less than 28 percent of children in this age bracket are fully vaccinated in the U.S., even though these kids have been eligible for a vaccination against COVID-19 for nearly five months already. Of the more than 3,100 U.S. counties, only a few dozen have more than half of this age group fully vaccinated. Read Also: Lack of COVID Vaccines for Babies, Toddlers Leaves Parents, Teachers, Caregivers Frustrated COVID vaccine hesitancy seen in South Carolina The results were not a complete surprise to Dr. Brannon Traxler, the director of public health for South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control. Traxler said that the overall vaccination rate in South Carolina lags behind the national average across all ages, more so with kids. She said that vaccinating children in South Carolina has been particularly difficult because several parents perceive COVID-19 as a disease that affects only the elderly. According to the CDC, no county in that state has fully vaccinated more than a third of children ages 5 to 11. According to a report by the Atlantic, it does not help matters that concerns have been raised about Pfizer's COVID vaccine for this age bracket. A recent study revealed that the vaccine did not protect kids ages 5 to 11 from disease or infection for as long as expected, even though the 10-microgram dose the children received had met the immunobridging benchmark set in the clinical trials. Related Article: Infant Formula Company Bobbie Raises $50 Million as California Startup Targets U.S. Expansion Photo: (Photo : LoboStudioHamburg from Pixabay) Over the years, social media has become an essential and somehow indispensable part of our everyday lives. It enables us to communicate and stay in touch with our loved ones despite the distance. Social media also plays an integral role in legal disputes, especially in custody battles. It is crucial for divorcing parents to use these platforms wisely and cautiously. Here are six social media usage tips that can help your custody case. Assess your social media profiles Before pursuing your custody dispute, take the time to evaluate all your social media accounts. Have a trusted loved one check and thoroughly scrutinize all your platforms. Make the necessary changes right away but never attempt to alter your social identity in the hopes of winning your case. Be careful of your direct messages While it is understandable to elicit support from your loved ones during this difficult period, avoid doing it online. Refrain from disparaging your spouse through direct messages, and have the mindset that the other party might gain access to your conversations no matter how private your accounts are. Discuss with your lawyer how to appropriately respond to someone asking about your custody case and make sure to hire a qualified family attorney such as Betsy A Fischer to represent you in court. Be wary of what you share Anything you share publicly can be deliberately taken out of context and put you in a negative light. Be wary of your posts, especially pictures and videos. Remember that images can easily be manipulated and used as evidence. Avoid engaging in activities that could destroy your social image and character. Refrain from making derogatory statements about your spouse as family courts disapprove of unhealthy behaviors that could negatively influence the children. Never delete your posts In child custody cases, deleting posts is synonymous with destroying evidence and admitting guilt. It can easily ruin your credibility and chances of receiving a favorable outcome. Regardless of how devoted you are as a parent, the court might see you as someone dishonest and unfit. Inform your legal team of any postings that can harm your case so that they can prepare in advance and handle them properly. Avoid online dating sites Dating websites are considered social media since they are designed to widen your social circle. It is highly important that you avoid these sites and withhold from changing your relationship status until your divorce and custody dispute are settled. Stay off social media if possible Unless you need social media for work, it would be best to stop using it altogether while your case is ongoing. The best way to digitally protect yourself is by removing your social media presence. Going offline may seem like an extreme move, but it will be well worth it if your custody case benefits. If not used properly, social media can significantly impact your child custody dispute. Always err on the side of caution, and don't let improper usage of these online platforms jeopardize your odds of winning your custody case. This service applies to you if your subscription has not yet expired on our old site. You will have continued access until your subscription expires; then you will need to purchase an ongoing subscription through our new system. Please contact the Parsons Sun office at (620) 421-2000 if you have any questions As part of efforts to make health care delivery more sustainable and effective in Ghana, PharmAccess Group has launched the second phase of the Medical Credit Fund (MCF II), here in Ghana. The MFC II, which is a 32.5m loan facility, is intended to reduce the challenges faced by small and medium-sized healthcare companies in accessing loans and other credit facilities to widen their operations and expand their outreach. Speaking at the launch of the loan facility at the Asante Conference Hall, at the Alisa Hotel on Wednesday, the Country Manager of the Medical Credit Fund, Derrick Ewudzie-Odoom, explained that the essence of the facility is to deal with the bottlenecks associated with health care financing in Ghana. According to him, his outfit is aware of the unique challenges, which affect health care businesses in the country. He, therefore, stated that the loans from MFC II are designed to address these challenges, without demanding collateral from the loan applicants. 'Over the years, our work has not been only loans. We don't just give loans, but we accompany all the loans that we give with business support, quality support and training. And when we talk about business support, we help all the health SMEs design investment plans. A lot of the time, health businesses have ideas that do not culminate into plans, and we engage them and we design these plans so that they can go; and we also help them. We provide financial management advice to ensure that they manage their business finances well", Mr Ewudzie Odoom said. He also added that "We also help or we assist them in terms of their project planning. When they want to do construction, we help them with the construction management; how the patient flow is supposed to be and the design of the hospital so that it will be in tandem with modern trends". At the ceremony, the first MCF II loan was presented to the Emil Memorial Hospital in Wenchi. Prior to the presentation of a dummy cheque of three million Ghana Cedis, the Chief Executive Officer of the hospital, Dr Simon Koku Saku, testified of support of the Fund in the hospital's operations. In his delivery, he stated that since its establishment, the hospital has been going through some difficulties, in the course of rendering health care services to the locals in its environs. Dr Saku said that in order to widen its operations, the hospital agreed to construct some departments; an initiative which was made possible by the MCF II. "We approached several financial institutions, both local and international to help finance the project of completing a two-storey building to accommodate these departments. But unfortunately, none was ready to lend us a hand by giving us the credit required. We heard of Medical Credit Fund through PharmAccess and decided to approach them to help finance the project. After a careful evaluation of the project, Medical Credit Fund agreed to fund the project and also purchase medical equipment worth millions of Ghana cedis. The project is scheduled to be completed in June this year" he said. He, therefore, expressed his profound gratitude to the Fund, for helping the hospital realise its objectives. Netherlands Ambassador to Ghana, His Excellency Ambassador Jeroen Verheul, who was a keynote speaker at the event, expressed his delight about the launch of the Fund and stressed the impact of the initiative over the years. In his submissions, he recounted his familiarity with the Medical Credit Fund, during his years as an ambassador to Uganda and Tanzania respectively. According to him, he was also privy to the Fund at a conference in Nairobi in 2016, and therefore he is happy that the MCF II has come to Ghana. "So I have quite an extensive exposure to the product that we're discussing here, and I must say that I'm privileged and I feel it's a great pleasure to be able to launch the Medical Credit Fund II here in Ghana. And when say number two, that means that there must be a number one. Like with kings and queens, there's always a number one. And I think the one laid the foundation for the number two that we're launching here", the Netherlands Ambassador said. A Senior Policy Advisor at the Netherlands Foreign Affairs Ministry, Ms Anouk Aarts also touched on the significance of the Fund. She reiterated that "health is wealth", and therefore the package by the MCF II is a welcome idea. The launch of the MCF II was attended by participants and stakeholders from the health sector. The Diocesan Bishop of the Catholic Church at Keta-Akatsi, Most Reverend Gabriel Edoe Kumordji, was among the list of dignitaries who graced the occasion. Country Director of PharmAcces, Dr Maxwell Antwi, together with the Managing Director of Medical Credit Fund, Mr Arjan Poels, were also present at the event and shared a few words with the audience on the objective of the Fund and how it seeks to better the fortunes of the private health sector in Ghana. As part of the ceremony, a panel discussion was also moderated by the Chief Executive Officer of the Healthcare Federation Ghana and Franklyn Medical Centre, Dr Lynda Decker, to discuss the 'Financing Healthcare Businesses in Ghana'. The discussants included the President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana, Pharm. Samuel Kow Donkoh; the Country Manager of GE Healthcare, Mr Daniel Amo-Korankye and the Chief Executive Officer of Cross Care Hospital in Sunyani, Mrs Evelyn Dzantor. The launch of the Fund was emceed by the Managing Director of the Koforidua Clinic and a Lead Consultant of A-League Consult, Mr John Affiadzi Appiah, amidst cultural displays by the Vivie's Dance Factory. About MCF II MCF recently announced the completion of a EUR 32.5 m fund-raise for its second fund (MCF II). The funding round was anchored by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which provided the first equity injection of EUR 7.5 million in January 2021, to cater to the demand for loans during the height of the COVID-19 crisis. Also participating in this funding round are international organizations such as CDC Group, FMO, SwedFund and Philips. In addition, MCF will benefit from a guarantee facility by the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), which was initiated by the Health Finance Coalition (HFC) with the support of the U.S. President's Malaria Initiative (PMI) and USAID's Center for Innovation & Impact (CII). Through blended finance, MCF uses catalytic capital from both public and private sources and is targeting to grow to EUR 80 million in the next few years and will support EUR 400 million in loans to health SMEs in the next decade. The launch of MCF II marks the beginning of a new era. An era in which MCF will further grow its reach and impact. MCF II will deploy innovative digital finance solutions to increase investments in Africa's health infrastructure and improve access to better primary healthcare services in Africa. Starting in its current countries of operation (Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda), and spreading its wings to other countries over time. Source: Josephine Acheampomaa/Peacefmonline.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Founder and President of Charger Limited, Dr. Emmanuel Bortey Borketey, has rewarded four dedicated, loyal and hardworking employees with four cars a Nissan Rogue, a Hyundai Santa Fe, and two Corollas. The four employees of the prestigious company---- John Adotey, Opoku Agyemang, Bismark Bentil and Bugadam Rowland Daliwe expressed gross ecstasy when keys to the two Home used vehicles (Hyundai Santafe, Nissan Rogue) and two used Corollas were handed to them. In his address, Dr Borketey disclosed that dedication, hard work, and loyalty are virtues that every employee, no matter their level must endeavor to cultivate. He added that people with such virtues are admirable and must be rewarded in return, hence the gesture saying, Loyalty and dedication, they say, are two-way streets, and he who shows you loyalty and is dedicated to you deserves the same in return. The gesture was in fulfillment of a promise he made to the workers during the companys End of year Party last year where he promised that five cars would be presented as rewards to five individuals by the end of the year 2022. " . . this is just the beginning of great things management has in stock for workers who distinguishes themselves. TV personality and actor Akrobeto (Akwasi Boadi), who was present at the ceremony threw more light on the need to remain loyal to genuine employers saying, work with good intentions, clear conscience and your blessings shall be abundant. Source: Kofi Aduonum Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video A Nigerian woman broke down shedding tears profusely when an Accra Circuit Court sentenced her to five years imprisonment for luring her colleague to Ghana to engage in prostitution. Angel Ubah charged with the use of a trafficked person, pleaded guilty and the court presided over by Mrs Ellen Ofei Ayeh convicted her on her own plea but deferred her sentence to Friday. It further directed that Angel should be deported after serving her sentence. Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Isaac Anquandah, narrated that the complainant and the accused, now convict were Nigerians, and both reside at Obinim Guest House at Adjiriganor Junction, a suburb of Accra. The prosecution said in February 2022, Angel together with her syndicate in Nigeria known as Chizom and Adah conspired to recruit, transport and traffic the complainant (victim) from Nigeria to Ghana. He said the accused communicated to the complainant that there were jobs in Ghana. The prosecution said on her arrival, Angel went and picked her at Spintex to Obinim Guest House. Mr Anquandah said the following day, Angel made it known to the complainant that the job she promised her does not exist except to engage in prostitution. Prosecution said the complainant became frightened and told Angel that prostitution was a taboo in her culture of which the consequence was death or madness, but Angel insisted, gave her a condom, and forced her into prostitution for one week where she rendered an account of GH200.00 to her. It said the complainant realized that the job offered her by Angel was very risky and as a result, she managed to run away and became destitute for about a week until she was rescued by a good Samaritan who took her to the Police station to make a complaint, which led to the arrest of Angel. Source: GNA Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The chief executive of a political consulting firm has responded to a report alleging Meta paid his company to "undermine" TikTok. Internal emails, apparently seen by the Washington Post, allegedly suggested Targeted Victory's campaign aimed to show TikTok "as a danger to American children". Zac Moffatt tweeted that the Post's report mischaracterized their work and "key points are simply false". The BBC approached Meta for comment. A spokesperson said: "We believe all platforms, including TikTok, should face a level of scrutiny consistent with their growing success." Paper push The "bare-knuckle" campaign allegedly included placing opinion pieces and letters to the editor in US regional news outlets "promoting dubious stories about alleged TikTok trends that actually originated on Facebook", the Post journalists wrote. None of the opinion pieces or letters to the editor revealed that a Meta-funded group had been pushing them, the paper added. In response to the article, Mr Moffat tweeted that: "The story infers that the words of the letters to the editor were not the authors' own, nor did they know of Meta's involvement. That is false. They will confirm that." In internal emails, the paper claimed, Targeted Victory urged its partners to get stories into local media that linked TikTok to dangerous trends. "Dream would be to get stories with headlines like 'From dances to danger: how TikTok has become the most harmful social media space for kids'," one Targeted Victory staff member allegedly wrote in an email apparently seen by the Post. Challenges The paper alleged that Targeted Victory encouraged operatives to amplify reports of dangerous trends linked to TikTok. This included a purported Devious Licks challenge, which encouraged damage to school property, and reports of a rumoured Slap a Teacher challenge, which an investigation by news site Insider suggested did not in fact exist. But journalistic investigations, the Post said, suggested that stories about both challenges began to spread on Facebook. Following publication, Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers - a large US teaching union - accused Facebook of fanning the flames of Devious Licks and terrifying "teachers, students and parents across America as a result". Those fears were echoed by TikTok itself. In response to the article, the company told the BBC: "We are deeply concerned that the stoking of local media reports on alleged trends that have not been found on the platform could cause real-world harm." Responding to the article, technology journalist Casey Newton wrote in his newsletter Platformer that the effect went beyond inconvenience, but it risked inspiring people to carry out the purported challenges. "Even the fact that Meta might have helped to inspire such copycats ought to have been enough to kill this project when it was still being white-boarded," he wrote. Mr Moffatt tweeted that The Post itself had reported on the purported TikTok challenges. Source: BBC Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Member of Parliament for Effutu and Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin, has gone to the defence of the Clerk of Parliament, Cyril Kwabena Nsiah. The clerk had come under attack from the leadership of the Minority caucus after it emerged that official Parliamentary records on March 29 recorded that eight opposition MPs were absent. The issue has become contentious because the Electronic Transfer Levy (E-Levy) Bill was passed on the said day amid a boycott by the Minority, a walkout that has partly been interpreted in some quarters as being due to failure to marshal all Minority MPs. Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu and Minority Chief Whip, Mohammed-Muntaka Mubarak, raised objections over the development on March 31 during a sitting. Afenyo-Markin differs with their harsh critique of the Clerk and Clerk attendants, whose actions he stressed could have been a genuine mistake. He described some of the critiques as unfair and called for parts of the submissions by the Minority to be expunged from the Hansard. Mr. Speaker, what I disagree with, is the argument that the Clerk and the Clerk attendants are being partisan. That statement coming from a leader of this House is not acceptable. "The Clerk cannot be heard and respond on the floor, so I think that the issue should be addressed by all. This is not a matter we should split hairs on. I think that this issue should be addressed by all. "This is not a matter we should split hairs on. I think that this is a matter we must sit in conclave to resolve. This part of the submission that accuses the Clerk must be expunged from the records, he stressed. What Muntaka said: Muntaka according to a GNA report interpreted the actions of the Clerk as an unforgivable error and a deliberate mistake such as the omission of the walkout staged by the Minority in the official Parliament document. "Mr. Speaker, I can say on record that, except for Hon. James Quayson, MP for Assin North, every single member on our side was in the house. All the other members claimed to be absent were in this house, he said. Mr. Speaker, with the greatest of respect to our Clerks, people indeed react to their party affiliations, but what we expect from them are fairness and accurate reporting. This partisan behaviour, we will not tolerate. Their action was deliberate and intended for a purpose, and unfortunately, that purpose has been achieved," he added. Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video Speaker of Parliament, Alban Bagbin, has opined that he understands why the Minority leadership harshly critiqued Clerks of Parliament, accusing them of being partisan. According to him, such heat ought to be applied in order to get people to act. Despite being unhappy with the clerks being tagged as partisan, he recounted that as Minority Leader he used to mount spirited arguments in the quest to apply heat for an action to be taken. He made the assertion when the Minority side raised issues against the clerks for marking some of its MPs absent despite being present and also for not recording that their side staged a walkout when the E-levy bill was passed on March 29. We have such cases [partisanship accusations] pending before the Parliamentary Service Board and Parliamentary Service Board is handling them and will take disciplinary actions against the members of staff. I have utmost responsibility for the control, management of all the Parliamentary staff. The clerk is only the head [of table]. So Honorable Members, please lets take some time and go through these things well. The heat sometimes is necessary because some Ghanaians are like the tortoise. If you dont put heat under the tortoise, it wont move and so sometimeswhen I was a Minority Leader, I used to put this heat under so I understand why my colleagues are doing the same. In fact, the Majority Leader [Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu] when he was also Minority Leader did the same so we understand that and so I want to end up (by) directing that as we go through the corrections of vote and proceedings, these matters be captured properly in the votes and proceedings of the House of today [ March 31, 2022] as rectifying the errors that were committed on the votes and proceedings on the 29th of March 2022, Bagbin said. Parliament on March 29 passed the E-levy bill despite the Minority staging a walkout. Votes and proceedings of Parliament on the day indicate that 8 NDC MPs were marked absent with one NPP MP, Sarah Adwoa Safo marked as absent. With the exception of Assin North MP, James Gyekye Quayson, who the Minority has admitted was absent, it maintains that the other 7 MPs were present. Source: ghanaweb.com Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority. Featured Video The Calgary Police Service headquarters in Calgary, Thursday, April 9, 2020. The Calgary Police Commission says a union that represents city police officers has distributed countless thin blue line patches and pins in defiance of a recently announced ban against them being worn on duty. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh Youre seeing The Post and Courier's weekly real estate newsletter. Receive all the latest transactions and top development, building, and home and commercial sales news to your inbox each Saturday here. $50M active adult project planned for Carnes Crossroads through developer's new 55-plus division A Charleston apartment developer is adding a division for a rapidly growing demographic segment with plans to put its first project in the Lowcountry. Middle Street Partners will augment its multifamily business with new communities for the 55-plus sector of active adults. Plans are in the works for a 200-unit, four-story project in the developing Carnes Crossroads mixed-use community in Goose Creek. It will include amenities and concierge service for apartment residents. Middle Street's Adam Monroe estimates the as-yet unnamed development's price tag at $50 million. Monroe said some projects could include a mix of apartments and small rental cottages. The nearly 8-acre site, between Roper St. Francis Berkeley Hospital and Farmers and Merchants Bank in the northern section of the Carnes Crossroads development, could include some cottages if the site permits them, according to Chris McGuffin, who will be heading up the new 55-plus endeavor for Middle Street. McGuffin comes to Middle Street after 16 years at Charleston-based Greystar Real Estate Partners, the largest apartment management company in the U.S. McGuffin helped launch and spearhead Greystar's active adult platform. McGuffin said the active adult segment has outperformed other real estate sectors in recent years, calling it a testament to resiliency and growth potential. At the end of the day, its about providing a living option that meets growing market demand," he said. "This will provide an affordable rental option for the 55-plus segment." Middle Street is targeting the Southeast and Texas for its expansion efforts with the new division. Want to receive this newsletter in your inbox every Saturday? Sign up for free. Sign up for our real estate newsletter! Get the best of the Post and Courier's Real Estate news, handpicked and delivered to your inbox each Saturday. Email Sign Up! Richard's dive bar reduced to rubble; redevelopment plans in the works The iconic watering hole, Richard's Bar & Grill on U.S. Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant, was demolished during the past week after being closed since 2018. Plans to redevelop the property, part of a larger 8.5-acre project, are in the works. By the numbers 299,000: The median price of a home in South Carolina spiked in February to nearly $300,000 for the first time, $72,000 more than before the pandemic. 3.5: Millions of dollars spent on an expansion for a lawn care equipment distributor in North Charleston, where 131 new positions were added to the payroll. 3.5: Millions of dollars spent for a record-breaking home sale in the Cliffs at Glassy development in northern Greenville County. This week in real estate + Second helping: The owner of Island Provisions restaurant on Johns Island plans to open a second location on the Charleston peninsula in June. + Sister store: The owner of consignment and antiques shop Mount Pleasant Mall has launched a smaller version on King Street, called Charleston Mall. + On Target: Big-box merchandiser Target Corp. announced one year ago on March 31 it planned to bring a small-format store to King Street. It's not open yet, but window signs say it's "coming soon." A 150-room hotel and a 175-unit apartment building are in the works for the property in the foreground where vehicles are parked at 860 Morrison Drive. This image, from the top of the 12-story Morrison Yard office building that's under construction, shows Morrison Drive on the left and the Ravenel Bridge and 930 NoMo Apartments in the background. The land between the white building and the bridge is a separate parcel owned by the Commissioners of Public Works in Charleston. Did a friend forward you this email? Subscribe here. Craving more? Check out all of the Post and Courier's newsletters here. The Morrison Yard project already includes a 12-story office building and a 10-story apartment project under development near the Ravenel Bridge on the Charleston peninsula. The marshfront site will soon enter a third phase of construction with another large mixed-use project. Developers plan to build a 150-room hotel and 175-unit apartment building at 860 Morrison Drive, just north of the other two projects. Charleston-based Origin Development Partners, a partner in the office structure, paid $2.25 million for the roughly 2-acre parcel in December through separate affiliates, according to Charleston County land records. Origin will partner with Woodfield Development, which is developing the nearby 379-unit Morrison Yard apartment complex, on the as-yet unnamed 10- to 12-story multifamily structure, according to Zach Bearden, a principal at Origin. As for the hotel, Origin will partner with Roswell, Ga.-based DSM Real Estate Partners. The "soft brand" or "boutique" lodging will be eight to 10 stories, according to Bearden. The hotel flag has not been selected, but the site will include a few restaurant options as well. DSM is already acquainted with Charleston. It was involved in the expansion and rehabilitation of Hotel Bella Grace farther south on the peninsula on Calhoun Street. Bearden said, "The design will likely consist of two or more buildings that have unique features, but they will all have a similar architectural language." Renderings are under development, and the price tag has not been determined. Bearden pointed out the design will complement the buildings that are now under construction. "All residential buildings at Morrison Yard will incorporate attainable workforce housing and the proposed hotel will pay into the city of Charleston affordable/workforce housing account in order to increase the affordable housing stock in the city," Bearden said. Other planned improvements for the entire Morrison Yard development include a new waterfront park to be developed on the former Seaboard railway spur adjacent to Johnson Street, a quiet zone and improved rail crossing at Johnson. Also in the plans are sidewalks along both sides of Morrison Drive that do not currently exist, new crosswalks and a direct public bike and pedestrian connection to the Ravenel Bridge. The first units in the Morrison Yard Apartments now under construction are expected to be available by mid-summer while the office building next door is scheduled for completion in September. Developer Jeff Mixson said a delay in construction materials has pushed the opening back from the previous July target. Fewer units An apartment project planned for the north end of the Charleston peninsula has been pared down slightly since it was first presented to the city last fall. Sign up for our real estate newsletter! Get the best of the Post and Courier's Real Estate news, handpicked and delivered to your inbox each Saturday. Email Sign Up! The Darby by Fides Development of Atlanta originally was slated to have 365 units. Site plans now show the project with 329 units at Meeting Street Road and Greenleaf Street on a 3.32-acre parcel owned by Cooper River Corp. LLC. Plans also show a 428-space parking garage on the back side of the L-shaped, five-story apartment building. The property is south of The Refinery mixed-use building and north of the soon-to-be-redeveloped Pepsi bottling plant. New age A Charleston apartment developer is adding a division for a rapidly growing demographic segment with plans to put its first project in the Lowcountry. Middle Street Partners will augment its multifamily business with new communities for the 55-plus sector of active adults. Plans are in the works for a 200-unit, four-story project in the Carnes Crossroads mixed-use community in Goose Creek. It will include amenities and concierge service for renters. Middle Street's Adam Monroe estimates the as-yet unnamed development's price tag at $50 million. The nearly 8-acre site between Roper St. Francis Berkeley Hospital and Farmers and Merchants Bank could include some cottages if the site permits them, according to Chris McGuffin, who will be heading up the new 55-plus endeavor for Middle Street. McGuffin comes to Middle Street after 16 years at Charleston-based Greystar Real Estate Partners, the largest apartment management company in the U.S. McGuffin helped launch and spearhead Greystar's active adult platform. McGuffin said the active adult segment has outperformed other real estate sectors in recent years, calling it a testament to resiliency and growth potential. At the end of the day, its about providing a living option that meets growing market demand," he said. "This will provide an affordable rental option for the 55-plus segment." Middle Street is targeting the Southeast and Texas for its expansion efforts with the new division. "We see the growth of our new 'Active Adult' division as not only a solution for the markets clear demand, but also as an opportunity to directly address the needs of one of the largest demographics in the U.S.," said Johnson Bazzel, Middle Street's president of development. COLUMBIA Homebuilders claim new Richland County zoning proposals could leave 80 percent of the county undevelopable for new subdivisions. Paired with recently passed housing-density restrictions across much of Lexington County, the cost of buying a home across the Columbia metro area could rise sharply and drive builders into neighboring counties, industry analysts said. "Youre going to cut the number of houses built in half and they'll all be at a higher price," John Hunt, a Southeast housing market analyst with Atlanta-based Via Research, said of density restrictions. For example, when Lexington County made changes to its development rules, the head of the Building Industry Association of Central S.C., Allen Hutto, estimated it would add $50,000, largely in land costs, to the price of a home. While developers are still allowed to build, the increase in price makes it less desirable and less cost effective in an already expensive market. But neighbors see it differently, worried that new subdivisions, townhomes and apartments would be automatically allowed in parts of the county where they were previously only approved on a case-by-case basis. Governing bodies in fast-growing areas across South Carolina have turned to measures like lower density zoning in an effort to slow the rapid pace of development and the struggles, including increased traffic and more crowded schools, that come with it. "It is the exact wrong thing to do in a crisis," Hunt said of limits on density. "Who cares that we have the worst housing shortage in the history of this country; let's just say, 'Screw that,' and make it even worse." The latest data from the South Carolina Association of Realtors shows less than a months supply worth of homes available for sale. About 16,710 homes are sold in the Midlands annually. The Columbia area has long been known for a lower cost of living than South Carolina's coastal cities, but as zoning gets more strict, housing costs are likely to rise, Hutto said. But the restrictions are coming to a region struggling to hold on to its younger population. South Carolina's in-migration rate in 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, was the second highest in the country behind Idaho's, said University of South Carolina economist Joey Von Nessen. But Columbia's prime working age population adults aged 25 to 54 grew by just 2.5 percent over the past decade. The same group grew by 15 percent in Charleston, 34 percent in Greenville and 64 percent in Rock Hill. "These counties are unwittingly shutting out the lifeblood of their community the young people," Hunt said, adding that millennials make up 37 percent of current homebuyers. "On one hand, some zoning laws can preserve the value of existing housing in an area, but that also can drive up the prices for new homes," Von Nessen said, which can cut some people out of the ability to own a home. Builders then go to farther flung places where land costs less and restrictions are fewer so they can build houses at a price people can afford, Hunt said. Von Nessen said that in South Carolina and across the country, the industry has been under-building, particularly in the last five years, as the nation came out of the Great Recession that flooded the market with foreclosed homes when people couldn't pay their adjustable rate mortgages. "Supply hasn't met demand, so what we're seeing now is an exacerbation of that trend," he said. Homebuilders insist supply will not get much better with Richland County's proposed zoning changes. That's because, while some property is being rezoned to allow for more density, the land requirements for development in other areas will rise substantially, halting any future growth. A typical subdivision has three to five homes per acre. But if new zoning maps are passed by Richland County Council, it will require between 1 acre and 3 acres to build a new home across the majority of the county. This is true particularly in the northwest part of the county, which Hutto said builders see as a logical direction for growth as the state prepares to widen Interstate 26. Builders point to the area around Dutch Fork High School in Irmo, a growing town that straddles Richland and Lexington counties. Surrounding the school on three sides, any new subdivision developed will have to have lots more than an acre in size, cutting the number of homes previously allowed on that land by 20 percent. But Kim Murphy, who lives in the area between Irmo and Chapin, is more worried about what will happen to the land south of the high school. That's because this is one of the chunks of land that, with the redrawing of the map, in one fell swoop will allow much higher density than before across several hundred acres of property. Previously, every time a builder wanted to put in a subdivision here, they had to go before council to get it rezoned. If the map changes, it would be allowed without the council's review. "County Council has the ability to weigh in now and decide whether the schools or roads can handle it," she said. While the development process is lengthier, she believes giving up that control is a mistake as the area grows, crowding schools, streets and sewer systems beyond their current capacity. Hutto said what neighbors don't have is an answer for where these subdivisions should go instead as more people come looking for a place to live. Members of Tanglewood Middle School's community gathered outside of a church across the street from the school to hold a vigil for Jamari Cortez Bonaparte-Jackson on April 1, the day after the 12 year old was shot and killed on school grounds. The quiet, empty middle school served as a backdrop to the somber event where members of the local community comforted one another in the wake of the horrific event. They lit candles and sang Amazing Grace as area pastors shared verses from the Bible and urged the community to look out for one another to prevent tragedy from striking again in the future. Henry Parks, who has lived in the community for more than 40 years, attended the vigil with his step-daughter and grandson. He wanted to attend the vigil at Grace Bible Church because despite the community's grief, he believed they should be there for each other. When kids start killing kids, somebodys got to step up, somebodys got to listen," he said. The vigil was held the night after Jackson was shot in the chest in a hallway at Tanglewood Middle School in Greenville. Jackson was transported to Greenville Memorial Hospital after he was shot, and was later pronounced dead. Greenville County Sheriffs Office deputies located and arrested a classmate of Jacksons a little more than an hour after the shooting. The boy, also 12, has been charged with murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, possession of a firearm on school property and unlawful possession of a weapon by a person under the age of 18, according to the sheriffs office. The suspects name has not been released because he is a minor. An autopsy was completed on Jackson on April 1 and his body was released to the family. Bruce Wilson, a community activist representing the family, held a press conference a couple hours before the vigil and asked locals to not use Jackson's death to further their own agendas like advocating for metal detectors or more school surveillance. He said that now was the time to pray, not take action. Sign up for our Education Lab newsletter. Email Sign Up! Wilson attended the vigil on behalf of the family and said the family. We wanted to say we appreciate the support, Wilson said. Of course this familys going to need a lot of prayers. Donna Tillman, a first-year teacher at Tanglewood, said the shots were fired as hundreds of seventh graders were in the hallways changing classes. She heard the shots on the floor below her and ushered students into her classroom where they huddled in a corner of the room for more than an hour as deputies swept the building. Tillman said she was thankful no other students were struck by gunfire in the busy hallway and she urged the community to continue to support the students to make the school especially its hallways feel safe again. She said some students were in shock as they processed the tragedy and anything those around could do to help them feel safe would be welcome in the days ahead. The greatest way anyone can feel safe in an environment is to know those around you, Tillman said. Stephen Kidd, an assistant pastor at Grace Bible Church who counseled students after the shooting, said that the community needs to rally around the school and the kids. Let them know theyre not going to be left in this situation, Kidd said. Were going to be there. Were going to try to show up, were going to try to lean in to this matter. As darkness descended on the vigil and the lit candles burned low, a pastor urged the attendees to raise their candles high. He wanted them to be the light in a dark day. South Carolina had the highest amount of school shootings in 47 years in 2021, according to a Post and Courier analysis of Center for Homeland Security and Defense data. There were nine shootings in K-12 schools last year, up from three shootings in 2020 and one in 2019. Over half of the 2021 shootings occurred in the fall and winter. School shootings are in the spotlight after 12-year-old Jamari Jackson was killed by a classmate at Tanglewood Middle School on March 31. The alleged shooter, who is also 12, was arrested by Greenville County Sheriff deputies and charged with murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, possession of a firearm on school property and unlawful possession of a weapon by a person under 18. The suspects name has not been released because hes a minor. The sharp uptick of school shootings in South Carolina is part of a broader national trend where K-12 schools across the country are seeing increasing levels of violence. According to the news outlet Education Weeks school shooting tracker, there have already been 21 shootings this year, including the incident at Tanglewood. There were 34 school shootings last year, the majority of which happened after August. Health and school safety experts attribute this increase in violence to the mental health crisis children are experiencing as the pandemic drags on into its third year. Childrens mental health issues have been on the rise for years, but the pandemic exacerbated these already existing problems. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Childrens Hospital Association all declared a national emergency in childrens health in October 2021 because the COVID-19 pandemic further worsened pre-existing conditions. Elizabeth Mack, spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics and MUSC pediatric critical care physician, said health care providers are definitely seeing a rise in both mental health crises and also firearm injuries. Obviously, a lot of kids were experiencing a lot of stressors prior to the pandemic, and then the uncertainty and isolation, and frank loss of a lot of peoples family members resulted in a surge of mental health concerns, Mack said. Sign up for our Education Lab newsletter. Email Sign Up! The Post and Couriers analysis found that a third of the 2021 shootings happened at an elementary school and approximately 56 percent happened at high schools. They all occurred outside of the school with two thirds happening in a parking lot and about 23 percent on school buses. In one incident at Chesterfield Elementary School an adult woman shot her son-in-law in the leg in the schools parking lot. During another at Forest Lake Elementary in Columbia an army trainee jumped the fence with a rifle and hijacked a school bus filled with students. One of the incidents, at Ware Shoals High School, was a suicide where a student got out of his car with a handgun and shot himself in the head. The data analyzed is from the Center for Homeland Security and Defenses K-12 School Shooting Databases. The database documents when a gun is brandished, is fired, or a bullet hits school property for any reason, regardless of the number of victims, time of day, or day of week. It looks at cases of more than 1,550 K-12 school shootings from the 1970s to the present. Donate to our Investigative Fund to support journalism like this Our public service and investigative reporting is among the most important work we do. Its also the most expensive reporting we do. We cant do it without your support. Donate Now This story is developing. Kingstree, SC (29556) Today Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 88F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 60%.. Tonight Scattered thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 61F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%. COLUMBIA A student project at Allen University opened to the public on March 31 with a symposium examining the important work of the late newspaper editor John Henry McCray as well as contributions by living Black media professionals. The day-long S.C. Black Press Institute Symposium is just one of several components of an ongoing project funded by a three-year $44,000 National Park Service grant secured by Allen University in 2020. The project, supervised by Kevin Trumpeter, the schools dean of arts and humanities, has taken advantage of the now-digitized archive of McCrays The Lighthouse and Informer newspaper, housed at the South Caroliniana Library in Columbia. The librarys McCray-related holdings include correspondence, photographs and other materials that describe his advocacy and activism. For the project, students at Allen University, an historically Black school affiliated with the AME Church, perform archival research, visit historical sites, collect oral histories and develop educational resources and programming, Trumpeter said. The grant enables him to award four fellowships a semester to undergraduate students. The fellowships provide tuition assistance, cover field trip-related expenses and secure copies of Sid Bedingfields book Newspaper Wars: Civil Rights and White Resistance in South Carolina, 1935-1965, which delves into McCrays contributions. The Lighthouse and Informer operated from 1941-54. During those year, McCray worked closely with Modjeska Simkins and the NAACP to challenge entrenched racism and discrimination. The newspaper was his mouthpiece. Bedingfield, one of the speakers, discussed how The Lighthouse and Informer took positions on the 1943-44 case about equalizing teacher pay; on the protest against all-White Democratic primaries; in support of Isaac Woodard, a returning World War II soldier who on his way home was assaulted and blinded by Batesville Chief of Police Linwood Shull. The newspaper also voiced support of the Clarendon County plaintiffs in the Briggs v. Elliott case, which prompted federal Judge J. Waties Waring to write his famous dissent asserting that segregation is per se inequality and, in so doing, set the stage for school desegregation in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. McCray's newspaper not only advanced the political causes of the day, it engendered a common purpose and cultural identity, Bedingfield said. The Society Notes feature included dozens of names of African Americans in every issue, referencing indirectly the Great Migration and providing a sense that (readers) are part of this larger community thats set to take action." On March 11, McCray became the first African American inducted into the South Carolina Journalism Hall of Fame. The office of The Lighthouse and Informer was located on Harden Street across from Allen University. The space is abandoned now, and Trumpeter would like to find grant money to renovate it and transform it into a media center or museum of some kind, he said. At the symposium, attendees also heard from Orangeburg-based photographer Cecil Williams, who has spent a lifetime documenting civil rights leaders and events in South Carolina; podcaster, entrepreneur and activist Tamika Gadsden; Free Times columnist Preach Jacobs; photojournalist Crush Rush; S.C. Rep. Wendy Brawley, publisher and CEO of Imara Woman magazine; and Bakari Sellers, CNN commentator and podcaster. It was the final day of debate on the Senates voucher bill, and Republican Leader Shane Massey was arguing that private schools should have to administer South Carolina's accountability test to students who receive the so-called education scholarships, rather than less-useful tests of the private schools' choosing. His effort succeeded, and the Senate went on to kill a bait-and-switch attempt to enlarge the program even before it started and to open it to wealthy kids if poor kids dont take all the slots. That is: Senators refused to make S.935 worse and even made it a little less bad by the time they sent it to the House on Thursday. But before those votes, Mr. Massey said something that piqued the interest of Sen. Ronnie Sabb, and the Williamsburg County lawyer asked a question to plant a seed for a future debate a not-uncommon tactic that sometimes generates productive harvests, and sometimes simply extends an already-endless debate. When the constitution talks about a minimally adequate education that the state must provide, I believe that it goes beyond just the curriculum to encompass buildings and equipment, Sen. Sabb said. Actually, Sen. Massey responded, The constitution doesnt say minimally adequate. A circuit judge included those words in there, he said, but the constitution doesnt say that. He was right on the first point, wrong on the second, and in any event the moment passed without any attention given to the actual significance of that wrongly maligned phrase. All three parts deserve our attention, particularly at this moment when the Legislature is poised to adopt a voucher plan that the phrases actual author once complained was distracting lawmakers from their most important job. As Sen. Massey explained, what South Carolinas constitution speaks of is a free public education. Article XI, Section 3 of the South Carolina Constitution says The General Assembly shall provide for the maintenance and support of a system of free public schools open to all children in the State. But it wasnt some circuit judge who came up with the minimally adequate" language. Circuit Judge Thomas W. Cooper Jr. did use that term in 2005 when he ruled that South Carolina was meeting its obligation in some respects and not in others. But he was quoting Chief Justice Ernest Finney, who used the term in what he considered his most important decision, the S.C. Supreme Courts 1999 Abbeville v. South Carolina school adequacy order. Contrary to still-popular critique, the import of the minimally adequate ruling wasnt that it set a low bar: A constitutional requirement, after all, is by definition a minimum. What was important about the opinion was that it rejected a lower court ruling that "free public schools" meant just that and nothing more. In Abbeville, the high court established for the first time that it was the responsibility of the state of South Carolina and specifically of the Legislature to provide an adequate education, not just a free one, to all the kids in our state. The attorney for the 37 districts that sued the state did note at the time that the ruling meant "each child in South Carolina now has a constitutionally protected right to an adequate education, but "adequate" and even the underappreciated words that preceded that phrase about the "opportunity for each child" to receive that education were quickly overshadowed by the knee-jerk backlash to the word "minimally." Justice Finney would later tell The Post and Courier that he deliberately downplayed the magnitude of the ruling to get other justices to sign on, but he obviously smarted from how the very people who should have celebrated the landmark ruling instead attacked it, harrumphing about how S.C. children deserve more than the minimum. If he were still alive, Im sure he would be terribly disappointed that after 23 years, rather than providing that adequate education, we're still complaining that the ruling was itself inadequate and the phrase vague and undefined. It was not. The other crucially important thing about the ruling was that it defined adequate. As Justice Finney wrote: We define this minimally adequate education required by our Constitution to include providing students adequate and safe facilities (there's Sen. Sabb's point) in which they have the opportunity to acquire: 1) the ability to read, write, and speak the English language, and knowledge of mathematics and physical science; 2) a fundamental knowledge of economic, social, and political systems, and of history and governmental processes; and 3) academic and vocational skills. For too many kids in too many S.C. schools, that definition of adequate remains out of reach. Although legislators have made some modest reforms and are beginning to provide less-inadequate funding, they have not been willing to ensure that the schools that are failing those children get the funding they need and the leaders who know how to spend it well. They have not been willing to provide principals with the authority to attract the best teachers and force out the ones who arent up to the job. They have not been willing to give the state Education Department the power, resources and mandate to turn around all the districts and schools that arent delivering. And now, implicitly acknowledging their failure to meet their constitutional obligations, they seek to offload those obligations onto private schools that will never have the capacity, desire or, with rare exceptions, ability to ensure that all South Carolina children receive an adequate education. In a 2004 guest column in Columbias State newspaper, the then-retired Justice Finney warned that If we don't properly educate our young people, we don't stand a chance of moving up the economic ladder of this nation. Of course, he continued, there are issues on the fringes, such as charter schools and vouchers. The General Assembly seems more interested in those issues. If we aren't careful, they will diminish what we do for public education to our lasting detriment. Editorials represent the institutional view of the newspaper. They are written and edited by the editorial staff, which operates separately from the news department. Editorial writers are not involved in newsroom operations. There have been contradictions about our local government's strategy on COVID-19 testing and limitations for those who have come in close cont Read more Yale Law School has long been a disgrace. I was surprised, when I searched for YLS on our site, at how often we have commented on farcical events there. Way back in 2003, we wrote about Yale Law Schools disgusting treatment of military recruiters. That was followed by Yales lawsuit trying to have the Solomon Amendment declared unconstitutional. The Solomon Amendment provides that universities that receive federal funding must treat military recruiters in non-discriminatory fashion. The horror! Yale and its fellow left-wing institutions lost 8-0 in the Supreme Court. Elena Kagan was among those leading the anti-military charge. In 2014, we commented on a pitifully weak op-ed co-authored by the Dean of Harvard Law School and the Provost of Yale Law School complaining about the fact that police officers were not charged with homicide in the Michael Brown (a clear case of self-defense) and Eric Garner cases. Then there was the hysterical anti-Brett Kavanaugh letter signed by YLS students, alumni and professors. (Judge Kavanaughs nomination presents an emergency for democratic life, for our safety and freedom, for the future of our country. He is a threat to many of us, despite the privilege bestowed by our education, simply because of who we are. . . people will die if he is confirmed.) In 2021, we wrote about a controversy over whether the Yale Law Journal is racist, even though it accepts black and Hispanic students at rates far greater than whites. Later last year, Scott covered in a series of posts the story of Trent Colbert, a YLS student who apparently didnt get the memo. After sending classmates a jocular email inviting them to a party at his trap house, he was subjected to Kafkaesque torment by the law schools administrationtorment that he resisted, ultimately successfully. Finally, last month, a group of fascist Yale Law students successfully shouted down a Federalist Society program that featured a dialogue between a leftist and a representative of the Alliance Defending Freedom. The protest was rowdy enough that police were summoned to maintain order. Now, more than 400 Yale Law students, representing over 60 percent of the student body, have signed a pathetically weak letter to the law schools administration protesting the fact that law enforcement was called to keep the peace. The letter would be dumb if it came from a group of 7th graders. The fact that it comes from law students reflects the catastrophic decline of education in America. The letter isnt worth a lengthy deconstruction, but here are a few observations: We write as a coalition of queer students and allies deeply concerned with the presence of armed police at a peaceful protest of law students on campus this past Thursday. Right. 60 percent of the student body. Understandably, a large swath of YLS students felt that FedSocs decision to lend legitimacy to this hate group by inviting its general counsel to speak at YLS profoundly undermined our communitys values of equity and inclusivity at a time when LGBTQ youth are actively under attack in Texas, Florida, and other states. Not sure what is going on in Texas, but in Florida LGBTQ youth are actively under attack because teachers cant talk about sexany sexin the classroom until the kids are 9 years old. Which any sane person would say is way too soon. This is the kind of cause that left-wing students gravitate toward nowadays. And in any event, inviting speakers you disagree with hardly undermines any communitys values. This is what, in the old days, was known as free speech. Lawyers need to be good at evaluating evidence. These law students are terrible at it. For example: It is important to recognize that, nationwide, LGBTQ people are six times more likely to be stopped by the police than non-LGBTQ people. I dont know, maybe its just me, but I would say that the gays I know are less likely than most to be stopped by the police. So what gives? The students open letter includes a link for this purported statistic that takes you to a publication by a gay-oriented group called the Williams Institute. So how did the Williams Institute conclude that gays are six times as likely to be stopped by police as non-gays? By comparing two completely different surveys. One was a survey of gays by a gay organizationa national probability sample of LGBQ people (Generations study). The other was a survey of all Americans: We compare these findings to results from the Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS)a survey of the U.S. general population conducted by the Bureau of Justice Statistics. You dont have to be an elite law student to understand that you cant compare findings from two completely different surveys of two different populations, using completely different methodologies. But these Yale Law School students are babes in the woods, intellectually. I find this statement from the Williams Institute post they rely on to be risible: Compared with the general population, almost six times as many LGBQ people were stopped by the police in a public space (6% vs. 1%) Really? How does that work? Hey, partner, the woman driving that minivan at 50 mph in a 35 zone looks like a lesbian to me. Lets pull her over. How dumb can a law student be? Pretty dumb. More from the open letter: The safety of a large contingent of YLS studentsa group of largely LGBTQ and BIPOC studentswas put at risk, possibly by our own administration. The risk was not just hypothetical: one of the officers called into SLB went as far as to try to move a trans student by physically pushing against them [sic] with his much larger body, despite the fact that the student was standing where OSA representatives had asked them [sic] to stand. The concept of safety has been distorted beyond all bounds by the Left. Generally it now means that leftists must be safe from learning that anyone disagrees with them. Here, safety means not being moved by a police officer when (s)he was disrupting a scheduled event. More to the point, though, what is striking is the complete disassociation of these law students from the justice system. Lawyerssome of them, anywayand police officers are part of a unified system that tries to maintain order and protect normal citizens from predators. But these law students dont see it that way. They see police officers as alien beings who have no role in their weird universe. This would not bode well if we assume, as many do, that these Yale Law School students are among Americas future leaders. I question that premise. These kids are not smart enough, nor do they have the requisite character, to lead anyone. And Yale Law School has always been an odd outlier. When I was a law student, the conventional wisdom was that Harvard Law School was where you wanted to go if you intended to be a lawyer. Yale was a much smaller law school, attended mostly by people who wanted a nice-sounding degree but didnt actually want to practice law. Bill Clinton is a good example. Of course there are a few honorable exceptions; Glenn Reynolds stands out as a Yale Law School grad. But in general, Yale Law School grads have had little impact on the legal profession. The dim-witted kids who signed the open letter protesting the maintenance of order at YLS may think they are on top of the world, but most of them will need to earn a living before long. That may prove harder than they expect. DC Circuit Court Judge Laurence Silberman has called for his fellow Article III judges to consider denying clerkships to those who participated in the YLS protest, and Steve has documented the fact that Yale law grads are losing out, already, on federal judicial clerkships. But the real action is in the law firms and in-house legal positions. I dont think Yale grads have ever been highly valued among practicing lawyers, for the reason stated above. My old law firm hired lots of Harvard Law graduates, but only a handful, at most, of Yale grads. I think that is pretty typical. The current generation of low-standards, high-self image Yale Law students may be in for a rude awakening when they go out into the marketplace and try to earn a living. Because bullying doesnt work well in a free market environment. The telecom company, MTN, has said it paid N757 billion in direct and indirect tax to the Nigerian government agencies in 2021. The company said it paid N618.7 billion in direct and indirect taxes to the FIRS in the 2021 tax year, making it the largest single biggest contributor to taxes in Nigeria. In a statement by the companys secretary, Uto Ukpanah, MTN Nigeria said its total tax contribution to all government agencies was 13.5% of FIRS total collection for the year. In 2021, MTN Nigerias total tax contribution to all government agencies including the FIRS amounted to N757.6bn while FIRS collected a total of N6.4trn tax revenue in the year, the statement said. Specifically, MTN Nigeria paid a total of N618.7bn in direct and indirect taxes to the FIRS in the 2021 tax year, representing approximately 13.5 per cent of the total FIRS collection for the year. The telecom company also disclosed that it was recognised as the most tax-compliant organisation and a part of the top 20 taxpayers in the nation at the National Tax Dialogue event organised by the FIRS. The Chief Financial Officer, MTN, Modupe Kadri, who received the awards on behalf of the company, said, I am delighted at our performance and recognition at this years National Tax Dialogue event. While the past 24 months have been challenging for our country and nations worldwide, we are committed to supporting the Federal Governments ongoing Economic Growth Recovery Plan. We will continue to invest heavily in network expansion with a focus on expanding access to under-served communities. We also plan to connect an additional 2,000 rural communities in 2022. The FIRS acknowledged MTN was one its biggest tax payers although a spokesperson did not immediately comment on the specific of its percentage contribution. At the tax dialogue event at the State House, attended by President Muhammadu Buhari, FIRS celebrated and rewarded Nigerias highest paying and most compliant taxpayers, including MTN, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, NOCACO, AIRTEL and CHEVRON. Call for Support The executive chairman of FIRS, Muhammad Nami, called for support for the tax system to make it function efficiently. Speaking at the tax dialogue event, Mr Nami urged politicians to treat tax revenue generation as an apolitical issue. While highlighting the revenue profile of the country in 2021, which showed that the FIRS contributed a monthly average of 59.45% of revenue shared by FAAC, Mr Nami stated that it had become clear that the survival of the nation is dependent on tax revenue. All hands must be on deck to support the tax system and make it function efficiently, he said. However, it is surprising that some people have begun to play politics with tax revenue generation. We humbly invite the President to step-in to dissuade political tax gladiators to sheath their swords. Tax revenue is an inherently apolitical issue; it should be treated as such by all, irrespective of their political leaning. The FIRS boss further highlighted how the agency was able to record an unprecedented feat in tax revenue generation in 2021, adding that it surpassed its target and collected N6.4 trillion, the highest collection ever in the history of the FIRS. Idowu Emmanuel, a father of seven, was excited when his wife delivered a set of twins 11 years ago. The twins, a boy and a girl, were born healthy and developing at a normal pace. Unfortunately, the excitement of the family was short-lived after they started noticing something unusual about the girl child four months later. One day, the mother gave her food and left her to me. All of a sudden, she started pouring out saliva and her eyes were turning, Mr Emmanuel told PREMIUM TIMES. He said that despite taking her to the hospital repeatedly for treatment, she continued convulsing on different occasions. One time we went back to the hospital again and after a series of tests and scans, the doctor gave us the saddest news that our child has autism, he said. Mr Emmanuel, a civil servant, said life has not remained the same for his family since their child was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This is a condition we have never heard of and all of a sudden, a doctor said my child may not be able to speak or even walk. It was too much to accept, he said. He said that although there are numerous challenges families dealing with autism encounter in Nigeria, the cost of treatment and therapy is the most challenging of them all. We spend at least N600,000 on treatment and therapy every three months. That means in a year, almost N3 million is required to take care of our child, he said. Autism is a condition rarely talked about in Nigeria. It is considered one of the most ignored health issues in the country. There is low awareness and inadequate provision for early diagnosis and management of the neurodevelopmental disorder. As a result, children born with autism are denied necessary care because their families cannot bear the financial implications that accompany such a health condition. Some persons with autism are also isolated and locked up by their families due to the stigmatisation attached to having a child with autism. Autism Spectrum Disorder ASD is a highly heterogeneous group of neurodevelopmental disorders characterised by different levels of impairment in social communication and interaction, repetitive behaviours, and restricted language ability. It is usually first diagnosed in early childhood and the effects and severity of symptoms are different in each person. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), people with autism often have co-occurring conditions, including epilepsy, depression, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as well as other challenging behaviours such as difficulty sleeping and self-injury. The WHO also said the level of intellectual functioning among people with autism varies widely, extending from profound impairment to superior levels. Children with autism have problems communicating with other people and some of them may be non-verbal and some that are verbal cant speak well, an autism specialist, Doris Izuwah, told PREMIUM TIMES. Ms Izuwah said that when it comes to social life, persons with autism may have poor eye contact and may experience difficulty understanding the thought process of another person. For you to say a child has autism, the social aspects and communication must have been affected, she said. The autism expert said that although there are no known causes of autism, some predisposing factors contribute to a child developing the condition. She said autism is genetically influenced because of the gene of the child. We have other things like viral and bacterial infections, inability to digest certain foods, and exposure to chemicals which their bodies couldnt process, she said. Prevalence rate An increasing prevalence of ASD has been reported worldwide. Advertisements Data obtained from WHO indicates that one in 100 children lives with Autism globally. There are 135 million established cases of autism in the world. Although data on autism in Nigeria and Africa generally is sketchy, a 2014 research indicated that 54 of the observed sample of 2,320 children in Nigeria had autism. The research shows that the condition is relatively more common among boys as 45 males and nine females were identified with autism in the 2014 study. Despite the fact that there are no recent statistics on autism in Nigeria, the majority of persons with autism lack medical, psycho-social and financial support. So far, we have had a one on one session with close to 4,000 families and the number increases day by day and we begin to wonder if the Nigerian government has accurate data of children with autism, Francis Oko, the director of Ike Foundation for Autism (IFA), said. Costly treatment, therapy PREMIUM TIMES visited the Ike Foundation for Autism to ascertain the cost and categories of therapy that children with autism are expected to go through. Mr Oko said the cost of treatment and therapy for an average Nigerian family is punishing. He said the average cost of therapy alone for a child with autism ranges from N350,000 to N600,000 quarterly. He said some adults with autism would have made progress if they had the economic means but because they cannot afford interventions, they are forced back and locked up in their homes. A family that cannot afford three meals in a day, how can they afford thousands of Naira to cover intervention for three months, Mr Oko, a behavioural therapist, said. Stanley Effah, whose son was diagnosed with autism in 2010, said the cost of treatment is more draining than other factors associated with the condition. Mr Effah said his wife gave birth to Ferdinand, their third child and first son, in November 2008. He said they were taken aback by the slow development of the child. We noticed his growth and development was really slow compared to his older siblings and so we started visiting the hospital, Mr Effah said. He said his son was eventually diagnosed with autism at age two and this has changed their lives forever. I knew it wasnt going to be an easy task for me as a father and for us as a family because managing older children is difficult not to talk of children with special needs, he said. He said raising Ferdinand has been a struggle due to the financial implications of treatment and different therapy recommended for children with autism. We have been putting in all our efforts financially over the years. We spend lots and lots of money every month on his food, treatments and various interventions. In most cases, you are spending so much, devoting your time and sometimes, you think the specialists are exploiting you because it doesnt get better, he said. Similarly, Silvia Tagbo, who has a 12 years old son with autism, said the cost of managing the disorder is unending. Ms Tagbo said a child with autism requires more than one therapy to attain their full potential. It is very expensive because for you to get the best out of your child, one therapy isnt enough to fix all issues. You have to get different therapists for different purposes. If your child is interested in sports, you have to cover that, If its a child that doesnt socialise, you have to get a one on one intervention, if its art or piano, you have to do the same, she said. Subsidised cost Mr Oko, who is also the Vice- President of the Association for Behaviour Analysis Nigeria (ABAN), said many families suffer due to their inability to afford required therapy for persons with autism. He said the Nigerian government must intervene urgently to get more people diagnosed, managed and placed in therapy. He said this will help families live a more fulfilled life knowing that a condition did not make their child less human. The federal government needs to come in, they need to intervene urgently. The government can subsidise the cost of treatment, they can establish government owned centres at a reduced cost, he said. Assessment fees range from N45,000 to N75,000 at some centres, but as a way of supporting families, we charge N15,000 at this centre. But even with this, lots of people cannot afford it. He said this is not sustainable for privates centres as it is costly to pay one therapist per child. He said the government has the resources and capacities to fund and sustain autism management in the country. In developed nations, once a child is diagnosed with a spectrum, the government takes over that child. We have to put up a system to ensure this happens in Nigeria, he said. Ms Izuwah also said that if the government can find ways of subsiding the costs, more parents will present their kids for therapy. They can support NGOs at the forefront of autism by covering some costs, pay bills of children and even give these kids scholarships, she said. Late diagnosis, other challenges Every year, thousands of children are believed to be born with autism in Nigeria. Unfortunately, the diagnosis of autism is often delayed due to factors such as ignorance, inexperienced medical personnel, non-functional health facilities and lack of financial resources. Once children with autism are not diagnosed and managed on time, they become a burden to their families and society, experts said. A Senior Registrar at the Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital, Calabar, Olusola Attoe, said symptoms like impaired social interaction, communication skills and repetitive behaviour are seen in autism and can be noticed from an early age. Ms Attoe said it is important for autism to be diagnosed early and the diagnosis can be made before a child turns three years old. Early diagnosis is also important because the child will be checked for any other co-occuring medical conditions, she said. She said the management of autism requires behavioural modifications which are important at the early stages of the childs life. Ms Izuwah, the specialist and director of Our Lady of Guadalupe health foundation autism centre, said early diagnosis and interventions are key to getting good results in children with autism. She said the benefits of early intervention are enormous because the childs brain is still tender. She explained that it is always good to present children before the age of three to achieve the best result. She said they learn better and faster when they are young compared to when they are already grown and stuck in their attitudes. I recently diagnosed a 20 years old child of autism. This has deprived the child of the benefits that come with early interventions. These children just sit at home, not having access to education or health facility, she said. Stigma and discrimination Mr Oko, the behavioural therapist, said that asides from financial constraints, most families experience stigmatisation hence denying them emotional and psychological support needed from society. He said children with autism are rejected, abused and stigmatised within the family circles and society. He said the high rate of discrimination has prevented lots of parents from seeking help for their wards. Moses Ekuma, a lawyer and father of a 21-year-old with autism, shared his experience. Mr Ekuma said more awareness is needed for the world to accept people living with such conditions. He said people with autism suffer stigmatisation in various forms. When my child is stigmatised, I am also indirectly stigmatised but I know that this is my cross to carry, he said. People usually say all sort of things like we used our child for ritual purposes amongst others, he said. More awareness required Mr Izuwah said many Nigerians have poor knowledge about autism. Most people especially those in rural communities still do not know what autism is. They claim its a demonic disease or witchcraft, she said. She said if the awareness level is increased, the rate of stigmatisation will reduce. She explained the need to also sensitise religious and traditional leaders at the community levels. If there is no awareness, the understanding of autism will always be low and people will not know what to do or how to relate with people living with the condition, she said. A review of Nigerias health budget for 2022 shows there is no provision for the disorder. PREMIUM TIMES attempted to speak to officials at the health ministry on why this is so. The deputy director, media and public relations unit at the federal ministry of health, A.A.Chindaya, declined calls and failed to respond to messages sent by this reporter. However, an official at the ministry, who asked not to be named, said the government would soon pay attention to people living with autism. We just started a branch for children with special needs, it is still at its infant stage. As for autism, we havent done anything on it. We are just trying to reach out to partners so we can be able to have broader contact with persons with autism, the official said. World Autism Day The World Autism Awareness Day is marked on April 2 every year to encourage awareness about the existence of the disorder and remember millions of persons living with autism globally. Many advocates also see the annual event as an opportunity to act on behalf of affected individuals and lobby for more services, equal treatment and an individualised approach to just about everything. The theme for the 2022 World Autism Day is: Inclusion in the Workplace: Challenges and Opportunities in a Post-Pandemic World. The theme was adopted by the UN in 2021 to reflect on some issues highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) has declared an end to its sit-at- home order in South-east Nigeria, traditional rulers in the region said Saturday. The Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council said the group yielded to the appeal of the Anambra government and traditional rulers to pave the way for peace, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). Speaking at a one-day peace building and security meeting in Awka, the state capital, the chairman of the traditional rulers council, Nnaemeka Achebe, said IPOB took the stance after Igbo leaders, including religious leaders, declared their intention to find a lasting solution to the insecurity and the incessant sit-at-home directives in the region. Mr Achebe, who is the Igwe of Onitsha, said Igbo leaders have continually held meetings with the agitators on the way forward for lasting resolutions of the problem. He said after its meeting with the group on April 1, it was agreed that a call to release the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, would be a step to douse the tension in the state. He said that after the meeting, IPOB placed a call to all its members to put down their arms and accept dialogue. We call on all who had taken the way of guns to put down their guns and take up the olive leaf from the government to better themselves, Mr Achebe said. He said the state government has set April 4 for prayers aimed at seeking Gods face to restore peace in Anambra and South-east. NAN quoted Mr Achebe as saying that it was agreed that on April 4, all churches in Igboland and South-east would come together for prayers to seek Gods forgiveness and to restore peace. Igboland has lost so much in economic and social development. We are tired of the situation and want peace. It is agreed that on Sunday, April 3, all churches will announce the IPOB decision to their faithful to come out on Monday 11a.m. to their various churches to offer prayers to God for the restoration of peace and economic development, the traditional ruler said. Others at the meeting spoke in support of the decision. They included the speaker of the Anambra House of Assembly, Uche Okafor. Mr Okafor said the legislators would partner the state government to enthrone peace and economic development in the state and the region. The national vice president of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Damin Ogene-Okeke, urged the public to embrace the decision to establish peace. He called on the governors of the South-east states to represent their people well and speak the minds of the citizens who elected them into office. IPOB introduced the sit-at-home order as a means of putting pressure on the Nigerian government to release its leader, Mr Kanu, who is standing trial for alleged treasonable felony and terrorism. Residents were forced to shut down their businesses, social activities, and stay indoors every Monday because of the order. Armed men reportedly enforcing the order have in the past killed several people and set ablaze buildings and cars in the region (NAN) Nollywood veteran actor Pete Edochie has said the APC Chieftain and presidential aspirant, Bola Tinubu, is too old to run for President. The 75-year-old thespian said this on Friday during a BBC Igbo Town Hall Meeting, monitored by PREMIUM TIMES. Mr Tinubu, who turned 70 on Tuesday, might be among the frontrunners to succeed Muhammadu Buhari, whose tenure as president ends in May 2023. He says he is in the race for the 2023 presidency to bring hope to Nigerians. Some of the panellists who spoke at the meeting were, The managing director and chief executive officer of Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS), Awka, Uche Nworah; UK-based Nigerian lawyer and human rights advocate Chinwendu Nduka: actor and writer Emeka Amakeze; President of the Council of Igbo States in Americas (CISA), James Ogbuka and Nollywood producer, actress and politician, Rita Daniel. Other issues addressed during the town hall meeting were the zonings system in Nigeria, Nnamdi Kanu continued incarceration and South-Eastern Nigeria politics. Too old to run Regarding the February 25, 2023, general elections, Mr Edochie cited reasons for saying Mr Tinubu is not strong enough to be Nigerias next President. He said: It has been a long time since Tinubu has been nurturing the ambition for that position. Right from the time APC was formed, there was something that seemed to be an agreement that after Buhari, he would be the next president. If you watch, this person is too old, lets be honest with ourselves, today I am 75, merely looking at me: I look healthy, but if I tell you how much I spend on drugs, you will pity me. So it will be a shame to say, okay, lets support this man for this position, and when he emerges, he will spend most of his time in foreign countries for medical treatment, he said. Igbo presidency Mr Edochie, who shot into prominence in the 1980s when he played the lead role of Okonkwo in an NTA adaptation of Chinua Achebes all-time best-selling novel, Things Fall Apart, also spoke on the need for a president of Igbo descent. He emphasised that an Igbo presidency would solve the problem of marginalisation, which has been a constant outcry of the Igbos. He said: The Igbos agitation today is for a chance for an Igbo man to rule this country, but anybody that says that Igbos are supporting Tinubu is doing it for his benefit. Generally, Igbos want an Igbo aspirant so that if he falls, we all fall together. If he is dancing, we will dance with him. He also lamented that Nigeria has yet to produce an Igbo president since the coup that led to Agunyi Ironsis death and the 1967-1970 Nigerian civil war. Why has the power not returned to the Igbo people? Is there a plot by the political elites to sideline the South-East? Ive lived in the North. I speak Hausa. But its long overdue for Nigeria to have a leader of Igbo extraction, Mr Edochie said. The National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, has directed that additional cybersecurity sensitisation against destructive/threatening cyber-attacks be carried out for government agencies and stakeholders. The NSA stated this on Thursday when chaired the 9th Meeting of the Cybercrime Advisory Council in Abuja. The NSA, according to a statement by his office spokesperson, Zakari Usman, said the directive was in a bid to contain cybercrimes and their impact on information and security infrastructure in the country. The directive comes as cybercrime activities have skyrocketed across the country, particularly amongst the youth. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested over 1,000 cybercrime suspects in the last year. While launching the Cybersecurity Toolkits for MSMEs at the event, the NSA charged relevant agencies on cybersecurity resilience and preparedness. The Cybercrime Advisory Council meeting updated members on activities and events since the 8th Meeting of the Council in compliance with the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy (NCPS) 2021 and the provisions of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act 2015. Read the full statement: NSA Chairs the 9th Meeting of the Cybercrime Advisory Council ABUJA, FCT, 1 APRIL 2022 The National Security Adviser, Major General Babagana Monguno (Rtd) chairs the 9th Meeting of the Cybercrime Advisory Council, directs additional cybersecurity sensitization for stakeholders, launches Cybersecurity Toolkits for MSMEs, charges relevant agencies on cybersecurityresilience and preparedness. The Cybercrime Advisory Council meeting held Thursday, 31 March 2022, updated members on activities and events since the 8th Meeting of the Council in compliance with the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy (NCPS) 2021 and the provisions of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention etc) Act 2015. The Council was briefed on the successful completion of 7 sector-based sensitization workshops by the Office of the National Security Adviser between September December 2021 and informed stakeholders of 2 additional sector-based sensitization workshops on the implementation of the National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy for critical organizations scheduled between May -June 2022. The Cybercrime Advisory Council was also briefed on the launching of Cybersecurity Toolkits for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) by ONSA in collaboration with United Kingdom Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) aimed at protecting MSMEs from cyber threats. The pilot launch of the toolkit in February 2022 was conducted with over 200 SMEs in attendance, while the main launch of the toolkit is scheduled for 5 April 2022. The Council was further informed that the toolkits will be available for use to protect online activities of over 41 million MSMEs that operate in Nigeria. On Protection Plan for Critical National Information Infrastructure, Council was briefed on measures to protect telecommunications assets and ongoing efforts to sensitize State Governments on emerging threats. Council was further informed of 2 workshops conducted on Critical National Information Infrastructure Protection in collaboration with the United Kingdom FCDO, and a capacity building workshop held from 31 January-1 February 2022 on the development of a National Cybersecurity Risk Assessment. The Office of the National Security Adviser informed members of ongoing gap analysis to identify capacity deficit amongst relevant law enforcement agencies pursuant to the Cybercrimes Act 2015 to guide future capacity building efforts. As part of measures to address emerging cyber threats heightened by the Russia-Ukraine crisis, ngCERT has increased its routine monitoring activities and advisories to relevant stakeholders and held sectoral Computer Security Incidents Response Teams meeting on 29 March 2022 to facilitate incident management coordination, enhance reporting and strengthen information-sharing mechanism. The meeting received several reports from sub-committees and the Council also approved the establishment of a committee to facilitate the amendment of the Cybercrime Act 2015. The National Security Adviser emphasized the need for collaboration, capacity building, (and) information sharing, to ensure a safe and resilient cyber ecosystem for Nigeria. SIGNED Zakari Usman Head, Strategic Communication Office of the National Security Adviser. The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali, has presented N9.3 million to families of 13 police officers who lost their lives in active service in Anambra State. The police spokesperson in the state, Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement on Friday. He said the Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Echeng Echeng, presented the cheques to the families on behalf of the IGP. The gesture is an initiative of the Inspector General of Police family welfare insurance scheme aimed at giving succour to the family of police officers who died in active service. Also, the gesture is aimed at spurring officers to greatness while discharging their statutory duties with the assurance that their welfare is of paramount importance to the administration of the force, he said. Mr Echeng thanked the IGP for the welfare of officers, Mr Ikenga said. The commissioner urged the beneficiaries to use the money wisely by investing it in a profitable venture that will improve the living conditions of their families. The IGP carried out a similar gesture three months ago in the state, the statement said. Police officers and officials of other security agencies have been the target of deadly attacks mainly in Nigerias South-east by gunmen believed to be part of the Biafra agitation in the region. The Indigenous People of Biafra, a group leading the agitation for the creation of an independent state of Biafra from the South-east and some parts of South-south, have been accused of being responsible for the deadly attacks in the two regions. Billionaire businessman, Tunde Folawiyo, has approached the Federal High court in Lagos seeking a stay of execution after a judge ordered the Asset Management Company of Nigeria to take over properties belonging to him. Mr Folawiyo, in a suit before the court, prayed the judge to restrain AMCON from execution of the judges order pending the determination of his suit. Lewis Allagoa, a judge of the federal high court in Lagos, on March 24 ordered AMCON to take over some of Mr Folawiyos assets over an alleged N727.9 million debt. AMCON had sought a court order to freeze Mr Folawiyos accounts in 18 banks and the interim forfeiture of his property at Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, Mr Folawiyo was allegedly instrumental to a N522.4 million loan from Spring Bank by Compagnie Generale de Logistique, where he is reportedly a director. A 2017 suit between AMCON and Compagnie Generale De Logistique & Others led to the judge granting an ex parte order in favour of the former. The interest payable on the N522.4 million totals the loan to N727.9 million. Mr Folawiyo argued he was not a party to the 2017 suit and was not served with the judgment on it. He also argued that he was not a director of Compagnie Generale De Logistique at the time of the suit and was not involved in the loan transaction with Spring Bank. Mr Folawiyo said as a result, he is not a debtor within the contemplation of Section of 61 of the AMCON Act as to warrant the interim forfeiture of his assets and freezing of his bank accounts on account of the 2017 judgment. He argued that a combined reading of Sections 49(2),50(2) and 61 of the AMCON Act would show that only current directors of a company fall within the definition of debtor as to warrant the freezing of their assets or accounts. The business man accused AMCON of failing to disclose his status in Compagnie Generale De Logistique, the principal judgment debtor in the suit. He also said the ex parte order obtained by AMCON is an abuse of court process, adding that the originating summons it filed is incompetent as it had expired at the time of the grant of the order. He complained about the impact the order would have on his employees and the reputation of the three-generational family business he has worked hard to maintain and grow over the years. Akan Okon recently resigned his appointment as Commissioner for Economic Development and Ibom Deep Seaport, Akwa Ibom State, to focus on his ambition to run for governor in 2023. In this post-resignation media briefing in Uyo, Mr Okon explained what he would do in Akwa Ibom if elected. PT: The governor, your former boss, has anointed someone as his preferred successor. Were you shocked by the choice? Okon: I was not shocked. You can observe that since the governor made the announcement, you have not heard me make any comment. I went about my business and going to work every day and delivering on all the assignments that I was given. At the appropriate time, I had to leave. The reason for leaving was very clear, which is to contest for the governorship in 2023. PT: Are you satisfied with your performance in the office? Okon: While in office God helping me, I discharged my duties and the various assignments given to me creditably. I joined Akwa Ibom State Government in 2013 and my first assignment was at the Ministry of Economic Development. I spent six months there as Commissioner and at the end of six months, I was moved to the Ministry of Finance where I served to the end of that administration led by Governor Godswill Akpabio. When Governor Udom Emmanuel won the election in 2015 and was sworn in as governor, I was reappointed into that office. That has made me keep the record as the only person to serve two governors as Finance Commissioner. I want to say that I served in that office with integrity. Why am I saying so? In Nigeria, the easiest way to have issues with EFCC is to be a finance commissioner. To the glory of God I served there and I left in December 2016. EFCC has never invited me and they will never invite me. From that office, I was sent to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Renewal, and later, the Ministry of Special Duties. My responsibility and key deliverable was the 21-storey building which I am sure all of us can see. Another project the Ministry delivered under my supervision was the Governors Lodge in Lagos. The lodge has since been completed and put to use. The airport was under my supervision. Being in that ministry gave me the opportunity to correct the anomaly that I notice at our airport. Before now, when airline passengers moved into the airport terminal building to check in or obtain a boarding pass, they will pass through security, for economic passengers you pay at the departure hall. When there was a need to use the convenience you will have to go out of the security checkpoint and then come back to be screened. In fact in those days of when there were flight delays, there was no place for people waiting to buy water, because the only place water was sold was inside the departure hall which they didnt have access to. That necessitated the construction of a new building attached to the existing terminal, where you have a restaurant, a gift shop, a pharmacy and convenience for members of the public. Today, if you are travelling, while waiting at the departure hall, if you have to come out of the security area, it wont be because you want to use the convenience. Now also, members of the public can have access to whatever thing they need at the airport. From that ministry, I was moved to Special Duties and Aviation Development. My responsibility was to ensure that we had Ibom Air flying and I am happy today to the glory of God, Ibom Air is flying and within a very short period of time, it has become the airline of the first choice for travellers in Nigeria. The high standards of professional service delivery offered by the airline have increased customers traffic to our airport and have rendered the existing terminal building inadequate, (and) that is what necessitated the move for the new permanent international terminal building which is under construction. When completed, the terminal will be one of the best in Africa. From that ministry, I was moved to the Ministry of Economic Development and Ibom Deep Seaport. The key deliverable there was to ensure that we obtain the approval for the development of Ibom Deep Seaport, an approval that eluded us for over 20 years as a state and by Gods grace on 16th December 2020, we obtained that approval and I want to thank Governor Udom Emmanuel, the Chairperson of the Technical Committee on Ibom Deep Seaport, Mrs Mfon Usoro, for their efforts and all the things they did to ensure that we obtained that approval. The question was if I am satisfied. In all that I have said, God helped me to deliver on those assignments and I am happy I was able to accomplish all the tasks and assignments given to me to that extent I am very happy I was able to do what I did. PT: What critical needs have you identified that you intend to meet if elected as Governor of Akwa Ibom State? Okon: To be successful in any vocation, you need to undergo a lot of qualification and proficiency training. At 34 years, Akwa Ibom State cannot afford to be an experimental field where people come to learn leadership in public service. We need someone who has been around and understudied the various sectors of the states economy and also understands the challenges that our people are facing so that from day one, he will hit the ground running in embarking on those policies and programmes that will lead to an improvement in the standard of living of our people. I want to thank Governor Udom Emmanuel for allowing God to use him to train me in public service. As you are aware, I have traversed many ministries, this was training and added advantage for me. A ministry like Economic Development gave me an opportunity to have in-depth knowledge on the workings of government. Whatever happens in the judiciary, legislature or the executive comes to that ministry. I have a good knowledge and understanding of what is required to be done so that Akwa Ibom State can continue to be on the path of development and growth. I want to say that why I am contesting is that I have the experience, I have been trained, I am prepared for this leadership position and you will agree with me that we need someone with experience. If you want to look at it, competence is important in leadership, capacity is also important in leadership, integrity is also important in leadership. Governor Udom Emmanuel has done well, he has embarked on projects that are legacy projects and some of these projects cannot be completed in the life of this administration, his successor must be someone who has full understanding of these projects so that he can continue with them and ensure that they are completed and put to use. If you observe, Governor Udom Emmanuels developmental focus is based on three gateways, land, water and air, and fortunately, I am the one who by the special grace of God supervised all three areas, so I am better equipped to continue with what Governor Udom Emmanuel has done so that Akwa Ibom can be what we all want it to be. Under the administration of Governor Udom Emmanuel, a lot has been done to create jobs. I believe we should continue to create jobs. We have a lot of intelligent and enterprising young men and women and all that they need is an opportunity to serve, I will create the needed opportunities for them. As a state, we have had our fair share of issues arising from inconsistency in policies and projects implementation and a disconnect between the past and present. An average Akwa Ibom person requires a conducive environment to function, I know this based on what I have observed. I believe I have what it takes to provide that environment. We will create business incubation centres to train and empower young people who have sellable and buyable ideas we will link them with business angels. By that, I mean investors who have funds to invest in their businesses that will help them grow and become sustainable. The state needs the right environment for our people and a lot has been done in terms of security, we believe that if it continues in this fashion, we will achieve a lot. PT: You are not the governors preferred candidate, dont you think you are swimming against the tide? Okon: We are all seated here because God has made it possible. God is leading me, I dont see myself swimming against the tide. There is no man on earth that is led by God that swims against the tide. PT: What shortcomings have you identified in Udom Emmanuels administration that you would want to correct? Okon: There is no human being that is perfect. There is no perfect government. I believe that the government led by Governor Udom Emmanuel has done well, and like it is always said, the government is a continuum. A state is like a book with different chapters and if you remove five chapters from a book with ten chapters that book can never be complete. Every successive administration since the creation of Akwa Ibom has contributed to the development of the state. Each one comes to take over from where the previous one stopped. I believe that whatever has been the positive things achieved by this government, it will be the responsibility of the next administration to enforce it for the good of Akwa Ibom people and the areas you believe are not properly done, we will together make modifications because the state belongs to us; we will ensure that we do those modifications in a way that will be acceptable to everyone. Advertisements PT: Looking at the quality of other aspirants seeking the governorship position, how do you intend to navigate your way through to become the next governor of the state? Okon: You (the reporter who asked the question) will be one of those who will help me navigate the way. (Laughs). As my friend, you have a duty to tell the Akwa Ibom people the qualities of who should be the next governor and what is expected of a good governor. If you can tell the Akwa Ibom people the lot you have known about my personality, performance, capacity and experience, they will decide that Akan Okon is the best for them in 2023. PT: We havent seen politicians, people from the PDP here with you. Do you have the support of the party to contest this election? Okon: If you want to see my supporters, you wait for the day I will declare. You cannot do things the same way and expect a different result. You might be seeing quite new faces in what we are going to do, I can assure you that when we are through you will know that one with God is a majority. PT: What is your relationship like with Governor Udom Emmanuel? Okon: Governor Udom Emmanuel is my friend. This is our 40th year of friendship and nothing will stand in the way of our relationship. I tendered my resignation on Monday 14th March 2022, and last Friday we were together, which should confirm to you that my aspiration cannot come between our relationship. The governor and I are interested in the development of the state, we are very passionate about it. I believe we have a very robust relationship and nothing can come between us. PT: It appears that the governor was intentional about the ministries he assigned you to head as his personal friend. Why was he not intentional about choosing you as his preferred successor? Okon: God rules in the affairs of men, and Gods ways are different from that of men. One of you asked if I had consulted the governor? Yes, I have. I consulted the governor on the 23rd day of September 2021. That is a significant day because it is the date of our states creation. PT: Do you support the agitation by Itu/Ibiono Federal Constituency that the governorship is zoned to the area? Okon: I believe in the demand for the governorship by Itu/Ibiono people. I also believe that God is not an author of confusion, and the reason for zoning is to reduce in-fighting. I believe that in Itu/Ibiono Federal Constituency we have competent people that can lead this state. I support that sentiment, but that shouldnt entirely be the yardstick competence, experience, capacity must also be considered apart from zoning. PT: Are you part of the emerging coalition that wants to stop Governor Emmanuels preferred successor? Okon: Life is evolving, we cant say for sure that there is a coalition. We cannot preempt that it will continue in the same fashion it used to be. However, lets keep our fingers crossed. Everything is in the hands of God. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has accused the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of seeking to profit from the killings in the country. The APC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, on Friday, alleged that the PDP seeks to ride on the tragedy facing the country to get back to power. Spokesperson of the PDP, Debo Ologunagba, had said in a statement that the ruling party went on jamboree at its March 26 National Convention when the country was burning. He was referring to the recent attacks on the Kaduna airport and on a Kaduna-bound train. But responding, Mr Morka said it was insensitive and irresponsible for the opposition party to seek to politicise a terrorist attack. It is outright unconscionable, insensitive and irresponsible for the PDP to seek to politicize a terrorist attack that cut short the lives of our dear ones for its base interest. Granted that Nigerians have become accustomed to PDPs arrant flippancy, the occasion of a national tragedy is not exactly a good time for puerile rascality. He said. While the PDP digs deep in the mud trying to find electoral gold, President Muhammadu Buhari, in a swift response to this tragic event, met with Security Chiefs and directed the immediate conclusion of all processes for implementation of the integrated Security Surveillance and Monitoring System (ISSM) solution for Abuja-Kaduna Rail Line as well as the extension of the ISSM solution to cover the Lagos Ibadan Rail Line. Mr Morka said the President further directed the rescue of all kidnapped passengers, and ordered a manhunt for the perpetrators of these acts of terror, adding that the management of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) was also directed to speedily repair the damaged lines and restore services without delay. The APC spokesperson said several senior administration officials visited and condoled with bereaved families and extended support and care to those injured in the attack while the PDP continues to engage in idle mudslinging. He said: APC mourns our dearly departed and our thoughts and prayers are with families and friends of our dearly departed and the injured and the unaccounted for. Our party remains committed to working with relevant authorities to bring perpetrators of these despicable acts to justice. Renewed attacks In the past couple of days, the country has witnessed renewed attacks by terrorists in the north and other militias in the South-east region. Last week, bandits attacked the Kaduna Airport killing a guard and also bombed a Kaduna-bound train, killing eight persons and abducting several others. Some communities in Kaduna State, particularly Giwa and Birnin Gwari local government areas have also in the recent past witnessed renewed attacks by terrorists. In the face of the renewed attacks, several lawmakers, under the ruling party, have also raised alarm about the general insecurity in the country. On Thursday, during a debate on a motion on killings in Kaduna, several APC lawmakers in the House of Representatives condemned the attacks, while some also called for the sack of the National Security Adviser, Babangana Monguno. The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, had also blamed his colleagues in the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for blocking a proposal to procure surveillance equipment to monitor the trains. In addition, the governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, also blamed the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) for not heeding the warning to stop evening train services. Adeyinka Shoyemi, a Nigerian living in west London, has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in jail for encouraging racial hatred and violence in Nigeria using inflammatory messages, Evening Standard reported. Mr Shoyemi, 45, of Powis Terrace in Notting Hill, first came to the attention of counter-terror police in March 2019 after members of the public tipped them off about the posts targeting particular ethnic groups in Nigeria. The messages, posted by accounts under the name Adeyinka Grandson, were assessed by a specialist group of officers in the Mets Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit (CTIRU). They found that the posts, which had commentary encouraging attacks against certain ethnic groups, were in potential breach of the law and launched a probe. He was first arrested at his home address in August 2019, with officers searching three properties linked to him and seizing various digital devices. Mr Shoyemi was initially charged with six counts of inciting racial hatred and he was released on bail with a condition not to post any more social media posts which were threatening, abusive or insulting to any ethnic groups. But he flouted his bail conditions and was rearrested. Consequently, two more charges of inciting racial hatred were added. Mr Shoyemi was sentenced to four-and-a-half years behind bars on Thursday. He was found guilty on November 30 of eight counts of inciting racial hatred after a trial at Southwark Crown Court. Commander Richard Smith, head of the Mets Counter Terrorism Command, said: Our Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit the first of its kind to be established anywhere in the world was instrumental in identifying Shoyemi and his activity. Over the last ten years, the CTIRU has been at the forefront of getting harmful content removed from the internet, and detecting and investigating potential terrorist-related activity online. We continue to need the help and support of the public and I would encourage anyone who comes across material or posts that could be related to terrorism or violent extremist activity to report it to us, so that our specialist officers can take action where necessary. Mr Shoyemis controversial posts on social media Mr Shoyemi, on various social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, consistently made posts pitching the three major ethnic nationalities in Nigeria against each other. Mr Shoyemi, who described himself as the president of the Young Yoruba for Freedom group, would always make posts putting the Yoruba people against the Igbo and Fulani speaking people of Nigeria. In one of the videos he posted on Twitter, he said the Igbo speaking people were responsible for the 1966 military coup. He added that he believes in the use of force to get what he wants. Mr Shoyemi also made posts targeting popular Igbos and other nationals who do not agree with his ideology. For instance, on August 26, 2021, in a post titled cultural appropriation, he insinuated that Jason Njoku of Iroko TV was a trickster for using a Yoruba word as his business name. Cultural Appropriation: An Igbo, Jason Nkoju, went so far as to use th-e word Iroko TV to carve out his brand. He knew that using an Ibo word would be unprofitable, so he tricked Iroko TV subscribers who are mainly Yoruba, to think that they have signed up to a Yoruba platform, he wrote. We have a categorical duty to ask the Ibo to respect the dignity of the Yoruba people and not stop using our names as a means for even a good end, he said in a separate post. On July 30, 2021, he urged full blooded yoruba people to boycott a Nigerian newspaper, P.M. News, for alleged image laundering. P.M. News, a Yoruba newspaper is being used to whitewash the image of Abba Kyari, a Fulani fraudster and killer while Sunday Igboho is being destroyed by the Fulani. A disgrace to P.M. News. Full blooded Yoruba should boycott the newspaper, Mr Shoyemi wrote. Advertisements In one of his videos made in Yoruba, he said the Igbo and Fulani speaking people are the cause of the woes in Yorubaland. He claimed, without evidence, that they are killing the Yorubas and raping their children. He stated that he does not like the Igbos and if he ever gets into power, he would use them (Igbos) as an experiment. During the #EndSARS protests against police brutality, Mr Shoyemi claimed that most officers of the police unit were Fulanis and Igbos who used their positions to kill Yorubas. SARS do not kill people in the Hausa/Fulani region because the officers and men in the police force therein are people from the region. But SARS members are killing people in Yorubaland because the officers are mostly Igbo and Hausa/Fulani. #EndSARSBrutality. Mr Shoyemi went further to threaten any Yoruba female who got involved with an Igbo man. Yoruba women must end all sexual and marital relationships with Igbo men. Any Yoruba lady seeing with an Igbo man in public places will be disgraced. The Igbo are using intermarriage to infiltrate the Yoruba leadership, populate Yorubaland with their children and then dominate us, he tweeted on May 25, 2020. Gunmen Thursday night killed another operative of the Ebubeagu security outfit in Ebonyi State. A lawmaker identified the slain operative as Iboko Christian. The gunmen reportedly trailed him to his house in Nduogbuovu community in Izzi Local Government Area of the state. The member representing Izzi East State Constituency in Ebonyi House of Assembly, Anthony Nwegede, said the attackers robbed Mr Christian of some money and a motorcycle before killing him. The lawmaker condemned the killing. He said they had reported the matter to the police. The police spokesperson in Ebonyi State, Loveth Odah, confirmed the incident. She said the victims father reported the matter at the police station in the area. Policemen went with him to the victims house. They saw him in a pool of his blood, Mrs Odah said. She said the Ebubeagu operative was rushed to the hospital, where the doctor confirmed he was dead. The police have transferred the matter to its headquarters in the state for investigation on the orders of the Commissioner of Police, Aliyu Garba, Mrs Odah said. She said the police are on the trail of the killers. His death comes barely a week after a commander of the security outfit was killed in Ezza North Local Government Area. Another Ebubeagu operative, identified as Sunday Nwafor, was shot dead by gunmen and then beheaded in January in Ekpelu, Ikwo Local Government Area of the state. Another member of the security outfit, Ifeanyi Orogbo, was killed and his remains partially burnt by the assailants in January in Igweledeoha, Amagu, in Ikwo Local Government Area of the state. The South-east governors set up Ebubeagu to complement the job of the police and other security agencies in checking the rising crime rates in the region. Ebonyi and Imo are the only two states that have inaugurated the outfit out of the five states in the region. The security situation in the two states has, however, continued to deteriorate. Security officials and their facilities, as well as high-profile personalities, remain the targets of deadly attacks by gunmen in the South-east region. Several police stations were attacked in Imo state last week and many killed. Gunmen killed an officer last month when they attacked the National Drug Law Enforcement Agencys head office in Ebonyi. The country home of Ohaneze Ndigbos president was razed by gunmen in Imo last month. The separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) is suspected to be behind the attacks in the region. IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is detained in Abuja. He is standing trial for treasonable felony and terrorism. Advertisements Hafsat Abiola-Costello, daughter of the presumed winner of the June 1993 presidential election, late Moshood Abiola, is to lead the presidential campaign organisation of the Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, as its director-general, PREMIUM TIMES has learnt. Also, the Director General of the M.K.O. Abiola Campaign Organisation and former Senate Deputy Leader, Jonathan Zwingina, has been named the national coordinator of the Yahaya Bello Presidential Campaign Organisation and a former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, as deputy national coordinator. The appointments were made ahead of the formal declaration of Mr Bello for the presidency on Saturday in Abuja. Mrs Abiola-Costello, 47, is a human rights and democracy activist and founder of Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND), which seeks to promote democracy in Nigeria. The organisation was named after her mother Kudirat, who was killed in June 1996 during the struggle to actualize the presidential mandate of her husband. The Harvard-trained activist also served as Special Adviser MDGs in her home state, Ogun. Mr Zwingina, 68, hails from Adamawa State. He was at various times Information Committee chairman and Senate Deputy Leader while in the upper chamber between 1999 and 2007. Mr Fani-Kayode was the Director of Media and Publicity for the President Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation in 2015. He rejoined the APC last year. Zoning unconstitutional Bello Mr Bello, 46, will complete his second term in office as governor in 2024. He was first elected governor in 2015 but assumed office on January 27, 2016. He began his second term in office on January 27, 2020. Before now, supporters of the governor had been going round the country soliciting support for his presidential ambition. Mr Bellos party, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has not formally zoned the presidential ticket to any party of the country. It is not clear if the party will zone it to any particular section of the country or leave it open to all aspirants. Mr Bello hails from the North-central zone as the new National Chairman of the party, Abdullahi Adamu. It is being speculated that with the zone producing the national chairman, the APC may not zone the presidency to the north, comprising the north-central, north-west and north-east zones. The current president, Muhammadu Buhari, is from the north-west zone. Therefore, it is most likely that the party would favour its presidential candidate in the 2023 election coming from the south, which comprises the south-west, the south-east and the south-south. At present, most of the partys presidential aspirants are from the south. They include the partys National Leader and former Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu; former Imo State governor and serving senator, Rochas Okorocha, and the governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi. Although they are yet to disclose their presidential ambitions, the posters and billboards of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi; former Abia governor and serving senator, Orji Uzor Kalu; and the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele adorn strategic places in some Nigerian cities. It is also rumoured that the Minister of Science and Technology, Ogbonnaya Onu, may join the race. However, it is also likely that the party may throw the position open by allowing any candidate from any zone to run for president. Mr Yahaya, the youngest state governor in Nigeria, is one of the aspirants seeking this position. APC has no zoning formula as far as the partys law is concerned, no zoning formula as far as the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is concerned. Poverty. Insecurity, lack of infrastructure has no zoning. These are the problems we are confronted with today, and they have no zoning. The party delegates would vote for me. I would prefer that we go by merit and vote for who can get these problems solved, he said in a recent media interview. Advertisements Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka has frowned at the emergence of Iyiola Omisore as the national secretary of the APC at the partys just-concluded national convention. Mr Soyinka, a professor of Comparative Literature, said in a statement Saturday that Mr Omisores new position in the ruling party puts paid to any re-investigation into the murder of Bola Ige, a former Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. With the emergence of the said prime suspect as National Secretary of the Ruling Party, is the Inspector-General of Police equipped to confront political obstacles in a resumption of investigation? Is there any guarantee that the result will see the light of day? Mr Ige was shot dead in his home in Ibadan on December 23, 2001. He was 71. Last December, during the 20th anniversary of Mr Iges death, Mr Soyinka urged President Buhari to reopen his murder case and bring the perpetrators to book. Mr Omisore had been a key suspect in the murder, and the police detained him for months. He was later released. He has, however, consistently declared his innocence in the incident. Mr Soyinka noted that after his intervention in December, the president ordered the Inspector General of Police to re-open the case files and resume investigations. To this layman, that investigative revisit is already hamstrung and disrobed of credibility, Mr Soyinka continued. I think the nation should simply relieve President Buhari of his pledge. I am certain the Inspector-General of Police will be equally relieved and can now turn his mind and energy to the national accustomed posture Business as Usual. Read Mr Soyinkas full statement below: PERHAPS CLOSED FILES SHOULD REMAIN JUST THAT CLOSED? Barely three months have passed since the twentieth anniversary of the murder of the late Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Bola Ige, an occasion that I utilized to remind President Muhammed Buhari, of a subsisting election pledge. That pledge was to re-open the files on the spate of unsolved political assassinations that had plagued the nation in recent decades. Prominent among those cases was that of the Minister of Justice, murdered on his way to take up a prestigious position with the United Nations. Presidential response was swift. Buhari ordered the Inspector-General of Police to re-open those files and resume investigations. The nation has patiently awaited even a hint of Work in Progress. Most, I am certain, expect no less than a revaluation of prior investigative efforts. None, to my knowledge, has attempted to rush the Chief of Police and his team into judgment. We all take solace in the knowledge that the wheels of justice grind slowly, but they arrive. Eventually. However, an unusual turn of events has raised questions. The ruling party, headed by the same President, has just elected as its National Secretary one of the prime suspects of this most notorious of the nations unsolved murders. Not for a moment does one suggest that mere accusation, even trial, presumes Guilt. More than a mere verdict is involved in any trial, however. The process of arriving at that ultimate destination justice is integral to the very concept of democracy and equality under the law. That process is one of the structures of civic education. Unresolved till today were quite a number of untidy, even suspect aspects of investigation, prosecution and trials, aspects which revealed improper cell co-habitation by suspects under custody. That this led necessarily to recantations of earlier depositions is not thereby proven, but the fact remains that such U-turns did take place. One was so brazen that it induced a heart attack that proved fatal to the victims wife, another Justice Mrs. Atinuke Ige. That the prime suspect was privileged in a number of improper ways went beyond mere allegation. Political interventions, including pressure on the judiciary during bail hearings cannot be denied. A judge under such pressure kept a diary with accusations, pages of which he consigned to friends for safe keeping. With the emergence of the said prime suspect as National Secretary of the Ruling Party, is the Inspector-General of Police equipped to confront political obstacles in a resumption of investigation? Is there any guarantee that the result will see the light of day? How suspect, ab initio, will be the conclusions, given the present political ordering? I repeat: we are speaking of blatant, undeniable exercise of POLITICAL interventions during investigations and the arraignment of suspects. Prior incumbency of the position of National Secretary of a ruling party has demonstrated the potent interventionist clout that can be wielded from that office. The president has personally received, and thus anointed the new incumbent. Since he remains central to any re-investigation whatever form or direction it takes just what value of objective assessment can be placed on the presidential pledge? To this layman, that investigative revisit is already hamstrung and disrobed of credibility. I think the nation should simply relieve President Buhari of his pledge. I am certain the Inspector-General of Police will be equally relieved and can now turn his mind and energy to the national accustomed posture Business as Usual. Wole SOYINKA Four wanted kidnappers that terrorised the residents of neighbouring Kano and Jigawa States have surrendered themselves to the police, authorities in Jigawa State said. The police spokesperson in the North-west State, Lawan Adam, said the suspects were tracked, and lured by the police area commander in Ringim local government, MK Abdullahi, before they surrendered alongside their weapons. Mr Adam said the kidnap syndicates, led by Yusuf Wakili, 30, a resident of Ajingi council area of Kano, surrendered one AK 47 rifle and two shotguns On 26/03/2022 based on the credible intelligence gathering, the Area Commander Ringim, ACP M K Abdullahi, and his team were tracked and lured one of the most wanted notorious kidnappers, Yusuf Wakili Alias Rago m age 30yrs of Ajingi LGA Kano State He surrender along with four other gang members namely; Inusa Jibrin, 30, Tahir Zango, 27, all of Ajingi L.G.A. Sabo Abdullahi Alias Sabo Gara, 35, a resident of Gerawa Ringim council area of Jigawa and Suleiman Garba, Alias Manu Dogo, a resident of Wangara, in Dutse L.G.A of Jigawa, the police spokesperson said. The suspects were responsible for several kidnapping and robbery cases in Jigawa and Kano States, he added. Mr Adam said the suspects were transferred to the state criminal investigation department where they are being interrogate. He said they were cooperating and giving useful information to apprehend their accomplices. The suspects would be charged to court after an investigation, the police said. President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the renewal of the appointment of Abba Bello as the managing director of the Nigerian Export and Import Bank for a second and final term of four years. The president also reappointed Bala Bello, Executive Director (Corporate Services), and Stella Erhuvwu Okotete, Executive Director (Business Development). Mr Buharis decision was conveyed through a statement by the special adviser, Media & Communications to the Minister of Finance, Yunusa Abdullahi. The managing director and the two other management teams were appointed on April 10, 2017 and their first five-year term is due to expire on April 9. According to the statement, the team had over the first five years performed well by recording great increase in the operating profit of the bank and significantly reducing non-performing loans. Evidently, the operating profit, previously in the negative (N8.030billion) at the inception of the current management, has increased to N3.825 billion in 2021, and there is an improvement in returns on capital earnings from -15.31 in 2016 to 2.72 in 2021, the statement said. There is a reduction in non-performing loans from 94 per cent in 2017 to 29 per cent as at December, 2021, and there is an increase in the total assets of the bank by approximately N136.132 billion or about 222 per cent from inception of the current management in 2017 to 31st December, 2021. There is an enhanced liquidity position of the bank through additional funding totalling N103.755 billion from Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), N3.936 billion from Federal Ministry of Finance, US$50 million from the Nigerian Content Development Management Board (NCDMB) and US$25 million from the African Export-Import Bank. The NEXIM has also made high growth in recoveries from N40.780 million in 2016, preceding the current management to an annual average recovery of N1.243billion between 2017 and 2020 and a total collection of N11.903 billion for the five years. The bank has made the disbursement of a total sum of N144 billion in loans to export-oriented entities in the non-oil sector while accounting for approximately US$375 million as export proceeds within the period under review. The NEXIM bank has been ranked among the best three Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) and best five public institutions surveyed based on the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) Anti-corruption Assessment Criteria A Guardian newspaper reporter, Julius Osahon, has regained his freedom after five days in the captivity of his abductors. Mr Osahons wife, Jessica, confirmed the development on Saturday to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN). She said Mr Osahon was on his way to reunite with the family in Benin, Edo State. Mrs Osahon said her husband had informed her that he just left the police station in Ughelli after he was debriefed. Gunmen abducted Mr Osahon on Sunday with other passengers in transit to Ughelli, Delta State. They demanded N5 million ransom for his release. The kidnappers reportedly got angry at the media spotlight on the journalists abduction and increased the ransom to N50 million. It was not clear if ransom was paid for his release. The commercial bus which the journalist and others travelled in, has been recovered and kept at the companys terminal in Yenagoa. The bus has bullet holes all over its body, according to the News Agency of Nigeria. The Federated Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Bayelsa State Council, had condemned the abduction of the journalist and other Nigerians. The chapel in a statement signed Messrs Chris Eze and Bassey Willie, chairman and secretary respectively, called the federal and state governments to ensure adequate security on the highways, especially the Bayelsa and Delta axes of the East-West Road. The security situation in our nation is becoming worrisome on a daily basis, innocent citizens are being killed, kidnapped and their valuables carted away by criminals. Journalists are not wealthy men in (the) society but just doing their duties to contribute to the growth and development of the nation, that is why we wonder where Mr Osahon will get N5 million demanded by the kidnappers to regain his freedom, the chapel stated. (NAN) The governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, on Saturday, officially declared his interest in contesting the 2023 presidential election with a promise to create 20 million millionaires using crypto-related technology and the Igbo apprentice system. Mr Bello made the declaration on Saturday at the Eagle Square in Abuja. The event was attended by some dignitaries including his deputy. Edward Onoja, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase, a former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode and Hafsat Abiola-Costello, the daughter of the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, late M.K.O. Abiola. PREMIUM TIMES had reported that Mrs Abiola-Costello was appointed the director-general of Yahaya Bello Presidential Campaign Organisation. By his declaration, Mr Bello, who will be concluding his second term in office in 2024, has joined other prominent APC members who have indicated interest in flying the partys flag in the 2023 presidential election. They include the National Leader of the party and former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu; Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, and former Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State. Others speculated to join the race soon are Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Transport Minister, Rotimi Amaechi; former Abia governor and serving senator, Orji Uzor Kalu; and the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, whose posters adorn strategic places in some Nigerian cities. Mr Bello, who is from the North-central geo-political zone will also have to contend with the zoning arrangement of his party. The newly-elected National Chairman, Abdulahi Adamu is from Nasarawa State also in the North-central zone. It is believed that his party is leaning towards a southern candidate after the eight years of Mr Buhari, who is from Katsina State in the North-west geopolitical zone. 20 million millionaires by 2030 Mr Bello explained he was running for president because he saw a bright shining light at the end of the tunnel for Nigeria. I am running for president because I see a bright light shining at the end of the tunnel for our nation. I am not one of those who only see doom and gloom. It is my intention to take custody of that light to pierce the dark spot in our past and present by eliminating every gap in our nationhood and fixing them. I will ensure that the light is handed over in due course to successors who will be trustworthy of our great future which the Federal Government led by me will build, he said. The Kogi governor said, if elected, he would run a broad political philosophy of progressive activism through social action and political reform. He said, I will be running on the broad political philosophy of progressive activism through social action and political reforms. We are so blessed as a nation but yet he does not always seem so. I am running to restore hope by providing security, unity, and progress to all Nigerians. Our focus will be proper management of our great diversity so that it can really be an advantage. On insecurity, Mr Bello said he would never tolerate non-state actors who take up arms against the nation. But I will be willing to listen to all sides and address all agitations fairly, especially those borne out of genuine imbalances in the treatment of citizens by the system. I will put a stop to the existential mistreatment of any people among us. Despite the killings in the country, Mr Bello also lauded the federal government for the investment in the security sector. On how he would reduce poverty, Mr Bello said, According to a BBC report of February 13, 2012 over 100 million Nigerians lived in extreme poverty during the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) era. In 2018, with APC in the saddle that figure has dropped to about 87m people yet Nigeria overtook India as the poverty capital of the world. Just this month, Nigeria through the effort of the president relinquished the title back to India and brought down the figure to about 70m people. It is therefore clear that our path to national prosperity lies in pulling millions of Nigeria out of poverty. The Buhari has a target of lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty by the year 2030. A Yahaya Bello administration or presidency will have an additional target of creating N20 million by the same year 2030 with the aim that each of them will empower five other citizens, the governor said. He explained that to achieve the 20 million millionaires pledge, he would set up the Igbo apprentice system and a National BlockChain Taskforce (NBT) to develop a trailblazing policy for the nation in cryptos, the metaverse, NFTs and blockchain technology. Advertisements On his administration in Kogi, the governor blamed undisclosed enemies for the bad press it is getting. According to him, these enemies control the press. He, therefore, challenged Nigerians to visit the state to see the unprecedented development there. It is well known that we offended powerful vested interests on our way to power in Kogi State. Moreover, since we took office we have committed the unpardonable political sin in Nigeria, that is, refusal to have godfathers and kowtow to them, he said. The Borno State police command on Friday paraded a 28-year old man arrested while trying to transport a large cache of ammunition out of Maiduguri, the state capital. The suspect, Clement Asuk, said he was helping to deliver the ammunition to a community in Cross River State, which he said is currently at war with fighters of the separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The police said the suspect was arrested at a popular Maiduguri motor park as he was about to exit the town with a heavy suitcase filled with high calibre bullets, including 126 anti-aircraft bullets. It was the biggest interception of illegal military weapons of ballistic capability ever recorded in the history of the decade-old Boko Haram insurgency, police said. The Nigeria Police and the military had in the past arrested and court-martialled soldiers involved in stealing and selling weapons and ammunition to criminals. Mr Asuk described himself as a Benue State-based businessman and graduate of Maritime Engineering. Acting on credible intelligence, the Borno state police Rapid Response Squad stormed the Kano Motor Park on time to prevent Mr Asuk who had already boarded one of the Luxurious buses heading for Southern Nigeria, from leaving with the ammunition. The Borno Commissioner of Police, Abdul Umar, said upon searching him, it was discovered that Mr Asuk had in his baggage a mini armoury capable of executing a small scale war. According to the commissioner, the suspect was found with 126 anti-aircraft munitions, 222 of 7.62mm of life ammunition, 517 of 7.62mm by 51 life ammunition, 7.62mm by 39 life ammunition, two empty magazines of Ak47, four rocket propelled grenades (RPG), one hand grenade, and one anti aircraft ammunition belt. The suspect, according to the police, confessed that he was on errand for a soldier serving in Operation Hadin Kai and one other civilian who he described as a notable figure in his community in Obubra local government area of Cross River State. PREMIUM TIMES recently reported communal clashes that claimed eight lives around Obubra, even though it was not linked with IPOB hostilities. Mr Asuk, who was paraded alongside 25 other suspects, said those who hired him for the weapon transportation trip wanted to use the consignment to arm themselves against harassment from IPOB fighters of Southeast Nigeria. He said his community in Obubra local government shares boundaries with communities in Ebonyi State where IPOB fighters had been pushing to force them into their war with the Nigerian state, triggering violent clashes from time to time. The suspect was also found wearing local charms, possibly worn with the belief it would help him to escape being noticed while transporting the ammunition. He said he took delivery of the lethal consignment a day after he arrived in Maiduguri. According to him, a soldier picked him up around the central business area of Maiduguri, known as the Monday market, and led him to where he was handed the baggage of ammunition. Mr Asuk told PREMIUM TIMES in an interview that his uncle, Joshua Akum, an engineer based in Chad, came to Maiduguri and linked him up with a soldier, Lance Corporal Samuel, who handed him the ammunition. There had been continued communal clash between a community in Obubra Local Government Area of Cross River State and a boundary community in Ebonyi State where the IPOB members had continued to kill our people, he said. So my uncle called me on the phone to come down to Maiduguri where I will be given ammunition to take back to the community in Cross River to defend our people. My uncle and the soldier gave me the ammunition and took me to a motor park in a tricycle before I was arrested by the Police. I was meant to take the ammunition to Makurdi before I will do a waybill to Cross River, the suspect said. The police commissioner said while the suspect is being kept in custody, an investigation team has been raised to fish out the soldier and the Chad-based accomplice. Bandits have killed at least 35 people including a village head after they raided five communities in Anka local government area of Zamfara State on Thursday evening and Friday morning. Local sources told PREMIUM TIMES that the bandits also rustled the livestock of the villagers. Zamfara State has become one of the epicentres of criminality in the country with armed men raiding villages. These gunmen have killed hundreds of residents. They have also kidnapped several others. The attacked villages were Kadaddaba, Rafin Gero, Babban Baye, Wanu and Daki Takwas. A youth leader in Anka, Shawwal Aliyu, said the village head of Wanu was killed during the attack. You know the communities are very close. When they stormed Wanu, they went straight to the traditional rulers house where some residents had also gathered and they started shooting sporadically. Its possible that he (village head) was not the reason for the attack because they were just shooting while people continued running. It was in the evening that the dead bodies were gathered, Mr Aliyu said. According to him, the armed men killed six people in Wanu, in Kadaddaba they killed four people while two were killed in Babban Baye and three in Rafin Gero. Those who escaped the bandits attack ran to Anka in the evening and despite that the villagers called security agents several times while they were being attacked, 15 people were killed just like that yesterday (Thursday), he said. Premium Times learnt that the displaced persons are being sheltered in primary schools and an unofficial IDP camp given by the Emir of Anka. On Friday, local sources said 20 people were killed in Daki Takwas in the same local government area. Daki Takwas is few kilometres from the main town and also not far from the Federal Government College Anka. Twenty people were killed in that, Ansar Aliyu said. They went into the town in the morning when local traders were getting ready to go to the Anka weekly market so, most of the 20 people killed were preparing to go to the market for business. The police command spokesman, Mohammed Shehu, didnt respond to calls and SMS sent to him during the attacks. Bandits have killed at least five people, wounded seven others and abducted an unknown number of persons during an attack on Friday when they stormed a weekly market in the Yantumaki community of Danmusa local government area of Katsina State. The police confirmed the attack. Danmusa which is on the boundary of Rugu forest, is one of the main hideouts for gunmen commonly referred to as bandits. A local source, Magaji Basiru, told PREMIUM TIMES that those killed include three traders and two children who were killed in the stampede that followed as people tried to run from the bandits. The bandits abducted traders and customers and escaped with them into the forest. They came around some minutes to 3 p.m. and went straight to the phone sellers part of the market. In a short statement confirming the attack to journalists, the spokesperson of the Katsina police command, Gambo Isa, said one person was killed while five were injured. Today (Friday) some terrorists attacked the GSM section of Yantumaki Market and started shooting sporadically. They came in their usual style; motorcycles, at high speed and wielding guns. The two small boys that died were pushed to the ground during the rush by people to escape the bandits bullets. The other three killed were traders while some of those wounded include traders and customers, he said. READ ALSO: Bandits kill 35 people including village head in two separate attacks in Zamfara Mr Basiru added that several people were abducted by the bandits during the attack and goods were carted away. We cant say exactly how many people have been abducted but theyre many of them. You know, the people of the areas involved need to be contacted to know who and who has not returned. As we speak, (Friday Kate late evening) wares and goods are still out there in the market although policemen have taken over the area, he added. They shot six people and stole many handsets. One died and five were taken to Danmusa General Hospital. Some of them were later transferred to Dutsinma and Katsina General Hospitals. The situation is under control now, he said. No fewer than 42 civilians were killed is various attacks by non-state actors in Jigawa State in the Month of March, the police in Jigawa State have announced. According to the Public Relations Department of the Jigawa State police command, the number is exclusive of unreported civilian death and security personnel killed in the line of action. Out of the 42 persons killed, eight were as a result of reoccurring violent clash between crops farmers and cattle herders in two restive local government areas of the state Guri and Kirikasamma. The figures in farmers, and herders clash is the highest toll in the past months. That has raised more fear as residents often reported the movement of strange armed persons across the state. In January the police confirmed the killings of two officers in Taura Local government Area by armed bandits. The police also announced the abduction the son-in-law to a government contractor in the state, Haruna Maifata. The police spokesperson, Lawan Adam, said in the month of March, the police received the report of two kidnap incidents and five armed robbery cases Mr Adam said the other deaths were unnatural, others due to road accidents mostly occurred due to overspeeding, overloading, and non-compliance and proper usage of road signs. The official said rape cases top the chart with 12 reported cases in the states crime statistics for last month. The police said that while 42 persons were killed in the month of march 28 other persons sustained injuries. Jigawa is relatively safe when compared to other states in the Northwest region where bandits and other armed groups regularly terrorise inhabitants. But reoccurring violent clashes between farmers and cattle herders in Guri, Kirikasamma and Birniwa in Jigawa North East with fertile land suitable for farming and grazing, have remained issues of concern with control of the land has led to bloody conflicts between the groups over the years. The incessant clashes between farmers and herders in the area have led critics to accuse the Jigawa government of handling the crisis with kids gloves. Police have repelled an attack by gunmen in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. The gunmen on Friday attacked the officers who were attached to a construction company working in the area, police said. Details of the incident were still sketchy at the time of filing this report but a source said the incident happened at Omege Noyo. The officers engaged the gunmen in a shootout and were able to repel them. One of the gunmen was killed during the shootout while an officer was injured and is in critical condition at a hospital. Police spokesperson in Ebonyi State, Loveth Odah, confirmed the incident but said she was yet to get details of it. She said the police were on the trail of the attackers and expressed hope they would soon be apprehended. The attack happened the same day some gunmen attacked and killed a member of the Ebubeagu security outfit in Ebonyi. The insecurity in the South-east has deteriorated. The police and other security agencies, including high-profile personalities in the regions, remain the targets of deadly attacks. The separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is suspected to be behind the attacks in the region. IPOB is agitation for the creation of an independent state of Biafra to be carved out of the five states of South-east and parts of South-south region. The group leader, Nnamdi Kanu, is detained in Abuja. He is standing trial for alleged treasonable felony and terrorism. Another Nigerian has disclosed how some police officers forced him to wire N130,000 to them after the officers abducted him on an highway in Ibadan, Nigerias South-west. The incident happened on April 1 along the Ibadan expressway, close to Gurumaraji/Ibadan tollgate, according to information on a Twitter post that narrated what happened. The victims name is Babatola Ogundedina as shown in the transaction receipt posted on the microblogging site as evidence of the wired money. The money was wired through a Stanbic IBTC account to an OPAY account belonging to Festus Akele. Mr Ogundedina said he was driving his friends Toyota Venza car when the officers flagged him down on the highway. He said the officers questioned him, made a phone call and confirmed the car belonged to his friend. They also searched the car and found nothing incriminating, he said. Once he (an officer) finished talking to my friend who owns the car, he started going through my phone. He saw an email on the phone and thats when they started saying Im a Yahoo boy (internet fraudster), Mr Ogundedina said. The officer told their victim he must have been involved in an internet scam for him to be driving a Toyota Venza. Mr Ogundedina said the officers rejected his appeal that they should take him to a police station. He said they threatened to shoot him if he refused to cooperate with them. Mr Ogundedina said he was afraid of his life because the incident happened around 6 a.m. and that the area was quiet except for the cars that were driving past on the highway. So they entered the car and started driving me around and threatened that they will do different to me. I asked them what they wanted and they asked me to give them N500,000. I was shocked but due to the fact that they kept threatening me I had to beg them to collect N130,000 out of the N140,000 that was left in my account. They gave me an Opay account, which I did, the victim said. Police reaction The Complaint Response Unit of the police responded to the tweet. It requested the Twitter user who posted it, Emeria Godwin, to furnish them with his contact details. A similar incident happened on Wednesday when some officers abducted a Nigerian music producer in Lagos and forced him to wire N1.2 million to them. The officers were later identified and the money recovered and returned to the owner after Nigerians expressed outrage on social media. AdCellerant makes quality digital marketing accessible to every business. DENVER , April 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AdCellerant, an award-winning tech-enabled Services Company focused on bringing Madison Avenue-level digital marketing solutions to Main Street Businesses, announced today their rebranding efforts. Born in 2013, AdCellerant has become one of the fastest-growing companies according to Deloitte Technology and Inc Magazine 2021 rankings. In a note from the executive team, the rebrand comes from AdCellerant's evolution from a service company to a technology company. "With invested time, resources, and capital to rebuild Ui.Marketing-the company's sales enablement, order automation, order management, and reporting platform," said Brock Berry, CEO, and Co-Founder of AdCellerant. "The evolution of the company and the future we aim to tackle with our partners could only be captured in a new look, mission, and plan for AdCellerant." New look and feel, same company vision The company's vision is to provide small to medium sized businesses access to high-quality digital marketing technology and solutions through partnerships with media companies and agencies. Generating results and growth for businesses of all sizes, AdCellerant offers best-in-class advertising technology and software, award-winning customer service, expert education, and exceptional operational support to deliver unparalleled campaign performance for advertisers. Ui.Marketing makes the complex, simple and allows small businesses to compete with national brands like never before. "The future of advertising is quickly evolving and so are we. AdCellerant facilitates the value exchanged between the advertiser and the end consumer. In the future, that responsibility can only be fulfilled by a company that easily traverses cookieless, ever-changing privacy laws, conversion-focused campaigns, and automation," said Brock Berry & Shelby Carlson, Co-Founders of AdCellerant. "We take our role seriously. Small businesses are in a dog fight with national and big box brands. AdCellerant and Ui.Marketing levels the playing field between Madison Avenue and Main Street advertising through innovative planning, execution, and reporting." Behind the Rebrand The purpose of the AdCellerant rebrand was to show AdCellerant's efforts to become a tech-forward, and innovative company while driving revenue growth for the Partners they work with. "AdCellerant's new logo incorporates rounded edges and a custom typeface to embody the company's evolution, drive, and commitment through innovative technology and award-winning customer service," Lenae Myers, graphic designer at Techint Labs. This vision is what creates exceptional solutions and services for our partners and advertisers. AdCellerant keeps the following core values at the forefront of their business: Driving results for partners and local businesses Technology innovations to stay ahead of the curve Their team members' success and well-being Exceptional customer service for every single partner Conducting business in an ethical and sustainable way Making the local community a better place About AdCellerant AdCellerant provides businesses access to high-quality digital marketing technology and solutions through partnerships with media companies and agencies. Focused on generating results and growth for businesses of all sizes, AdCellerant offers best-in-class technology and software, award-winning customer service, expert education, and exceptional operational support to ensure campaign performance for customers. Leveraging proprietary technology Ui.Marketing, AdCellerant effectively connects businesses with their ideal customer at the right time. Harnessing an easy-to-use and nimble digital advertising tool users can manage the entire buyer's journey from quick and accurate comprehensive proposal creation, campaign launch, and campaign performance. All within a single platform. For more information or to book a demo, visit www.adcellerant.com. Contact information: Meghan Brito Senior Vice President, Marketing [email protected] SOURCE AdCellerant LLC NEW YORK, April 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the securities of C3.ai, Inc. (NYSE: AI): (i) pursuant and/or traceable to the Offering Documents issued in connection with the Company's initial public offering conducted on or about December 9, 2020 (the "IPO" or "Offering"); and/or (ii) between December 9, 2020 and February 15, 2022, inclusive (the "Class Period"), of the important May 3, 2022 lead plaintiff deadline. SO WHAT: If you purchased C3.ai securities during the Class Period you may be entitled to compensation without payment of any out of pocket fees or costs through a contingency fee arrangement. WHAT TO DO NEXT: To join the C3.ai class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=3839 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action. A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to serve as lead plaintiff, you must move the Court no later than May 3, 2022. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation. WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience, resources or any meaningful peer recognition. Many of these firms do not actually handle securities class actions, but are merely middlemen that refer clients or partner with law firms that actually litigate the cases. Be wise in selecting counsel. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers. DETAILS OF THE CASE: According to the lawsuit, the Offering Documents were negligently prepared and, as a result, contained untrue statements of material fact or omitted to state other facts necessary to make the statements made not misleading and were not prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations governing their preparation. Additionally, throughout the Class Period, defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding C3.ai's business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, the Offering Documents and defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (1) C3.ai's partnership with Baker Hughes was deteriorating; (2) C3.ai's was employing a flawed accounting methodology to conceal the deterioration of its Baker Hughes partnership; (3) C3.ai faced challenges in product adoption and significant salesforce turnover; (4) C3.ai overstated, inter alia, the extent of its investment in technology, description of its customers, its total addressable market, the pace of its market growth, and the scale of alliances with its major business partners; and (5) as a result, defendants' public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages. To join the C3.ai class action, go to https://rosenlegal.com/submit-form/?case_id=3839 or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email [email protected] or [email protected] for information on the class action. No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff. Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-rosen-law-firm, on Twitter: https://twitter.com/rosen_firm or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rosenlawfirm/. Attorney Advertising. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Contact Information: Laurence Rosen, Esq. Phillip Kim, Esq. The Rosen Law Firm, P.A. 275 Madison Avenue, 40th Floor New York, NY 10016 Tel: (212) 686-1060 Toll Free: (866) 767-3653 Fax: (212) 202-3827 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] www.rosenlegal.com SOURCE Rosen Law Firm, P.A. Cancer Therapies Market in Europe 2022-2026: Scope The cancer therapies market in Europe report covers the following areas: Cancer Therapies Market in Europe 2022-2026: Drivers and Challenges The increased prevalence of cancer is one of the key drivers supporting the cancer therapies market growth in Europe. The costs of cancer treatment are also expected to increase, as new and often more expensive treatments are adopted as standards of care. The rise in the number of cancer cases will lead to increased demand for and use of cancer immunotherapy, prompting vendors to develop advanced and upgraded therapies further. These factors are driving the market growth. The high cost of products is one of the factors challenging the cancer therapies market growth in Europe. Most cancers are incurable and require individual-specific treatments. Therefore, several sequential or combination treatments are given to individuals. The high cost of drug development, right from the preclinical stage to approval, leads to the higher cost of the final cancer drugs. Such factors are negatively impacting the market growth. Cancer Therapies Market in Europe 2022-2026: Segmentation By type, the market has been segmented into chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and others. The chemotherapy segment will have significant market share growth during the forecast period. Chemotherapy is the use of drugs to destroy cancer cells or to stop the growth of rapidly dividing cancer cells in the body. It is often given along with radiation therapy, called chemoradiation therapy, to increase the effectiveness of radiation therapy. By geography, the market has been segmented into Germany, UK, France, Italy, and Rest of Europe. Rest of Europe will have the highest market share growth during the forecast period. Find additional highlights related to the market. Download a Free Sample Cancer Therapies Market in Europe 2022-2026: Vendor Analysis We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the cancer therapies market in Europe, including Amgen Inc., AstraZeneca Plc, Bayer AG, Bristol Myers Squibb Co., Eli Lilly and Co., F. Hoffmann La Roche Ltd., GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Merck and Co. Inc., Novartis AG, and Pfizer Inc. among others. Subscribe to our "Lite Plan" billed annually at USD 3000 that enables you to download 3 reports/year and view 3 reports/month. Cancer Therapies Market in Europe 2022-2026: Key Highlights CAGR of the market during the forecast period 2022-2026 Detailed information on factors that will assist cancer therapies market growth in Europe during the next five years during the next five years Estimation of the cancer therapies market size in Europe and its contribution to the parent market and its contribution to the parent market Predictions on upcoming trends and changes in consumer behavior The growth of the cancer therapies market in Europe Analysis of the market's competitive landscape and detailed information on vendors Comprehensive details of factors that will challenge the growth of cancer therapies market vendors in Europe Related Reports: Hyperkalemia Drugs Market by Type and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026 Cancer Biologics Market by Product and Geography - Forecast and Analysis 2022-2026 Cancer Therapies Market in Europe Scope Report Coverage Details Page number 120 Base year 2021 Forecast period 2022-2026 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 7.92% Market growth 2022-2026 USD 34.71 billion Market structure Fragmented YoY growth (%) 6.90 Regional analysis Germany, UK, France, Italy, and Rest of Europe Performing market contribution Rest of Europe at 34% Key consumer countries Germany, UK, France, Italy, and Rest of Europe Competitive landscape Leading companies, competitive strategies, consumer engagement scope Companies profiled Amgen Inc., AstraZeneca Plc, Bayer AG, Bristol Myers Squibb Co., Eli Lilly and Co., F. Hoffmann La Roche Ltd., GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Merck and Co. Inc., Novartis AG, and Pfizer Inc. Market Dynamics Parent market analysis, Market growth inducers and obstacles, Fast-growing and slow-growing segment analysis, COVID 19 impact and future consumer dynamics, market condition analysis for the forecast period, Customization purview If our report has not included the data that you are looking for, you can reach out to our analysts and get segments customized. Table Of Contents : ***1. Executive Summary **1.1 Market Overview *Exhibit 01: Key Finding 1 *Exhibit 02: Key Finding 2 *Exhibit 03: Key Finding 5 *Exhibit 04: Key Finding 6 *Exhibit 05: Key Finding 7 *Exhibit 06: Key Finding 8 ***2. Market Landscape **2.1 Market ecosystem *Exhibit 07: Parent market *Exhibit 08: Market characteristics **2.2 Value chain analysis ***3. Market Sizing **3.1 Market definition *Exhibit 09: Offerings of vendors included in the market definition **3.2 Market segment analysis *Exhibit 10: Market segments **3.3 Market size 2021 **3.4 Market outlook: Forecast for 2021 - 2026 *3.4.1 Estimating growth rates for emerging and high-growth markets *3.4.2 Estimating growth rates for mature markets *Exhibit 11: Global - Market size and forecast 2021 - 2026 ($ billion) *Exhibit 12: Global market: Year-over-year growth 2021 - 2026 (%) ***4. Five Forces Analysis **4.1 Five Forces Summary *Exhibit 13: Five forces analysis 2021 & 2026 **4.2 Bargaining power of buyers *Exhibit 14: Bargaining power of buyers **4.3 Bargaining power of suppliers *Exhibit 15: Bargaining power of suppliers **4.4 Threat of new entrants *Exhibit 16: Threat of new entrants **4.5 Threat of substitutes *Exhibit 17: Threat of substitutes **4.6 Threat of rivalry *Exhibit 18: Threat of rivalry **4.7 Market condition *Exhibit 19: Market condition - Five forces 2021 ***5.Market Segmentation by Type **5.1 Market segments *Exhibit 20: Type - Market share 2021-2026 (%) **5.2 Comparison by Type *Exhibit 21: Comparison by Type **5.3 Chemotherapy - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 *Exhibit 22: Chemotherapy - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) *Exhibit 23: Chemotherapy - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) **5.4 Targeted therapy - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 *Exhibit 24: Targeted therapy - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) *Exhibit 25: Targeted therapy - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) **5.5 Immunotherapy - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 *Exhibit 26: Immunotherapy - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) *Exhibit 27: Immunotherapy - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) **5.6 Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 *Exhibit 28: Others - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) *Exhibit 29: Others - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) **5.7 Market opportunity by Type *Exhibit 30: Market opportunity by Type ***6. Customer landscape **6.1 Overview *Technavio's customer landscape matrix comparing Drivers or price sensitivity, Adoption lifecycle, importance in customer price basket, Adoption rate and Key purchase criteria *Exhibit 31: Customer landscape ***7. Geographic Landscape **7.1 Geographic segmentation *Exhibit 32: Market share by geography 2021-2026 (%) **7.2 Geographic comparison *Exhibit 33: Geographic comparison **7.3 Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 *Exhibit 34: Germany - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) *Exhibit 35: Germany - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) **7.4 UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 *Exhibit 36: UK - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) *Exhibit 37: UK - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) **7.5 France - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 *Exhibit 38: France - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) *Exhibit 39: France - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) **7.6 Italy - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 *Exhibit 40: Italy - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) *Exhibit 41: Italy - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) **7.7 Rest of Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 *Exhibit 42: Rest of Europe - Market size and forecast 2021-2026 ($ billion) *Exhibit 43: Rest of Europe - Year-over-year growth 2021-2026 (%) **7.8 Key leading countries *Exhibit 44: Key leading countries **7.9 Market opportunity by geography *Exhibit 45: Market opportunity by geography ***8. Drivers, Challenges, and Trends **8.1 Market drivers *8.1.1 Increased prevalence of cancer *8.1.2 Introduction of combination therapies *8.1.3 Increasing awareness about effective therapies in patient population **8.2 Market challenges *8.2.1 High cost of products *8.2.2 Side effects associated with available medicines *8.2.3 Lack of skilled professionals *Exhibit 46: Impact of drivers and challenges **8.3 Market trends *8.3.1 Rise in R&D investment *8.3.2 Advent of gene therapy *8.3.3 Personalized therapeutics ***9. Vendor Landscape **9.1 Overview *Exhibit 47: Vendor landscape *The potential for the disruption of the market landscape was moderate in 2020, and its threat is expected to remain unchanged by 2025. **9.2 Landscape disruption *Exhibit 48: Landscape disruption *Exhibit 49: Industry risks ***10. Vendor Analysis **10.1 Vendors covered *Exhibit 50: Vendors covered **10.2 Market positioning of vendors *Exhibit 51: Market positioning of vendors *10.3 Amgen Inc. *Exhibit 52: Amgen Inc. - Overview *Exhibit 53: Amgen Inc. - Product and service *Exhibit 54: Amgen Inc. - Key offerings *Exhibit 55: Amgen Inc. - Key news **10.4 AstraZeneca Plc *Exhibit 56: AstraZeneca Plc - Overview *Exhibit 57: AstraZeneca Plc - Product and service *Exhibit 58: AstraZeneca Plc - Key offerings **10.5 Bayer AG *Exhibit 59: Bayer AG - Overview *Exhibit 60: Bayer AG - Business segments *Exhibit 61: Bayer AG - Key offerings *Exhibit 62: Bayer AG - Segment focus **10.6 Bristol Myers Squibb Co. *Exhibit 63: Bristol Myers Squibb Co. - Overview *Exhibit 64: Bristol Myers Squibb Co. - Product and service *Exhibit 65: Bristol Myers Squibb Co. - Key offerings *Exhibit 66: Bristol Myers Squibb Co. - Segment focus **10.7 Eli Lilly and Co. *Exhibit 67: Eli Lilly and Co. - Overview *Exhibit 68: Eli Lilly and Co. - Business segments *Exhibit 69: Eli Lilly and Co. - Key offerings *Exhibit 70: Eli Lilly and Co. - Segment focus *10.8 F. Hoffmann La Roche Ltd. *Exhibit 71: F. Hoffmann La Roche Ltd. - Overview *Exhibit 72: F. Hoffmann La Roche Ltd. - Business segments *Exhibit 73: F. Hoffmann La Roche Ltd. - Key offerings *Exhibit 74: F. Hoffmann La Roche Ltd. - Segment focus **10.9 GlaxoSmithKline Plc *Exhibit 75: GlaxoSmithKline Plc - Overview *Exhibit 76: GlaxoSmithKline Plc - Product and service *Exhibit 77: GlaxoSmithKline Plc - Key offerings *Exhibit 78: GlaxoSmithKline Plc - Segment focus **10.10 Merck and Co. Inc. *Exhibit 79: Merck and Co. Inc. - Overview *Exhibit 80: Merck and Co. Inc. - Business segments *Exhibit 81: Merck and Co. Inc. - Key offerings *Exhibit 82: Merck and Co. Inc. - Segment focus **10.11 Novartis AG *Exhibit 83: Novartis AG - Overview *Exhibit 84: Novartis AG - Business segments *Exhibit 85: Novartis AG - Key offerings *Exhibit 86: Novartis AG - Segment focus **10.12 Pfizer Inc. *Exhibit 87: Pfizer Inc. - Overview *Exhibit 88: Pfizer Inc. - Product and service *Exhibit 89: Pfizer Inc. - Key offerings ***11. Appendix **11.1 Scope of the report *11.1.1 Market definition *11.1.2 Objectives *11.1.3 Notes and Caveats **11.2 Currency conversion rates for US$ *Exhibit 90: Currency conversion rates for US$ **11.3 Research Methodology *Exhibit 91: Research Methodology *Exhibit 92: Validation techniques employed for market sizing *Exhibit 93: Information sources **11.4 List of abbreviations *Exhibit 94: List of abbreviations About Us Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provide actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavio's report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavio's comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios. Contact Technavio Research Jesse Maida Media & Marketing Executive US: +1 844 364 1100 UK: +44 203 893 3200 Email: [email protected] Website: www.technavio.com/ SOURCE Technavio PITTSBURGH, April 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today Commonwealth Court Judge Patricia McCullough ordered 12th Congressional District Candidate Mike Doyle's name to remain on the ballot and awarded him costs and attorney's fees to be assessed to the individuals who filed the objection. The ruling follows a two day trial that included a line by line review of the signatures. Congressional Candidate Mike Doyle made the following statement: Together, working with an outstanding and committed group of volunteers, we collected just over 1300 signatures in two weeks. Today, efforts by a D.C. extreme left law firm, and the special interests behind them, had their frivolous attempt to challenge our petitions tossed by the court. I'm grateful that the court agreed that we filed with more than enough signatures to appear on the ballot and voters of the 12th Congressional District will have the ability to vote for an independent candidate who will bring a commonsense conservative approach to Washington, D.C. I'm looking forward to formally launching my campaign soon and bring my message of opportunity and leadership to every community in the district. Allegheny County Republican Chairman Sam Demarco made the following Statement: Left wing attorney Marc Elias couldn't help himself. The judicial activists on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court already chose Elias' gerrymandered congressional map intended to elect allies of President Biden's left wing agenda. Elias then sent his attorneys into the 12th Congressional district to suppress the voices of Republican voters who demand to have a quality candidate on the ballot. After drawing our congressional maps, Elias now wants to pick our candidates. I'm proud that Mike Doyle stood up to this attack. The Democrat's desperate attempt to knock Mike Doyle off the ballot is telling It shows they are scared. They know that Mike Doyle is well poised to defeat whichever of the far-left and socialist activists that the democrats put up as their candidate in the May Primary. Pennsylvanians don't appreciate these blatant attempts to disenfranchise the voices of the 1000 plus Republicans who signed Mike Doyle's petition. They are eager to send D.C. a message by electing Mike Doyle to Congress and firing Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Westmoreland County Republican Chairman Bill Bretz made the following statement: It is absurd that the democrats have abused the legal system to bring this frivolous challenge to Mike Doyle's candidacy. The arguments brought forward included the attempt to throw out the signatures of many voters because they felt the signature was illegible. Among the many unsuccessfully challenged signatures were a sitting County Commissioner and his spouse, two former County GOP Chairs, a Republican State Committeeman, and many other dedicated volunteers of our party. It is unlikely that the democratic operatives behind this fastidious review of petition signatures will carry over their recent epiphany on the significance of signature verification to join us in supporting the reinstatement of such security measures on mail-in ballots and universal Voter ID as cornerstones of election integrity going forward rather than just this cynical and opportunistic attempt to knock a rival off the ballot with frivolous litigation in hopes that the courts do what they can't do at the ballot box- defeat Republicans. For More Information- Ben Wren (724)-961-8180 or [email protected] SOURCE Friends of Mike Doyle BEIJING, April 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Five years after China announced the establishment of the Xiong'an New Area, a 1,770 square kilometer site in North China's Hebei Province about a two-hour drive from Beijing, the foundations of the new "dream city" are taking shape in a miraculous manner, with construction cranes dominating the skyline, new modern buildings springing up one after another, and a magnificent landscape created with trees, forests and wetlands that echo the city's focus on innovation and green development. When the blueprint for Xiong'an, which was described by the top leadership as "a strategy crucial for a millennium to come," was revealed on April 1, 2017, it attracted wide attention from around the world as many praised China's boldness in launching such a massive project, literally building a whole new metropolis from the ground up. Others wondered if China can make another miracle with its vision for future living and development, after two successful precedents, the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone and the Shanghai Pudong New Area, which led the whole country into where it is today. In many ways, Xiong'an represents China's vision of its next stage of development in several areas. It is expected to become a high-level socialist modern city that is green, low-carbon, intelligent, livable and relatively competitive, by the end of 2035. By the middle of this century, it should become an important part of the world-level Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city cluster. In interviews with the Global Times, local residents, construction workers, companies, authorities and experts described the extraordinary changes Xiong'an has seen over the past five years despite a series of challenges. It is a sleepless construction site and a stunning view into futuristic urban living that embodies efficiency, strength, resilience and farsightedness of the Chinese system. Xiong'an speed Now, five years after the blueprints were finalized, numerous changes are taking place on this land that show to the world China's orderly but unswerving push to make of its dream city. Zhang Kun, a 35-year-old engineer at the China Railway 12th Bureau Group Co under the China Railway Construction Corp (CRCC), was one of the chief engineers for the project of the Xiong'an Railway Station. During his two years of work, from late 2018 to 2020, he sensed the transformation of Xiong'an from a rural-looking place into a modern city. "When I first came to Xiong'an from a previous project in Chongqing, I felt a big gap coming from a big city to a rural area. At that time, I saw mostly villages and agricultural land in Xiong'an. Now, roads are built, resettlement houses are built, assistant facilities and skyscrapers are also emerging. The changes are huge," Zhang told the Global Times. Ren Dakai, head of the Xiong'an New Area Digital Transportation Lab, recalled that the most obvious change in Xiong'an is the convenient transportation thanks to the increasing high-speed trains that are commuting between Beijing and Xiong'an each day. Besides, the accommodations are much better with buildings designed with modern concepts. Now, living in a relocated house in the east of Rongcheng, part of Xiong'an, Ren is quite satisfied with the community that is fully equipped with facilities like gyms and children's playgrounds. Within 3 kilometers there are educational facilities like kindergartens and elementary schools, as well as a large park, he said, describing Xiong'an as the "last place" for him to fight for a career although he just settled in the region about two years ago. What those people experienced are aspects of numerous changes that have taken place or are ongoing in the Xiong'an New Area. Since its establishment, Xiong'an has started 177 key projects with a total investment of 618.4 billion yuan ($97.4 billion). In peak times, more than 200,000 workers are employed on the construction projects, according to data from Xiong'an's management committee. Many landmark infrastructure projects have already been completed. Trains have begun to commute on the intercity railway line between Xiong'an and Beijing after the Xiong'an Railway Station was constructed and 939 of resettlement homes in the Rongdong area have been finished. The general formation of road network, ecological corridors and waterways have also taken form. As of March, central-level state-owned enterprises had established more than 100 branches in Xiong'an. Registered companies that show capital sources in Beijing amounted to 3,600, accounting for about 80 percent of the region's overall investment, according to media reports. A frequently mentioned characteristic of Xiong'an's construction is fastness, which people summarized with the phrase "Xiong'an speed." It is both correct and incorrect, experts said, as Xiong'an's overall planning has been very orderly and careful, while the actual realization of its blueprint has been faster than people's expectations, a reflection of not only China's efficiency in carrying out plans, but also a testimony of the country's technological strength which has helped shorten implementation times. Take the Xiong'an Railway Station as an example. It took only about two years for the 475,200 square meter station to complete construction, setting a record in terms of construction speed for stations of a similar scale. According to Zhang Kun, it usually takes three years for such a building to be constructed in China. That speed is not rare in the construction of Xiong'an's infrastructure. When building the Xiong'an Citizen Service Center, 5,000 workers from the China State Construction managed to complete 50,000 meters of welding work in just 20 days, while installing 12,200 tons of steel frames in more than three weeks, about two or three times faster than normal speed, the company said. According to experts and industrial insiders, the Xiong'an speed is made possible by careful planning and technological progress. For example, Zhang Kun revealed that when his team was constructing the Xiong'an Railway Station, they changed the norm of setting "five departments and one office" to "nine departments and two offices." What was added was the scientific division to push for technological upgrade and intelligent construction. According to Zhang Kun, the CRCC set up several technical workshops to apply cutting-edge technologies to the project's construction, such as welding robots, intelligent steel processing equipment, among others, which helped shorten the time of the project. Zhang Gui, secretary general of the College of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Collaborative Development under Nankai University, told the Global Times that Xiong'an's development is generally in line with its original plan. "Compared with many regions, Xiong'an's planning is complete and scientific and took a relevantly long time. This makes afterward implementation much smoother," he said. High-tech Xiong'an Apart from stressing speed, China is also pouring resources into the region to foster its high-tech industries, from 5G and autonomous driving, to cloud computing and blockchain. Since the establishment of the Xiong'an New Area, more and more 5G technologies have been implemented and application scenarios such as 5G smart robots, smart buses, and parks have been continuously enriched. For example, the parking lot alongside the Xiong'an Railway Station was built into a pilot zone of self-driving cars and Internet of Vehicles. According to Ren, autonomous driving technologies, which he is now dedicated to, have accelerated in Xiong'an from the initial test phase when tech firms like Baidu conducted its autonomous driving road test based on a 5G network environment in 2018. "Compared with other cities, Xiong'an is like a blank sheet of paper. New technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things are more feasible to implement. It can give full play to the advantages of these technologies and build a smart new city," Ren said. Zhang Gui also praised Xiong'an's planning as a vivid display of China's wisdom, as the country showed the world a "Chinese model" of what a modern city is like, as well as where China's future economic momentum lies. "Xiong'an's planning is a manifestation that China no longer just focuses on city scale, but is seeking establishment of new modern cities with features like low-carbon, intelligent, livable and high-quality development," he said. "It is an epitome of a new start for a new era." Also, the economist stressed that Xiong'an represents a model of China's modernization in an all-around way, instead of just focusing on certain city functions. Significance to the world Experts also noted that Xiong'an can play to their economic strength as the world's economic situation evolves, thus making contributions to China's economic growth as well as global industrial chains. According to Zhang Gui, the trend of regionalization is increasingly rising against the background of globalization development, such as forming of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade bloc. Therefore, Xiong'an should find its position in such new global economic pattern and strive to participate in relevant industrial chains. For instance, it will actively absorb and gather innovative factor resources in the world and lay out high-tech industries from a high starting point, after undertaking certain non-capital functions from Beijing, he said. Furthermore, as globalization is shifting from a model of bulk commodity trading to services trading, Xiong'an can explore the construction of a digital commerce development demonstration area, establish digital trade development rules in line with national conditions, as well as participate in the formulation of international trade rules and agreements for data assets both in China and abroad with its booming digital economy, Zhang Gui said. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202204/1257375.shtml SOURCE Global Times John Hope Bryant Discusses "Designing Government Taskforces for the Future" at Annual World Government Summit in Dubai Tweet this Bryant's session was titled "Designing Government Taskforces for the Future,' with a focus on the challenges and opportunities afforded by the global future, including shaping policies that drive progress and government development; designing the future of healthcare systems; actioning sustainability for positive impact; accelerating the global economic recovery; exploring next frontiers; building the cities of the future; enabling the future of education and work and empowering societal resilience. "A government that is prepared for the future is one that will successfully with clear goals, purpose, and an actionable plan meet the needs of its citizens," said John Hope Bryant, Operation HOPE Founder, Chairman, and CEO. "In the past two years, our collective global challenges have reminded us that preparation is key. As we reach new inflection points, my hope is that leaders and governments at all levels rise to the occasion and meet the moment to serve its citizens. Be it the lingering effects of the pandemic, economic shifts, social and political unrest, or any other driving force, together we can provide hope and a future that works for all." Bryant spoke about building government task forces for the future and his work preparing for the future of financial literacy in the US. He was instrumental in the creation of the presidential advisory councils on financial literacy, the FLEC Creation, and now President Biden's efforts around racial equity and agency prioritization. Bryant has advised multiple sitting US Presidents and led several global initiatives, resulting in policy changes that enhanced the relationships between the government and citizens. He has served as a member of the President's Advisory Council on Financial Literacy under President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama. As a champion for financial wellness and economic equity, he has also advised President Bill Clinton. At Bryant's recommendation, U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew renamed the former U.S. Treasury Annex Building the Freedman's Bank Building, which was established by President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, to help develop newly freed African Americans as they endeavored to become financially stable. For the past three decades, Bryant has also successfully created public-private partnerships to shift financial wellness outcomes in underserved communities through education and hands-on programming. ### About Operation HOPE, Inc. Since 1992, Operation HOPE has been moving America from civil rights to "silver rights" with the mission of making free enterprise and capitalism work for the underserveddisrupting poverty for millions of low and moderate-income youth and adults across the nation. Through its community uplift model, HOPE Inside, which received the 2016 Innovator of the Year recognition by American Banker magazine, Operation HOPE has served more than 4 million individuals and directed more than $3.2 billion in economic activity into disenfranchised communitiesturning check-cashing customers into banking customers, renters into homeowners, small business dreamers into small business owners, minimum wage workers into living wage consumers, and uncertain disaster victims into financially empowered disaster survivors. For more information, visit OperationHOPE.org. Follow the HOPE conversation @operationhope on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. About The World Government Summit The World Government Summit (WGS), launched under the directives of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, in 2013, is a global platform that brings together world leaders, ministers, senior officials, and policymakers to share experiences and ideas that contribute to the development of future governments and discuss the latest trends and innovative solutions for global challenges. The WGS 2022 convened this year and welcomed up to 4000 participants and 500 speakers, who are shaping the next generation of governments. For more information, visit worldgovernmentsummit.org. Media Contacts: Lalohni Campbell, Operation HOPE 404-593-7145 [email protected] SOURCE Operation HOPE, Inc. Download the Sample Report Now! Key Methanol Sourcing and Procurement Report Highlights: Market growth 2022-2026: USD 6.75 Billion Growth momentum & CAGR: Accelerate at a CAGR of 4.14% Top Pricing Models: Spot pricing model, Volume-based pricing model Key consumer countries: North America , Europe , and APAC Supplier Selection Scope: Capability of suppliers to provide efficient logistics, and Suppliers ability to ensure the constant supply of raw materials Top Suppliers: Methanex, Methanol Holdings ( Trinidad ), and SABIC Know More About This Market: Request for a Free Sample Report Now! Insights into buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers: Several strategic and tactical negotiation levers are explained in the report to help buyers achieve the best prices for the Methanol market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Methanol pricing levels, pros, and cons of prevalent pricing models such as Unit-based pricing, and Bundled pricing, category management strategies and best practices to fulfil their category objectives. For more insights on buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers, www.spendedge.com/report/methanol-sourcing-and-procurement-intelligence-report Key Drivers and Trends Fueling Market Growth: The pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants has resulted in the low bargaining power of suppliers. Price forecasts are beneficial in purchase planning, especially when supplemented by the constant monitoring of price influencing factors. Identify favorable opportunities in Methanol TCO (total cost of ownership). Expected changes in price forecast and factors driving the current and future price changes. Identify pricing models that offer the most rewarding opportunities. To know more about various other market drivers, trends and challenges. Download our free sample report Smart Procurement Starts Here SpendEdge's procurement intelligence platform is the go-to tool for companies looking to access latest procurement research insights and supplier data on an easy-to-use platform. STARTER PACK Get 6 Full Reports, View 800+ report samples, Pre-order upcoming reports, Pre-order upcoming reports. Subscribe Now for FREE Want to know about various other Subscription packs? Click here Get the Details That You Are Looking for: Buy our detailed market analysis report to uncover: Changing market landscape with yearly forecast till 2024. Analyze the market's competitive and vendor landscape. How much marketing budget to set aside for geographical market expansion? Understanding the most adopted procurement strategies by buyers across industries. Download the FREE sample Report Now! Table of Content Executive Summary Market Insights Category Pricing Insights Cost-saving Opportunities Best Practices Category Ecosystem Category Management Strategy Category Management Enablers Suppliers Selection Suppliers under Coverage US Market Insights Category scope Appendix About SpendEdge: SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions. Contacts SpendEdge Anirban Choudhury Marketing Manager Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340 https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us SOURCE SpendEdge The families of the victims represent a wide range of ages from all walks of life. Each of the victims purchased tickets for the food that had been prepared by numerous volunteers as part of the fundraiser. Unfortunately, the food is believed to have been contaminated with salmonella bacteria. Food safety attorney Ron Simon, who represents these families, stated: "the Diocese has already been in contact with its insurance company. We recommend that those who became ill seek legal representation to advocate on their behalf with the insurance company, and to make sure they get everything to which they are entitled." About Ron Simon & Associates Over the last 20 years, Ron Simon and his colleagues have prosecuted thousands of food poisoning cases for victims across the United States. His work has resulted in numerous upgrades to food safety procedures in Fortune 500 companies and in legislation designed to protect consumers from dangerous foodborne pathogens. Mr. Simon and his clients have been featured on NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, and virtually all other major television networks and print media. Mr. Simon and his firm have collected over $700,000,000 for their clients. He regularly publishes articles about food safety and litigation at www.foodpoisoningnews.com which are read by viewers in over 180 countries. For more information visit Ron Simon's food poisoning website. Media Contact: Ron Simon 713-819-8116 SOURCE Ron Simon & Associates The drive-thru coffee company is kicking off festivities today with opportunities to sip, earn and score. Purchase a Cold Brew or Nitro Cold Brew with the Dutch Bros app for a chance to win: April 2-7 : up to 1,000 bonus points up to 1,000 bonus points April 8-14 : double points on Cold Brew purchases double points on Cold Brew purchases April 15-19 : free Cold Brew reward free Cold Brew reward April 20 : free Cold Brew for a month Cold Brew lovers can also celebrate with exclusive Dutch Bros app stickers with Cold Brew purchases - a new sticker every week plus a physical sticker on National Cold Brew Day! The app allows members to pay contact-free, earn points and score rewards! The National Cold Brew Day promotions lasts April 2-April 20. See official rules at DutchBros.com/national-cold-brew-day. The Dutch Bros app is available on the App Store and Google Play. About Dutch Bros Dutch Bros Coffee is a drive-thru coffee company dedicated to making a massive difference one cup at a time. Headquartered in Grants Pass, Oregon, where it was founded in 1992 by Dane and Travis Boersma, it's now sharing the "Dutch Luv" with more than 550 locations in 13 states. Dutch Bros serves specialty coffee, smoothies, freezes, teas, an exclusive Dutch Bros Blue Rebel energy drink and nitrogen-infused cold brew coffee. Its rich, proprietary coffee blend is handcrafted from start to finish. In addition to its mission of speed, quality and service, Dutch Bros is committed to giving back to the communities it serves. Through its Dutch Bros Foundation and local franchisees, the company donates several million dollars to causes across the country each year. To learn more about Dutch Bros, visit www.dutchbros.com , follow Dutch Bros Coffee on Instagram , Facebook , Twitter , & TikTok , and download the Dutch Bros app to earn points and score rewards! SOURCE Dutch Bros Coffee New York, April 2 : In a deeply troubling move to Amazon's Jeff Bezos, workers at his warehouse in New York City have voted to unionise. It is a historic first. The US National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) determined in January that unionisation efforts at the Amazon facility of 5,000 had "reached a sufficient showing of interest" to hold an election. Bezos-owned Amazon said it was "disappointed with the outcome of the election because we believe having a direct relationship with the company is best for our employees." The company is evaluating its options, a post said, "including filing objections based on the inappropriate and undue influence by the NLRB" that it claims it witnessed. It didn't specify what "influence" it was referring to. The ripples were felt far and wide. "The President was glad to see workers ensure their voices are heard...The Amazon workers in Staten Island made their choice to organise a grassroots union and bargain for better jobs and a better life," White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said. For two years, work has been afoot on unionising one of the citadels of modern capitalism. In October 2021, there was a filing with the NLRB to hold union elections for two Amazon facilities on Staten Island. This had to be withdrawn because there weren't enough signatures. A refilling was undertaken in December. The union is the personal project of one Christian Smalls, fired from the Staten Island site for organising a walkout. After Friday's tally was announced, Smalls taunted Bezos, second richest on the planet with net worth of $188 billion, thanking him, "because while he was up in space we were signing people up." In welcome news for Bezos, another union drive at Amazon's BHM1 facility in Bessemer, Alabama, where the NLRB had ordered a re-do of an election held in 2021 because Amazon was found to have interfered, the votes went against unionisation, with 933 against and 875 in favour. Since the final result is so close, there will be a hearing on 416 challenged ballots in the next few weeks, and both the union and Amazon will have the opportunity to file objections. Unionisation, a red rag for Big Tech in general, is publicly despised by the retail behemoth having a turnover of $386 billion in 2020. Friday's vote came barely twelve miles from Wall Street - to some the heart of global capitalism. It ratchets up growing unionisation efforts at Amazon, at 950,000 folks, the second-largest private employer in the US after Walmart. "We intend to fight for higher wages, job security, safer working conditions, more paid time off, better medical leave options, and longer breaks," Smalls' union has been saying, even as Bezos has been unapologetically fighting off labour organising. US rules require the organisers to submit signatures from 30 per cent of the workers they seek to represent. A change of guard from Bezos to Amazon old-timer Andy Stacey in July hasn't changed the party line. (Nikhila Natarajan tracks Big Tech and tweets @byniknat) Washington, April 2 : Sung Kim, US special representative for North Korea, will meet his South Korean and Chinese counterparts here in Washington next week to discuss North Korea's recent intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests, the US Department of State has said. Kim, who is concurrently serving as US ambassador to Indonesia, will arrive in Washington on Sunday, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the department. "US Special Representative for the DPRK Ambassador Sung Kim will travel to Washington, DC April 3-7 to participate in a series of meetings with US government officials and others on a broad range of DPRK issues, including the DPRK's recent ICBM launches," it said in a press release, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. "He will meet with ROK Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Noh Kyu-duk to discuss the current situation on the Korean Peninsula. Special Representative Kim will also meet with PRC Special Representative on Korean Peninsula Affairs Ambassador Liu Xiaoming to discuss issues related to the DPRK," it added. ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Korea's official name. North Korea fired an apparent ICBM last Thursday, following its two missile launches on February 27 and March 5 that the US says had involved a new ICBM system. The latest missile launch also ended Pyongyang's self-imposed moratorium on long-range missile testing that had been in place since late 2017. Raichur, : April 2 (IANS) Karnataka Police on Saturday sent a team to look into the situation in Andhra Pradesh's Srisailam where a violent clash involving pilgrims broke out. According to the police, the decision to send the team of 14 policemen -- two PSI's, two ASI's, 10 constables -- was taken by the Karnataka state government. After the team returns to Karnataka on Sunday, they will submit a detailed report on the violence and assault which took place on March 30. At least two person from Karnataka were injured in the violence which which started as a verbal duel between a pilgrim and a local shop owner in Srisailam. Srishaila Varimath, a resident of Janamatti village in Bagalkot district who suffered serious head injury, has been shifted to Bengaluru for further treatment. The second injured person, Gopal, was sent by an ambulance to his village in Karnataka. Lakhs of pilgrims from Karnataka visit Srisailam during the Ugadi festival. They will return home after a religious fair scheduled to take place on Saturday. According to the pilgrims, the drinking water outlets established by the temple authorities on the main road of Srisailam were shut down on March 30 which created a scarcity. The delegation of state pilgrims have met the Kurnool District Commissioner Koteshwara Rao and submitted a memorandum to him in connection with the issue. The DC has assured of all cooperation and rectification of the problem. Kiev, April 2 : More than 6,000 Ukrainians have been evacuated from besieged cities via humanitarian corridors in the past 24 hours, according to a government official in Kiev. In a social media post, Deputy Head of the President's Office Kyrylo Tymoshenko said a total of 6,266 people were evacuated on Friday, including 3,071 from Mariupol in the Donetsk region where Russian forces have continued relentless bombing and attacks, reports ukrayinska Pravda. Evacuations also took place in the regions of Zaporizhzhya and Luhansk, Tymoshenko said. However, thousands of people are still stuck in Mariupol, where continued Russian shelling for more than five week have led to shortage of food, running water and heat. In a statement, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said: "We know how much you want to be saved. Every day we will try and try to break through until you get a chance to leave the city, and most important, to live a peaceful life." Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War Kiev, April 2 : Ukrainian authorities have said that Russia has launched three missile strikes on the strategic port city of Odessa, causing casualties. In a social media post, Maksym Marchenko, Head of Odessa Regional Military Administration, said the missiles were launched on Friday from the Russia-annexed Crimea, reports Ukrayinska Pravda. Without providing further details, including the number of casualties, Marchenko said the Russians "would regret every launch of missiles and every attack on our land". The Operational Command South of the Ukrainian military said that air-defences had prevented attacks targeting "critical infrastructure, which could endanger the civilian population". It went on to say that the situation is currently under control and that it has launched a probe into it. Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Kuala Lumpur, April 2 : Malaysia has opened its borders for international travel, ending restrictions that have been in place since the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020. Among measures adopted by the authorities to facilitate the travel of non-Malaysian nationals to the country are the abolishing quarantine requirements for vaccinated travellers, with only a pre-departure test and a test within 24-hours of arriving in the country, reports Xinhua news agency. There is already optimism that the move into the endemic phase will see economic recovery, especially for the country's hard hit tourist sector which has been largely closed off. Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Nancy Shukri said over 10,000 foreign travellers and Malaysians residing abroad were expected to arrive at airports nationwide on Friday and the Ministry is targeting over 2 million tourist arrivals within the year. "After two years, today is a historic moment and a huge relief for our tourism industry as we welcome international tourists, newcomers and regulars alike, back to Malaysia, supporting our economy again," she told reporters at an event to mark the reopening at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). Malaysia attracted 4.3 million tourists in 2020 because of lockdowns following the pandemic, a sharp decline from the 26.1 million in 2019. Transport Minister Wee Ka Siong noted the influx of travellers moving across the bridge connecting Malaysia and Singapore, allowing families to reunite ahead of Ramadan, the Islamic fasting month, and Qingming, a traditional tomb-sweeping festival. "Some were on motorcycles or in cars, and some even walked. This is the result of good discussions between the Malaysian and Singaporean governments to benefit the people of both countries. "However, everyone is reminded to always take care of the health and safety of yourself and your loved ones. This is the first step towards a normal life," he cautioned. The relaxed standard operating procedures (SOP) and other measures must not mean that caution is thrown to the wind, according to Malaysian Medical Association (MMA) President Koh Kar Chai. He added that the coming weeks and months would be important, with health authorities being expected to keep a close eye on the rate of hospitalization of Covid-19 cases and the incidence of severe cases which are warning signs to look out for. Malaysia has so far reported 4,201,919 Covid-19 cases and 34,983 deaths. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) New Delhi, April 2 : Spacetech startup Pixxel has successfully launched its first fully-fledged commercial satellite called 'Shakuntala' with Elon Musk-run SpaceX's Falcon-9 rocket. Being Pixxel's first fully-fledged satellite, 'Shakuntala' hosts one of the highest resolution hyperspectral commercial cameras ever flown to space, bringing it one step closer to building a 24x7 health monitor for the planet, it said in a statement. Launched on Friday aboard SpaceX's Transporter-4 mission from Cape Canaveral in the US, this launch puts the company within touching distance of its ambitious mission to assemble one of the world's most advanced constellations of low-earth-orbit imaging satellites. "From being one of the very few finalists in the SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition in 2017 to now launching our own satellites as part of SpaceX's fourth dedicated rideshare mission, life has come full-circle for us," said Awais Ahmed, CEO of Pixxel. Weighing less than 15 kg, Shakuntala (TD-2) is capable of capturing orbital images in more than 150 bands of colour from the visible and infrared spectrum with a resolution of 10-metres per pixel, far exceeding the specificity of 30-metre per pixel hyperspectral satellites launched by a few select organisations such NASA, ESA, and ISRO. In just a few weeks from launch, Shakuntala will begin amassing information and uncovering the invisible changes wreaking havoc on our planet like natural gas leakages, deforestation, melting ice caps, pollution, and declining crop health. The launch came at the heels of Pixxel's $25 million Series funding from Radical Ventures, Seraphim Space Capital, Relativity Space co-founder Jordan Noone, Lightspeed Partners, Blume Ventures, and Sparta LLC, among others. It sets the stage for Pixxel's first commercial phase satellites, to be launched in early 2023. With six satellites flown in a sun-synchronous orbit (SSO) around a 550-km altitude, Pixxel's hyperspectral constellation will be able to cover any point on the globe every 48 hours. Kiev, April 2 : Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced that the country has conducted a second prisoner exchange with Russia after the first took place late last month. Friday's "86 for 86" prisoner exchange took place on President Volodymyr Zelensky's order, Ukrayinska Pravda quoted Vereshchuk as saying in a statement. According to the Deputy Prime Minister, of the 86 prisoners that have returned home, 15 were women soldiers. Vereshchuk said that one of the principal positions of the Ukrainian side for the exchange was to include the 15 female soldiers. Also confirming the exchange, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the presidential office, said the exchanged captives were currently in Ukrainian government-controlled territory. On March 24, Ukrainian authorities conducted the first prisoners exchange on a 10-for-10 basis, while also rescuing 19 crew members of the rescue ship Sapfir captured by the Russian forces, reports Ukrayinska Pravda The authorities also exchanged nine Russian conscripts for the kidnapped mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov. On March 1, local authorities in the Sumy region exchanged a Russian commander for five Ukrainian fighters from the territorial defence forces. Ukraine has claimed that 24 local government officials have been abducted since the war began on February 24. Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text China urges Britain to abandon colonial mindset, stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs Xinhua) 09:26, April 02, 2022 BEIJING, April 1 (Xinhua) -- China strongly condemns and firmly opposes a report on Hong Kong released by the UK government, urging the British side to stop interfering in Hong Kong's affairs and other internal affairs of China, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Friday. Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a daily news briefing when answering a relevant query. It is reported that the UK released the latest six-monthly report on Hong Kong, criticizing China's Hong Kong policy, especially the Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Zhao pointed out that since Hong Kong's return to the motherland, the Chinese side is committed to fully and faithfully implementing the policy of One Country, Two Systems under which the people of Hong Kong administer Hong Kong with a high degree of autonomy, and Hong Kong residents enjoy far more rights and freedoms in accordance with law than they did before 1997. "Since the implementation of the national security law, national security has been protected, rule of law and justice have been upheld, and the legitimate rights and freedoms of Hong Kong residents and foreign nationals in Hong Kong have been better protected," Zhao said, adding that with the full support from the Central Government and the joint efforts of all communities of Hong Kong, the city will enjoy lasting prosperity and stability, and its status as an international financial, shipping and trading center will be further consolidated. "Any attack and smear against the national security law cannot hold back the trend of Hong Kong's transition from chaos to stability and prosperity," he said, pointing out that the British side's attempt to disturb Hong Kong residents will never succeed, whether by publishing reports, manipulating the BNO passports, or pressuring judges to resign. He emphasized that after Hong Kong's return to the motherland, the UK has no sovereignty, no jurisdiction and no right of supervision over Hong Kong. "And there is no 'historical responsibility' whatsoever," he added. Noting the British side has repeatedly raised the Sino-British Joint Declaration and passed judgment on Hong Kong affairs with the so-called semiannual report, Zhao said that the UK is hurting its own image by lecturing others and replaying its same old tune. "The UK should face squarely the fact that Hong Kong has returned to the motherland for nearly 25 years, abandon the colonial mindset, respect China's sovereignty and unity, stop interfering in Hong Kong's affairs and other internal affairs of China, and avoid making more troubles for China-UK relations," he said. (Web editor: Peng yukai, Liang Jun) Thiruvananthapuram, April 2 : Strict action awaits some officials in Kerala Fire and Rescue department for imparting training to workers of the Popular Front of India(PFI)'s newly constituted Rescue and Relief Popular Front in Aluva in Ernakulam district this week. Officials attached to the Kerala Fire and Rescue Services, a department attached to the Kerala police, had trained the PFI activists on Wednesday in pulmonary resuscitation (resuscitation treatment) and fire rescue operations. Trouble started after the pictures of the training programme surfaced on social media and then came an encore from several quarters forcing the authorities to conduct a probe. Image Source: IANS News The probe was headed by the chief of the Kerala Fire and Rescue Services B.Sandhya and those in the know of things said that she has recommended action against those involved. Around five officials from the Ernakulam- Fire and Rescue department are likely to be suspended as Sandhya's report has now been submitted to the State Home secretary. Image Source: IANS News According to the rules, while this department engages in conducting training programmes to organisations, the reason for the 'action' is dereliction of duty by the officials as rules were violated. -- Syndicated from IANS Mumbai, April 2 : In a stunning development, Prabhakar Sail - a 'panch witness' in the infamous Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) raids on the Cordelia Cruise ship last October - has died owing to a suspected heart attack, here on Saturday. Sail, in his mid-40s, suffered a cardiac arrest at his home in Mahul, Chembur, according to his lawyer Tushar Khandare. Soon after the October 2 raids aboard the cruiser, Sail had created a sensation accusing the then NCB Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede of various irregularities, allegations of extortion from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan whose son Aryan was among those detained and later arrested. Besides Aryan Khan, around 19 others were nabbed and Sail - a personal bodyguard of an independent witness and Bharatiya Janata Party activist K. P. Gosavi - had later made several shocking revelations that raised questions on the raids. Incidentally, after the claims by Sail and later the serial exposes made by Minister Nawab Malik, Gosavi came under a cloud and was arrested by the Pune Police in a cheating case. Islamabad, April 2 : The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has prepared a strategy for dealing with the situation if the opposition succeeds in executing the vote of no-confidence against Prime Minister Imran Khan. Sources told The Express Tribune that the PTI is expected to vouch for early elections while playing its role in getting electoral reforms, including implementation of electronic voting and the right of vote for overseas Pakistanis, approved by the National Assembly (NA). They said that the ruling party will launch a mass protest movement against the future government and an election campaign to garner support to return to power. Public meetings will be held in all major cities and districts of the country and protests would be held at all levels, they added. They further said that senior and loyal party workers and leaders will be awarded tickets for the next elections and no dissenting member would be involved in the party's re-organisation. They added that an integrated structure would be made from the top to the Union Council-level, The Express Tribune reported. According to sources, lawmakers will not immediately resign from the provincial assemblies. Rather, decisions would be based on circumstances. They said that the PTI will embark on a campaign to inform the people about the opposition's role in view of the "foreign threat", and the government's performance during the past three-and-a-half-years. No deviant members and leaders will be re-involved in the organization. Khan will inform the people about the conspiracy against his government after possible removal, and the people will be asked to boycott dissenting members and "conspiratorial" characters at all levels. The sources said that the central leadership of the party is expected to approve this strategy. The public relations campaign and the protest movement will be announced after the outcome of the no-confidence motion, they added. They also disclosed that leading party workers have told the premier that their party's popularity has increased among the people after the issue of "conspiracy" against the elected government came to light, and if the government leaves, an immediate public outreach campaign will ensure a clear chance of the party winning the next election, The Express Tribune reported. New Delhi, April 2 : For all we hear of neuroscience's great advances, the field has generated more questions than answers. We know that the brain combines sensory input from all over your body into a single perception, but not how. We think brains "compute" in some sense, but we can't say what those computations are. We believe that the brain is organised as a hierarchy, with different pieces all working collaboratively to make a single model of the world. But we can explain neither how those pieces are differentiated, nor how they collaborate. Neuroscientist and computer engineer Jeff Hawkins argues that it's so hard to answer questions about the brain because our basic picture of how the brain works is wrong. In "A Thousand Brains - A New Theory of Intelligence" (Basic Books), Hawkins takes a radically new approach to the brain, with stunning implications. Hawkins' proposal, called the Thousand Brains Theory of Intelligence, is that your brain is organised into thousands upon thousands of individually computing units, called cortical columns. These columns all process information from the outside world in the same way and each builds a complete model of the world. But because every column has different connections to the rest of the body, each has a unique frame of reference. Your brain sorts out all those models by conducting a vote. The fundamental job of the brain, therefore, is not to build a single thought, but to manage the thousands of individual thoughts it has every moment. With this powerful new framework, Hawkins is able to reassess some of neuroscience's most stubborn problems, like why pain needs to be painful to be useful, how we can understand that our perspective of a thing changes as we move around it, and why we might be conscious but individual pieces of our body aren't. Once you understand how the brain works, it is a lot easier to make one yourself. Hawkins is, above all, an engineer, and "A Thousand Brains" outlines how a new understanding of intelligence could lead to truly intelligent AI. Hawkins explores how we might create machines that can learn on their own, why we need not fear super-intelligent systems, and how human and machine intelligence may someday merge. Combining cutting-edge theoretical neuroscience with an ambitious program for tomorrow's digital minds, "A Thousand Brains" heralds a revolution in the study of intelligence. It is a big-think book, in every sense of the word. Hawkins is the co-founder of Numenta, a neuroscience research company; founder of the Redwood Neuroscience Institute; and one of the founders of the field of handheld computing. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and author of "On Intelligence", in which he explains why computers are not intelligent and how we can finally build intelligent machines. New Delhi, April 2 : Love requires no words, and neither does love care about the shape and size. The adage perfectly sums up the bond between a human and an animal. Pets perfectly encapsulate the notion of unconditional love since the relationship with them is filled with endless hours of cuddling and joy. They give us affection, teach us responsibility, and are the best stress relievers. Nothing could ever match their pure sensation of sincerity. As a parent, who only wishes for the best for their child, what could be better than getting them a furry friend to help them grow and learn valuable life lessons? Here's a look at some ways in which pets can enrich your child's early years: Pets help in developing emotions and qualities in kids Animals rely on others for their needs, and caring for them is an excellent method for kids to learn nurturing and caregiving skills. When children see a dog running to the door when it wants to go outdoors, it makes them wonder about their needs, and how they can help. And, when a child is able to fulfil their pet's needs, they feel accomplished, and it also teaches them to care for someone other than themselves. Apart from that, pets also help the child learn basic emotions such as kindness, love, sympathy, responsibility, and respect. The kids learn key lessons from life Owning a pet is an excellent method to teach your child about responsibility and empathy. If you have a pet, it allows you to teach your children about the impact their actions have on the pet. For example, if the child is acting hyper around the pet, the dog may get uncomfortable. So, a child's interaction with a pet will help them understand that their actions have consequences, which can hurt someone. This life lesson will help children develop empathy skills, allowing them to protect others from abuse and make them better human beings. Furthermore, they will develop an intolerance to animal cruelty, and they will replicate the same behaviour under all circumstances. Interaction with pets improves the physical and emotional well-being of the kids The COVID-induced isolation and prolonged break from physical school is affecting a kid's physical and mental well-being. As a result, pets can make excellent companions for kids. Simply snuggling on the couch with their beloved puppy or kitten or an animal of their choice can improve a child's mood and reduce stress as feel-good endorphins are released while playing with animals. Moreover, children understand that animals provide unconditional affection, and they can be themselves with the pets. This sense of protection and security is essential for both their physical and emotional well-being. According to scientific research, human-animal interaction (HAI) has a good impact on children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Animals help reduce loneliness, improve social behaviour, reduces their stress levels and bridges the gap between the child and their family. Animals are true confidants Animals are great listeners; they never interrupt or judge you, making a child feel more comfortable with them. Children enjoy reading books to their pets, which helps them improve their reading skills while also boosting their self-esteem. Animals are also great at keeping secrets and loving you for who you are. Children often talk to their pets, telling them secrets or any other thoughts that come to their minds. Thus, the child finds true confidant in animals. Anatole France once said that "until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains un-awakened." Hence, it's necessary to think about creating a bond between kids and pets from an early age as it boosts self-esteem, heightens the sense of understanding, instils essential values, improves emotional intelligence, and prepares them for life. (Neha Jain, Author, Merlinwand, Online publishing platform offering personalised books for kids.) (IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in) Washington, April 2 : The US has "clearly distanced" itself from Pakistan, former American military chief Mike Mullen said as the White House and the State Department publicly rejected claims of their involvement in Islamabads domestic politics, Dawn news reported. "It is difficult, difficult to say," said Admiral Mullen when asked to describe Washington's relations with Pakistan. "I think we have clearly distanced ourselves from Pakistan over the last decade and Pakistan has more and more fallen under the umbrella of China," he told VOA Urdu Service in Washington. Admiral Mullen, who was chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff from October 2007 to September 2011, was also named in the so-called Memogate controversy, which revolved around a memorandum, ostensibly seeking US support for preventing a feared military takeover in Pakistan that never happened. He noted that China was not only Islamabad's neighbour but it "has been supportive of Pakistan" as well. This closeness, he said, "suits China's global ambition" because Beijing would prefer to have a neighbour "closer to them and not close to the US". For these reasons, the US-Pakistan relationship "is going to be tense for quite some time", he added. Asked if he believed Pakistan helped the Taliban take over Kabul in August last year, Admiral Mullen said: "They did not do much to stop it for sure." He recalled that as the US army chief he had told a congressional hearing that Pakistani intelligence agencies were active in Afghanistan "and I still believe that connectivity is there. It sort of cuts both ways". The former US military chief reiterated a complaint that's often heard in Washington that Pakistan "played on both sides (the US and the Taliban)" in Afghanistan, Dawn reported. New Delhi, April 2 : Some unidentified people pasted a poster outside the US Embassy in the national capital following which the Delhi Police registered a case against unknown persons, an official said on Saturday. The poster read: "UNRELIABLE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION. STOP BULLYING INDIA. We do not need U... USA needs India against China. We are proud of all our disciplined and brave Indian forces. Jai Jawan Jai Bharat." Deputy Commissioner of Police Amrutha Guguloth said an information was received at around 10.15 p.m. on Friday about the said incident after which the police registered an FIR under section 3 (Penalty for defacement of property) of the Delhi Prevention of Defacement of Property Act. According to section 3 of DPDP Act, whoever defaces any property in public view by writing or marking with ink, chalk, paint or any other material except for the purpose of indicating the name and address of the owner or occupier of such property, shall be punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to fifty thousand rupees, or with both. The DCP further informed that technical surveillance is underway to catch the culprit. The poster, which was stuck on a sign board near gate No 7 of the US Embassy, had a logo of Hindu Sena above it. The organisation also confirmed it through Twitter. The national president of Hindu Sena, Vishnu Gupta, tweeted two posters of which one was the same as pasted outside the US Embassy while the other one urged Indian Americans to stop funding and supporting 'democrat warmongers'. "Dear Indian Americans and Indian Citizens. Time to serve your motherland. Stop funding and supporting democrat warmongers. Biden Administration bullys dangerous to Indian interests. Bharat Mata ki Jai," the another poster tweeted by Gupta read. Vienna, April 2 : Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director-General of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said he would head an assistance and support mission to Ukraine's Chernobyl nuclear power plant "as soon as possible" to help ensure the facility's safety. In a tweet, Grossi said that the mission "will be the first in a series of such nuclear safety and security missions to Ukraine", reports Xinhua news agency He also told a press conference in Vienna that the IAEA mission would be in Chernobyl "very, very soon". The IAEA chief has just returned from his recent visits to Ukraine and Russia, during which he held discussions with officials on both sides about ensuring the security of the war-torn nation's nuclear facilities. The UN nuclear watchdog said on Thursday that Russian forces which had been in control of the Chernobyl plant were leaving the facility and had transferred control of the plant to Ukrainian personnel. At Friday's press conference, Grossi said he had not discussed with Russian officials why Russian forces left Chernobyl. Grossi said the IAEA was still unable to confirm reports that Russian forces were contaminated with radiation at the Chernobyl plant. He added that the general radiation level around the plant was "quite normal". "There was a relatively higher level of localized radiation because of the movement of heavy vehicles at the time of the occupation of the plant, and apparently this might have been the case again on the way out," he said. Ukrainian authorities said Russian forces had been in control of the plant since Moscow started its invasion on February 24. The Chernobyl plant, some 110 km north of the Ukrainian capital of Kiev, witnessed the worst nuclear accident in human history on April 26, 1986. Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War Los Angeles, April 2 : Actor Chris Pine regrets not starting the ballet classes "years ago" and described it as an "incredible" form of exercise. The 41-year-old actor told People magazine: "I love it. I wish I'd done it years ago. It's an incredible workout. I just find it so beautiful because you have to be so strong and kind of masculine, so to speak, but also very gentle and feminine with your arms and your hands. It's just a very difficult art form." Pine got the idea from watching a ballet dancer perform alongside the musician Hozier at a gig, reports femalefirst.co.uk. He said: "One, it's artistic, but a lot of vanity. I had watched this video of this great Russian dancer dancing to Hozier in this church. I was like, 'Who is this guy?' I was like, 'I want to look like that'. He's a ballet dancer. And I was like, 'I should take ballet.'" On Wednesday, 'The Contractor' star shared that he know only knows who Kim Kardashian and her boyfriend Pete Davidson are because he "just got an iPhone," and is already missing not having a smartphone - which he brands as a "crack machine". Pine said that he could "tell you everything about Pete Davidson and Kim Kardashian", but "couldn't tell you a f****** thing about literature", lamenting that he read up to 15 books a month before getting the phone. He said: "I had a flip phone for four years or three years and then I just got an iPhone because I felt pummelled by how difficult being analog [was]. It was very difficult, but having just gotten this crack machine, it's really bad. "These things are really, really, really bad. I may immediately go back to a flip phone. I don't know if I can handle it. I don't know if my soul can handle it." Islamabad, April 2 : The people of Pakistan, including political leaders, were surprised when Prime Minister Imran Khan praised his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi's foreign policy before a crowd of thousands of supporters, The News reported on Saturday. Khan praised Modi's foreign policy while addressing a public rally in Malakand, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. "I would like to praise our neighbouring country Hindustan for its foreign policy. India's foreign policy is free and independent, and its only aim is for the betterment of its own people." "It is amusing to note that Imran Khan, who, at one point of time, used to deride Narendra Modi as Hitler and Nazi leader at international forums, has now praised his foreign policy, at a time when his government is on the verge of collapse," The News said in its report. "Modi established friendly relations with countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Oman and Jordan, which were traditional friends of Pakistan. Saudi Arabia has stopped giving loans to Pakistan, and UAE has stopped raising the Kashmir issue despite prodding from Pakistan. "Most of the Islamic nations have now changed their attitude towards India and the situation has come to such a pass that even opposition leaders in Pakistan have now started asking their Prime Minister not to give Modi's examples. These opposition leaders allege that the world is now laughing at Pakistan because of Imran Khan's incompetence," says the report. Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla reacted to Khan's remark by saying: "India has received across the board praise from different countries for its foreign policy, and our record speaks for itself. It would be wrong to say that only one leader has praised India's foreign policy." -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text New York, US (PANA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has highlighted the need for greater support for people with autism, particularly at the community level Thiruvananthapuram, April 2 : The CPI-M continued to have a grudge against Asianet TV channel anchor and senior journalist Vinu V. John. On Saturday, local CITU unit pasted posters at the house of Vinu John. The poster that has been stuck is in the name of the CITU Peroorkada Area Committee which gave a call for protests against John and to isolate him. On Wednesday, trade union workers of various political parties except BJP marched to the Malayalam TV news channel Asianet to register their protest against the comment made by their news anchor on Monday night's prime time news bulletin. John, who is known for his sharp and cryptic comments against wrongdoers, expressed his ire as Kerala witnessed a total bandh and workers taking part in the protests literally took over the streets of the state leaving innocent citizens running for shelter. John was peeved when a patient who was being moved in an auto rickshaw came under the ire of the protesters in north Kerala. In the news hour debate he made a statement if anyone did such a thing to the CITU general secretary Elamaram Kareem, a Rajya Sabha member and a top CPI-M leader, what would have happened. The cyber wing of the CPI-M soon latched on to it and it turned out to be a free for all with John coming under huge ire and Kareem himself said he will register a complaint with the State Police chief and also before the chairperson of the Rajya Sabha. "For a while, I have been coming under attack, threatening phone calls are there and today morning came this notice and it's been stuck on my gate and in and around the colony where I stay. I decided I will not register a complaint, but perhaps my company might give a complaint. One reason I am not giving a complaint is, I know it is not going to have any impact," said John, who added that his earlier complaint failed to evoke any response. The Congress led UDF and the BJP have registered their protests against the way John is being haunted by the CPI-M. Cape Town, April 2 : The South African Parliament said its committee on financial management has been updated on an independent assessment to the damage to Parliament buildings due to a massive fire in January. According to the assessment following the fire on January 2, the fire in the building of National Assembly, the lower house, caused significant damage to the central structural elements from the 2nd floor to the 6th floor, however, it is "not vulnerable to collapse", reports Xinhua news agency Basement floors are flooded, and investigators will inspect them once water is extracted to issue a final report, which will provide a detailed assessment to determine the extent of the damage for full restoration of the building, including providing a cost and time estimate for such works, Parliament in a statement. MPs were also told urgent work is required to make parts of the Old Assembly safe and that provide a temporary roof to prevent rain from causing damage to lower floors. South Africa has three capitals, including Cape Town that hosts Parliament. The fire that lasted more than 70 hours severely damaged the building of the National Assembly and completely burned down its chamber. It also caused extensive damage to the century-old Old Assembly building that houses the National Council of Provinces, the upper house. A 49-year-old Cape Town man Zandile Christmas Mafe, who is suspected of setting fire to Parliament, was arrested on January 2. His case has been postponed to May 12 due to delays of investigation caused by the "50 tonnes of water" in the basement which needs to be cleared. Hyderabad: Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, addressing the gathering at the Ugadi celebrations at Swarna Bharat Trust in Hyderabad on Saturday, April 02, 2022.(Photo:@VPSecretariat/Twitter) Image Source: IANS News Hyderabad: Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, addressing the gathering at the Ugadi celebrations at Swarna Bharat Trust in Hyderabad on Saturday, April 02, 2022.(Photo:@VPSecretariat/Twitter) Image Source: IANS News Hyderabad: Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, addressing the gathering at the Ugadi celebrations at Swarna Bharat Trust in Hyderabad on Saturday, April 02, 2022.(Photo:@VPSecretariat/Twitter) Image Source: IANS News Hyderabad, April 2 : Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday said that some people are unable to digest India's growth. He said that while India is being respected and recognised, some of the western media carry propaganda against it on small issues. Naidu was addressing Telugu new year Ugadi celebrations at Swarna Bharat Trust at Muchintal on the outskirts of Hyderabad. "The entire world is looking to India. India is being respected, recognised and being realised. Though some of the western media may carry propaganda against India on small issues but larger public life, the value systems, the traditions and heritage of India are being respected everywhere," he said. Some people, he remarked, were not able to digest India's growth. The media in some countries write something which they feel is in the interest of their country but some people in India use the same content and try to tarnish the image of the country. The Vice-President also expressed concern over the decline in the conduct of some members in Parliament and state Assemblies. He said the kind of language being used was bringing bad name to the entire system. Naidu, who is chairman of Rajya Sabha, said some incidents in Parliament and state legislatures were painful. He also found fault with the media for giving importance to such incidents. He said if the legislators speak well on issues it's not news for the media but if somebody creates commotion, uses bad language or resorts to personal attacks on others it becomes news. "Good behaviour, good conduct and good delivery is not a news," he said and advised media to realise its responsibility. Naidu stressed the need to speak in one's own mother tongue. He said everybody should speak in their mother tongue at home and in the midst of those who understand that language and if he is with other Indians, he should speak in Indian languages. "There is nothing wrong with learning foreign languages. You can learn any foreign language but you should speak in your mother tongue. This is our address and identity," he said. Naidu also underlined the need for following the culture and traditions in daily life, including wishing others and the food habits. Addis Ababa, April 2 : The UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced that the first aid convoy in three months has entered northern Ethiopia's war-ravaged Tigray regional state. Late Friday night, WFP Ethiopia announced that "13 trucks have arrived safely in Mekelle, capital of Tigray regional state", reports Xinhua news agency "More trucks and fuel will follow in the morning," it said, noting a need for daily convoys to meet the needs of 5 million people in Tigray. The arrival of the aid convoy carrying 500 metric tonnes of food and nutrition supplies came a week after the Ethiopian government and the rebel Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) conditionally agreed to a cessation of hostilities and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid into the region. The TPLF and the Ethiopian National Defense Force, backed by allied forces, have been engaged in a nearly 18-month conflict that has reportedly left tens of thousands of people dead and millions in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. The Ethiopian Parliament designated the TPLF as a terrorist organisation in May 2021. In a separate statement, Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said teams have also reached communities in the neighboring Afar region with desperately needed food assistance. "It is critical that we now see sustained deliveries of relief supplies, fuel and cash into Tigray, and the continued expansion of the response in conflict-affected areas in Afar and Amhara," Haq said. "Shortages of supplies, fuel and cash have severely undermined the ability of humanitarian organisations to respond to the increasingly acute situation in Tigray." In the months without convoys into Tigray, humanitarian organizations flew in some essential items, the spokesman said. Aid partners flew in nearly 40 metric tonnes of nutrition supplies to Tigray's regional capital of Mekelle, he said. Since late January, about 360 metric tonnes of primary medical and nutrition supplies have been flown in. "Every bit helps. But a single convoy of 20 trucks could bring in more than twice this amount," he said. Mumbai, April 2 : Actress Isha Koppikar Narang, who is known for her work in, 'Pinjar', 'Kyaa Kool Hain Hum' and 'Don', will be celebrating a working Gudi Padwa. The Marathi festival marks the new year and she will ring in the year by traveling to Mussoorie for a business trip and to start her new project. She maintains that the best way to start the new year is with lots of work on the plate. Sharing her plans for the day, Isha said, "Gudi Padwa has always been a very significant day for me. And while I celebrate it in my little way, this year I chose to do what I love the most - kickstart a new project. I believe the best way to start the new year is on a working note, because that's how I wish my entire year to be." For her, starting the new year on a working note is to seek more from the universe. "So this is my way of telling the universe to get me lots of work on the acting front. I wish health and happiness to all my loved ones, have a great year ahead. Thanks to the government this is good news that covid restrictions will be lifted & we will be celebrating our new year after 2 years, this is a good and positive start of the year." On the work front, Isha will be seen in two web shows & two feature films. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Chennai, April 2 : The Coast Guard and Marine Coastal police will be intensifying patrolling to prevent Indian fishermen from crossing International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL), and Sri Lankan fishermen crossing into Indian waters. The crossing of Indian fishermen mainly from Tamil Nadu into the International Maritime Boundary Line into Sri Lankan waters has been a major issue of confrontation between the two countries with fishermen organisations protesting against the arrest of Indian fishermen by the Sri Lankan authorities. At present 92 Indian fishermen are in the custody of the Sri Lankan authorities. The mechanized boats of the arrested fishermen are also impounded by the Sri Lankan authorities. In a similar vein, the Indian authorities have also taken into custody Sri Lankan fishermen who waded into Indian waters crossing the IMBL. Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has brought to the notice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, the arrest of Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu by the Sri Lankan authorities as well as the impounding of their mechanized boats. The Coast Guard on Friday commissioned a new interceptor boat, C-436, and is now based at Karaikal. This boat will be mainly used for surveillance along the coastline of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. The boat will have one officer and 12 enrolled personnel as crew and the boat will also be used to watch the criminal activities in sea along with preventing fishermen from crossing IMBL, as the vessel has the necessary reach, sustenance, and modern equipment to prevent any crime at sea. The vessel is fitted with state-of-the-art navigation and communication equipment. The boat can carry one high-speed inflatable boat for boarding, search and rescue operations, law enforcement, and maritime patrol. The Coast Guard now has a fleet of four boats with two interceptor boats -- C-435 and C-436 and offshore patrol vessels, 'ICSG Ameya' and 'ICGS Rani Durgavati'. New Delhi, April 2 : The open borders of India and Nepal should not be misused by unwanted elements, said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday during his statement after delegation level meeting with Nepal Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba. Both the leaders also discussed various aspects of cooperation, reviewed the progress of various projects and also discussed the blueprint for the future. "Today we also discussed that the open borders of India and Nepal should not be misused by unwanted elements. We also stressed on maintaining close cooperation between our defence and security institutions. I am sure that our talks today will go a long way in setting ambitious goals for the future of India-Nepal relations," Modi said. In 2020, India and Nepal had a strained bilateral relationship over border row between the two countries. China which already had made aggression towards India at the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh region was making all efforts to amplify the row between India and Nepal relations. Talking about power sector, Modi said that both the countries must reap the benefits of the opportunities for cooperation in the power sector. He said that Nepal Prime Minister is an old friend of India. "As the Prime Minister, this is his fifth visit to India. He has played an important role in developing relations and friendship between India and Nepal," said Modi adding that such an example can't be seen anywhere else in the world. Modi also stated that India has been a firm companion in Nepal's journey of peace, prosperity and development, it will always be. "Our Joint Vision Statement on Power Cooperation will prove to be the blueprint of cooperation, in the future," said Modi adding that both the leaders have expressed agreement on more participation of Indian companies in Nepal's hydropower development projects. "It is a matter of happiness that Nepal is exporting its surplus power to India. This will make positive contributions to the economic development of Nepal," he said. Lauding the launch of the RuPay card in Nepal, Modi said it will add a new chapter to our financial connectivity. Deuba in his address said, "I truly admire your love and affection for Nepal and the Nepali people and my visit today will further enforce these sentiments." He appreciated India's effective management for battling Covid-19 and received first vaccine aid from India as well as medicines, medical equipment and logistics to combat the pandemic. "As Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned, we had friendly talks and fruitful discussions on various aspects of India-Nepal relations. We shared our perspectives on further strengthening our friendly ties," Deuba said. Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepal counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba on Saturday jointly inaugurated cross-border passenger train services, RuPay payment system in Nepal and signed several Memorandums of Understanding. New Delhi, April 2 : Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that he discussed with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar about actively developing the Russia-India-China trilateral mechanism in the interests of stabilising international relations and ensuring "equity in international affairs". "This is especially true given that all the three countries - Russia, India and China - are now members of the UN Security Council. So we have a lot of plans," he said while responding to a query here on Friday over Moscow looking at Beijing and New Delhi to make up for a likely dip in its energy exports. "We are close partners with both countries. The three of us participate in a number of international formats... There is our 'troika' - RIC (Russia, India, China)," he said while talking about Moscow proposing an RIC summit earlier this year. Lavrov left for Moscow on Friday after his two-day visit to India. In Delhi, he called upon Prime Minister Narendra Modi and held discussions with Jaishankar over the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, crude offer and arms deal. Lavrov briefed the Prime Minister on the situation in Ukraine, including the ongoing peace negotiations. Modi reiterated his call for an early cessation of violence, and conveyed India's readiness to contribute in any way to the peace efforts. Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Bengaluru, April 2 : Halal ban controversy in Karnataka has taken a serious turn in the state. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday said that he has directed all Superintendents of Police (SP) and Deputy Commissioners to initiate strict action against elements who try to create problems during the festival. Karnataka is celebrating Ugadi festival on Saturday followed by 'Hosa tadukua' on Sunday. The people especially in south Karnataka feast on non-vegetarian food en mass during this period. Hindutva activists are carrying out a full-fledged campaign that Hindus must not make purchase of halal cut meat. Answering a question, Bommai said that he has directed to conduct peace meetings between leaders of communities and ensure that the law and order system is not disturbed in the state. Meanwhile, Bhadravathi police in Shivamogga district arrested 7 persons for assaulting hotel staff demanding non-halal meat on Friday night. The arrested persons had gone to a chicken meat stall, abused and threatened the owner that he should not sell halal meat as 99 per cent of the population of the area follow Hindu religion. The same group went to the Janata hotel and demanded jhatka cut meat. They insisted that the hotel should not sell halal cut meat. They quarrelled with a customer and assaulted one of the hotel staff. The hotel and meat shop owners had lodged a complaint with the police. Shivamogga SP Lakshmi Prasad stated that based on two FIRs, Vadivelu, Savai Singh, Srikanth, Krishna, Gunda and other two persons were arrested. Meanwhile, Shashikala Jolle, Minister for Muzarai and Wakf, stated on Saturday, "we are with Hindu activists who are carrying out campaigns against halal meat. I have to learn about halal and jhatka cut. Once I gather information, will talk to CM Bommai and he will take a call on it." -- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed Mumbai, April 2 : Greater trade deficit is expected to widen India's current account deficit to 1.5 per cent of the GDP in FY22. Notably, India's current account was in a surplus of 0.9 per cent in FY21. The recent data showed that a wider trade deficit on the back of expensive commodities negatively impacted the current account. Resultantly, India's Q3FY22 current account widened to $23 billion. "Wider CAD in 3QFY22 was on account of a larger merchandise trade deficit, which stood at 7.2 per cent of GDP, following a deficit of 5.9 per cent of GDP (or USD44.5b) in 2QFY22," said Motilal Oswal Financial Services in a report. "A spurt in imports vis-a-vis exports led to a wider merchandise trade deficit. Excluding petroleum products, India had a current account surplus of 0.8 per cent of GDP, lower than 2.2 per cent of GDP in 2QFY22 and 1.9 per cent of GDP in 3QFY21." Besides, the report pointed out that excluding gold, India had a current account deficit of 1.1 per cent of GDP in 3QFY22. Furthermore, the report said that net foreign capital inflows into India amounted to $23.2 billion supported by other investments such as higher trade credit, advances, and receivables. "While FDI investments halved to $5.1 billion in 3QFY22 from $10 billion in 2QFY22, there was a net outflow of $4.7 billion in FPI investments in 3QFY22 from an inflow of a similar quantity in 2QFY22." "Accordingly, there were barely any FXR accretions in 3QFY22." In addition, the report said that GDS (gross domestic savings) was at a six-quarter low in 3QFY22. "With total investments decelerating to 28.6 per cent of GDP in 3QFY22 and CAD at 2.7 per cent of GDP, implied savings too moderated to only 25.9 per cent of GDP in 3QFY22 from 32.3 per cent of GDP in 2QFY22." New York, US (PANA) - The UN Security Council has expressed deep concern over the crash of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) helicopter on 29 March 2022 in North Kivu, which resulted in the death of eight peacekeepers from Pakistan, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Serbia New Delhi, April 2 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said that they have filed prosecution complaint (Charge sheet) under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, (PMLA) against Luxmi Auto Industries and its partners Satish Kumar Gupta and Parminder Singh, and officials of the Central Bank of India. The ED has accused Central Bank of India officials Sharwan Kumar Singhal, then assistant manager, Avdhesh Kumar Gupta, then branch manager, for causing wrongful loss to the bank. The charge sheet was filed before District & Sessions Judge, Dehradun court. The court after examining the charge sheet took cognizance of the matter and posted it for the next date of hearing. The ED initiated money laundering investigation on the basis of the FIR and charge sheet filed by the the CBI, against the accused under various sections of the IPC. The ED learnt in the investigation that the accused persons in connivance with the bank officials availed loan to the tune of Rs 1.71 crore for establishing a manufacturing unit of nuts and bolts in the name and style of Luxmi Auto Industries on the basis of forged documents. The loan availed by the accused was not used for the specified purpose. Thus, by resorting to conspiracy and cheating, the accused persons caused loss to the bank and wrongful gain to themselves. Total loan fraudulently availed was Rs 1.71 crore and after initiation of money laundering investigation, accused did one time settlement of Rs 1.38 crore. "Accordingly, remaining proceeds of the crime of Rs 33 lakh was attached as per provisions of the PMLA," said the ED official. Further probe in the matter is on. Geneva, April 2 : The World Health Organisation (WHO) has issued a warning against a new mutant 'XE' variant of Omicron, that may be more transmissible than any strain of Covid-19 seen before. This new variant is a recombinant strain, meaning it is a mutant hybrid of the two previous versions of the Omicron variant, BA.1 and BA.2, which spread across the world when it first became a variant of concern, reports Express.co.uk. According to reports, the new variant is 10 per cent more transmissible than the BA.2 subvariant, which is already the most contagious. As per the WHO, BA.2, which is a subvariant of the Omicron strain, is the most dominant strain of the virus, being 86 per cent of all sequenced cases attributed to it. While XE only accounts for a small fraction of the cases, its extremely high transmissibility could mean that it becomes the most dominant strain in the near future. The WHO has recently issued a report outlining their initial findings of this potentially new variant of concern. "The XE recombinant (BA.1-BA.2), was first detected in the UK on January 19 and less than 600 sequences have been reported and confirmed since," the report said. "Early-day estimates indicate a community growth rate advantage of 10 percent as compared to BA.2, however, this finding requires further confirmation," it added. The global health body noted that until they can detect "significant differences in transmission and disease characteristics, including severity", XE will remain categorised as a part of the Omicron variant. "WHO continues to closely monitor and assess the public health risk associated with recombinant variants, alongside other SARS-CoV-2 variants, and will provide updates as further evidence becomes available," the report continued. Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19) -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Hyderabad, April 2 : Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday called for progress to develop 10 tonne multirole helicopters in India so that it can become a global leader. He said that while India has shown its strength in design, development and operation of helicopters in the 5 tonne category, there is now a need to make progress in the design of 10 tonne multirole helicopters. The minister was speaking at the diamond jubilee celebration of Chetak helicopter here. Indigenously designed and developed, Advanced Light Helicopter -DHRUV and its variants are the proof of India's capability in 5 tonne category, he said. "To become a global leader, we have to make efforts to progress in the design of 10 tonne Indian multirole helicopter," the minister said. Singh noted that there is a huge potential in the chopper market in India as the country needs more than 1,000 civilian helicopters and an equal number of helicopters in the defence sector. He observed that external conditions have impacted on the serviceability of India's critical weapons and equipment and therefore, efforts for self-sufficiency continue to be the need of the hour. Looking at the events of the last few years, the government has emphasised on self-reliance in defence production, and preparedness. "These days we have seen many challenges in ensuring supply lines. External conditions have affected the serviceability of critical weapons and equipment. Therefore, continuous increase in our efforts for self-reliance is the biggest need of the day," he said. "The burden of protecting a huge country like India cannot remain on the shoulders of other countries for long. We have to strengthen our own shoulders to protect ourselves," he added. Singh made it clear that India never had any intentions of aggression against anyone, and it has only picked up weapons to uphold civilisational values, peace and truth. "If peace is to be maintained in the world, then the security of the nations is of utmost importance, and for their security, they should be strong militarily. In the last few years, we have created such an environment, that our armies, scientists and defence makers, can think proactively," he said. He claimed to be getting positive response from services, research and development organisations, public and private sector industries. MSMEs, start-ups, innovators and academia together are exploring new avenues of defence production, he said. Attending the diamond jubilee of a helicopter is a unique opportunity for him. "We celebrate the diamond jubilee of institutions and organisations. I often attend them but our Air Force is celebrating the diamond jubilee of a helicopter. It's a symbol of our respect for this helicopter," he said and compared the chopper with Maharana Pratap's loyal and dependable horse. Stating that the helicopters have served the nation in war and peace for decades, he noted that Chetak is one of the longest-serving platforms in the defence forces. He said the helicopters not only targeted the enemies on the battlefield, but also saved precious lives by evacuation in case of emergency. "Chetak is one of the leading design and development projects in our country. Its success gave us the confidence that in the future we can also be successful in such projects. So far, about 700 Chetak helicopters have been produced in our country," the minister said. "Our country has faced several natural calamities from time to time. Even among them, our Chetak has always been ahead in humanitarian aid, and disaster relief work. Chetak has touched the hearts of people. Our country will always be grateful to this machine and the professionals who operate it," he added. Hyderabad, April 2 : The rift between Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao appears to have widened further with the latter staying away from Ugadi celebrations at the Raj Bhavan. Though the Raj Bhavan had sent invitations to the chief minister and his cabinet colleagues, none of them turned up at the celebrations hosted by the Governor on Friday evening. Raj Bhavan had also invited MPs, MLAs and MLCs to the event but no one from TRS turned up. Even the senior civil and police officials did not attend the celebrations. In another indication of deepening differences between the CM and the Governor, she has not received the invitation for the main official Ugadi event held at Pragati Bhavan, the official residence of the Chief Minister, on Saturday. The Governor said that she welcomes those who come at her invitation and doesn't bother about those who don't turn up. Soundararajan told reporters had she received the invite, she would have set aside the protocol and attended the event. While stating that she knows her limitations, the Governor made it clear that no one could check her. She said she did not have ego and she believed in maintaining good relations with all. She also announced that 'praja darbar' would be held at the Raj Bhavan from next month to hear public grievances. She maintained that the Raj Bhavan is meant for the public welfare and keeping this in view it set up a grievance cell to address the problems of the public by sending representations to the government. Soundararajan became Governor of Telangana in September 2019. The relations between the CM and Governor were initially cordial but differences cropped up last year after the Governor did not approve a file sent by the State Cabinet recommending appointment of P. Kaushik Reddy as a member of Legislative Council. She had told the media that since the nominated post falls in the category of social service, she is trying to get information about Kaushik Reddy's social service works. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government later had to send Kaushik Reddy to the upper House of the state Legislature under MLA quota. The CM and ministers had also not attended Republic Day celebrations at the Raj Bhavan. The rift was also visible when they had received President Ram Nath Kovind on his arrival in Hyderabad in February to unveil a gold statue of saint Ramanujacharya. The differences deepened further after the state government commenced budget session of the State Legislature last month without customary address of the Governor. Soundararajan had taken exception to this. However, the government argued that there was no need for the Governor's address as it was not a new session but continuation of the previous session. The Governor was also not invited for the reopening of Yadadri temple on March 28. The Chief Minister had attended the rituals to mark the reopening of the temple after renovation. She was also not invited to Medaram Jatra, the tribal fair held in February. She, however, visited Medaram but there have been allegations that the officials were not present to receive her. Chennai, April 2 : The Tamil Nadu labour department has commenced proceedings to issue 'release letters' and sanction interim compensation of Rs 20,000 each to the bonded labourers who were rescued from a Virudhunagar paper mill by activists in 2020. This is following the Madras High Court issuing notice to the labour department on a Public Interest Litigation filed by M. Arokiasamy Britto, a social worker who was instrumental in rescuing the bonded labourers. According to the Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act 1976 and the Central Sector Scheme for Rehabilitation of Bonded Labourers, 2016, the state government must issue a 'release certificate' and an interim compensation amount of Rs 20,000 to the labourers 24 hours within their release. However, Arokiasamy Britto in his petition stated that he, along with the District Legal service authority officials and Virudhunagar police officials, had rescued 33 Chhattisgarh natives from a paper mill in Sivakasi, Virudhunagar district in December 2020 and had sent them home. The social activist, who is also the convenor of 'Shout For Freedom,' an alliance of several Non-profit organisations working against bonded labour, child labour and human trafficking, in Tamil Nadu said that to date the labour department has neither issued a 'release letter' nor have they paid any compensation to these labourers. While speaking to IANS, Britto said: "I have moved a Public Interest Litigation in the Madras High court against this matter and the court has served notice to the Tamil Nadu state labour department". The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court represented by Justices Paresh Upadhyay and Justice R. Vijayakumar had issued notice to the labour department on Friday and adjourned the case to April 18. The social workers had rescued 33 bonded labourers, including 29 men, 2 women and 2 children, from the clutches of the paper factory owner at Sivakasi in Virudhunagar district. Bengaluru, April 2 : The Karnataka government is all set to make guidelines for slaughter houses to adopt the 'stunning' method to kill animals. Though the government is presently giving a diplomatic statement, the party is preparing for implementation, say sources. This move is expected to create further furour in the state, which is already facing the heat due to call for ban on halal cut meat. Minister for Animal Husbandry Prabhu Chouhan on Saturday said that he would look into the demand made by animal lovers who have written to the department that 'stunning' should be made compulsory in slaughterhouses. 'Stunning' is a process which ensures that the animal is made unconscious to pain before being killed in the slaughterhouse. Prabhu Chouhan said he would take a call on making 'stunning' compulsory in slaughter houses. "Stunning has not been made compulsory as of now and no order as such is being issued from the department. The letter says not to permit halal cuts, I will verify," he said. Sources in the BJP said that the party is mulling to make the guideline mandatory as it would not allow halal and jhatka processes while slaughtering the animal illegal. If this happens, there would be a huge crisis like situation in the state as anything against halal would not go down well with minorities. The central government has recommended a 'stunning' method under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animal Act for slaughter houses. Umapathy, Joint Director of Animal Husbandry Department has stated that the department has received many complaints by animal activists in this regard. Despite the guideline, the slaughterhouses are not following rules, he said. The case could be booked under IPC as well as the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act if slaughterhouses do not follow rules. Even the public could also book a case in this regard. The shop owners will be fined for the first and for the second offence, they can be jailed. Presently, the fine amount is Rs 50. It is being appealed to increase it to Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh. The present imprisonment period is 6 months to 3 years. It has also been demanded to increase the imprisonment period, he explained. New Delhi, April 2 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday said that it has attached immovable and movable properties worth Rs 4.04 crore belonging to a conman, his family members and others in connection with a money laundering case. The ED official said that Chandrama Prasad Singh alias Tuntun Singh and his brothers, who are land mafias, have been accused of cheating innocent people, farmers and builders and have several FIRs filed against them by the state police under murder, attempt to murder, cheating, and extortion charges. Initially, the ED had begun the money laundering investigation on the basis of two FIRs lodged at Ramkrishna Nagar and Phulwari Sharif Police Station in Bihar's Patna. "Further, details of six more FIRs and chargesheets were obtained from the concerned police station. Total seven chargesheets and eight FIRs were filed on the basis of which we lodged a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), against them," said the ED official. Apart from Chandrama Prasad, the state police had also filed a case against Dablu Kumar, Bhonu Prasad, Jai Vir Kumar, Shivji Prasad and others under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 27 of the Arms Act. During the investigation, the financial probe agency learnt that the accused had invested the proceeds from extortion, in acquiring various movable and immovable properties under his wife's name, so as to project these as untainted. "The proceeds of crime identified by us have been attached. We are working to identify more assets," the ED official said. Further investigation in the matter is underway. Chikkamagaluru, : April 2 (IANS) Karnataka police on Saturday took Naxal leader Savithri into their custody till April 8 for investigations. Savithri was produced before the Judicial Magistrate of First Class(JMFC) court of Sringeri town by the authorities and the court handed over her custody to police. Hailing from Kalasa in Chikmagalur district, Savithri was active as a Naxalite since 2001. She was wanted in connection with many cases. She was arrested along with another Naxal leader B.G. Krishnamurthy by the Kerala police. Both have been lodged in prison under judicial custody since then. Savithri a.k.a Rejitha, was operating as the Commander of the Kabani Dalam of the CPI (Maoist). Savithri was the wife of Maoist leader Vikram Gowda, who is also in the Kadani Dalam. They operated in Wayanad-Kozhikode region. She had separated from her husband. The arrest of Savithri and Krishnamurthy was regarded as a big price catch for the police. Krishnamurthy is known as BGK among Naxals and was elevated to the central committee of the party. BGK came from Sringeri town in Chikkamagaluru district and police claim that there are more than 50 cases against him. The arrests have been described as a heavy blow to Maoist network in south India. They were arrested by the Kerala police on November 9, 2021. Both are wanted by Karnataka police in connection with various naxal-related cases. Savithri was named in more than 20 cases in Karnataka. Krishnamurthy was part of a save Kudremukh forest campaign and other movements launched in the Malnad region of Karnataka since 2000. Srinagar, April 2 : One of the most prominent Sufi saints of Kashmir, whose message transcends the borders set by religion and birth, was Mata Rupa Bhawani also known by her birth name, Alakheswari. She was a 17th century Sufi saint born in 1621 in Kashmir. Married at an early age, she visited the Hari Parbat hillock at midnight for 'Sadhana' (Meditation). Among the people of average understanding, her nocturnal visits raised many eyebrows. Her husband and mother-in-law started mistreating her and she left the house of her husband in pursuit of God. Alakheshwari performed her Sadhana in solitude at Chashme Shahbi, in Manigam, Lar and Vaskura villages of Ganderbal district. All these three places and her birthplace at Safa Kadal in Srinagar city are famous as Ropa Bhawani Asthapanas. She died in 1721 on 'maag gattu pachh satam'. This day became known as Sahib Saptami and is observed by Hindus in Kashmir. Mata Rupa Bhawani like Lal Ded is one of the great female mystic poets of Kashmir. Rupa Bhawani was the second great mystic poetess of 17th century. She had a great and deep experience of ups and downs of life. In her poetry, we find the influence of both Kashmir Shaivism and Islamic Sufism. Kashmiris are basically one race of Saraswats, tolerance, cooperative understanding had to be spread far and wide. And for that Rupa Bhawani or Alakeshwari or Ropded appeared on the scene. Her father Madho Dhar, a staunch devotee of Bhagwati Sharika, whose sacred hill he went round every morning bare footed, would be seen holding discourses and discussions with the Muslim saint Thag Baba just across the river opposite his residence in Srinagar. Roopa was the Goddess Sharika incarnate, and thus she maintained the tradition that 'Yaiva Uma-Saiva Kashmira' (She who is Uma is Kashmir). Author T.N. Dhar has translated the verses of Mata Rupa Bhawani into English. Dhar says there are 146 'Vakyas' of Mata Rupa Bhawani and in translating her Vakyas, he has employed his intelligence, personal knowledge of a karmishta and scholarship. Dhar says the Vakyas are what they are and no one has the right or the authority to add to, alter or amend the Vakyas. They have their own metre, their own way of expression. Dhar has drawn a parallel between what Lord Krishna has said in the Bhagwat Geeta and has quoted from the English Literature to bring home the points made in various Vakyas, substantiating the interpretation provided by him. Each Vakya is explained first in a free verse followed by a supplementary comment. Dhar said, "My object has been to pull out, into a clear stream, content and meaning of each verse out of the tangled web of aphoristic, terse, riddling and suggestive and at places mutilated expressions". One thing that stands out whether it has been a Kashmir Muslim or a local Pandit Sufi saint is the universal message of amity, tolerance and cooperation among communities. For Kashmiri Hindu Sufi saints, it has been an amplification of Shaivism and its true understanding. For the local muslims, Sufism is a mystical form of Islam, a school of practice that emphasizes the inward search for God and shuns materialism. Kashmiri Sufism has produced some of the World's most beloved literature, like the love poems of the 13th century Iranian jurist Rumi. New Delhi, April 2 : India and Nepal on Saturday unveiled joint vision into bilateral cooperation in power sector and inked a few Memorandums of Understanding in this regard. Indian Oil Corporation and Nepal Oil Corporation have signed two Memorandums of Understanding on Saturday during delegates level meeting at Hyderabad House, said Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla. The delegation level meeting was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Nepal counterpart Sher Bahadur Deuba. The Nepal Prime Minister is on three-day visit to India. The Memorandum of Understanding have been signed for the renewal of the supply of petroleum products for a period of five years and sharing technical expertise. The secretary said that a joint statement for power trade was unveiled together. Modi also conveyed to Deuba that their power export proposals have been cleared and it will contribute to Nepal's economic prosperity. "There was also a renewed commitment by both sides to move forward with Pancheshwar project," said Shringla during presser over both leaders' meeting. Both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen the timeless linkages and bonds of geography, history, culture, commerce and people-to-people ties between the two countries. In this context, both Prime Ministers noted the positive developments in each other's power sectors. India congratulated Nepal on its significant progress in the power sector including becoming a near power surplus country. Prime Minister Deuba appreciated India's recent cross-border electricity trade regulations that have enabled key partners like Nepal to access India's market and trade power with India. He also acknowledged with appreciation India's contribution to developing Nepal's power sector, through capacity building and direct support to infrastructure projects related to generation and transmission. Both Prime Ministers agreed that there are unprecedented opportunities for expanding and further strengthening mutually beneficial bilateral cooperation in the power sector including joint development of power generation projects in Nepal, development of cross-border transmission infrastructure, bi-directional power trade with appropriate access to electricity markets in both countries based on mutual benefits, market demand and applicable domestic regulations of each country, coordinated operation of the national grids and institutional cooperation in sharing latest operational information, technology and know-how. To expand such cooperation to include their partner countries under the BBIN framework subject to mutually agreed terms and conditions between all involved parties, said joint vision on power sector. The statement said that Indian investment into Nepal's renewable power sector, in particular the Hydropower sector, has the potential to benefit both the countries by strengthening their economies generating employment, enhancing export earnings and contributing to further development of industrial and financial capacities, and mutually agreed sharing of other benefits. Nepal invited Indian companies to invest in the development, construction and operation of viable renewable power projects, including in the Hydropower sector in Nepal, including storage-type projects, including through mutually beneficial partnerships. Recalling discussions during earlier high-level visits on the Pancheshwar Multipurpose project, including during the State Visit of Prime Minister of Nepal to India in August 2017, and recognizing the immense benefits for the people of both countries from this project, the two Prime ministers directed their concerned officials to expedite the bilateral discussions towards early finalization of the project's DPR. Both Prime Ministers agreed to prioritize expeditious movement on projects and initiatives on the basis of this joint vision. They agreed to continue supporting each other's national growth and prosperity guided by mutual respect and equality. The Foreign Secretary stated that the launch of RuPay in Nepal is a significant move to enhance financial linkages between the two countries. "It is expected to facilitate bilateral tourist flows and strengthen people to people linkages," Shringla said. He also stated that Nepal Prime Minister has extended invitation to Indian Prime Minister to visit Nepal. News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism. Mumbai, April 2 : Taking serious cognisance of the death of Prabhakar Sail due to a suspected heart attack, the Maharashtra government on Saturday ordered the police to probe his sudden demise. After doubts were raised over the death of Sail -- a key 'panch witness' in the infamous Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) raids on the Cordelia Cruise ship last October, Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil has directed Mumbai Police to investigate. Sail, in his mid-40s reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest at his home in Mahul, Chembur, according to his lawyer Tushar Khandare. His grieving and aged mother Hiravati Sail told mediapersons that her son had been incommunicado for the past few days, and leaves behind two minor daughters. Earlier, on Saturday morning, the ruling ally Nationalist Congress Party and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) raised questions on the witness' death that stunned political circles on the auspicious Gudi Padwa Day (Maharashtrian New Year). Terming it as a 'suspicious development', NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe. BJP legislator Atul Bhatkalkar wondered whether Sail had meted a fate similar to the Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran who was found murdered after the sensational case involving a SUV with 20 gelatin sticks was recovered near the home of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, erupted in February 2021. Soon after the October 2 raids aboard the cruiser, Sail had created a stir accusing then NCB Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede of various irregularities, and hurled allegations of extortion from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan whose son Aryan was among those detained and later arrested. Besides Aryan Khan, around 19 others were nabbed and two are still in custody, while the NCB has been granted two months' extension to file its chargesheet in the Cordelia Cruise ship swoop case. Sail -- who was described as a personal bodyguard of another independent witness and a BJP activist K.P. Gosavi, had later made several shocking revelations that raised serious questions on the NCB raids and Wankhede. Incidentally, after the claims by Sail and later the serial exposes made by Minister Nawab Malik in the case, Gosavi came under a cloud and was arrested by the Pune Police in a cheating case. Los Angeles, April 2 : Chad Smith, the drummer of rock band 'Red Hot Chili Peppers', shared a special tribute video for his friend and 'Foo Fighters' drummer, Taylor Hawkins, who passed away on March 25 at the age of 50, Variety reports. As per Variety, the video is a compilation of Smith and Hawkins' most memorable moments together captured on camera, including many clips from touring. 'Foo Fighters' first opened for the 'Red Hot Chili Peppers' in 1999 on the latter's 'Californication' tour. During the tour, Hawkins and Dave Grohl pulled off a prank on Smith as they dumped pasta on his head while he was drumming. Ever since, the two drummers kept up a playful yet sincere friendship, which is displayed in the video. Smith can be heard during an interview clip at the beginning of the video as he says, "Taylor's my good buddy whom I've known forever." The footage shows Smith and Hawkins playing the same drum set and goofing around backstage as 'My Hero' by 'Foo Fighters' blasts off in the background. "I think we're going to make a lot of other rock bands a little jealous," Hawkins tells Smith in one clip. The video ends with Smith's tribute to Hawkins during the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony on March 31 where Smith said in his speech, "I have to give a shoutout to my brother Taylor Hawkins. I love you, Taylor. He would laugh and make a smart ass comment about this whole thing." The video was put together for Smith by Daniel Catullo, who directed the 2017 'Foo Fighters at the Acropolis' series on PBS that Smith hosted. Islamabad, April 2 : Pakistan Law Minister Fawad Chaudhry has ordered a commission to probe the foreign conspiracy behind the no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan, Samaa TV reported. Chaudhry, who is the minister for information and broadcasting, was given the additional charge of law minister on Friday. The commission will look into the foreign interference to topple the government in Pakistan and present its report. Chaudhry also ordered the transfers of at least a dozen key legal officers in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. Earlier, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court to investigate the letter, which the prime minister waved at a rally, Samaa TV reported. The application filed by advocate Naeem ul Hasan requested the court to form a commission comprising top supreme court judges or the chief justices of provincial high courts. The applicant cited the commission formed by the Supreme Court to probe the memogate scandal in 2011, and requested for a similar commission. He urged the court to stop the vote on the no-confidence motion in the National Assembly until the commission concluded its investigation. Chaudhry got the additional charge of law minister after the resignation of Farogh Naseem was approved by PM Khan. Chaudhry announced Friday that he will use the position to go after Opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif and his son Hamza Shehbaz. PML-N leaders Shehbaz Sharif and Hamza Shahbaz have "become" self-appointed prime minister and chief minister while they are out on bail, he added "We will urge the court to start proceedings for the bail cancellations of both, Shehbaz and Hamza," he said. Noida, April 2 : Noida Police has busted a major IPL betting racket in the city and arrested six persons in this connection, an official said on Saturday. The accused, identified as Imran alias Nazir, Akhilesh Paliwal, Javed, Mohsin, Pravez and Tahir, all residents of Bulandshahr, were arrested from the area under sector 10 police station. Furnishing details, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, Ranvijay Singh said the accused disclosed that someone from Dubai used to send them a link on their mobile phone. After clicking on that link, they used to put their mobile phones on mute and speaker mode. "They used to get ball-by-ball information about the match through that link," ADCP Singh said in a media briefing, adding the accused put bets when the match was in progress. In one day, they used to do betting of Rs 10 lakh. During interrogation, it was revealed that there is one main racketeer of the gang who is still at large. The senior police official further informed that the gang was also operating during the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election year 2022. "They had placed bets on the fate of the Chief Minister's chair and several other political parties," the official said. The police have registered a case under sections 3 and 4 of the Gambling Act at the Phase 1 Police station in Gautam Budh Nagar. The police have seized an amount of Rs 4 lakh from their accounts along with one laptop, 12 Mobile Phones, Rs 1,64,000 cash, a register, a pen and accounting details. New Delhi, April 2: Finally, Pakistan's "loser" Prime Minister, Imran Khan, admitted that he lost to the united opposition, but would not concede defeat. "I cannot even think about resigning and as far as the no-confidence vote is concerned, I believe in fighting till the end," beleaguered PM Imran Khan told ARY News of Pakistan, signalling that he would only go down kicking-and-screaming. Khan "confirmed" the reports that he was in touch with the top leadership of the military establishment headed by Pakistani army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and the establishment had suggested three options. "They had given three options - resignation, no-confidence (vote) or early elections. I told him (Bajwa) that I am ready for early elections but I cannot even think about resigning and as far as the no-confidence vote is concerned," Khan told the channel. When he was asked if it was he who had approached the establishment for "face saving exit", Khan said ruefully: "As long as 'establishment' continues to settle matters, then who is the Prime Minister, what difference does it make." Khan's interview was like his address to the nation on March 31, full of rhetoric, and little substance. After blaming an international conspiracy to oust him, Khan himself has doubled down with public statements that he fears an attempt on his life. "Wrong things are being spread against my family. My wife's character is being assassinated and my life is also in danger," said Khan. Desperate times call for desperate moves. Knowing that he is to go down on Sunday, the egoistic Khan has been making a futile bid to remain in power. According to insiders, Imran Khan is considering resigning along with all his members from the Pakistani National Assembly on Sunday after losing the no-confidence vote. If Khan's 155 ruling party members resign from the National Assembly, the new government will be in "jeopardy". It will be difficult to hold such a large number of by-elections. The same exercise will be conducted simultaneously in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces where Khan's party is in power. The new government will have no other choice other than immediate elections and Khan thinks that going to the polls immediately will benefit him. Khan has already prohibited his members from participating in the no-confidence vote. But the question is, will his party members agree to his plan, for a mass revolt against a sinking Khan is not inconceivable? With the momentum building against Khan, most in his party may not be inclined to go to early polls. Many "disgruntled" members are apparently in touch with the opposition and may decide to rebel against Imran Khan. The Opposition claims that they have 199 members so far and there is no reason to believe they can't muster a bigger number on Sunday. The opposition leaders have also approached the various security agencies including the army to ensure the security of every parliamentarian irrespective of party affiliation when they go to the Assembly on Sunday. Referring to Khan's calls to gather 100,000 supporters outside the Assembly on Sunday when voting will be held on the no-confidence move, the opposition leader and the prime ministerial candidate Shehbaz Sharif, in his letter to chiefs of security agencies, said that any such gathering would be in blatant violation of order dated March 18 that prohibits gathering of five or more persons inside the Red Zone under Section 144 of the CrPC. He warned that any such gathering would inevitably provoke other parties to bring their own supporters for self-protection, which might lead to bloodshed and chaos in the capital. (The content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative Mumbai, April 2 : Television actress Ankita Lokhande and her actor husband Vicky Jain celebrated their first Gudi Padwa as a married couple on Saturday. Given her Maharashtrian roots, Ankita shared that she will ring in the festival in traditional Maharashtrian style with authentic delicacies. While talking about the same, Ankita said: "I love celebrating Gudi Padwa, and this year it is even more special for me. I didn't have any elaborate plans for the occasion, but we had our Gudi and prepared Shrikhand Puri, like every time. We also decorated the house to welcome the new year. I am so happy to have Vicky with me on this day." A few weeks back, Ankita Lokhande threw an intimate Holi party with Vicky Jain. The inside pictures of the celebration took the internet by storm! Meanwhile, the couple is garnering a lot of positive response on television with their performance in show 'Smart Jodi'. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Hyderabad, April 2 : Telangana and Andhra Pradesh on Saturday celebrated Telugu New Year Ugadi with gaiety and traditional enthusiasm. People in both the Telugu states offered special prayers, decorated the entrances of their houses and shops with strings of mango leaves, tasted the traditional festival food and heard 'panchangnam' to usher in the New Year. The Chief Ministers of the two states attended the main official celebrations in their respective state capitals, where 'agma' pundits read the 'panchangnam' or the forecast of the coming year. Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao attended the official function at Pragati Bhavan, his official residence in Hyderabad while his Andhra Pradesh counterpart Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy launched the celebrations in Vijayawada. Both the leaders wished that Ugadi, this year named as 'Sri Shubhakruth' would bring peace and prosperity for Telugu-speaking people living across the world. KCR, as the Telangana Chief Minister is popularly known, expressed hope that the New Year will usher in peace and prosperity. He said his government was working for the welfare of all sections of people and the schemes being implemented by it are being emulated by other states. KCR's cabinet colleagues and senior officials attended the celebrations. Jagan Mohan Reddy along with his wife Y.S. Bharathi Reddy participated in the Ugadi celebrations at his official residence. Attired in traditional dhoti and kanduva, the Chief Minister graced the event and extended greetings to all present on the occasion. The priests of Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanams (TTD) welcomed him with Poornakumbham and festivities were held in a traditional way depicting Telugu culture. The Chief Minister paid floral tributes to the statue of former Chief Minister Dr Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy which was set up near the special stage. Later, he interacted with the children who were present on the occasion. The Chief Minister said the name of the year 'Subhakriti' has good in it and hoped that God's grace and people's blessings give more strength to the state government to do more good to the people of the state. Thousands of devotees thronged temples to pray for happiness and prosperity. Special prayers were held at Tirumala, Srisailam, Vijayawada and Bhadrachalam temples. People also attended special functions where pundits read out the religious almanac of the coming year. Literary discussions, poetry recitations, recognition of authors through awards and cultural programmes marked the day. Women prepared 'Ugadi pacchadi', a mixture of neem buds, raw mango, tamarind juice, pepper, jaggery and salt, which is a necessary part of the celebratory dishes. The mixture symbolises various hues of life. Ugadi celebrations were also held at the headquarters of political parties in both the states. Governors and Chief Ministers of both the state's greeted people on Ugadi. KCR said that the year of 'Shubhakrut', which wraps up the auspiciousness in the name itself, will bring good fortune to the people in all spheres. He said that Telangana is on the path of progress in a very short period of time. The CM expressed his happiness that with the blessings of God, Telangana was abuzz with plentiful water and green fields. KCR said Telangana government was giving maximum encouragement to the irrigation and agriculture sectors. The CM said the Telangana government is the only government in the country that gave the highest priority to the welfare of the farmers. The CM said that Telangana has achieved unprecedented development in the field of agriculture to make the country proud in its entirety. He said that Telangana is now challenging the Centre in procuring grain with the highest crop yield. He said the state government was working tirelessly to reach this level. The Telangana government is following the motto that 'all people will be happy when agriculture is good'. The CM said that the development of the agricultural sector has indirectly helped the employment opportunities in concerned productive and service sectors for the youth in Telangana. New Delhi, April 2 : Time and again, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has put the safety of women in the state as his government's topmost priority, and a step in that direction was the formation of 'Anti-Romeo Squads' at the beginning of his first term in 2017. Now with the BJP retaining power in the just-concluded Assembly elections and Adityanath retruning as the CM for a second straight term, the Anti-Romeo Squads are back on the streets. The Chief Minister on Friday directed the concerned officials to launch a special campaign for women's safety from the first day of Navratri. As a result, in neighbouring Noida and Ghaziabad, the police have intensified patrolling in all the vulnerable areas to make the women feel safe and secure. "From today, i.e., April 2, we have started an anti-Romeo drive at all the crowded places of the city like schools, colleges, Metro stations and several other vulnerable areas from where incidents of eve-teasing or molestation have been reported in the recent past," Assistant Commissioner of Police (Noida), Rajneesh Verma, told IANS. Under the said campaign, everyday from April 1 to April 15, a special campaign will be run by the women security team of each police station at all schools, colleges, markets, malls, Metro stations and other crowded places in Noida. "Strict legal action will be taken against those who drink alcohol in public places, and harass girls," another official told IANS. As a number of festivals are being celebrated on Saturday, including the beginning of the new year as per the Hindu calendar, the police along with female staff could be seen outside various temples, schools and colleges, talking to women and girls and apprising them about the women's helpline numbers in case they need it anytime. The Anti-Romeo Squads also gave warnings to the men and boys who were found standing outside schools and colleges without any reason. Verma was seen talking to the girls outside a school and sharing the details of women's helpline numbers. The senior officer spoke to the students about their problems and assured them that they can come to him without any hesitation. A similar intensified patrolling by the Anti-Romeo Squads could be seen in Ghaziabad. "With the aim to create an environment of safety for the women and girls in Ghaziabad district, the Anti-Romeo Squads of all police stations visited several crowded and market places. The women were made aware of the various schemes and helpline numbers issued by the government for their safety," an official said. (Ujwal Jalali can be reached at ujwal.j@ians.in) Gurugram, April 2 : Using a gas cutter, a gang of thieves broke open an ATM belonging to a private bank located in Sector 75A of Gurugram and made away with around Rs 13.28 lakh in cash, police said. "The accused after breaking the ATM, sprayed black paint on the CCTV cameras installed inside and outside the unmanned kiosk," the police said on Saturday. According to the police, the ATM kiosk was reportedly cut open from a side using the help of a cutter and the culprits decamped with Rs 13,28,000. A case under relevant sections of the IPC was registered against unidentified miscreants at the Kherki Daula police station based on a complaint by a payment service company on Friday. The incident has once again brought the security of ATMs under the scanner. "The probe is underway. We are obtaining CCTV footages of the area to ascertain the identity of the criminals. The accused will be nabbed soon," said Subhash Boken, PRO of the Gurugram police. New Delhi, April 2 : A 26-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped by two men in the national capital's Hari Nagar area, a police official said on Saturday. The accused duo has been arrested. According to the official, the incident took place on Tuesday night when the survivor was returning home from work. Sources said when the woman reached Hari Nagar area of west Delhi, she was confronted by two men who then took her to a nearby park and committed the heinous crime. After raping her in the park, the accused then took her to a slum-area where they again commited the crime for the whole night. The victim, in her complaint, alleged that she was also threatened and thrashed by the accused duo. Accordingly, the police registered a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code at the Hari Nagar Police station and arrested the accused duo. "Further investigation is underway," the official added. According to the data compiled by the Delhi Police, during the year 2021, as many as 1969 women were raped in the national capital, 21.69 per cent more than the previous year. In 2020, the figure stood at 1618. Not just rape, every figure of crime against women has an upward variation. The molestation of women rose by 17.51 per cent and eve-teasing by 17.51 per cent. However, the Delhi Police termed the rise in figures of crime as "due to conscious policy of Fair and Truthful Registration". But even as stringent laws are in place coupled with proactive approach of Delhi Police and a high solving rate of rape cases (95.48 per cent), molestation of women cases (90.98 per cent) and insult to modesty of women (85.75 per cent), the crime against women still isn't declining. One of the surprising reasons is that most of the time, the person committing a heinous crime is known to the victim woman, as was in the aforementioned case. Shockingly, during the year 2021, in about 98.78 per cent of rape cases, the accused were known to the victim while strangers were involved in only about 1.22 per cent cases. According to the Delhi Police, of all the rape cases reported last year, 13 per cent times the accused was a relative of the victim, 11 per cent times a neighbour, 46 per cent times a family or a friend and 1 per cent time an employee or a co-worker. If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here Thiruvananthapuram, April 2 : His latest letter to state secretary of CPI-M Kodiyeri Balakrishnan asking him to be left out of being a delegate to the 23rd CPI-M Party Congress to be held at Kannur from April 6, for all practical purposes, it's the end of the road for G. Sudhakaran, one of the topmost party leader in Kerala. A four time legislator and a two time Cabinet Minister, Sudhakaran who is known for his razor sharp tongue and for carrying himself in the most cleanest manner, since last year has been having problems in his party at his home district- Alappuzha. The 75-year-old veteran's stock started to decline when his feud with then Finance Minister Thomas Isaac also hailing from Alappuzha district, intensified and it took a turn for the worse ever since the present State Fisheries Minister Saji Cherian joined hands with Isaac. Things went from bad to worse when he expressed his desire to retire from electoral politics in early 2021, though he wished to get one more term. However, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan who had a soft corner for him, did not come to his support and along with many who had contested three times in the past, he was also denied ticket. And when a new candidate, H. Salam was named by the party from his traditional seat - Ambalapuzha, Sudhakaran again came under fire and allegations surfaced that he was trying to defeat him and this became an issue in the party. A party panel, comprising CPI-M central committee member Elamaram Kareem and State secretariat member K.J. Thomas, probed into the alleged flaws in party's electioneering in the Ambalapuzha constituency and found him not rising to the occasion. In November, the party publicly censured him for his lapses at the election campaign 2021 and with it Sudhakaran found out that things are not that rosy and went silent. And ahead of the CPI-M state party conference, he made his intentions very clear when he wrote to Balakrishnan and Vijayan that he need not be considered for the powerful State Committee of the party, a post which he held. The party went by his wishes and now he saying that he is not taking part as a delegate at the 23rd Party Congress due to health issues. For all practical purposes, CPI-M in Kerala has lost a tall leader and from now on he will have no role in any major decision making body of the party and would be relegated to a committee of the party at his home district. -- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text Chennai, April 2 : At least seven persons were killed and several others injured after a van they were travelling in toppled into a valley near Thirupathur in Tamil Nadu, the police said on Saturday. According to the police, the van was carrying about 30 persons from a village located in a hilly region. They were going to attend a temple festival. As the van was nearing Pudutnadu, it suddenly plunged into a valley. The police said that seven persons have lost their lives while several others have been injured. The police and fire service personnel are involved in rescue efforts. Bengaluru, April 2 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has expedited the probe in the murder case of Bajrang Dal activist Harsha after taking over from Karnataka police. Araga Jnanendra, Minister for Home on Saturday said that after finding about the background of the accused and the organisations behind them, it was felt appropriate to hand over the case to the NIA. "The state has conducted an in-depth investigation and it was found that it was intended to spark communal violence. Apart from this, I can't tell anything about the case as a Home Minister," he said. Lakshmi Prasad, SP of Shivamogga said that the local police have handed over all documents to the NIA and are cooperating in the investigation. Harsha was murdered by a gang in Shivamogga on February 20, triggering violence and the case made national headlines. The curfew was clamped in Shivamogga for 8 days to avoid violence. Later, the police arrested 10 persons in connection with the case and invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) against them. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said that it is more than a case of murder. Hindu organisations suspect the forces that got Harsha killed wanted to send a message to youth to desist from Hindutva activities. The state government has provided Rs 25 lakh compensation to the family and the public have also donated large money. Chennai, April 2 : India is expected to have a larger say in the International Chess Federation, commonly known as FIDE, if the incumbent management led by former Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich wins the polls, chess officials said. The elections for FIDE Congress will be held in August this year on the sidelines of the 44th Chess Olympiad to be held at Mahabalipuram near here in July-August. It is learnt that the officials of the chess administration in the national federation normally get a relatively higher number of posts in FIDE. This time around, the All India Chess Federation (AICF) is on a stronger wicket to claim a better representation in FIDE. It was AICF that came to the rescue of FIDE to hold the Olympiad after the latter decided to shift it out of Moscow following Russia's military operation in Ukraine. Given the geopolitical situation, Dvorkovich's nationality and his past position in the Russian government, he and his team would prefer a neutral venue for holding the FIDE Congress. And Mahabalipuram near Chennai is an ideal location. On Friday, five-time world chess champion Viswanathan Anand had said: "I have agreed to support Arkady Dvorkovich. We have discussed this, but we haven't decided yet as to in what role or capacity I will be involved. The team led by Dvorkovich has done a lot for the sport." "We have discussed that Anand will be a huge part of our team," Dvorkovich said. Interestingly, Anand was appointed as Asia's Continental Assistant to FIDE President by Dvorkovich in 2019. A senior FIDE official told IANS: "The role to be allocated to Anand will be decided after the elections." Queried about AICF asking for a couple of critical posts for its nominees to contest, a senior FIDE official, not wanting to be named, told IANS: "I would assume you are right." "At the FIDE elections, the Olympiad hosting nation normally gets some additional posts," a former senior AICF official told IANS preferring anonymity. While some of the existing Indian officials will exit FIDE, more Indians are likely to enter the international chess body. "My term as FIDE Zone 3.7 President will come to an end in August. Similarly, D.V. Sundar's term as Vice President will also end," R.M. Dongre told IANS. Both Sundar and Dongre belong to the faction that unsuccessfully contested the elections against the present office-bearers of AICF. The AICF does not recognise Dongre as FIDE Zone 3.7 President. Last year, the AICF informed FIDE about nominating Gujarat State Chess Association President Ajay Patel as the country's nominee for the Zone 3.7 position when Dongre was holding the post. On receipt of the communication from AICF, FIDE had replaced Dongre's name with that of Patel's on its website as Zone 3.7 President. Objecting to FIDE's move, Dongre wrote to the global chess body. "I wrote to the FIDE President citing its own rules on the circumstances in which a person can be changed for a post. The FIDE then referred the matter to its Constitutional Commission which deliberated the matter and decided in my favour," Dongre had told IANS. Dongre said only the FIDE General Assembly can change a Zonal President and the AICF should have sufficient reason to recommend the change. Subsequently, FIDE amended its website uploading Dongre's name and picture in the place of Patel's. Dongre also said that he has two more years as the member of FIDE Ethics and Disciplinary Commission. AICF President Sanjay Kapoor declined to comment when queried by IANS on the FIDE posts for which the Indian chess body would be nominating its nominees. (Venkatachari Jagannathan can be reached at v.jagannathan@ians.in) Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War Srinagar, April 2 : Grand prayer meetings were held on Saturday by Kashmiri Pandits at the historic Durganag temple and the Mata Sharika Devi temple in Srinagar to celebrate 'Navreh', the first day of the new year, according to the Kashmiri Pandit calendar. Kashmiri Pandits held special prayers at the Mata Sharika Devi temple situated on a hillock called the 'Hari Parbat' in the middle of the old city. This was the first such prayer meeting held on Navreh at the Sharika Devi temple 32 years after the migration of the local Pandits from their native land. Before their exodus, local Pandits used to celebrate the beginning of the new year at this temple. Those who had gathered for the celebrations said the situation has improved Kashmir in the last couple of years, and the number of terror incidents have also decreased. People exuded confidence in the positive steps taken by the administration and the government and hoped to return to their homeland soon. A grand Puja was also held at the Durganag temple in Dalgate area in Srinagar where a large number of people joined the prayers held for peace, prosperity and development of humanity in general and Kashmir in particular. Murarji Kaul, trustee of the Durganag temple trust, said the main purpose of Saturday's Navreh prayers was to strengthen the traditional amity between the various communities of Kashmir. "Huge damage has been caused to this brotherhood of ours by political forces of different shades. Despite their worst doing, the bond between the Muslim majority community and the Pandit minority community remains strong and vibrant as ever, and now their is a renewed effort to further strengthen this bond," Kaul said. "Peace is gradually returning to the Valley and people are keen to safeguard the interests of the future generations. This year, Navreh coincides with the beginning of the holy month of Ramadan and this augers well for the entire population of the Valley," Kaul added. Hyderabad, April 2 : The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) on Saturday announced a five-phase protest from April 4 against the Centre over its refusal to procure paddy from Telangana during the ongoing Rabi season. TRS working president K.T. Rama Rao said the party would stage protests in all mandal headquarters on April 4. In the second phase, the TRS will organise 'rasta roko' on Mumbai, Nagpur, Bengaluru and Vijayawada national highways on April 7. The next day, protests will be held in all 12,769 villages across the state. He called upon farmers to put up black flags atop their houses, take out protest rallies and burn effigies of the Central government. Under the fifth phase, state ministers and public representatives will stage a protest in Delhi on April 11. The TRS MPs will also raise the issue in the Parliament. KTR, as the TRS leader is popularly known, told reporters that despite repeated requests by the state government and the visit by a ministerial delegation to Delhi to meet Union Food Minister Piyush Goyal, the Centre refused to procure paddy from the state and was insisting on raw rice. He said the state had been demanding that the Centre should procure the entire paddy as it is procuring from Punjab. "When you can have one nation one ration, why can't you have one nation one procurement," he asked. The TRS leader slammed the BJP leaders for speaking in different tones in Delhi and Telangana. He recalled that last year in view of the Centre's refusal to procure parboiled rice, the TRS government had appealed to farmers not to grow paddy but the state BJP leaders provoked them and assured them that they will make the Centre procure every grain. KTR said Central minister G. Kishan Reddy, who comes from Telangana, had declared that whether farmers grow raw rice or parboiled rice, the Centre would procure the entire stocks. The TRS leader said responding to the state government's appeal, farmers have not cultivated paddy on 15 lakh acres during Rabi. They took up cultivation on 30 to 35 lakh acres, and it is now the responsibility of the Centre to buy the entire paddy, he added. New Delhi, April 2 : Consumer spending in mobile games declined 7.1 per cent Y/Y to $21 billion in Q1 2022, with both the App Store and Google Play seeing less revenue when compared to the year-ago period. Mobile games on Apple's platform saw about $12.9 billion, down 2.3 per cent Y/Y, while Google Play saw its mobile game revenue decline 13.8 per cent Y/Y to $8.1 billion, reports Sensor Tower. The top three highest grossing mobile games overall as well as on the App Store all came from Chinese publishers this quarter. Tencent's Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile including its Chinese localisation Game for Peace came in number one and number with $735.4 million and $643 million generated across both stores. MiHoYo's Genshin Impact came in third with $551 million in player spending. On Google Play, NCSoft's Lineage W was the top earner, followed by Moon Active's Coin Master and King's Candy Crush Saga. Worldwide downloads of mobile games grew 2.1 per cent Y/Y in 1Q22, climbing to 14.4 billion. This was driven mainly by Google Play, which grew 2.5 per cent Y/Y to 12.1 billion first-time downloads this quarter. App Store game installs remained flat Y/Y, holding at 2.3 billion. Garena's massively popular battle royale title Garena Free Fire saw the most downloads across App Store and Google Play as well as on Google's marketplace, with 71.2 million installs across both platforms. It was followed by Sybo Games' Subway Surfers, which saw 66.4 million installs across both stores and also topped the App Store chart. The third most downloaded title overall was Homa Games' Merge Master - Dinosaur Fusion, which reached 49.4 million installs. Islamabad, April 2 : Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday urged the country's youth to stage "peaceful protests" against a "foreign conspiracy" allegedly hatched against his government and said that he has "more than one plan" for Sunday's crucial vote on the no-confidence motion against him in the National Assembly, Dawn reported. The Prime Minister made these remarks during a live question and answer session, which was broadcast live on television, radio and digital media, and lasted roughly an hour. "Before taking your telephone calls, I want to talk to the people of my country for five minutes because right now Pakistan is standing on a decisive point," the prime minister said in his opening remarks. "This is a war for the future of the country. There's a conspiracy against the government right now and it has been proven that politicians are being bought like goats to topple the government. The conspiracy started abroad... "The history never forgets those. And I want Pakistan's history to not forget these traitors either. It is your responsibility. Don't let them feel that you have forgotten." The prime minister said he will take legal action against those who "betrayed the nation". "I met my lawyers today and we have a plan. We wont let them go free. All of them will be punished. We will decide by tonight the kind of legal action we want to take against them." The prime minister claimed that the "foreign conspiracy" against him has been proven. "The cabinet, NSC and the parliament's security committee have seen it. The official document says that if you remove Imran Khan, your relations with the US will get better." Addressing the youth of the country, Khan said: "You don't have to sit silently (because) if you stay quiet, you will be on the side of the bad. I want you to protest and speak up against this conspiracy -- not for me but for your future. Despite the opposition seemingly having accumulated enough MNAs to topple his government, Khan remained buoyant, saying: "Don't worry at all. A captain always has a plan, and this time I have more than one plan... God willing we will win tomorrow. I will defeat them in the Assembly. "The nation will see tomorrow... if they cast the vote tomorrow, they know they will be rejected by the public. You will see that we will win tomorrow," he said. Srinagar, April 2 : The seven-day Spring Theatre Festival organised by the Actors Creative Theatre concluded in Srinagar on Saturday. The festival was organised at the Tagore Hall in Srinagar by Actors Creative Theatre (ACT) in collaboration with the J&K Academy of Art, Culture and Languages (JKAACL). A large audience, including renowned theatre personalities, watched the festival and appreciated the performers. Manzoor Ahmad, a noted theatre expert, likened the performers to NSD trained actors, and said, "The way they presented their play is a model for other Kashmiri theatre practitioners." Similarly, well-known broadcaster Himayun Qaiser said, "The performance of the students was truly a joy to behold." Sajid Reshi, the dramatics teacher, expressed joy at the performance of the students. He said, "The mandate of the school dramatic club is to use theatre as a vehicle of progressive thought by highlighting social issues like conflict victims, eve-teasing, acid attack, drug addiction, third gender discrimination and women's empowerment. "We already have a grand history of 'Band e Pather', which is a model of street theatre highlighting social and other issues." Congratulating the students, Principal Shafaq Afshan said, "We are delighted that the theatre group is making waves in the World beyond the school, and testifies to the immense belief and talent of our students and staff." The Chairman of DPS Srinagar, Vijay Dhar, congratulated the students for their stellar performance, saying, "At DPS Srinagar, we believe in holistic education, and revival of glorious traditions of the past. The cultivation of theatre is aimed at this revival and development of talent and we are immensely delighted that our efforts are paying dividends." The festival concluded with 'Eid Rouf', a Kashmiri chorus to welcome Eid at the conclusion of the fasting month of Ramadan. Patna, April 2 : Patna police have arrested two persons, including a man whose 8-year-old daughter was allegedly gang-raped and murdered by unknown persons, from outside Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's residence here on Saturday. The man and a woman activist demanded the police to allow them to meet Nitish Kumar, which they not only refused, but also misbehaved with them. The Chief Minister and his convoy came out of the residence and crossed the duo, but Kumar did not stop to meet them. The man, who came from Banka district, alleged that his 8-year-old daughter was kidnapped by unidentified persons from outside their house when she stepped out to celebrate Holi. The miscreants allegedly gang-raped the minor girl, removed both her eyes, and mutilated the dead body before dumped it in a drain near the village which falls under the Khandan police station, the man said. "We went from pillar to post seeking justice for my daughter, but the local police arrested my brother on charges of gang-rape and murder of my daughter," the man said. As no one was listening to his plight, a Delhi-based social activist -- Yogita Bhayana -- came to Patna and contacted him promising support. On Saturday, the man along with Bhayana demanded to meet the Chief Minister, but C.P. Gupta, the SHO of Sachiwalay police station, arrived there and threatened them. As per a viral video, the SHO threatened Bhayana to stay within her limits. "You are a woman and stay like a woman," he said while pointing finger at her. The man argued that since he was not getting justice for the heinous act committed against his daughter, the police should kill him as well. Following the arguments, the police picked up the man and the activist and put them in a police van on the direction of SHO Gupta. "They were protesting in a prohibited area. Hence it was a preventive measure to arrest them. They were taken to the office of the DGP, who has addressed the issue. The police released him later," ASP Kamya Mishra told IANS. "The victim has the right to protest, but you cannot protest in the prohibited area. There are so many places where anyone can protest. It is his democratic right and no one is taking his rights away. As far as meeting the Chief Minister is concerned, he organies 'Janta Darbar' where anyone can meet him. Even the DGP regularly meets people," Mishra said. "In the case of rape-cum-murder of the minor girl, four accused have already been arrested and a speedy trial is currently underway," Mishra added. Maharashtra CM UDDHAV THACKERAY flagged off two new Mumbai Metros - Line 7 & Line 2A - and took a ride on a train, along with Dy.CM Ajit Pawar, other ministers, officials, etc. Image Source: IANS News Maharashtra CM UDDHAV THACKERAY flagged off two new Mumbai Metros - Line 7 & Line 2A - and took a ride on a train, along with Dy.CM Ajit Pawar, other ministers, officials, etc. Image Source: IANS News Maharashtra CM UDDHAV THACKERAY flagged off two new Mumbai Metros - Line 7 & Line 2A - and took a ride on a train, along with Dy.CM Ajit Pawar, other ministers, officials, etc. Image Source: IANS News Mumbai, April 2 : Flagging off the two new Mumbai Metro corridors -- Line 2 and Line 7 -- Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Saturday slammed the Centre for creating obstacles on projects related to Mumbai, and questioned the utility of the upcoming bullet train project. "The first bullet train (for India) should have been started between Mumbai and Nagpur, not between Mumbai and Ahmedabad... Tell me, how is the bullet train between Mumbai-Ahmedabad going to be useful to you?" Thackeray asked. While the Centre is eager for the bullet train project, it has taken over the land intended for the International Finance Centre in the prime Bandra Kurla Complex, he said of the pet project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "If you have love for Mumbai then why don't you give us the Kanjurmar (salt-pan) lands for the Mumbai Metro Rail project? Railway land is not being transferred for the Dharavi redevelopment project, land is not being given to us for a pumping station," Thackeray said here. He added how Maharashtra contributes the highest amount of GST in the country, yet the state's dues are still not cleared on time. "We are not begging, we are only firmly demanding our share of the taxes, but it is being consistently denied to us," rued the CM. Taking a swipe at the state Bharatiya Janata Party leader who accused him of claiming credit for the two new lines of Mumbai Metro, Thackeray retorted saying if they had so much concern for the city, then why are roadblocks being created for the state's important infrastructure projects. Earlier, Thackeray flagged off two new Metro Line 2A and Line 7, both in the suburbs - on the auspicious occasion of Gudi Padwa, the Maharashtrian New Year. Present were Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, other Cabinet ministers of Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress, senior officials and other dignitaries. The two new lines shall start operations daily 5 a.m.-11 p.m. from tomorrow (Sunday) for commuters, with fares ranging from Rs 10-Rs 40 for the air-conditioned rides at speed of around 70-kmph, said MMRDA Commissioner S.V.R. Srinivas. Both fully elevated, Line 2A runs from Dahisar East to D.N. Nagar in Andheri West via the new Link Road, and Line 7 runs from Dahisar East to Andheri East via the Western Express Highway - are partially complete. When fully completed, Line 7 will be 33.50 km long with 29 stations and Line 2A shall be 18 km long with 17 stations en route. Though the trains are equipped to operate with a driverless system, initially they will be operated by a contingent of around 60 male and female drivers. The development came after nearly 11 months of trial runs on these 2 lines since May 2021. It maybe recalled that the city got the 11.50 km long Mumbai Metro One - its first and only so far - elevated line on June 8, 2014, linking Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar in the east-west direction. The Line 2A and Line 7 were sanctioned in October 2015 and Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone during the erstwhile Bharatiya Janata Party-led government of the (then) Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. The entire corridors of the two new lines are expected to be ready in the next five-six months, officials said. Imphal, April 2 : The first edition of the 'Eikhoigi Imphal International Film Festival' began on Saturday at the Palace Auditorium of Manipur State Film Development Society (MSFDS), manifesting a new feather in the cap of Manipuri Cinema as it completes 50 years. The five-day non-competitive festival, supported by the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry, is being organised as part of the year-long golden jubilee celebration of Manipuri Cinema. Speaking as the Chief Guest at the inaugural ceremony of the festival, eminent Manipuri filmmaker, Aribam Syam Sharma emphatically pointed out that special financial assistance from the government is a must for success of the festival in its future editions. Syam Sharma, who has been associated with Manipuri cinema since its inception, lamented that the government had always exuded indifferent attitude towards the growth of Manipuri cinema. Nevertheless, he drew the attention of the government to make the Manipur State Film and Television Institute fully functional at the earliest to facilitate professionalism and production of good films in the northeastern state. MSFDS Secretary, Sunzu Bachaspatimayum, while delivering the keynote address, stated that the festival has been conceived to catalyse the amplification of motion picture storytelling in Manipur. He further expressed joy over realising the dream of an international film festival where one experiences world cinema which slices life and intrinsic cultural and political experiences beyond one's boundaries and transpires invaluable knowledge. Manipur government's Commissioner of Art and Culture Department, M. Joy stated that the Eikhoigi Imphal International Film Festival marks the new beginning for Manipuri cinema. He also exuded confidence that the festival will fill up the void of a voracious cinematic culture in Manipur. Deputy Director of Directorate of Film Festivals under the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Tanu Rai, Assamese filmmaker Utpal Borpujari, Khasi (Meghalaya) filmmaker Pradip Kurban among other prominent personalities also attended the inaugural function. Eminent filmmaker, Romi Meitei's award winning film "Eikhoigi Yum" (ours home), in its Imphal Premier screened in the opening day of the festival. Prior to the screening, contemporary dance performance aMeepao', a tribute to the pioneer filmmakers, choreographed by Surjit Nongmeikapam was also showcased. Manipur Film Development Society (MSFDS) Secretary Sunzu Bachaspatimayum said that in the 5-day long international film festival, 11 feature films, 8 non-feature films and one short film would be screened. Films including those from Iran, Germany, Korea, Philippines and Norway would be screened.He said that two Manipuri films -- Romi Meitei's "Eikhoigi Yum" and Haobam Pabankumar's "Nine Hills One Valley", acclaimed Khasi (Meghalaya) film, "Iewduh", directed by Pradeep Kurbah and Assamese film, "Ishu", directed by Utpal Borpujari will also be screened in the festival. Bachaspatimayum said that the festival being organised jointly by MSFDS and Manipur State Film and Television Institute (MSFTI), with financial aid from the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) under the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Bengaluru, April 2 : The Karnataka government is likely to issue a fresh guideline to make the 'stunning' process mandatory for slaughterhouses across the state, sources said on Saturday. The development comes amid a demand for ban on 'halal' meat. 'Stunning' is a process where an animal is rendered unconscious while being slaughtered. Reacting to the development, Karnataka Congress President D.K. Shivakumar told people not to get scared about the circular being issued by the Animal Husbandry Department. "If anyone troubles you, give us a call, our workers will be sent to the spot," he said. "Don't be scared of handbills distributed by the RSS and BJP activists in this regard. This is our responsibility," Shivakumar said. "I am getting calls from farmers from all over the state. They are saying there is no one to buy their chicken, sheep or goat," he stated. The BJP has created this situation with political motive, he alleged. "Since last week, peace in the society has been disturbed with political motive," Shivakumar said, referring to the ban on Muslim merchants in temples and religious fairs and the issue of halal meat. "Though the concerned minister is refusing, the circular to make 'stunning' compulsory in slaughterhouses has been released by the Animal Husbandry Department of Karnataka government. It instructs police and other officers to ensure animals are cut only after a stunning, which renders them unconscious," he said. "I have seen human beings rendered unconscious before they undergo surgeries. But I am coming across the 'stunning' process for the first time. In this country, the food habits of people have developed for thousands of years. People should continue with what they are doing, especially our farmers and business community. Don't destroy Karnataka," he said. "Do not snatch away people's livelihood. Let all communities live unitedly," Shivakumar said. Beijing, April 2 : Chinese president Xi Jinping's online rendezvous with European leaders in Brussels on Friday defied an undercurrent of tensions that have seeped into EU-China relations because of the Russia-Ukraine war. Xi tried to wiggle out of the geopolitical quagmire that Beijing finds itself in by telling EU leaders that China has its own way of pursuing peace. However, European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen warned China not to let Russia bypass sanctions that have been imposed by EU nations and the US after Russian president Vladimir Putin's misadventure in Ukraine. Parts of Ukraine have been under the Kremlin's influence for years even before Moscow last month decided to send troops into the country, destabilising the region, sending ripples across financial markets and making oil markets nervous through the world. Xi's repertoire of statements in the summit which saw Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meet the leaders virtually before the main meeting began, included urging Brussels to form an independent policy on China. This assertion of an independent policy implies a break from what Beijing sees as Brussels' kowtowing to the requirements of the US strategy which China claims can ultimately lead to a decoupling between the world's two largest economies. Chinese state media quoted Xi as saying that the Ukraine crisis has come after a protracted Covid-19 pandemic and a stuttering global recovery. In this context, China and the EU, as two major forces, big markets and great civilisations, should step up communication on relations and on major issues concerning global peace and development, and play a constructive role in adding stabilising factors to a turbulent world, the Global Times quoted the Chinese leader as saying during the summit. Michel told a press briefing after the summit: "We called on China to help end the war in Ukraine. China cannot turn a blind eye to Russia's violation of international law." China has lent tacit support to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, refusing to condemn it but calling for a political situation to the crisis. Beijing finds itself in a tight spot as it cannot displease its traditional ally and chief US adversary. US and China have seen relations plummet over several bilateral issues, recently more so due to US stance over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Though the West-China divide has seen the entire Western hemisphere go ballistic at China over the Ukrainian invasion, Beijing does not want itself isolated over the geopolitical standoff that has seen Putin at the receiving end of worldwide criticism. Says a European academic who teaches EU law: "I won't call the meeting very good. They were threatening to slap sanctions if China supported Russia with money or arms. The problem is that China wants a GDP growth of 5 per cent which can only be reached if does not sever ties with Europe. On the other hand, the Covid situation in the business hub of Shanghai is bad." To keep the economy going at a steady pace, China needs the help of the West, a truth corroborated by von der Leyen who said on Friday that Beijing needed to defend the international order that has made China the world's second-largest economy. Therefore, Xi's European stance, though not capitulation to Brussels can be seen as a climbdown. China is afraid of Western solidarity, adds the European academic. Latest updates on Russia-Ukraine War Mumbai, April 2 : Diversified group GHCL has completed the divestment of its home textiles business to lndo Count Industries effective Saturday, after obtaining all relevant regulatory and shareholders' approvals. The transaction entailed a total consideration Rs 608.30 crore. The group said that divestment of GHCL's home textiles business is a significant value unlocking exercise for all its stakeholders. In a statement, the group said that the total consideration for divestment of the home textiles business has been calculated at Rs 608.30 crore (subject to validation of customary closing date adjustment of working capital in terms of the definitive agreements). The move, it said, will enable the management to focus on the strategic growth pillars of chemical and spinning businesses. Besides, the group cited that the proceeds of the sale will be used for further initiatives such as Greenfield project, product basket expansion, clean energy and ESG initiatives, automation and exploring opportunities to enter into JVs. "The divestment of the home textiles business is a strategic move which we believe will unlock value for all our stakeholders," said R.S. Jalan, Managing Director, GHCL. "We have been able to complete the process seamlessly on time and with all relevant approvals in place," Jalan added. At present, GHCL has footprints in chemicals and spinning businesses. In the chemicals space, the company mainly manufactures soda ash which is a major raw material for detergents and glass industries and sodium bicarbonate. In textiles, its spinning unit at Madurai produces multiple varieties of fibre (yarn), which is sold to domestic consumers as well as exported worldwide. New Delhi, April 2 : The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has no jurisdiction in allocation of power from central generating stations by the Central government to the states, the Union Ministry of Power said on Saturday. "The power from the central generating stations (CGS) is allotted by the Central government to the states on their request. The DERC has no jurisdiction in the matter. If any reallocation is to be done, it is only on the request of the state government; and that also in case any other state is willing to take the surrendered power," the Power Ministry said in a statement. The ministry said that Delhi Power Minister Satyendar Jain vide a letter dated July 6, 2015 had surrendered power from 11 central generating stations which also includes Dadri stage-II thermal power plant of NTPC, with immediate effect, and to reallocate the same to other needy states, the statement said. The ministry added that the balance power from Dadri stage-II to an extent of 728 MW was available for reallocation and, accordingly, on March 28, 2022, the same has been given to Haryana based on their request. No request for withdrawal of the surrendered share had been received from the government of Delhi to the till March 28, 2022. It was only after reallocation of this power that the government of NCT of Delhi woke up on March 30 and wrote to the MoP to restore Delhi's share from Dadri stage II, added the Power Ministry. "It may also be noted that Delhi has relinquished its share of 756 MW from Dadri-I indicating that this power is surplus. Thus, if Delhi is really under crisis and have concern about their consumers, they should not have surrendered their share from Dadri-I," said the statement. As the reallocation to Haryana has already happened on March 28, any further reallocation can only be after hearing Haryana, as the state is now also an affected party and any withdrawal would impact its power adequacy plans, the statement said. --IANS avr/arm A Mumbai, April 2 : Actress and reality show judge Malaika Arora sustained a minor injury near one of her eyes after a road accident near Panvel on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway on Saturday evening. Malaika was returning home from a fashion event, about which she had even posted updates on her Instagram account, when her driver lost balance and her Range Rover bumped into three cars on the expressway. She was rushed to Navi Mumbai's Apollo Hospital, where she was said to be recovering well, although shaken by the incident, and was likely to be discharged on Sunday. Apparently, she was resting her head on a cushion, which softened the impact of the accident. The local police have registered an FIR and are investigating the matter. New Delhi, April 2 : The Federation of Resident Doctors Association (FORDA) on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over incidents of harassment and violence against doctors. Requesting the PM for the implementation of a Central Act for Protection of Doctors, FORDA said, "Observing the alarming trends, we had submitted representations on multiple occasions requesting the implementation of a Central Act for Protection of Doctors as well as for setting up an Indian Medical Service (IMS) cadre to curb such incidents in the future. Unfortunately, there has been no positive response from the concerned authorities yet." Recently, the suicide of a lady doctor -- Archna Sharma -- in Rajasthan's Dausa district, who was accused of murder after one of her patient died, sent shock waves across the state and triggered protests even in the national capital. "The tragic incident of suicide by Archna Sharma in Dausa is one such incident wherein the doctor was harassed by local leaders and goons to an extent that she was compelled to take the extreme step. Subsequently, another incident of harassment by a bureaucrat was reported from Dehradun wherein Nidhi Uniyal resigned from her job at a government medical college," the letter said. The FORDA requested the Prime Minister to take necessary measures to prevent incidents of harassment and violence against doctors. New Delhi, April 2 : A fire broke out here at a restaurant in Connaught Place on Saturday evening, a Fire Department official said. No one, however, was injured. The official said the Department received a call about the fire at the Parikrama Restaurant at around 5.35 p.m. As many as six fire tenders were pressed into service. "The firemen doused the flames in just 20 minutes at 5.55 p.m., and even the cooling process was immediately completed," the official said. Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg told IANS that there has been no casualties. "It was a minor fire," he said. The cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. New Delhi, April 2 : The Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change has said that approximately, Rs 2 crore has been spent on inventorisation of 40 sacred groves and phyto-diversity characterisation of multiple sacred groves etc. in Meghalaya. Sacred groves are community conserved land parcels with rich biodiversity, which usually have a significant religious connotation for protecting the community and can be notified as Community Conserved Areas under Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and Biodiversity Heritage Sites under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav said in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha. Replying to a question by Lok Sabha MP Vincent Pala in March last week whether any study has been undertaken by the government to assess the potential of Sacred Groves in creating a sustainable future, Yadav said, over about last 8-9 years, the studies undertaken and completed for sacred groves in Meghalaya include inventorisation (Growing Stock Assessment) of 40 Sacred Groves; Phyto-diversity and Phyto-sociological characterisation of 10 Sacred Groves having an area of 216.76 Ha; preparation of management plans of 12 Sacred Groves and boundary survey for 133 Sacred Groves. Rs 30 lakh was spent on the inventorization (Growing Stock Assessment) of 40 Sacred Groves project (2013-14). Rs 40 lakh was spent on boundary survey for 133 Sacred Groves in 2013-14; Rs 9.36 lakh for the same in 2014-15 and Rs 10.50 lakh in 2019-20. Rs 20 lakh was spent on Phyto-diversity and Phyto-sociological characterisation of 10 Sacred Groves having an area of 216.76 Ha (2014-15) carried out by the Department of Environmental Studies NEHU, Shillong, the Minister said. The wildlife conservation activities in the Sacred Grove notified as community reserve amounted to Rs 101.59 lakh between 2013-2021, the Minister added. Welcome Guest! You Are Here: Colombo, April 2 : Reliving thousands of those waiting in queues at fuel stations around the country and those hit by 13-hour-long power cuts, 40,000 MT of diesel under the Indian Line of Credit of $500 million arrived at the Colombo harbour on Saturday. As the shipment arrived, the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) announced that 13-hour power cuts would now be reduced to nearly 2 hours from Sunday. Sri Lanka's power generation mainly depends on fuel and all except two plants have been shut down due to lack of diesel. For days, the country's economy has been suffering due to lack of transportation of goods, while mechanised farming and fishing have come to a standstill with no diesel in the fuel stations. The fourth consignment under the fuel Line of Credit from India followed three previous deliveries on March 16, 20 and 23. Over the last 50 days, India has supplied Sri Lanka nearly 200,000 MT including a consignment of 40,000 MT by Indian Oil Corporation outside the line of credit facility in February 2022. "In view of the urgent nature of Sri Lanka's requirement, India worked overtime to expeditiously finalise and implement both the lines of credit within weeks," the Indian High Commission said. Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay, who visited the Colombo harbour, observed that the fuel deliveries is a concrete manifestation of India's commitment to the people of Sri Lanka in the current circumstances in line with its 'Neighbourhood First' policy. Sri Lanka's Energy Minister Gamini Lokuge, who visited the harbour to welcome the shipment, thanked India for helping at a critical moment. Earlier, the Export Import Bank of India and the Government of Sri Lanka had signed a $500 million Line of Credit Agreement for the purchase of petroleum products on February 2. The agreement was signed by Treasury Secretary S.R. Attygalle from the Sri Lankan side and Chief General Manager of EXIM Bank, Gaurav Bhandari, from the Indian side. "In response to a separate and urgent request from the Government of Sri Lanka, extension of a credit facility of $1 billion for supply of essential items, including food and medicines, has been finalised and the first shipments of rice under this facility is expected to reach Sri Lanka soon," the Indian High Commission in Colombo stated. Earlier in January this year, India had provided financial assistance to Sri Lanka that included a credit swap of $400 million and deferment of an Asian Clearing Union payment of over $515 million. In cumulative terms, Indian support to the people of Sri Lanka in the first quarter of 2022 is in excess of $2.5 billion, the High Commission added. The High Commission also noted that the Government of India continues to encourage the efforts towards medium to long-term capacity creation through enhanced Indian investment in Sri Lanka in key sectors that include ports, renewable energy, manufacturing etc. New Delhi, April 2 : India on Saturday dismissed claims that New Delhi is sending its troops to Sri Lanka amid an emergency imposed in the island nation, saying it is a fake information. Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka "strongly" denied "blatantly false and completely baseless reports in a section of media that India is dispatching its soldiers to Sri Lanka". The High Commission also "condemned such irresponsible reporting and expects the concerned to desist from spreading rumours". To prevent unrest in the country, the Sri Lankan government has announced to impose a curfew from Saturday 6 p.m. to Monday 6 a.m. The worst economic situation that the island nation is witnessing, has been compounded by the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in a fall in revenue from tourism and remittances. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has declared a state of emergency in the country giving the security forces wide authority to arrest and detain suspects with immediate effect. Rajapaksa has issued the "Extraordinary Gazette" declaring a public emergency after hundreds of protesters gathered in the capital and many of them tried to storm the President's residence to protest against the government for "poor management of economic policies, which has created mess in the country". The President said he believed there was a "public emergency in Sri Lanka" that necessitated invoking the tough laws. Colombo, April 3 : Sri Lankan military and Indian High Commission have denied the claims that Indian troops have entered the island nation amid the growing crisis, with people taking to streets against the government. Defence Secretary Kamal Gunaratne on Saturday denied reports of the arrival of Indian troops which had been circulated on social media and added that the fake news contained official photographs of 2021's friendly India-Sri Lanka joint military exercise. The photographs of Indian troops in Sri Lanka taken during 2021's Sri Lanka-India joint military exercise 'Mitra Shakti' have been released along with the fake news, Gunaratne said. "Sri Lanka's tri-forces are capable of facing any situation to ensure national security and people should not be misguided by such misinformation," the Defence Secretary added. The Indian High Commission issuing a statement denied the alleged news. "The High Commission strongly denies blatantly false and completely baseless reports in a section of media that India is dispatching its soldiers to Sri Lanka," it announced. Troubled by public agitation on streets and ahead of planned Sunday's major island-wide protest, Sri Lankan government imposed a 36-hour long curfew from Saturday 6 p.m. A gazette which was issued "in accordance with the powers vested in the Head of State," the President under the Public Security Ordinance prohibited people from being on any public road, park, recreation or other grounds, railways, sea shores and other such public places during the curfew from Saturday 6 p.m. to Monday 6 a.m. On Saturday until the curfew was imposed people gathered at places around the capital Colombo and outstation demanding President Gotabaya Rajapaksa to resign. On Thursday evening a public protest near the President's house turned violent with police attacking people and later arrested more than 50 of them. Some were released on bail while others were remanded. Both the police personnel and people were injured while a bus and several other vehicles which belonged to police were set on fire. New Delhi, April 3 : The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has sought remedial action by the statutory regulators following the report of a panel of experts set up by the tribunal, which flagged a series of environmental violations by an industrial unit in Gujarat's Surat. The bench of NGT Chairperson Adarsh Kumar Goel was dealing with the grievance against the operation of Nova Dyestuffs Industries Pvt. Ltd which has been allegedly discharging chemicals in open and through drains, as well as dumping hazardous untreated solid waste in violation of environmental norms. As per the plea, the applicant made various complaints to the statutory regulators who have failed to take any action in the matter. Acting on the complaint, the green court on December 15, 2021, had directed the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and State Pollution Control Board to verify the allegations, take remedial action and file an action taken report. On submission of the committee's report, the tribunal said, "The report shows that treated effluent discharged by the unit is not meeting the inlet standards of common effluent treatment plant and there are other violations for which a showcause notice has been issued." It said remedial action needs to be ensured by the statutory regulators following due process, including accountability for the past violations of the 'Polluter Pays' principle. In the order dated March 29, the NGT directed for an action taken report before CPCB Chairman within two months for any further direction as may be found necessary in accordance with the law. The application has been disposed of accordingly. Guwahati, April 3 : The state-owned Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) in Assam on Saturday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Engineers India Limited (EIL) for increasing research activities, NRL officials said. NRL sources said the EIL holds a 4.37 per cent stake in it and this MoU will lead to greater synergy between these two reputed oil and gas public sector enterprises to develop and license indigenous technologies, contributing significantly to the vision of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'. The deal was signed by senior Chief General Manager of NRL, N. Borthakur and Executive Director (Research and Development) of EIL, Rajib Aggarwal. The NRL also deposited the second interim dividend of Rs 95.63 crore to the Assam government for the financial year 2021-22 for its equity stake of 26 per cent in the company. The NRL paid first interim dividend of Rs 86.35 crore for the 2021-22 fiscal to the Assam government as a part of its equity holding of 23.48 per cent of the paid-up share capital of Rs 735.63 crore on November 29, 2021. The NRL, one of the four refineries in oil and gas-rich Assam, was set up at Numaligarh in Golaghat district in accordance with the provisions made in the Assam Accord signed on August 15, 1985. It was conceived as a vehicle for speedy industrial and economic development of the region. The NRL was dedicated to the country by former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee on July 9, 1999. Islamabad, April 3 : Pakistan is working with the Afghan caretaker government and other neighbours to ensure that terrorist groups are no longer allowed to use the territory of one country against another, Pakistani Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa said. "We are committed to preserving our gains against terrorism and a peaceful and prosperous West and South Asia is our goal," Bajwa added on Saturday at the Islamabad Security Dialogue. He said the conflict in Afghanistan for decades has created negative externalities and spillover effects, which have adversely impacted Pakistan's economy, society and security, adding that Pakistan continues to work closely with the international community to pursue peace and stability in Afghanistan. The Army Chief added that it is the collective responsibility of the international community towards the people of Afghanistan to ensure that timely and adequate humanitarian aid flows into the country, Xinhua news agency reported. Instead of imposing sanctions which have never worked, the world must incentivise Afghans for their positive behavioural change, he said. "Unfortunately, lack of financial flows and continued sanctions are creating a humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan," he added at the two-day security dialogue. Pakistan believes that peace and stability in the wider region are prerequisites for achieving shared regional prosperity and development, Bajwa added. Regarding Pakistan-US relations, the Army Chief said Pakistan wants to strengthen ties with the US, but not at the cost of others. "Pakistan is positioning itself as a melting pot for a positive global economic interest through our focus on connectivity, development and friendship," he added. Peacekeepers salute at a memorial service in Goma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on April 2, 2022. UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo paid a final tribute Saturday to the eight peacekeepers who died during a Image Source: IANS News Peacekeepers attend a memorial service in Goma, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on April 2, 2022. UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo paid a final tribute Saturday to the eight peacekeepers who died during a he Image Source: IANS News Bintou Keita (C), top UN envoy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), holds a candle at a memorial service in Goma, DRC, on April 2, 2022. UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo paid a final tribute Saturday to the ei Image Source: IANS News Goma : , April 3 (IANS) UN peacekeeping mission in Congo (MONUSCO) paid a final tribute to the eight peacekeepers who died during a helicopter crash in northeastern Congo. The helicopter crash took place on March 29, Xinhua news agency reported. The memorial service took place this Saturday in Goma, capital of North Kivu province, in the presence of the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Pierre Lacroix. "The remains of our departed peacekeepers are on their way back home. Once more we salute their courage and sacrifice in the service of peace," said Khassim Diagne, the Deputy Special Representative for Protection and Security at MONUSCO. The helicopter was on a reconnaissance mission in Tshanzu, near Goma, where there have been clashes between the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group and the Congo military in recent days. All eight peacekeepers who were on board the helicopter died after the chopper crashed. The Congo military on Tuesday said the UN helicopter was shot down by M23 rebels, which is yet to be confirmed by the UN. BEIRUT, Sept. 3, 2018 (Xinhua) -- Students walk into one of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency(UNRWA) schools on the first day of new academic year in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sept. 3, 2018. Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri on Monday called Image Source: IANS News Police stand guard on a street near the UN headquarters in New York, Sept. 20, 2021. The General Debate of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly will kick off on Sept. 21. (Xinhua/Wang Ying/IANS) Image Source: IANS News Beirut, April 3 : UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon, Najat Rochdi has urged the Lebanese government to work to rebuild the country's education system. "For the future of Lebanon and its children, it is critical that the Lebanese government and all stakeholders work together to rebuild the education system," Rochdi said on Saturday in a statement, noting that UN agencies have provided significant support. "We are aware of the difficult situation that teachers are facing and are supporting the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in improving the conditions in schools for both teachers and children," she added. Together with the UNICEF, and with the help of EU and German funding, the UN mission in Lebanon is supporting 336,000 Lebanese children and some 198,000 non-Lebanese to enroll in formal public school, said the UN official. Lebanon has been facing an unprecedented financial crisis with a collapse in the local currency, plunging more than 74 per cent of the population into poverty, Xinhua news agency reported. Tehran, April 3 : At least 35 foreign nationals were injured in a car crash on the Khash-Saravan road in Iran's southeastern Sistan and Baluchestan province, official IRNA news agency reported. The accident took place on Saturday. "Unfortunately, 35 people were injured when two Toyota vehicles carrying illegal foreign nationals collided," Fariborz Rashedi, a medical official at Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, was quoted as saying. The injured were transported to Imam Khomeini hospital in Khash city by seven ambulances, Rashedi said without providing details of nationalities, Xinhua news agency reported. The province, bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, occasionally sees illegal immigrants entering the Iranian territory with the help of human traffickers. According to IRNA, the vehicles carrying smuggled fuel and illegal foreign nationals, with license plates usually removed or marred, often drive recklessly fast and overturn or collide with other vehicles. Luena Airport, Luena, Angola [ LUO / FNUE ] If you are planning to travel to Luena or any other city in Angola, this airport locator will be a very useful tool. This page gives complete information about the Luena Airport along with the airport location map, Time Zone, lattitude and longitude, Current time and date, hotels near the airport etc... Luena Airport Map showing the location of this airport in Angola. Luena Airport IATA Code, ICAO Code, exchange rate etc... is also provided. Luena Airport Info: Luena Airport IATA Code: LUO Luena Airport ICAO Code: FNUE Latitude : -11.7681 Longitude : 19.8978 City : Luena Country : Angola World Area Code : 502 Airport Type : Medium Luena Airport Address / Contact Details : Luena Airport (LUO), Luena, Angola Airport Type : Public Operator : Government Timezone : Africa/Luanda Luena Airport Timezone : GMT +01:00 hours Current time and date at Luena Airport is 17:55:44 PM (WAT) on Friday, May 6, 2022 Looking for information on Luena Airport, Luena, Angola? Know about Luena Airport in detail. Find out the location of Luena Airport on Angola map and also find out airports near to Luena. This airport locator is a very useful tool for travelers to know where is Luena Airport located and also provide information like hotels near Luena Airport, airlines operating to Luena Airport etc... IATA Code and ICAO Code of all airports in Angola. Scroll down to know more about Luena Airport or Luena Airport, Angola. Luena Airport Map - Location of Luena Airport Load Map Angola - General Information Country Formal Name Republic of Angola Country Code AO Capital Luanda Currency Kwanza (AOA) 1 AOA = 0.002 USD 1 USD = 405.654 AOA 1 AOA = 0.002 EUR 1 EUR = 429.26 AOA More AOA convertion rates Tel Code +244 Top Level Domain .ao This page provides all the information you need to know about Luena Airport, Angola. This page is created with the aim of helping travelers and tourists visiting Angola or traveling to Luena Airport. Details about Luena Airport given here include Luena Airport Code - IATA Code (3 letter airport codes) and ICAO Code (4 letter airport codes) Coordinates of Luena Airport - Latitude and Longitude (Lat and Long) of Luena Airport Location of Luena Airport - City Name, Country, Country Codes etc... Luena Airport Time Zone and Current time at Luena Airport Address and contact details of Luena Airport along with website address of the airport Clickable Location Map of Luena Airport on Google Map. General information about Angola where Luena Airport is located in the city of Luena. General information include capital of Angola, currency and conversion rate of Angola currency, Telephone Country code, exchange rate against US Dollar and Euro in case of major world currencies etc... LUO - Luena Airport IATA Code and FNUE - Luena Airport ICAO code "With the addition of Frontgate | Avon, East West Hospitality reinforces its position as the premier provider of vacation rentals in the Vail/Beaver Creek region." East West Hospitality, the award-winning operator of luxury short-term vacation rental properties and resorts, announced today that it has been selected to manage Frontgate | Avon. The new luxury residential enclave, designed for adventure and located adjacent to the entrance of Beaver Creek Resort, will resume construction in spring 2022 and deliver up to 75 condominium residences and nine townhomes. Expected completion of the project is winter of 2024. "We are thrilled to welcome Frontgate | Avon to the East West Hospitality family as our newest Vail Valley property, a prestigious complement to our growing portfolio of destinations that deliver exceptional experiences for travelers," said Colleen Weiss-Hanen, President and Chief Executive Officer, East West Hospitality. With the addition of Frontgate | Avon, East West Hospitality reinforces its position as the premier provider of vacation rentals in the Vail/Beaver Creek region. Frontgate | Avon is developed by BGV Avon, LLC. This development partnership has successfully developed and operated several of the most celebrated luxury condominium and resort properties in Eagle and Summit Counties over the last three decades, including the Grand Colorado and Grande Lodge in Breckenridge, Colo.. The companys proven track record of delivering progressive, multifaceted development communities includes successfully closing over $2.2 billion in transactions for over 23,000 owners. These resort communities have been built on the belief that success is determined by the projects positive impact on the lives and experiences of owners, guests, employees, and the local community. Frontgate | Avon is a modern community that will provide generous living space ranging from approximately 1,145 to 3,121 square feet in each residence, gracious nine-foot ceilings in their common areas and many floor plans offering an additional den and/or home office. Frontgate | Avon will feature myriad signature amenities throughout the property with an emphasis on excitement, including the Overlook Mountain Trail, a one-of-a-kind, yearlong outdoor aquatics experience that includes a large pool plunge and water slide, a private, state-of-the-art Technogym and an on-site movie theater to view the latest big-screen releases. Frontgate | Avon will raise the bar for mountain living in Avon, Beaver Creek and the Vail Valley, said Graham Frank, partner of BGV Avon LLC, Frontgate | Avons developer. We look forward to working side by side with the East West Hospitality team to bring vacation rental homes with a layer of unparalleled personal service. East West Hospitality, which manages a $2 billion portfolio of high-end resort properties from its headquarters in Vail, continues to grow its Colorado presence and was recently awarded several new Vail Valley management contracts. With Frontgate | Avon, and the recently signed The Aspen Mountain Residences, Fallridge, The Charter at Beaver Creek in Beaver Creek Village and the Lodge at Lionshead, East West Hospitality now manages 42 properties in Colorado, from condominiums and townhomes to luxury private residences and resorts. For more information about Frontgate | Avon, please visit here. About East West Hospitality East West Hospitality is a leading hospitality services company that actively manages a $2 billion portfolio of properties, including hotels, resorts, private luxury residences and vacation rentals, along with restaurant, spa, fitness, retail and commercial properties, in the most desirable leisure destinations. The company also provides in-depth asset and financial management services for more than 100 homeowner associations at high-end residential communities. With more than 35 years of experience managing hotels, resorts and private residences, East West Hospitalitys vacation rental, resort operations and asset management services are unparalleled. The company supports more than 3,400 residences with boots-on-the-ground teams in every location, enhanced by a 24/7 call center providing personal assistance and destination expertise to guests. Decades of experience managing hotels, resorts, vacation rentals and iconic private residences have earned East West Hospitality its reputation among guests and property owners as one of the most trusted names in the hospitality industry. East West Hospitality was named the Vail Valleys Business of the Year in 2018 by the Vail Valley Partnership, Colorados Best Property Management Company by ColoradoBIZ Magazine and honored as one of the Top 50 Best Places to Work in 2019 by Outside Magazine. For more information on East West Hospitality, please visit http://www.eastwest.com or call 970-763-7126. From April 1 April 30, 2022, during its 6th Annual Honoring Heroes Event, Olympic Hot Tub has chosen to honor and support the Ukrainian Association of Washington State. Funds from the Association will help deliver medical supplies to hospitals in Ukraine, support civilians in lifesaving tactical medicine, and will help internally displaced families and orphans. Don Riling, president of Olympic Hot Tub, launched the annual Honoring Heroes Event in 2017 as a way to give back to the community his company has been a part of for forty-five years. Each April, Olympic Hot Tub selects a beneficiary that honors or celebrates local heroes, first responders or teachers. Because of the heroic efforts of Ukrainian people in the headlines every day, Riling said, I felt compelled to look for a way we could offer support from within our own communities. We are proud to honor the Ukrainian Association of Washington State and the heroes they serve. Olympic Hot Tub will donate a portion of the purchase price for each Hot Spring Spa, Freeflow Spa, and Vita Spa sold in the month of April. They will also donate for every Vita Swim Spa and Covana Automated Gazebo sold. Funds raised will help replenish funds for the Associations critical program to support Ukrainian families devastated by war with comfort, aid, and lifesaving medical supplies. This years donation goal is a minimum of $18,000. Olympic Hot Tub also encourages community members to donate directly to the Ukrainian Association of Washington . http://www.uaws.org About the Ukrainian Association of Washington State Founded in 1971, The Ukrainian Association of Washington State has worked to preserve Ukrainian heritage and is the link that unites Ukrainian-American people. From cultural events to supporting the Fund to Endow a Chair of Ukrainian Studies at U.W., their focus is to bring out what is the best in the Ukrainian community. Today their homeland is under attack. And UAWS has these top support priorities: Deliver medical supplies to hospitals in Ukraine (in partnership with Medical Teams International and nonprofits in Oregon and California). Provide civilian territorial defense units defending their neighborhoods with body armor Support civilians in life-saving tactical medicine Help internally displaced families and orphans About Olympic Hot Tub Olympic Hot Tub, founded in 1977, pioneered hot tubbing in the Pacific Northwest. The company has six retail locations, including Seattle, Everett, Issaquah, Woodinville, Lacey, and Auburn. They have a warehouse and Service Center in Auburn. A seventh location is scheduled to open on the Olympic Peninsula, in Sequim, late Spring 2022. Olympic Hot Tub is dedicated to educating the public about the health and wellness benefits of frequent hot tub and swim spa use. They support their local community with consistent fundraising efforts benefitting Northwest-based first responders, military, teachers; as well as hunger, homelessness, the arts, and LGBTQ-related entities. Details at: http://www.olympichottub.com While food safety is much better today than ever before, its important that the Checkoff continues researching foodborne pathogens so that consumers can continue to enjoy their food without concern. In 1993, an E. coli outbreak happened at a national fast-food chain, sparking concerns about food contamination nationwide. After that outbreak, the Beef Checkoff began funding research that not only changed the beef industry, but also improved food safety across the board. "To understand why its so important, it's important to remember how the Checkoff research started and where it is today," said Torri Lienemann, Cattllemen's Beef Board (CBB) member and co-chair of the CBB's Safety & Product Innovation Committee. "While food safety is much better today than ever before, its important that the Checkoff continues researching foodborne pathogens so that consumers can continue to enjoy their food without concern." Back in 93, the Beef-Checkoff-funded Blue-Ribbon Task Force developed an industry blueprint for managing the food safety risks from E. coli O157:H7. The scientists and other professionals on this task force analyzed the beef industry supply chain, reviewed public and private research findings, and drew on their own to better understand E. coli O157:H7 and how to avoid contamination in the future. The task force published its report in 1994, recommending strategies to improve meat safety. Over the remainder of the decade, the Checkoff-funded Beef Safety Research Program filled the scientific gaps that the task force identified throughout the supply chain to make meat safer. During the 2000s, several ongoing Checkoff-funded studies evaluated interventions intended to reduce microbial contamination both on and inside animals. The Beef Checkoff's research identified specific areas where carcass contamination was most likely to occur. "Scientists were then able to evaluate the occurrence and prevention of pathogens throughout the processing chain," Lienemann said. "Large processing facilities throughout the country implemented these safety interventions and still use them when processing beef and other proteins today." In 2007, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) set a goal to reduce infections from foodborne E. coli O157:H7 by 50 percent in 2010. This Healthy People goal was met in 2009. "Achieving that goal would've been much less likely to happen without the beef industrys research," Lienemann said. "No doubt, the Beef Checkoff played a pivotal role in ensuring beef product safety, thanks to producers continued investment in the program." Research shows us that while beef safety is very important to beef stakeholders, its less relevant to todays consumers. In fact, according to beef safety research conducted by the National Cattlemens Beef Association (NCBA), a contractor to the Checkoff, 90 percent of consumers feel the beef they eat from the grocery store is safe. The same research found that only 23 percent of consumers worry about foodborne illness when cooking at home. Checkoff-funded research has helped an entire generation of consumers feel more confident about the safety of the food they purchase and consume. The Beef Checkoffs Beef Safety Research Program will continue to focus on every step of the supply chain, beginning with the producer, all the way to the restaurant. To anticipate issues before they escalate into a crisis, Beef Checkoff foodborne contamination research has expanded to include other pathogens and will continue to evolve to address emerging issues. With the support of this robust and comprehensive research program, the beef industry provides consumers worldwide with consistently safe beef products. "Today, USDA food availability data tells us the average American eats about 55 pounds of beef per year," Lienemann said. "Consumers great trust in beef safety combined with their overall enjoyment of beef has helped demand remain strong for decades. And that supports the Checkoffs primary purpose driving demand for beef. Its just another example of how the Beef Checkoff continues to use producer dollars for the good of the entire beef industry." To learn more about the Beef Checkoff's beef safety research program, visit BeefResearch.org. For more on the CBB and the Beef Checkoff, visit DrivingDemandForBeef.com. Miller Survey Group is a Houston-based land surveying firm that provides a full spectrum of professional surveying services to both public and private sector entities in Houston and surrounding areas. Their firm is known for the management, personnel, technology, and equipment resources to meet the demands of a wide range of projects. In acquiring Miller Survey Group, DCCM is expanding its existing partnership with industry veteran Jack Miller, PE, and engaging in partnership with Brian Wilson, RPLS, who will continue in their roles as Managing Partner and Partner/Director of Surveying of Miller Survey Group, respectively. "This is such an exciting growth moment for the DCCM family, and we're delighted to have found a company partner whose mission aligns with our vision for strategic growth, commitment to developing and investing in staff, and an unrelenting focus on client service," said James F. (Jim) Thompson, PE, DBIA, CEO of DCCM. "Given the extent of Miller Survey Groups' experience, adding them to the DCCM family will allow our team to continue to build the best surveying services for our growing customer base." "The investment by DCCM is great news for Miller Survey Group and its stakeholders," said Jack Miller. "I am very excited about the prospect of expanding my working relationship alongside Jim Thompson and DCCM to capitalize on the enormous potential we have to contribute to DCCM's expansion plans." "We were looking for the right fit, and I am confident that we have found it here," said Brian Wilson. "Becoming part of the DCCM family of companies and its culture of growth unlocks tremendous opportunity for our staff. We are looking forward to contributing to DCCM's growth here in Texas and nationally." Elie Azar, Managing Director of White Wolf, added, We are excited to welcome Miller Survey to the DCCM family and to further expand our surveying services throughout the Houston metro area. We look forward to partnering with the entire team and supporting them in their continued growth initiatives. **** About Miller Survey Group Miller Survey Group is a full-service, Houston-based land surveying firm that provides services to both public and private sector entities. Miller Survey Group has particular expertise in boundary, topographic/design, construction, and underground utility locations. For more information, please visit: http://www.millersurvey.com/. About DCCM DCCM is a provider of design, consulting, and program & construction management professional services focusing on infrastructure marketplaces throughout the public and private sectors. Through a family of complementary brand companies, DCCM serves a variety of end markets while offering a national reach. DCCM is aggressively hiring key industry professionals in all disciplines and is actively seeking further acquisition opportunities throughout North America. For more information, please visit: http://www.dccm.com. About White Wolf White Wolf is a private investment firm that began operations in late 2011 and is focused on management buyouts, recapitalizations and investments in leading middle market companies. In general, White Wolf seeks both private equity and private credit investment opportunities in companies that are headquartered in North America with $10 million to $200 million in revenues. Preferred industries include: manufacturing, business services, information technology, security, aerospace and defense, government services, and infrastructure services. For more information, please visit: http://www.whitewolfcapital.com. Life truly is full of magical moments, and this year we are excited to see it captured through students perspectives and artistic expressions, said David Kijek, WEA Member Benefits President and CEO. Life is full of magical moments is the theme of the seventh annual student art contest sponsored by WEA Member Benefits and the WEA Member Benefits Foundation, Inc. Young artists are invited to submit pieces that focus on capturing an uplifting moment. Through art, we are celebrating what makes lifes moments so magical. This could be a moment the student or someone witnessed or felt happiness, love, or joy, a moment in time they wish they could freeze or revisit, or a moment they look forward to or cherish. Monetary prizes from the WEA Member Benefits Foundation, Inc., will be awarded to ten student winners, and one student artist will receive the Loeymae Lange Best in Class award. The Best in Class award is named in memory of Loeymae Lange, a former art teacher at Cooper Elementary School in Burlington, Wisconsin. Her brother, Dr. Paul Lange, and his wife June continue to honor Loeymaes legacy and have recently established an endowment gift to the WEA Member Benefits Foundation, Inc. The Langes established the endowment in 2022 to honor Pauls sister, her love for the arts, and all she did to inspire students. Her legacy will live on through this generous gift in the form of monetary prizes for art contest winners. Life truly is full of magical moments, and this year we are excited to see it captured through students perspectives and artistic expressions, said David Kijek, WEA Member Benefits President and CEO. Its wonderful to be able to recognize and reward talented students and teachers in Wisconsin, and we thank the Langes for the additional financial support to be able to do so. We hope other individuals will join in donating to the Foundation to help fund future opportunities for budding artists. The deadline to enter the 2022 student art contest is Friday, May 6, 2022. Finalists will be announced in May. More information about the art contest, including contest rules, eligibility, and art submission information is available at weabenefits.com/studentartcontest. ### About WEA Member Benefits WEA Member Benefits has been helping Wisconsin public school employees achieve their financial goals for over 50 years by providing personal insurance and retirement and investment programs. We operate as a trust that reinvests any profits back into programs that benefit participants. We have no shareholders. This allows us to focus on meeting the needs of those we serve with high-quality products that are competitively priced. We have one of the highest customer retention and satisfaction rates in the industry. Learn more at weabenefits.com. About the WEA Member Benefits Foundation, Inc. The WEA Member Benefits Foundation, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity supporting public education through grants and charitable donations to public educators, public schools, and the communities they serve. More information can be found at weafoundation.org. The OpenCV Spatial AI Contest is sponsored by Intel and Azure is focused on enabling teams to build LEGO-scale industrial and manufacturing solutions with Edge AI hardware and software. OpenCV, along with sponsors Intel and Microsoft Azure, is pleased to announce the 50 finalist teams of OpenCV Spatial AI Contest, combining Edge AI with LEGO. These 50 teams are building LEGO-scale replicas of industrial and manufacturing solutions using artificial intelligence. The top 3 teams will be invited to present their projects on stage at Microsoft Build. 124 proposals were submitted by teams across the world, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, Italy, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. A panel of reviewers chose 50 exceptional entries. As part of the finalist prizes, each team will receive an OAK-D-LITE (the latest model in the OpenCV AI Kit series of edge AI smart cameras) from Luxonis, credits for Microsoft Azure to train models on Intel's D32ds v4 hardware, and access to Intel DevCloud. From January 1st 2022 to April 4th, these finalist teams are documenting their build process through a series of interviews on the OpenCV blog, appearances on OpenCV Weekly Webinar, and posts by team members using the #OAKDLiteContest hashtag across social media and personal websites. OpenCV CEO Satya Mallick said, Combining the newest iteration of OpenCV AI Kit with the magic of LEGO to solve problems for manufacturing and industry is close to the heart of the OAK project. Congratulations to these excellent teams, and best of luck in the build phase. Brandon Gilles, CEO of OAK creators Luxonis, said Im just excited to see two of my favorite things put together into one competition: LEGOs and disruptive technology. I mean what else could be cooler? OpenCV hosted a panel discussion to kick off this momentous build phase featuring Ye Lu, CEO of Cortic Technology, the Grand Prize winners of OpenCV AI Competition 2021. Cortics fun and educational project is a great example of how OpenCVs collaboration with Intel, Azure, and Luxonis has already played a role in major adoption of privacy-safe, Edge AI solutions both large and small. A complete list of winners is available on OpenCV.org. The Grand Prize winners are scheduled to be announced April 21st on OpenCV Weekly Webinar. Follow along on the OpenCV Newsletter, and on social media with the #OAKDLiteContest hashtag. Intel, the Intel logo, and other Intel marks are trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries. About OpenCV.org OpenCV.org is a non-profit organization committed to serving a large and growing AI community by building an ecosystem of AI products and services. In addition to its flagship library, OpenCV.org and its partners create courses, design hardware, and provide consulting services for AI. OpenCV.org supports and informs the community through its forum and newsletter. United States Mint Seal Today, the United States Mint celebrates its 230th anniversary. The Mint is one of the few Federal agencies whose duties are specifically referenced in the Constitution, with Article I, Section 8 establishing that "The Congress shall have the power . . . To coin money." The current United States Mint was created by the Coinage Act of 1792, passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by President Washington on April 2, 1792. That first Coinage Act established the silver dollar as the nations unit of money and authorized the first national mint in the United States. Throughout our 230-year history, the men and women who comprise our workforce have taken great pride in rendering the story of our Nation in enduring examples of numismatic art, said Mint Deputy Director Ventris C. Gibson. Every coin manufactured by the Mint is the result of combined efforts of artists, engineers, production workers, and support staff who team up to transform an idea into a design, and then bring that design to life on a miniature canvas. I am proud to lead this organization that, since 1792, has connected America through coins. During the Colonial Period, monetary transactions were handled using foreign or colonial currency, livestock, or produce. After the Revolutionary War, the U.S. was initially governed by the Articles of Confederation, which authorized states to mint their own coins. In 1788, the Constitution was ratified by a majority of states, and discussions soon began about the need for a national mint. Congress chose Philadelphia, which was then the nations capital, as the site of our first Mint. President George Washington appointed a leading scientist, David Rittenhouse, as the first director. Rittenhouse bought two lots at 7th and Arch Streets to build a three-story facility, the tallest building in Philadelphia at the time. It was the first Federal building erected under the Constitution. Coin production began immediately. That same Coinage Act specified the following coin denominations: a copper cent and half cent; a silver dollar, half dollar, quarter, dime, and half dime; and a gold eagle ($10), half eagle ($5), and quarter eagle ($2.50). In March 1793, the Mint delivered its first circulating coins 11,178 copper cents. In 1795, the Mint became the first Federal agency to employ women when Sarah Waldrake and Rachael Summers were hired as adjusters. Learn more about the Mints history here. Today, the Mint enables Americas economic growth and stability by protecting assets entrusted to us, manufacturing coins to facilitate national commerce, and producing and selling coins and medals to the public as numismatic items. The Mint is the worlds largest coin manufacturer. In calendar year 2021, the Mint produced more than 14 billion circulating coins. Since Fiscal Year (FY) 1996, the Mint has operated under a revolving Public Enterprise Fund (PEF) (31 U.S.C. 5136), which enables the Mint to operate without an annual appropriation. The Mint generates revenue through the sale of circulating coins to the Federal Reserve Banks (FRB), numismatic products to the public, and bullion coins to authorized purchasers. Revenue in excess of amounts required to operate the Mint is transferred to the United States Treasury (Treasury) General Fund. The Mint operates six facilities and employs approximately 1,600 employees across the United States. Each unique facility performs functions critical to our overall operations. Manufacturing facilities in Philadelphia and Denver produce coins of all denominations for circulation. Both facilities also produce dies for striking coins. All sculpting and engraving of coin and medal designs is performed at the Philadelphia Mint facility. Production of numismatic products, including bullion coins, is primarily performed at facilities in San Francisco and West Point. All four production facilities produce commemorative coins as authorized by public laws. The United States Bullion Depository at Fort Knox stores and safeguards United States gold bullion reserves. Administrative and oversight functions are performed at the Mint Headquarters in Washington, D.C. # # # Dr. Jeff Heatherington I am excited to have seen the development and expansion of the osteopathic medical school, COMP-Northwest, over the years. It continues to develop highly-qualified and desperately-needed physicians for the northwest every year, Dr. Jeff Heatherington said. Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU) will receive a 22.5-million-dollar donation from FamilyCare, Inc., the largest gift in the Universitys 45-year history. The donation will help WesternU expand the COMP-Northwest campus and launch a behavioral health college in Lebanon, Oregon. Dr. Jeff Heatherington, president of FamilyCare Health and president and CEO of The Heatherington Foundation for Innovation and Education in Health Care said the Heatherington Foundation will donate 150 acres of land to WesternU to build the new campus. On behalf of the WesternU Board of Trustees, Id like to thank FamilyCare and Dr. Jeff Heatherington for his service to WesternU and dedication to promoting health and creating healthy communities, said WesternU Board of Trustees Chair Elizabeth Zamora, MBA. WesternU and The Heatherington Foundation for Innovation and Education in Health Care share a common passion for enhancing equity in health care and offering transformational health care opportunities that unite communities and provide access to health care for all populations. It is an honor, pleasure, and privilege to partner with an extraordinary visionary such as Dr. Heatherington. This transformative gift and donation of land is timely for WesternU COMP-Northwest which is at an inflection point in our exceptional history, said WesternU President Robin Farias-Eisner, MD, PhD, MBA. We stand poised to build upon the legacy of our WesternU founders and upon our unique brand of humanism, whole body, mind, and spirit as applied to the unique and high-quality graduate education in a new college dedicated to behavioral health. I am excited to have seen the development and expansion of the osteopathic medical school, COMP-Northwest, over the years. It continues to develop highly-qualified and desperately-needed physicians for the northwest every year, Heatherington said. Their Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine program is at capacity in its current location, and this gift will create a new and expanded Campus for COMP-NW and a behavioral health college to provide equally needed and critical behavioral health services. Dr. Heatheringtons companies have donated millions of dollars in grants and scholarships to WesternU COMP-Northwest, including the J. Scott Heatherington, DO and the Arthur Rott, DO Scholarship, the Medical Anatomy Center, research projects, and other programs. We are so grateful that Dr. Heatherington has provided longstanding support for COMP-Northwest. These gifts set the stage for innovation and education in health care that benefits the entire Northwest, said Paula Crone, DO 92, COMP-Northwest Dean and Vice President of WesternU Oregon. While the new campus is in its preliminary planning stage, we envision it emphasizing behavioral health, rural health, population health, and osteopathic primary care all critical health care needs. This generous gift will greatly enhance WesternUs presence in the Pacific Northwest and services for our students, alumni, and our communities. Window World Chairman and CEO Tammy Whitworth As a Wilkes native, I was born and raised in this beautiful county. Thats why I consider it an honor to be able to give back to the community. Window World, Americas largest replacement window and exterior remodeling company, confirms its commitment to the communities it serves with a significant donation to secure higher education opportunities for future generations. Window World Chairman and CEO Tammy Whitworth recently presented Wilkes Community College (WCC) in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, with a $1.5 million donation to the WCC Education Promise Scholarship Fund. In honor of the donation, the college renamed Alumni Hall on its campus Window World Hall. As a Wilkes native, I was born and raised in this beautiful county. Thats why I consider it an honor to be able to give back to the community, said Window World Chairman and CEO Tammy Whitworth. If we invest in our community, future generations will return the favor, and the effect will ripple out for generations to come making Wilkes a destination, not just for those who were born here but for anyone looking to relocate somewhere great. The WCC Education Promise fund ensures any qualifying high school graduate in Wilkes, Ashe and Alleghany Counties in North Carolina can get a college degree from Wilkes Community College tuition-free. Click here for more information about the WCC Education Promise program and its requirements. We consider Tammy Whitworth and the entire team at Window World as hometown heroes. They are generous donors, true community leaders and passionate advocates for education, said Wilkes Community College President Jeff Cox. We are grateful for your tremendous generosity and the continued support of our students and the future of Wilkes County. Window Worlds commitment to WCC continues next month with its title sponsorship of MerleFest, one of the premier music festivals in the country and the primary fundraising event for the college, funding scholarships, capital projects and other educational needs. The festival runs from April 28 to May 1, 2022. About Window World Window World, headquartered in North Wilkesboro, N.C., is Americas largest replacement window and exterior remodeling company, with more than 200 locally owned franchises nationwide. Founded in 1995, the company sells and installs windows, siding, doors and other exterior products, with over 21 million windows sold to date. Window World is an ENERGY STAR partner and its windows, vinyl siding and Therma-Tru doors have all earned the Good Housekeeping Seal. Through its charitable foundation, Window World Cares, Window World and its franchisees provide funding for St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital. Since its inception in 2008, the foundation has raised over $13 million for St. Jude. Window World also supports veterans and the military through its Window World Military Initiative (WWMI). WWMI defines Window Worlds commitment to honor and serve Americas veterans, active military and military families across the entire franchise system by focusing on three pillars: Careers, Community Outreach and Partnerships. The Veterans Airlift Command has been a partner since 2008. During that time, Window World has contributed over $2.5 million in flights and donations to the organization. For more information, visit WindowWorld.com or call 1-800 NEXTWINDOW. For home improvement and energy efficiency tips, decor ideas and more, follow Window World on Facebook and Twitter. Following a week of harsh criticismincluding a Twitter firestorm and a petition circulated by school librarians, educators, and authorsFollett School Solutions has scrapped any plans for a potential parental control module for its Destiny Library Manager software, which would have apprised parents of their childs book selections and enable parents to limit student access to materials they deemed inappropriate. Britten Follett, CEO of content at Follett School Solutions, and Paul Isle, CEO of software, released a joint statement on April 1 announcing the turnaround. The company had been exploring the development of parental monitoring tools in recent weeks, at the request of customers looking for support in states where various types of censorship/parents rights bills are being introduced. Back in February, we were contacted by, at this point, its a list of about 30 customers, in districts across Florida, Texas, and Georgia, Britten Follett said. Librarians are highly concerned that the law that has passed in Florida [the Parental Rights in Education bill] and the potential legislation that is now facing 21 different states is putting a lot of risk on them when parents are asking for additional insight into what their students are checking out. Parents are requesting the option to get into Destiny and to block certain titles from being accessed by their students. Britten Follett said that those initial customer requests were the springboard for conversations with districts about Destinys current features and potential new tools that might be able to provide support. We had no roadmap, we had no product feature list, we had no go-to-market strategy," she said. "These were just conversations. But word of those conversations spread when the Forsyth County News in Georgia ran a story on March 11 about the local school districts efforts to help address community concerns about books containing sexually explicit content. During a school board meeting, district leaders outlined the changes, which including pursuing potential changes to Destiny, the software used in Forsyth County Schools. I understand why they did that, Britten Follett said. [District leaders] were trying to say, these are the things that were trying to do to help quell the concerns of the parents in our district and were talking to Follett. Librarians reactions to possible new Destiny capabilities mentioned in the Georgia story grew louder in recent days, with many of them taking to Twitter to passionately voice their concerns about student privacy and the harm that monitoring tools would pose for more vulnerable students, especially those in the LGBTQA community. Some threatened taking their business elsewhere. Follett responded to the outcry by posting a letter about the steps theyd been taking and scheduling a now-canceled webchat, which was to be held April 4. Of the mounting tension, Britten Follett noted: If we had put our message out there that this was something we were going to do, then you own it. But it really spiraled out of control prematurely, because these were literally internal conversations we were having with our customers to try to determine how we can help them navigate whats an extremely difficult time in education. Britten Follett mentioned that her company is sensitive to the fact that librarians are trying to defend the bill of rights that the signed up for when they became librarians. The librarians in those states that are going through this right now, they're scared for their careers. They dont want to do something wrong. They want to attempt to comply with what parents are asking for, but at the same time defend the students right to explore topics that they want to read or research in the library. After what she said was an extremely difficult week, Britten Follett said: I think whats abundantly clear is that these types of parental controls built into Destiny are not in the best interests of our customers at this point. She noted that numerous discussions with industry partners and librarians in states that are impacted and ones that arent led to the decision to not pursue any development of the of the module. Follett has been committed to supporting libraries for 150 years, she added. We have given our time and treasure to building up the role of the librarian. I would just hope that we turn all of this energy into something positive to change the conversation around getting books in the hands of kids, which is truly what all of our missions are. In the frantic moments after John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln in the back of the head on Apr. 14, 1865, the presidents unconscious body was carried to the bedroom of a townhouse across the street from Fords Theatre in Washington, D.C. As doctors worked through the night to relieve the pressure on Lincolns brain, his blood seeped into the pillows of the rooms single bedon which Booth himself had napped just a few weeks prior. Stranger still: months before the assassination, Lincolns eldest son, Robert, was at a railroad station in Jersey City, N.J., when he fell between the platform and a moving train. He was in mortal dangeruntil John Wilkes Booths brother Edwin reached down, grabbed him by the collar, and pulled him to safety. Terry Alfords enthralling new history, In the Houses of Their Dead: The Lincolns, the Booths, and the Spirits (Liveright, June), unearths these and other uncanny associations between the families of the Great Emancipator and his assassin, including their shared interest in spiritualism, a quasi-religious movement whose followers believed they could commune with the dead. Speaking over Zoom from his home in Fairfax County, Va., Alford says he wasnt aware of all the connections between the Lincolns and the Booths when he started researching the book in 2017. But I put the antennae out, and when I saw them, I said, yesthis stuff fits together. Piecing together the odds and ends of American history has been a passion of Alfords since his grad school days at Mississippi State University, when he came across a document related to an enslaved African prince who was freed from a Mississippi plantation in 1828. After Alford moved with a group of 15 friendsincluding Earth Day cofounder Sam Loveto D.C.s Foggy Bottom neighborhood in 1970 to engage in antiwar activities and escape the Mississippi scene, he tracked down the million different little pieces of the princes story and turned them into his first book, Prince Among Slaves. Published in 1977, its never been out of print, Alford proudly notes, and was even made into a PBS documentary. That was a fun project, he says, breaking into a grin. We filmed it in HollywoodHollywood, Maryland. I told somebody, I always knew Id get to Hollywood sooner or later. Alford is full of such anecdotes, polished bits of personal history delivered with wry, understated charm. Discussing his youth in the Mississippi Delta town of Indianola (B.B. Kings hometown), he recalls his aunts tall tale about a great-grandfather in the Confederate Army at Vicksburg who was so starved that he snuck out and conked a Union mule on the head and dragged it back into the fort, where a Louisiana chef worked his New Orleans magic on this unfortunate animal. And heres Alford on how he landed a job at Northern Virginia Community College, where he taught history for 42 years before retiring in 2015: One rainy day, I got out the D.C. yellow pagesif anybody remembers what something like that isand I wrote the same letter to every college and university listed in the book, from schools that wouldnt even open a letter from me to some that might. But I thought, I dont knowand NOVA replied. At NOVA, Alford taught a class on great crimes in American history. Each week I would do a different case, he recalls, and hands-down, the Lincoln assassination was the one students liked the best. He soon expanded the subject into its own class and realized that no one had written a full-scale biography of John Wilkes Bootha paucity that Alford attributes both to the reluctance of Lincoln historians to make Booth some kind of antihero and to the irrationality of the assassination itself, which came like lightning out of a clear blue sky. So, Alford decided to give it a shot himself, and, after 25 years of research and writing, he published Fortunes Fool: The Life of John Wilkes Booth in 2015. The book went on to become a finalist for best biography with both the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award, as well as winning the Abraham Lincoln Institute Book Award. Though it was well known that Mary Todd Lincolnwho had already lost one child, Eddie, to pulmonary tuberculosis by the time her second-youngest son, Willie, died of typhoid fever in 1862held seances in the White House, Alford learned of the Booth familys interest in spiritualism through his research for Fortunes Fool. The entire clan was given to dreams and visions, he says. Patriarch Junius Brutus Booth, the nations leading dramatic actor, was so distraught by the death of his five-year-old daughter Mary from cholera that he dug up her corpse, opened a vein in her arm, and attempted to suck out the tainted blood. Edwin Booth was born on the night of the spectacular 1833 Leonid meteor showera sign interpreted by the familys servants to mean that he was gifted to see ghosts. Three decades later, Edwin was lying in bed one early morning in New York City when he felt a pair of ghost kisses on his cheek and heard a voice say, Come to me, darling. I am frozen. Two days later, his young wife Mollie died in Boston. In an era marked by the deaths of as many as 750,000 Union and Confederate soldiers, as well as countless others from fevers and infections, Mary Todd Lincoln and Edwin Booth werent unusual in seeking solace from mediums and clairvoyants. By one estimate, the spiritualist movement, which began in 1848, had 1.6 million followers by 1860. Despite the popularity of spiritualism, there were only about a dozen top-tier mediums, according to Alford, and their interactions with the prominent Booth and Lincoln families overlapped in tantalizing ways. Charles H. Foster, a hard-drinking, cigar-chomping oracle, brought messages from Willie Lincoln to his parents and, after entering into a deep trance, almost smothered Edwin with caresses from Mollie. Charles J. Colchester, a controversial British medium who stumped the president by causing odd noises in different parts of a room, became close friends with John Wilkes Booth in the months before the assassination. Though its unclear how much he knew of Booths plans, Colchester repeatedly warned Lincoln to be careful. When he set out to explore these and other links between the Lincolns, the Booths, and spiritualism, Alford didnt have a thesis or theory that I wanted to prove, he says. I just wanted to tell a story. Thats all Ive ever wanted to do as a writertell a story of interesting people. To help map how his subjects related to the inexplicable, Alford initially planned to make notes on the wall of his writing room, like William Faulkner did. Faulkners from Mississippi; Im from Mississippi, he says, so I thought it would be okay. But his family vetoed the idea, so he went to an art store and bought a poster-size sheet of paper for each key player in the book. He taped the sheets to the walls of his office and filled them up with notes. It was so satisfying, Alford says. After I finished a chapter, I could pull that sheet off the wall. Gradually I began to see the wall reappear as I went all the way around the room writing the book. The resulting narrative not only renders multidimensional portraits of John Wilkes Booth and Abraham Lincoln (who was both practically minded and embarrassingly superstitious) but also rescues lesser-known figures from obscurity. Adam Badeau, an ambitious drama critic who nursed an unrequited love for his friend Edwin Booth before becoming Ulysses S. Grants favorite staff officer in the Union Army, is one of the books brightest stars. Poet John Pierpont and U.S. Commissioner of Agriculture Isaac NewtonMary Todd Lincolns chief spiritualist companions in Washington, D.C.also make memorable appearances, as do mediums Nettie Colburn and Belle Miller, also known as the Georgetown Witch. Packed with eerie coincidences, amusing anecdotes, momentous twists of fate, and everyday human drama, In the Houses of Their Dead brings to mind a work of art that hangs on Alfords living room wall. Painted on a bed sheet by Texas folk artist J. Edgar Kimsey in 1920, it depicts a group of cowboys sharing a chuckwagon meal in front of a raging campfire. The promise of a good yarna ghost story, perhaps, full of interesting people and the spirits that haunt themhangs in the night air. Alford, who bought the painting on a cross-country trip during his hippie days, says its serves as an inspiration to everyone who comes over. But hes clearly the one whos taken it to heart. DEAL OF THE WEEK Riverhead Enters Vardiashvilis Forest Riverheads Sarah McGrath bought North American rights to Leo Vardiashvilis debut novel in an overnight preempt. The publisher said Hard by a Great Forest is about a Georgian father and son seeking asylum in Europe following the 2008 occupation of South Ossetia by Russia. Later they must return to their decaying but still beautiful homeland to rescue each other and make peace with the past. The author, a refugee from Georgia who has been living in London since he was 13, was represented by Sara OKeefe at the London office of Aevitas Creative Management. At press time, the novel had sold in preempts in Brazil, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Romania, and the U.K. Nguyens Sunshine Graces Atria For six figures, Loan Le at Atria Books, along with Sarah St. Pierre at S&S Canada, preempted world rights to Mai Nguyens debut novel Sunshine Nails. Nguyen, a National Magazine Awardnominated journalist, follows a Vietnamese family living in a gentrifying Toronto neighborhood who, Atria said, see their no-frills nail salon threatened by the arrival of a new Starbucks of nails salon. As they devise a series of ill-conceived plans, they risk losing not only their business but also the family ties keeping them together. Carly Watters at P.S. Literary represented Nguyen, and the book is slated for summer 2023. Fang Sells Three to Tundra Tara Walker at Tundra Books bought three picture books at auction by debut author-illustrator X. Fang. Fang, a visual artist in Philadelphia, was represented by Erica Rand Silverman at Stimola Literary Studio in the mid-six-figure North American rights deal. The first book under contract, Dim Sum Palace, is set for fall 2023 and explores, Silverman said, a small girls excitement about a dim sum meal, which spills over into her dreams. Broken, slated for fall 2024, is about a child who breaks her grandmothers teacup and discovers the beauty of broken things. We Are Definitely Human, scheduled for summer 2025, follows three strangers to a small town who are definitely human, despite all evidence to the contrary. Tor Takes a New Abercrombie Trilogy Joe Abercrombie (the First Law Trilogy) sold a new trilogy, The Devils, to Tor. Lindsey Hall took U.S. rights at auction to the epic fantasy, slated for 2025, from Ginger Clark at Ginger Clark Literary, on behalf of Robert Kirby at United Agents in the U.K. The publisher said the trilogy is set in a magic-riddled Europe under constant threat of elf invasion and follows the congregation of an underground church that performs unsavory tasks for the pope. The congregants include a self-serving magician, a self-satisfied vampire, an oversexed werewolf, and a knight cursed with immortality. Floyds Dream Unfolds at Little, Brown Jami Floyd, an ABC legal analyst and founder of New York Public Radios Race and Justice Unit, sold Dream Interrupted: Searching for Thurgood Marshall and the Struggle to Save the Soul of a Nation to Little, Brown. Pronoy Sarkar preempted North American rights from Laura Dail at Laura Dail Literary Agency. The book, Dail said, explores how the Supreme Courts first Black justice inspired the authors own life, as well as generations of Americans who continue to grapple with, embody, or complicate, his legacy, while illuminating the struggle for justice that continues to this day. Hogarth Nabs a New Arudpragasam Parisa Ebrahimi at Hogarth bought North American rights to a currently untitled novel by Booker finalist Anuk Arudpragasam. ICMs Anna Stein brokered the deal. Hogarth said the book follows an intense friendship between two young people who fled war in Sri Lanka as children... and meet for the first time as adults in New York. "When I first tried to get into publishing in my early 20s, said Nadxieli Nieto, executive editor at Flatiron Books, there just werent positions for people like me. As a result, she took an unconventional path into publishing. She began her career doing marketing for subsidiaries of the Economist. But Nieto, who holds an MFA in poetry and creative writing from Syracuse University, always knew that literature was her calling. She pursued art book publishing with various indie and university presses, working on books and illustrated anthologies with what she called a social justice through line. In 2004, she edited Carteles contra una guerra, an art book against the Iraq War that won the prestigious Premis Ciutat de Barcelona. Several of her collaborative artist books can now be found in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art and the Brooklyn Museum. Nieto also began editing literary magazines, serving as managing editor of the annual Noon and editor-in-chief of the journal Salt Hill. The experience of working in small teams, on shoestring budgets taught her to wear many hats. You learn how to budget, how to create P&Ls, how to work with vendors and designers and negotiate across the process, she said. One of the most exciting aspects of working in the world of literary magazines was getting to work with emerging writers, many of whom are still getting their legs and finding their voice. Even now, she counts herself a big fan of lit mags. Nieto has also coedited three anthologies with author Lincoln Michel: Gigantic Worlds, Tiny Crimes, and Tiny Nightmares. Ive always been interested in playing with genre, she said, noting that she was eager to create an anthology series that allowed both genre and non-genre writers to play in the same sandbox. The all-star roster of writers who have contributed to Nieto and Michels anthologies includes Ted Chiang, Danielle Evans, Samantha Hunt, Jac Jemc, Stephen Graham Jones, Jonathan Lethem, Carmen Maria Machado, Amber Sparks, and Lynne Tillman. In 2017, Nieto joined PEN America as director of literary awards. During her tenure, the organization recognized such authors as Weike Wang and Sandra Cisneros, whom Nieto credited with inspiring a new generation of Latinx writers. Eventually, Nieto knew she would rather create books than just celebrate them. Giving big checks to writers at a party is fun, she said, but I found that I wanted to get back closer to the source of the art, to the making of it. In April 2020, Nieto left PEN America to join Flatiron as editor-at-large. Her appointment came shortly after Flatirons publication of American Dirt, the bestselling novel written by a white author about Mexican immigrants, sparked debate about racial equity within the industry. The decision to hire Nieto was praised by the organization #Dignidad- Literaria as a solid step in the right direction. Nieto said she was drawn to the position at Flatiron because it offered the opportunity to build a highly curated list that focused on and celebrated writers of color. She currently serves on the board of Latinx in Publishing, a network founded in 2015 that supports Latinx book publishing professionals and promotes Latinx literature. When you work in this industry, you quickly become aware of all the barriers to entry, she said, and so naturally I started to focus on advocacy. Nieto also hopes to mold Flatiron into a house that gives passionate support to authors of colordebut authors, as well as midcareer authors, who often dont receive the same kind of hands-on attention and encouragement from their publishers as new writers. Editing both literary fiction and narrative nonfiction, Nieto enjoys seeing the ideas Im interested in get teased out through different approaches. She has found that Flatiron gives substantial freedom to authors who like to play across genres, so that a novelist can also write an essay collection and vice versa. Nieto has several recent acquisitions that shes excited about. Monica Brashearss debut novel, House of Cotton, slated for winter 2023, blew me away from the first page, she said, with its incredibly sharp and imaginative take on the Southern gothic genre, refracted through a contemporary Black perspective. When you fall in love with a book, you move heaven and earth to get it. This fall will see the publication of My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson, a writer and producer for the TV series The Chi and Narcos. Nieto said the novel, a bildungsroman about a queer Black man in 1980s New York City, epitomizes the kinds of books that she likes working on best. Its both heavily researched and incredibly sexy, she explained, with a main character that just grabs you from the first page. Nieto also recently acquired Jean Craes debut memoir In My Remaining Years, Wendy Chin-Tanners debut novel King of the Armadillos, and Jessica Hoppes recovery memoir First in the Family. Though the decision to hire Nieto and the list that she is building are significant steps forward for Flatiron, Nieto feels theres a lot of work left to be done throughout the industry in increasing diversity. I believe I can still count on my fingers the number of Latinx editors acquiring for the adult fiction market, she said. There have been many new Latinx hires, but there have also been several departures, and when there are so few of us, every loss counts. She worries that without substantive changes like liveable wages, the industry will continue to lose Latinx editorial talent. Nieto believes that Latinx employees, and employees of color more generally, should be present at every state of the process, from editorial to marketing and publicity to sales. Without changes to the publishing infrastructure, the burden to improve the industry falls on the shoulders of individuals who will, inevitably, burn out. Many of the new comics publishers hitting the scene over the past few years seem to be fighting over the same audience: genre fans who have outgrown superheroes but not superhero-style comics storytelling. Z2 Comics, an independent graphic novel publisher that evolved into its current business model in 2019, is forging a different path to market while sticking closely to the aesthetics that hardcore comics fans know and love. Z2 has published more than 50 titles over the past two and a half years, almost all based on IP licensed from the music industry. This material ranges from prestige-oriented biographies of figures like jazz legend Charlie Parker to a just-announced collaboration with RZA from Wu-Tang Clan, and includes forays into rock, country music, EDM, heavy metal, thrash/punk, hip-hop, and more. In doing so, Z2 has opened the door to a new audience, a new distribution model, and new relationships between two pop culture cousinscomics and musicthat have rarely spent much time in each others company. To date, some of Z2s bestselling titles have been graphic novels featuring musical performers such as Anthrax, Gorillaz, King Diamond, and Machine Gun Kelly. In the first half of 2022, the house will bring out new graphic novels featuring Tori Amos, Melissa Etheridge, Gwar, Pantera, Spiritbox, and several others. The company hopes to have 25 new titles out by years end, expanding beyond music to include figures from sports, podcasts, television, and comedy. The company is also branching out into toys and collectibles, and has hired industry veteran Clint Weiller to spearhead a new line of merchandise aligned with the imprints focus on music. Z2 is the brainchild of four boisterous cofounders with a shared passion for music and comics: CEO Josh Frankel, publisher Sridhar Reddy, senior v-p Josh Bernstein, and chief counsel Kevin Meek. Frankel and Reddy are comics veterans who know how to bring creators into the fold, Bernstein has music industry connections, and Meek is instrumental in nailing down the licensing agreements that are fundamental to Z2s cross-media strategy. Z2 has around 30 employees, and while the privately held company does not disclose financials, it characterizes its growth as very strong, tripling annually since its inception. Z2 is guided by a rigorous data-based business strategy and a relentless search for content partners beyond the usual suspects that feed the comics industry. Doing great creative work is a big part of our strategy, Frankel said, but a lot of companies can package good story and art. We noticed when we started the company that there wasnt much interest in musicians in comics; there was actually kind of a stigma about it. But people have a real emotional attachment to music, stronger than that of almost any other media. Reddy added, There are common wavelengths between the worlds of comics and musicians. Were both forms of geek tribes, outcastsand if you bring up the idea of graphic novels to musicians, a lot of them get very excited, because its just another extension of the kind of storytelling they do through their music. Marketing and distribution are also key components of Z2s strategy. Weve built a really robust digital marketing apparatus, Frankel said. The company developed a direct-to-consumer channel as wellincluding deluxe limited editions only available via the Z2 online storejust in time to give homebound readers access to its titles as the pandemic set in. Z2 brings in fan-favorite artists to create its books and give the creators wide latitude to interpret aspects of the underlying music property. For example, to riff on Ronnie James Dios early 80s album Holy Diver, Frankel brought in writer Steve Niles (30 Days of Night) and artist Scott Hampson, whose attractive painting style has graced many mainstream books, with a cover by the ever-popular Bill Sienkiewicz (Moon Knight, New Mutants). Licensors do not subsidize the graphic novel projects and have only limited creative involvement. Our restrictions are generally more about avoiding superhero tropes or things that might be sales-averse, but we let our artists have final verdict and edits on the writing, art, marketing, and more, Frankel said. Their fingerprints on the projects make it all the more authentic and official. This approach helped Z2 gain a beachhead in direct-market comic stores to supplement its other distribution strategies. We have fairly decent sales at comic shops and bookstores, Frankel said. Direct-to-consumer is the core, but we have a very big retail component. Frankel said Z2s sales success has come in spite of adverse conditions: convention and concert shutdowns. We cant implement our most valuable marketing and retail strategy, which is having artists doing signings and tours and events, Frankel said. The company gave a little preview of the excitement that could generate by having hip hop legend Chuck D and the band Anthrax appear at their booth for NYCC. One of the biggest expansion points for us in 2022, Bernstein said, is to have a more robust retail strategy for pop-ups, conventions, retail, and presence at certain live concerts and locations. Z2 sees opportunities in marketing its graphic novels alongside T-shirts and other merchandise that bands sell at shows. Its a very exciting part of our business to get those musicians back on tour, Meek said. The next phase will be more of an experiential impact on our fans, the brands, and the celebrities and actors we work with. Once the live music scene gets going again, Z2 executives believe the companys growth will accelerate. We hear from a lot of music fans who dont usually buy comics but who love our books, Frankel said. Thats exciting, because thats a huge market that no one else is serving. Morgan Simianer, the star of Netflix's hit series "Cheer," has announced she is engaged to her boyfriend, Stone Burleson. ADVERTISEMENT "He stole my heart, so I'm stealing his last name," she wrote on Instagram alongside photos from their engagement on Monday. "I can't wait to marry my best friend. I love you unconditionally, Stone." Burleson shared similar pictures on his Instagram, writing: "On Saturday, the woman of my dreams blessed my entire world by saying, 'Yes.' Morgan Lyn Simianer, I can't wait for my life with you by my side." The couple told People that they got engaged over the weekend at the Hall Arts Hotel in Dallas. Simianer was brought to the hotel under the pretense that she was there for an interview, only to discover Burleson was there waiting for her. Burleson, who has dated Simianer since early 2021, proposed with a Kay Jewelers custom Neil Lane marquise diamond ring. The 2 and 3/4-carat diamond was set among a halo of diamonds on an 18K yellow gold band. FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! "After our first date, I knew I wanted to be with Morgan for the rest of my life, and this weekend, I asked her to be my forever," Burleson told the outlet. "She blessed me by saying yes." Simianer appeared on the first and second seasons of "Cheer" and quickly became a fan favorite. She has since graduated from Navarro College in Texas. Kim Kardashian says her controversial comments about work were "taken out of context." ADVERTISEMENT The 41-year-old appeared on "Good Morning America" this week, where she responded to backlash over her recent advice to women in business. In an interview with Variety earlier this month, Kardashian said the advice she'd give to women is to "Get your [expletive] up and work. It seems like nobody wants to work these days." Kardashian said on "GMA" that her comments "became a sound bite really with no context." She explained she made the remarks after being told that "After 20 years of being in the business, you're famous for being famous." "My whole tone and attitude changed with the previous question that went into that question about what advice would you give to women," the star said. "The advice that I would give is just that having a social media presence and being on a reality show does not mean overnight success. You have to work really hard to get there, even if it seems like it is easy," she added. Kardashian then acknowledged that people work hard. FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS! Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source! "It wasn't a blanket statement towards women, or to feel like I don't respect the work or think that they don't work hard. I know that they do. That was taken out of context, but I'm really sorry if it was received that way," she said. Kardashian and her family came to fame on the E! reality series "Keeping Up with the Kardashians." Kardashian has since launched her own businesses, including her shapewear company Skims. The Kardashian-Jenner family will return to television in the new Hulu series "The Kardashians." Kardashian said in the Variety interview that she will "share all the details" about her relationship with Pete Davidson on the show. By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 04/01/2022 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT Elizabeth Kwiatkowski is Associate Editor of Reality TV World and has been covering the reality TV genre for more than a decade. couple Katie Thurston and John Hersey have announced their relationship has moved in a serious direction.Katie and John went Instagram official with their relationship in late November 2021, only three short weeks after Katie and her former fiance Blake Moynes -- who won 's seventeenth season -- announced in late October they had split and decided to end their engagement.Katie faced backlash for having moved on from Blake too quickly with a "rebound," but she and the San Diego bartender are still going strong and have taken their relationship to the next level."Spoiler alert: we live together!" Katie revealed during Tuesday's episode of the "Off the Vine with Kaitlyn Bristowe " podcast in a joint interview with John.Katie shared how she and John began living together in February."[He moved] into my place," Katie said of her San Diego apartment.When asked what they've learned about each other's living habits, Katie confessed she's messy."She is MESSY!" John agreed.Katie joked she's "24/7 messy" and her bathroom is a disaster area."She leaves drawers open and cabinets open. And when you can't close them because of something, I'm like, 'You gotta -- you gotta clean that up,'" John said with a laugh.John said Katie had attempted to use "the one-touch rule," which means using something once and then putting it back, but that plan didn't work out."And I've learned that he really doesn't like staying home, and so we've now learned [John] needs to get out, with or without me," Katie noted."I wake up with the sun and then go out to go surf," John shared.Katie said she and John must end up in a place where there's always surf because that's one of his main passions in life.And on that note, Katie and John also bought a van together!"It's not totally finished yet. We're still building it, but we're very, very close," John said. "So the plan is to just go places... Why not?"John said he loves the idea of being able to travel around and not get stuck in one location permanently. One of their first stops is apparently going to be Nashville, TN.John dubbed the van -- which he wants to call "Leroy" against Katie's wishes -- "so cool," and Katie admitted Dean Unglert and Caelynn Miller-Keyes were her inspiration behind this idea."That's my biggest excitement with the van, is both my dog and my cat get to come with us as we go up north on the coastline!" Katie gushed.Blake admitted in a November 2021 appearance on the "Talking It Out with Bachelor Nation" podcast that he felt "flabbergasted," shocked and "speechless" upon finding out about Katie's romance with John.Blake also believed Katie must have been emotionally cheating on him with John in order to have moved on so quickly from their broken engagement, which both Katie and John have firmly denied in the press.Katie said on the podcast that she initially wanted to hide her relationship with John out of fear for how Bachelor Nation might react. She recommended they keep their distance from each other at a mutual friend's Christmas party."But John was like, 'I at least want to slow dance with you.' And then there's alcohol, and so I was like, 'Don't even try to kiss me in public,'" Katie admitted."We were already talking about how to not be [seen and] known. But it's also like, 'F-ck that.' I want to live our best life. I want to live in my happiness. I went through hell and back being on TV."Katie said she finally determined that she owed it to herself to be in her "truest, happiest form.""At the end of the day, I was like, 'Life is too short. I've gone through so much and I just want to be happy.' And so that's ultimately what we did; we owned our connection not knowing it would take us to this day," Katie said.Katie reasoned how "life is short" and "falling in love outside of the show is not that crazy.""Look at [ Clayton Echard ] and [ Susie Evans ]," she noted. "That's what happened to them, and I can sympathize with how that was when the cameras turned off and you had to figure out what works for you in your real reality."Katie concluded, "John makes me want to be a better person, and he challenges me... He's very energetic and he keeps me young. He says I have the potential to be adventurous... and he makes me want to go and try new things."Katie accepted Blake's marriage proposal when 's Season 17 finale filmed in April 2021, but the former couple's engagement didn't air until August on ABC.Katie previously hinted on social media that she and Blake had been fighting too much during their six-month relationship and decided to break up due to their different communication styles.The TikTok star and social-media influencer had suggested that Blake was unable to make her happy and vice versa.In defense of her connection with John and why she had dumped him so quickly on , Katie shared with an Instagram user in December, "It would have never worked for us on the show. He was too shy. A solid friendship first built an amazing foundation."Katie and John went public with their relationship in late November when Katie posted footage of John on her Instagram Story set to Taylor Swift 's "Begin Again," a song about falling in love all over again.The John dedication served as the conclusion of Katie's "12 Days of Messy" challenge in which she had been tasked with matching every song on Taylor's re-released "Red" album to one of her Season 17 bachelors.Blake initially called Katie's romance "a bomb drop" on him, but he has since come around and said he's ready to have a cordial conversation with his ex-fiancee if that's something she wants to do.Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group Chinese FM chairs "Afghanistan's neighbors + Afghanistan" foreign ministers' dialogue Xinhua) 09:27, April 02, 2022 Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi chairs the "Afghanistan's neighbors + Afghanistan" foreign ministers' dialogue in Tunxi, east China's Anhui Province, March 31, 2022. Acting Foreign Minister of the Afghan Interim Government Amir Khan Muttaqi was in attendance alongside foreign ministers and representatives of member states of the mechanism of coordination and cooperation among Afghanistan's neighboring countries. Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi were invited as guests. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu) HEFEI, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday chaired the "Afghanistan's neighbors + Afghanistan" foreign ministers' dialogue in Tunxi, Anhui Province in east China. Acting Foreign Minister of the Afghan Interim Government Amir Khan Muttaqi was in attendance alongside foreign ministers and representatives of member states of the mechanism of coordination and cooperation among Afghanistan's neighboring countries. Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi were invited as guests. "As neighboring countries to Afghanistan, we have witnessed tragedies and disasters caused by years of war and chaos to the Afghan people, and we have also experienced troubles brought about by the long-term chaos in Afghanistan. No country is more hopeful about the early realization of peace, stability, development and prosperity in Afghanistan than us," Wang said. "After the previous two meetings of foreign ministers of the countries neighboring Afghanistan, we have expressed the shared view, demonstrated the unique role, and guided the international community's perceptions on the Afghan issue," Wang added. He said that countries in the region should adhere to cooperation rather than confrontation, adhere to openness rather than isolation, treat each other as equals, and oppose bullying. He said the international community should avoid neglecting the Afghan issue due to their attention to the situation in Ukraine, and should continue to increase investment in Afghanistan to help the Afghan people. It is necessary to further gather consensus and synergy to help Afghanistan stabilize the situation, effectively fight terrorism, improve people's livelihood and develop the economy, Wang said. He said that the neighboring countries should fully implement the "Afghan-led, Afghan-owned" principle and work with the international community to support the Afghan people in creating a better future. Muttaqi thanked China for inviting Afghanistan to the dialogue, saying that Afghanistan prioritizes the concerns of all parties involved. He stressed that Afghanistan will never again allow external forces to occupy its territory, nor will it allow any forces to use Afghanistan's territory against other countries. Noting Afghanistan is committed to peaceful coexistence, friendly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation with neighboring countries, Muttaqi said Afghanistan has adjusted its governance priorities, with a stronger focus on achieving stability and promoting development. He said Afghanistan is willing to become a bond of regional connectivity and seek common prosperity with its neighboring countries, and eagerly anticipates the early diplomatic recognition of the interim government by neighboring countries. Muttaqi said that the United States has long undermined Afghanistan's political and economic sovereignty. He also spoke out about the U.S. hasty withdrawal from the country, which resulted in the destruction of facilities and huge consequences for Afghanistan. Noting Afghanistan urged the United States to immediately lift the freeze on its overseas assets and unreasonable sanctions, Muttaqi expressed his hopes for the international community to provide support and assistance to Afghanistan. All parties elaborated on their positions and propositions on the Afghan issue, calling on the Afghan interim government to be more inclusive, resolutely and thoroughly combat terrorism, and further protect the rights and interests of women and children. Muttaqi said Afghanistan has reopened schools and students have returned to classes, adding Afghanistan has never stated that girls' education is prohibited. "There are a large number of women in all sectors of Afghanistan, including health care and education," he said. The Afghan interim government welcomes all ethnic groups to participate in politics and will invite more professionals to participate in government work, Muttaqi added. It is hoped that the Afghan interim government will earnestly fulfill all the commitments it has made, Wang said, adding that it is believed that all neighbors of Afghanistan will continue to play a constructive role in the peaceful reconstruction of Afghanistan. The parties agreed to continue the "Afghanistan's neighbors + Afghanistan" foreign ministers' dialogue, which Wang said is beneficial. Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi chairs the "Afghanistan's neighbors + Afghanistan" foreign ministers' dialogue in Tunxi, east China's Anhui Province, March 31, 2022. Acting Foreign Minister of the Afghan Interim Government Amir Khan Muttaqi was in attendance alongside foreign ministers and representatives of member states of the mechanism of coordination and cooperation among Afghanistan's neighboring countries. Qatari Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi were invited as guests. (Xinhua/Zhou Mu) (Web editor: Peng yukai, Liang Jun) Subh-e-Kabul (translated by RAWA), April 2, 2022 "Nafisa worked at the Ali Chopan Clinic," said the source. Yesterday evening, she was on her way home from work with her sisters child and a colleague. "The Taliban said why did you get in a car with a non-mahram?" According to the latest information received by Sobh-e-Kabul newspaper, a young girl who was killed in Balkh province was first tortured by the Taliban and then shot dead. A source, who did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that the forces of the 7th Taliban constituency in Mazar-e-Sharif had killed Nafisa Balkhi for allegedly sitting in her colleague's car. The source added that after a discussion between the two sides, the forces of the 7th security district of Mazar-e-Sharif arrested the midwife and her colleague and tortured them. "At first she was severely tortured and flogged, then beaten again with a razor on his head and whole body, his flesh was cut off and one of his legs was amputated," he said. "They cut her into pieces with a knife, and finally fired 12 bullets." The source also said that her colleague was also brutally killed by the Taliban and that only the young child who accompanied them survived. "Today, the Taliban in their seventh district took the bodies to a civilian hospital and told them to call their families. "The Taliban themselves said, 'We took them and killed them because they had no family ties.' Meanwhile, forensic medicine at the civil hospital in Mazar-e-Sharif confirmed that the girl had been killed as a result of torture. Taliban security officials have not yet commented. However, the Taliban had previously ruled that women could not travel from one area to another without Mahram. A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate HOUSTON (AP) During hours of relentless questioning, Melissa Lucio more than 100 times had denied fatally beating her 2-year-old daughter. But worn down from a lifetime of abuse and the grief of losing her daughter Mariah, her lawyers say, the Texas woman finally acquiesced to investigators. I guess I did it, Lucio responded when asked if she was responsible for some of Mariah's injuries. Her lawyers say that statement was wrongly interpreted by prosecutors as a murder confession tainting the rest of the investigation into Mariahs 2007 death, with evidence gathered only to prove that conclusion, and helping lead to her capital murder conviction. They contend Mariah died from injuries from a fall down the 14 steps of a steep staircase outside the familys apartment in the South Texas city of Harlingen. As her April 27 execution date nears, Lucios lawyers are hopeful that new evidence, along with growing public support including from jurors who now doubt the conviction and from more than half the Texas House of Representatives will persuade the states Board of Pardons and Paroles and Gov. Greg Abbott to grant an execution reprieve or commute her sentence. Mariahs death was a tragedy not a murder. ... It would be an absolutely devastating message for this execution to go forward. It would send a message that innocence doesnt matter, said Vanessa Potkin, one of Lucios attorneys who is with the Innocence Project. Lucio's lawyers say jurors never heard forensic evidence that would have explained that Mariah's various injuries were actually caused by a fall days earlier. They also say Lucio wasn't allowed to present evidence questioning the validity of her confession. The Texas Attorney Generals Office maintains evidence shows Mariah suffered the absolute worst case of child abuse her emergency room doctor had seen in 30 years. Lucio still advances no evidence that is reliable and supportive of her acquittal, the office wrote in court documents last month. The Cameron County District Attorneys Office, which prosecuted Lucio, declined to comment. Lucio, 53, would be the first Latina executed by Texas since 1863 and the first woman since 2014. Only 17 women have been executed in the U.S. since the Supreme Court lifted its ban on the death penalty in 1976, most recently in January 2021. In their clemency petition, Lucios lawyers say that while she had used drugs, leading her to temporarily lose custody of her children, she was a loving mother who worked to remain drug-free and provide for her family. Lucio has 14 children and was pregnant with the youngest two when Mariah died. Lucio and her children struggled through poverty. At times, they were homeless and relied on food banks for meals, according to the petition. Child Protective Services was present in the familys life, but there was never an accusation of abuse by any of her children, Potkin said. Lucio had been sexually assaulted multiple times, starting at age 6, and had been physically and emotionally abused by two husbands. Her lawyers say this lifelong trauma made her susceptible to giving a false confession. In the 2020 documentary The State of Texas vs. Melissa, Lucio said investigators kept pushing her to say she had hurt Mariah. I was not gonna admit to causing her death because I wasnt responsible, Lucio said. Her lawyers say Lucio's sentence was disproportionate to what her husband and Mariah's father, Robert Alvarez, received. He got a four-year sentence for causing injury to a child by omission even though he also was responsible for Mariah's care, Lucio's lawyers argue. In 2019, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Lucios conviction, ruling she was deprived of her constitutional right to present a meaningful defense. However, the full court in 2021 said the conviction had to be upheld for procedural reasons, despite the difficult issue of the exclusion of testimony that might have cast doubt on the credibility of Lucios confession. Three jurors and one alternate in Lucios trial have signed affidavits expressing doubts about her conviction. She was not evil. She was just struggling. ... If we had heard passionately from the defense defending her in some way, we might have reached a different decision, juror Johnny Galvan wrote in an affidavit. In a letter last month to the Board of Pardons and Paroles and to Abbott, 83 Texas House members said executing Lucio would be a miscarriage of justice. As a conservative Republican myself, who has long been a supporter of the death penalty in the most heinous cases ... I have never seen a more troubling case than the case of Melissa Lucio, said state Rep. Jeff Leach, who signed the letter. Abbott can grant a one-time, 30-day reprieve. He can grant clemency if a majority of the paroles board recommends it. The board plans to vote on Lucios clemency petition two days before the scheduled execution, Rachel Alderete, the boards director of support operations, said in an email. A spokeswoman for Abbotts office did not return an email seeking comment. Abbott has granted clemency to only one death row inmate, Thomas Whitaker, since taking office in 2015. Whitaker was convicted of masterminding the fatal shootings of his mother and brother. His father, who survived, led the effort to save Whitaker, saying he would be victimized again if his son was executed. Lucios supporters have said her clemency request is similar in that her family would be retraumatized if shes executed. Please allow us to reconcile with Mariahs death and remember her without fresh pain, anguish and grief. Please spare the life of our mother, Lucios children wrote in a letter to Abbott and the board. ___ Follow Juan A. Lozano on Twitter: https://twitter.com/juanlozano70 ___ This story has been corrected to show that Lucio would have been the first Latina to be executed by Texas since 1863, not ever. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate TORRINGTON Norell Gaudaitis loves the police department and appreciates the work they do, every day. Over the decades she has lived in Torrington, she has been a staunch supporter and fundraiser for the good guys as she calls them. Last Sunday, a celebration marking Gaudaitis 94th birthday was held at Crystal Peak banquet hall in Winsted, and the police department were among the invited guests, which also included her two sons, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and many friends. Elena Sileo, a longtime friend of Gaudaitis, attended the celebration. It was a blast and there was tremendous turnout from the Torrington Police Department, she said. They made us so proud and Norell was so thrilled. Gaudaitis was escorted into the celeration by Officer Robert Guida, and was later presented with several pieces of her artwork. Other department members who attended were Chief William Baldwin, Lt. Bart Barown, Lt. Kenneth Broulliard, Sgt. Dustin Baldis, Officers Oscar Segui and Zachary Simpson, and former officer Willie Quarles. They were there to show their love for Norell and her devout appreciation for the police, Sileo said. According to Sileo, Gaudaitis calls and stops by the police department to check in, paints pictures for them, knits scarves and hats for them and led a police rally for them a few years ago. Gaudaitis said she had a beautiful time at her party. It was very nice, and I was surprised how exciting it was, she said. Everyone enjoyed themselves. I had a big crowd. Chief Baldwin presented Gaudaitis with a commemorative plaque in appreciation. I have a special place where Im going to hang it, so I can see it every day, she said. I have one from the mayor (Ryan Bingham) and now I have one from the police chief. She was also happy to have her family around her, she said. It was just a happy time, like a family reunion, Gaudaitis said. Norell and her late husband, Thomas B. Gudaitis, settled in Torrington in 1952 and raised their family. Thomas worked for a number of manufacturing companies in town. As a younger woman, before she married Thomas, Gaudaitis sang in clubs in Albany and around Connecticut. In 2014, she paid tribute to Cab Calloway with a concert at the Yankee Pedlar Inn on Main Street in Torrington. She met the performer, songwriter and actor when he was just getting started, at the age of 21, and she was a child living in Opelika, Alabama. Calloway was performing nearby and came to her home to visit, where she lived with her parents and 12 siblings. Gaudaitis has over the years shown her folk-art style paintings at local libraries and galleries. Her health has slowed her painting down, she said. I gave my paintings away at the party, she said. As soon as Im feeling better, Im going to take it up again. Sileo has known Gaudaitis since she was young through her parents, whose Night Moves Band performed in the area. She would always come out to sing and dance with my parents band, she said. Norell is an example of how everyone should be living in celebration, in happiness and appreciation of life. She has taught me to live every day to the fullest and have fun. Pottsville, PA (17901) Today Periods of rain. High 56F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a half an inch.. Tonight Cloudy with periods of rain. Low 48F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall possibly over one inch. The move is a violation of the country's election law, says a Candelight Party official. Members of Cambodia's opposition Candlelight Party gather in front of a party office in an undated photo. Cambodias National Election Committee (NEC) has removed more than 100 candidates from the opposition Candlelight Party from the list of those running in the countrys commune elections on June 5, the partys vice president said Friday. The party, which has threatened to boycott the vote because of political harassment of its members and activists by Prime Minister Hun Sens ruling Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP), has accused the NEC of abusing election law. Candlelight Party vice president Thach Setha said NEC president Prach Chan on Thursday removed all candidates in Phnom Penh and Pursat and Kampong Cham provinces from the candidate list, and accused election authorities of not complying with the law by failing to call witnesses to be questioned amid complaints filed by CPP against the Candelight Party. He didnt make any mistake. It is a violation of the election law, Thach Setha said. Party officials say they have been falsely accused of using fake names for candidates and putting forward some candidates for election without their permission. CCP complains have accused Candlelight Party candidates of being illiterate and submitting documents without thumbprints or signatures. The NEC decision has left the CPP candidate without main competitors in the capital, Phnom Penh. The NEC also removed the name of the son of Eng Chhai Eang, vice president of the former opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) from the candidate list, Thach Setha said. The Candlelight Party, formerly known as the Sam Rainsy Party and the Khmer Nation Party, was founded in 1995 and merged with other opposition forces to form the CNRP in 2012. In November 2017, Cambodias Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in a move that allowed the CPP to win all 125 seats in parliament in a July 2018 election. Election authorities based their binding decision on evidence and hearings after finding irregularities on the candidate lists, while some candidates during the hearing asked the NEC to remove their names from the lists, said NEC spokesman Hang Puthea. Upon receiving the complaints, we held public hearings, he said. Sam Kuntheamy, executive director of the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (NICFEC), said the NEC failed to present evidence and witnesses during the hearings. He also said the decision by the NEC a theoretically independent agency that supervises the countrys elections, but is believed to be influenced by the CCP to remove opposition candidates was an attempt to find weak points to prevent the Candlelight Party as the main threat to the CCP from participating in the elections. The party that has popularity draws attention, he said. I want [the NEC] to comply with the law. Meanwhile, Phnom Penh authorities arrested four Candlelight Party activists but later released three and sent one to Prey Sar Prison. Yok Neang, former leader of the CNRPs Women Movement who recently joined the Candlelight Party, was arrested Friday and sent to the jail, her son, Ouch Vannarith, told RFA. She was speaking with other political opposition activists when police arrested them and has been charged with treason over a failed attempt by exiled CNRP leader Sam Rainsy in November 2019 to return to Cambodia to lead nonviolent protests against Hun Sen. At least two other Candlelight Party activists are being detained in Pursat province. Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Malaysian police have said human trafficking is widespread in Southeast Asia, including Cambodia. Cambodian authorities Friday denied media reports that Thai citizens are being held against their will in Cambodia by criminal gangs, but Malaysian police said human trafficking syndicates were running rampant across the entire Southeast Asian region. Chhoun Narin, police chief of the Sihanoukville Police Department, told RFAs Khmer Service that more than 100 Thais have crossed over the border between the two countries to illegally take jobs in casinos located in Sihanoukville province. We hear fake stories about detentions and torture, he said. There are no illegal detentions. The denial contradicts reports in the Bangkok Post and other Southeast Asian outlets that there are between 2,800 and 3,000 Thais working illegally in Cambodia who have been tricked by gangs to take positions as scammers, according to Thai police estimates. Despite the denial, Chhoun Narin said the police will cooperate with Thai officials in repatriating Thai citizens. But he declined to comment on whether Cambodia will charge Thais found to be in the country illegally. RFA was unable to reach National Police spokesman Chhay Kim Khouen for comment on Friday. After the Cambodian government opened up the company following COVID-19 restrictions, reports of criminal activities in Sihanoukville province flooded the offices of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association, Cheap Sotheary, the groups Sihanoukville province coordinator, told RFA. She urged Cambodian authorities to work with their Thai counterparts to resolve complaints about kidnapping and detentions in Cambodia. There should be an investigation to see how many separate incidents there are. If Thai delegates come, there should be a cooperation to avoid any misunderstanding, she said. Police in Malaysia, meanwhile, have information indicating a human trafficking syndicate has trapped Malays as forced labor in Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar, BenarNews, an RFA-affiliated online news service, reported. Since 2021, the Anti-trafficking unit of Malaysias Federal Criminal Investigation Department received six police reports of involving 26 victims 24 men and two womenin need of rescue from crime syndicates. The police believe that there are still many people in similar situations but have not lodged reports with authorities. Police say that the victims were duped by job advertisements offering relatively high salaries doing social media work as customer service officers in other countries. Interested job seekers were encouraged to contact agents via WeChat, WhatsApp or Facebook who then would arrange travel costs for the unsuspecting victims. Once they arrived at the destination, the syndicate would confiscate or destroy travel documents and mobile devices, leaving the migrants with no way to call for help or escape on their own. The victims then would be sent to specific locations such as Preah Sihanouk in Cambodia, Mae Sot in Thailand, Vientiane in Laos and Kayin State in Myanmar and forced to work in scams involving online gambling, fake investments and Bitcoin mining. They would not be allowed to return home if they did not reach the company's sales targets or they could pay between U.S. $7,125 and $11,875 for their release. The Royal Malaysian Police is working with Interpol and Aseanapol to seek help in tracking and rescuing Malaysian victims. RFA reported last month that dozens of Thais and hundreds of Lao citizens were duped into working in casinos in Laos Golden Triangle Special Economic Zone. If these victims failed to meet sales quotas, they were told they would be sold to employers at different companies, including for positions in the sex trade. Multiple groups of Thais escaped last month back to Thailand or were rescued and repatriated. Translated by RFAs Khmer Service and BenarNews. Written in English by Eugene Whong. As many as a dozen civilians were killed and 700 homes burned by junta troops last month. Myanmars military killed as many as a dozen civilians and arrested nearly 30 others in restive Magway region in the month of March alone, while junta troops torched more than 700 houses in 18 of the regions villages over the same period, residents said Friday. Sources in Magways Gangaw township told RFAs Myanmar Service that 10 deaths occurred from Feb. 28 to March 2 as troops raided the villages of Thindaw, Shwebo, Kone and Sann. The military set more than 200 homes alight in Kone and Sann over the three-day period, they said, while a joint squad of some 100 troops and pro-military Pyu Saw Htee militia fighters burned another 200 on March 2 while attacking nearby Pauk townships Leyar village. A villager who spoke on condition of anonymity called the violence and destruction unacceptable. Our houses are antiques, built by hand according to our traditions. Our house was built with five tree trunks as its pillars and the current market price is no less than 7-8 million kyats (U.S. $4,000-4,500), he said. They attack and destroy everything indiscriminately. How can they believe that destroying the lives and property of ordinary people is justified? The residents rice mill, which he valued at around 1.5 million kyats (U.S. $850), was also destroyed in the attack, he said. He said that more than 1,300 villagers were forced to flee the raids and have been living in the mountains ever since, unable to tend their farms. Other sources told RFA that junta forces raided Letpan Hla village on March 3 and burned down 50 of the villages 120 houses. A member of the anti-junta Peoples Defense Force (PDF) paramilitary group in Pauk Township said the raid came in response to an attack by his group on the military. We couldnt stand it anymore because they were causing so much trouble for the people, said the PDF member, who also declined to be named. They captured five of our comrades alive and they set them on fire. Three houses were also burned down. More than 470 residents of Letpan Hla fled the village during the military attack and have yet to return, he said. In another incident, sources said, troops killed a mother and her son in a March 5 attack on Inn-Nge-Daung village. They said 29 people were arrested, including 12 women and nine children, and all remain in military custody. Family detained Lwin Wai, of Yezagyo townships Taung Oh village, told RFA that authorities who came looking for him detained his mother and two other family members when they learned he wasnt there. Im worried about my family. My sister is only 14 years old now. She knows nothing about politics. She just likes watching movies and playing games, he said. My mother had a surgical operation only about four months ago. We all are suffering under this injustice. Im so furious that we are being bullied by people with weapons. I just want those who are innocent to be released unharmed. Lwin Wai said his family members were first detained by the 258th Infantry Regiment and are now being held at the Yezagyo Police Station on charges of defamation, with a court appointment set for April 4. He said he is wanted for alleged ties to the PDF because area youth regularly come to his electronics repair shop to use his Wi-Fi connection. But he believes the accusation is retribution by the junta-appointed village administrator, who he once had a dispute with. Other reported incidents included the killing of two villagers during a March 26 military raid on Yezagyo townships Kutote village, and the burning of more than 250 houses in four Gangaw township villages during joint raids by junta troops and Pyu Saw Htee fighters on March 23 and 24. Blaming the PDF Attempts by RFA to reach junta Deputy Information Minister Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun for comment on the raids in Magway region went unanswered Friday. He has previously attributed arson attacks on civilian homes to the PDF, which the military regime has labeled a terrorist organization. In a recent statement, the military claimed that on March 13 a unit of 20 PDF members had attempted to detain the junta-appointed administrator of Yezagyo townships Gwaygyo village and burned down 17 homes when they could not locate him. RFA was unable to independently verify the junta claims. Chit Win Maung, a member of the anti-junta Magway Peoples War Committee, told RFA the junta intentionally harasses and kills civilians in the region because they cannot rule us. They have no people, no youth, supporting them, he said. We can see that they are trying to get rid of anyone who wants to stop their fascist movement. From a human rights point of view, they are oppressing the people. Magway is one of several regions where the junta has encountered particularly fierce resistance since it seized power in a Feb. 1, 2021, coup and launched a multi-pronged offensive against the PDF and armed ethnic groups in Myanmars remote border regions. According to Data For Myanmar, a group that researches the social impact of conflict, junta troops have burned at least 7,248 homes across the country since the coup. At least 1,148 of the homes were in Magway region, the group said. Translated by Khin Maung Nyane. Written in English by Joshua Lipes. Chinas quota for those who can fast is pathetic and tragic, says a Uyghur rights advocate. A pair of shoes sits near an outdoor prayer area at the Id Kah Mosque in Kashgar in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, as seen during a government organized visit for foreign journalists, April 19, 2021. Chinese authorities in Xinjiang are restricting the number of Muslims allowed to observe the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, drawing heavy criticism from rights groups that see the government directive as the latest effort to diminish Uyghur culture in the region. For years, officials in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) have prohibited Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslims from fully observing Ramadan including by banning civil servants, students and teachers from fasting. Some neighborhood committees in Urumqi (in Chinese, Wulumuqi) and some village officials in Kashgar (Kashi) and Hotan (Hetian) prefectures have received notices that only 10-50 Muslims will be allowed to fast during Ramadan, which runs from April 1 to May 1, and that those who do so must register with authorities, according local administrators and police in Xinjiang. Ramadan measures are being taken, said a village policeman in Kashgars Tokkuzak (Toukezhake) township. The purpose is to allay the fears of [Uyghurs] who are afraid to fast, in addition to security, because there should not be any misconception about the [Chinese Communist] Partys religious policy. The party never said to abolish religion, but to Sinicize it. A village administrator who oversees 10 families in Ghulja (Yining) county in Ili Kazakh (Yili Hasake) Autonomous Prefecture, said registration was already under way in his community and that the elderly and adults with no school-age children are allowed to fast. This system is designed to avoid religion to have negative effects on childrens minds, he said. There is a lot of propaganda about it right now. A cadre from the village is registering people who meet the criteria for fasting. Another administrator who oversees 10 families in the city of Atush (Atushi) in Kizilsu Kirghiz Autonomous Prefecture said he received a notice about the fasting restriction from local authorities. Of the 10 families that I am in charge, two Tahir and Ahmet were identified as ones that can fast, he said. Both are elderly and have no children at home. A Uyghur employee at a hotel contacted by RFA on Wednesday said he could not say anything about Ramadan and hung up the phone. Tursunjan Mamat sets down a copy of the Quran during a government organized visit for foreign journalists to his home in Aksu prefecture, northwestern China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, April 20, 2021. Credit: Associated Press Painting 'a sham picture' In past years, authorities have warned Uyghur residents that they could be punished for fasting, including by being sent to one of the XUARs vast network of internment camps, where authorities are believed to have held up to 1.8 million Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities since April 2017. Authorities also have forced retirees to pledge ahead of Ramadan that they wont fast or pray to set an example for the wider community and to assume responsibility for ensuring others also refrain. It is pathetic and tragic to see Chinas notice that only certain people can fast, said Turghunjan Alawudun, director of the Committee for Religious Affairs at the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) in Germany. The Muslim world would laugh at Chinas actions and be astonished by the setting of a quota for those who can fast. The Washington-based Uyghur Human Rights Project issued a statement on Thursday showing solidarity with Uyghurs in Xinjiang who cannot hold iftar, the meal eaten by Muslims at sundown to break the daily fast during Ramadan, or pray without risking being labeled a religious extremist. There will be no Ramadan for Uyghurs in the homeland this year or any year until Chinas campaign of genocide is brought to an end, the statement said. The Campaign for Uyghurs, also based in Washington, also noted that Uyghurs in Xinjiang are once again being forbidden to worship and celebrate religious holidays. To add insult to this injustice, the CCP selectively deploys Islam to paint a sham picture, the group said in a statement issued Thursday. WUC president Dolkun Isa said China has turned Ramadan into a month of hellish suffering of genocide for the Uyghur people and called on Muslim leaders worldwide to condemn the rights abuses occurring in Xinjiang. Its your religious and moral duty to call on China to stop this ongoing genocide, he said. History will not treat you kindly if you continue to allow this genocide to continue under your watch. The U.S. and parliaments in some Western countries have declared Chinas actions against the Uyghurs and other Turkic people a genocide and crimes against humanity, though China has denied accusations of abuse. Translated by Mamatjan Juma and Alim Seytoff of RFAs Uyghur Service. Written in English by Roseanne Gerin. Russian forces have resumed their assault on a sprawling steel factory in the devastated Ukrainian port of Mariupol, using aircraft to pound Ukrainian fighters holding out there. A top Ukrainian official, meanwhile, said that a new effort to evacuate civilians from the grounds of the Azovstal steel plant has been hampered by Russian firing despite a UN-brokered cease-fire. An estimated 200 civilians are reported to be hiding in the complex, along with as many as 2,000 Ukrainian fighters. Live Briefing: Russia's Invasion Of Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the major developments on Russia's invasion, how Kyiv is fighting back, the plight of civilians, and Western reaction. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. Ukraine's General Staff said in its daily assessment on May 6 that Russians were using aircraft as part of the renewed assault on the plant. "There are many wounded, but they are not surrendering," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on May 5 in his nightly video address. "They are holding their positions." Mariupol itself has been largely razed to the ground by weeks of street-to-street fighting and heavy bombardment. Azovstal has turned into a last stand for the Ukrainians troops struggling to prevent a complete Russian defeat of the city. The fighting comes as Russia continues its offensive in the eastern Donbas, an offensive that has proceeded slowly and without major advances, as Ukrainian forces have blocked Russian movements and even regained territory. The fight for Azovstal also comes amid speculation that Russian President Vladimir Putin wants a battlefield triumph that he can showcase on May 9 when Russia marks Victory Day -- the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany. "The renewed effort by Russia to secure Azovstal and complete the capture of Mariupol is likely linked to the upcoming 9 May Victory Day commemorations and Putin's desire to have a symbolic success in Ukraine," the British Defense Ministry said in its May 6 daily assessment. "This effort has come at personnel, equipment, and munitions cost to Russia. Whilst Ukrainian resistance continues in Azovstal, Russian losses will continue to build and frustrate their operational plans in southern Donbas," the ministry said. Losing Mariupol would deprive Ukraine of a vital port on the Sea of Azov. It would also give Russia the ability to establish a land corridor to the Crimean Peninsula and free up troops to fight elsewhere in the Donbas. The Ukrainians holed up in Azovstal's labyrinthine tunnels and industrial infrastructure have been posting videos and photographs to social media, appealing to the international community. Soldiers are "dying in agony" due to the lack of proper treatment, Captain Svyatoslav Palamar, deputy commander of the Azov Battalion, said in a video address on May 5. He pleaded for international help to evacuate the civilians and wounded fighters there. Andriy Yermak, a top adviser to Zelenskiy, said on May 6 that nearly 500 civilians had been evacuated from the city and the Azovstal plant as part of a United Nations-led effort. "The next stage of rescuing our people from Azovstal is under way at the moment. Information about the results will be provided later," Yermak said in a post on Telegram on May 6. Kyiv will "do everything to save all its civilians and military." However, Mariupol authorities later said that Russian forces had fired at a vehicle that was involved in the evacuation, killing at least one Ukrainian fighter and wounding six. Russia did not immediately comment. Russia's RIA news agency said its correspondent had seen a bus with 12 civilians leave the Azovstal complex, but the reports could not immediately be confirmed. Russia's renewed offensive in the Donbas -- now in its third week -- has been slow-going, amid stubborn defense from Ukrainian forces who are increasingly equipped with heavy artillery and powerful anti-tank and antiaircraft weaponry supplied from NATO members. Germany, which has come under pressure at home and abroad to step up its equipment supplies, said on May 6 that it would supply seven self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine after reversing its policy not to send heavy armaments to war zones. Earlier, Berlin announced it would also be sending "Gepard" antiaircraft systems. The Donbas offensive came after a thwarted campaign by Russian forces north of Kyiv in the early weeks of the war. The withdrawal of Russian troops from places like Bucha, near Kyiv, has led to a cascade of reports from witnesses who say Russian units committed atrocities that could amount to war crimes. Rights watchdog Amnesty International said on May 6 there was compelling evidence that Russian troops had committed war crimes, including extrajudicial executions of civilians, when they occupied an area outside Ukraine's capital in February and March. Civilians also suffered abuses such as "reckless shootings and torture, the group said. Russian troops had committed a "host of apparent war crimes" in Bucha, including "numerous unlawful killings," most of them near the intersection of Yablunska and Vodoprovidna streets, the report found. With reporting by RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service and AP After months of grueling negotiations, Iran and world powers appeared to be on the threshold of agreeing to restore a landmark 2015 nuclear deal. But several last-minute snags have threatened to derail efforts to revive the agreement, which curbed Tehrans sensitive nuclear activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions. The biggest and most complicated stumbling block is Irans demand that the United States drop the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) -- a branch of the Iranian armed forces that plays a significant role in the economy -- from its list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTOs). Tehran has said that the IRGCs removal from the blacklist is a red line. Washington has not directly commented on the issue, although it said separate U.S. sanctions against the IRGC would remain in place under any agreement. Observers said there could be a tradeoff, although they warned that the sensitivity of the matter could scupper a compromise. In the United States, the issue is controversial given that American officials have accused the IRGC of creating instability and supporting militant groups in the region. The IRGC is also in charge of Irans controversial missile program. Meanwhile, for Tehran, the terrorist designation of the IRGC, a major center of power in the Islamic republic, is unacceptable. I think it's more likely than not that Washington and Tehran will find a way around this impasse to revive the JCPOA, said Henry Rome, a senior analyst at the Eurasia Group in Washington, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the formal name of the nuclear deal. This will require some creativity and political cost, but I think there's enough incentive on both sides to push through this obstacle. But it's clearly not guaranteed, Rome told RFE/RL. The FTO designation has attained a political significance that exceeds its practical implication, which makes compromise particularly challenging. 'Both Sides Are Prone To Miscalculation' In 2019, then-U.S. President Donald Trump designated the IRGC as a terrorist organization, marking the first time Washington had officially used that label on a foreign state institution. It came a year after Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the nuclear deal between Iran and world powers and reimposed harsh economic sanctions against Tehran. Iran responded by gradually expanding its nuclear activities, shortening its so-called breakout period for developing nuclear weapons, a move that triggered alarm in Western capitals. Despite the high stakes, Iran and the United States have not shown any signs that they will compromise on the IRGCs blacklisting. Ali Vaez, the director of the Iran Project at the International Crisis Group (ICG), compared the situation to a Mexican standoff. Its very difficult to find a mutually acceptable formula and this is a situation like a Mexican standoff [in] that each side expects the other to concede because they think the other needs the deal more, Vaez said during an online panel discussion on March 29. The reality is that both sides need it and both sides are prone to miscalculation. Washington-based news outlet Axios, citing U.S. and Israeli sources, reported on March 16 that Washington was considering removing the IRGC from its terrorist blacklist in return for a public commitment from Iran to de-escalation in the region. Tehran is accused of supporting Yemens Huthi rebels, who have been fighting a deadly war against a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally and Tehrans regional foe. The Huthis have staged cross-border assaults on Saudi Arabia, striking key energy facilities. Meanwhile, Iranian-backed militias have been accused of launching attacks against U.S. security personnel and bases in Iraq. The U.S. presence in Iraq has long been a flash point for Tehran, but tensions spiked after a January 2020 U.S. drone strike near Baghdad airport killed top Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani. The assassination infuriated Iran, which days later launched a ballistic missile attack on a military base housing international troops in Iraq that caused brain concussion injuries to some 100 U.S. troops. Iranian officials have threatened further retaliation, including targeting Trump administration officials. The State Department on March 12 said it was paying more than $2 million per month to provide 24-hour security to former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and a former top aide, both of whom it said faced serious and credible threats from Iran. A source close to the U.S. negotiating team in Vienna, the venue of the nuclear talks, told RFE/RLs Radio Farda this week that one of Washingtons main demands for delisting the IRGC was a commitment by Iran not to target Trump administration officials in retaliation for Soleimanis killing. In a written statement to Radio Farda, the State Department said it was not going to respond to specific claims about what sanctions we would be prepared to lift as part of a mutual return to full implementation of the JCPOA. 'The Most Absurd Of Obstacles' State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters on March 30 that several issues remain unresolved in the nuclear talks with Iran, adding that the onus was on Tehran to make those choices. Irans Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said on March 26 that the IRGCs terrorist designation was a key stumbling block in the talks. But he suggested some flexibility, saying senior IRGC officials had said that the deal should not be held up over the issue if the accord serves the nations interests. Amir-Abdollahian, however, later said on Instagram that red lines should not be crossed. He quoted Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the late founder of the Islamic republic, who was quoted as saying, I, too, am a revolutionary guard." Vaez told RFE/RL that the FTO designation, which was seen as largely symbolic, has not done anything to curtail the IRGC's influence. In fact, he said, it had made the IRGC even more brazen. This is the most absurd of obstacles to restoring the nuclear deal, Vaez added. Keeping the FTO designation doesn't help the U.S. Lifting it won't help Iran. Before its terrorist designation, the IRGC had already been the target of numerous U.S. sanctions over its involvement in Irans missile program, its alleged human rights abuses and interference in Iranian elections, and its support for militant groups in the Middle East region. Even amid the ongoing nuclear talks in Vienna, Washington has continued to target the IRGC and its affiliates with new sanctions. On March 30, the Treasury Department announced sanctions against "an Iran-based procurement agent and his network of companies that procured ballistic missile propellant-related materials" for the IRGC. RFE/RL Radio Farda correspondent Reza Haghighatnejad contributed to this report. Three days after launching the biggest invasion of another European nation since World War II, President Vladimir Putin put the world on further notice: In a televised meeting, he ordered Russias nuclear forces on special combat readiness. In case anyone didnt get the first message, Dmitry Kisleyov, a bombastic host on state-run TV, hammered it home hours later: "Now Russia's entire nuclear triad has been placed on special alert. Putin has warned [the world]. Don't try to frighten Russia. Western officials took heed though privately they said they were less concerned with words than with actions. By the fourth week after the invasion, U.S. officials said there was no indication anything had changed for Russias silo-launched, submarine-launched, truck-launched, or air-launched nuclear weapons. Still, threat or bluster, Putins nuclear saber-rattling in the middle of a hot war in Europe has renewed focus on how Russia plans for the unthinkable -- the use of the worlds largest nuclear arsenal -- and how the nuclear policies of other countries, chiefly the United States, might play into that. Few if any wars have been launched with as much nuclear posturing as Russias invasion of Ukraine, said Olga Oliker, director of the Europe and Central Asia Program at the International Crisis Group, in an article published by the journal Foreign Affairs days after Putins announcement. I think the bottom line is that Russia's doctrine allows nuclear use in case of existential threat to the state, she said in a follow-up message to RFE/RL. Regime change is probably an existential threat to the state. But how useful nuclear weapons are for that isn't entirely clear. But there's a real danger there. Putins threat is unprecedented in the post-Cold War era -- and unacceptable, Daryl Kimball, head of the Washington-based Arms Control Association, said in a statement a day after Putins televised order. There has been no instance in which a U.S. or a Russian leader has raised the alert level of their nuclear forces in the middle of a crisis in order to try to coerce the other side's behavior. Existential Danger In 2020, Russias military planners released a new strategic document that offered more clarity on when Moscow could use nuclear weapons and what could justify it. The document, titled Foundations Of State Policy Of The Russian Federation In The Field Of Nuclear Deterrence, stated that the use of nuclear weapons was an option only as a retaliatory measure against the use of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction -- or if the very existence of the state is in jeopardy. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that guideline in comments to CNN on March 22. Refusing to rule out the use of nuclear weapons, he emphasized that Russian policy allows it in the case of an an existential threat for our country. On one level, that is highly unlikely: Moscow is on the offensive in Ukraine, after all, and neither Kyiv nor NATO is threatening any attack on Russia, let alone one so devastating. For many analysts, though, a problem arises if the Kremlin and military commanders equate the existence of the Russian state with Putins rule. And in Putins Russia -- where the parliament speaker has said there is no Russia without Putin, and senior officials offhandedly accuse the West of plotting the countrys demise -- thats not so far-fetched. On March 23, Dmitry Medvedev, the longtime Putin ally, former president, and current deputy head of Russias Security Council, suggested that escalating tensions could result in a nuclear disaster and alleged that Washington had engaged in a long-term plot to destroy Russia. The logic here is simple: if change of government is forced from the outside, the state is no longer sovereign, said Nikolai Sokov, a senior fellow at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation and former Soviet and Russian diplomat who participated in major arms control negotiations. Which is why I believe that the most risky period will be after the fighting ends and the West will have to decide on what to do with Russia. If it goes too far -- the Iraq scenario -- then I do not rule out nuclear use, he said. In the end, nuclear use does not have to be limited to military contingencies. It is possible to defeat a state by using nonmilitary tools, so (1) nuclear use is possible in peacetime and (2) policy should be very carefully calibrated, he said in an e-mail. Nuclear Doctrines In 2018, President Donald Trumps administration released a doctrine paper that spelled out both U.S. and Russian thinking about nuclear weapons use. Russian strategy and doctrine emphasize the potential coercive and military uses of nuclear weapons, the paper said. Moscow mistakenly assesses that the threat of nuclear escalation or actual first use of nuclear weapons would serve to de-escalate a conflict on terms favorable to Russia. These mistaken perceptions increase the prospect for dangerous miscalculation and escalation. Where Ukraine is concerned, said one prominent Russian expert on nuclear issues, the conflict remains strictly local. That is, beyond supplying weapons and intelligence, NATO and the United States have gone out of their way to stay out. They are taking necessary measures to keep it that way, and Russia, although with rather explicit nuclear signaling, acknowledges that, said the expert, who asked to speak anonymously due to growing concerns about government pressure on independent analysts and media. Moreover, Russia hasnt unleashed its full conventional arsenal: The footage of Mariupol or Volnovakha is extremely depressing, but it gives a hint of what is possible, and on a much bigger scale. Thus, there are no conditions for nuclear use, he said. A Russian nuclear strike would mean we arrive to the uncharted waters of nuclear warfighting. And a nuclear war can never be won, he said. New START, Old START Until the Russian invasion, arms control was one of a dwindling number of areas where United States and Russia could still talk to each other. Even as relations spiraled downwards -- over Crimea, election meddling, Syria, the Kremlins poisoning of dissidents, and other issues -- Moscow and Washington maintained caps on their nuclear arsenals. The Trump administration pulled out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. But Trump did not pull out of New START, the sole remaining agreement limiting U.S. and Russian nuclear forces. Trumps successor, President Joe Biden, made it his administrations first priority to agree with Russia to extend the treaty for five years, and the former Cold War foes did so just days after he took office in 2021. For many Western experts, the Kremlins willingness to extend New START was an indication that Moscow was rational -- and pragmatic -- about its nuclear arsenal. But that treaty does not include tactical, or nonstrategic, nuclear weapons -- less powerful arms that are designed not for flinging at distant cities atop long-distance missiles, but for local battlefield use. U.S. intelligence estimates Russia has more than 1,500 of them. According to a Congressional Research Service report released this month, the United States has far fewer, around 230 in total. About 100 of those are deployed in Europe mainly gravity bombs that are designed to be dropped from jets -- something Moscow has complained about for years. Russian statements, when combined with military exercises that seemed to simulate the use of nuclear weapons against NATO members, led many to believe that Russia might threaten to use its nonstrategic nuclear weapons to coerce or intimidate its neighbors, the CRS report said. For the moment, fears of instability or confusion within the Kremlin or in the strategic command structure that oversees operations of Russias nuclear weapons have been nonexistent, according to Western officials, who say the command-and-control procedures and chain of authority overseeing launch decisions is robust and competent and professional. In recent days, U.S. and British officials have suggested publicly and privately that Putin was being misled by his closest advisers -- both about Russias capabilities in the run-up to the war and about ongoing operations. This makes it even more unlikely that nuclear weapons would be used, said Kimberly Marten, an expert on Russian foreign and security policy at Barnard College, Columbia University, in New York. It implies that there is a screen of presumably rational officers, who dont themselves want to experience nuclear war, who are serving as a filter between whatever emotional reactions Putin might have, and the battlefield, she told RFE/RL in an e-mail. "I wouldnt go so far as to say that nuclear use isnt going to happen, though," she said. "I remain concerned about a miscalculation or error that comes about through an inadvertent confrontation and escalation between Russian and NATO forces in a border area, for example." The other calculation for the Kremlin, experts say, is whether limited use of a nuclear weapon or chemical weapons in Ukraine would result in exactly what it has adamantly warned against: NATO intervention in the conflict, prompted, for example, by a radioactive fallout drifting into alliance member states. I think Russia would use nuclear weapons to keep the war from becoming existential for it, and any war with NATO is existential, Oliker said. So there's a real risk if NATO states get directly involved. Russian soldiers returning or redeploying from Ukraine frequently try to sell looted goods to Belarusians in southern border districts, according to interviews with multiple residents. The reports from the southeastern Homel region are the latest example of how Moscow has used the region bordering both Ukraine and Russia as a staging ground for troops rotating in and out of Ukraine -- and how thats disrupted Belarusians lives. Last month, residents of Homel, the regions main city, and other outlying towns reported how corpses of Russian soldiers killed in combat in Ukraine were overwhelming some of the regions morgues. Hospitals were also being filled to capacity with wounded Russian soldiers, and doctors and medical staff were being forced to work exclusively on treating them, according to residents. In recent days, Ukrainian and Western officials have reported that Russian troops have pulled back from frontline positions close to Kyiv, and redeployed elsewhere, including into Belarus. One man who lives in Mazyr, a town southwest of Homel, said the skies were filled constantly with Russian planes and helicopters, and Russian troops were constantly trying to sell goods to locals, including diesel fuel from military supplies. They take the trophies looted from Ukraine and offer to sell them to locals. Refrigerators, household appliances, tires, and whatever comes to hand, the man, who asked only to use his first name, Ilya, told RFE/RL. Even before the beginning of the war on February 24, Homel region residents had reported that Russian soldiers -- whose units had been deployed to Belarus ostensibly for joint exercises with Belarusian units -- regularly sought to sell diesel fuel to locals. Another Mazyr resident told RFE/RL how there were large groups of Russian soldiers who crowded into the towns bars and stores, surrounding and harassing people. The man, who asked to only use his first name, Maksim, said a male acquaintance who had long hair was harassed by soldiers who appeared to be from central Russia or as far away as Siberia. They also stink a lot. You can tell by the smell when you go to the store that they are here. After all, I dont think they bathe, Maksim said. The commanders live in normal conditions. Soldiers live in the woods, in tents and even in barns. The Russians, they behave like theyre masters of the universe, he said. In the Brahin district, which is just 20 kilometers from a major road crossing into Ukraine, residents reported lengthy columns of tanks, armored personnel carriers, and Ural troop transport trucks over the past week. One resident told RFE/RL that Russian soldiers gave him a leaflet in Russian that appeared to be a propaganda effort aimed at justifying the Russian invasion. "Dear comrades, friends, we do not need war! We are not going to attack and bomb cities. We came to fight not with the Ukrainian people, but with the nationalists, at whose hands peaceful people are dying, read the leaflet, which was shared with RFE/RL. In and around Naroulya, a town located on the banks of the Pripyat River, south of Mazyr, residents reported large troop encampments, as well as a field hospital where wounded soldiers were being treated. Soldiers corpses are being sent directly to Russia, they said, either by truck or by train. The field hospital is guarded from the outside by Russian soldiers to ensure that no one takes photographs, said one resident of Narovlya, who asked to remain nameless. There are lots of helicopters flying very low there. Many of them are circling over [the town]. Another resident, who also asked not to use his name, said soldiers were buying up all the alcohol in stores. Once, a Russian [soldier] grabbed vodka and wine, and then his [bank] card didnt work. So he went and put everything back, the person told RFE/RL. But mostly they just buy everything. And take a lot of vodka. Also sneakers, bread rolls, and cigarettes, he added. Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar has said that the Kyiv region has been retaken from Russian troops. "Irpin, Bucha, Hostomel, and the entire Kyiv region have been liberated from the invader," Malyar wrote on Facebook on April 2, naming suburbs of the capital hard hit since Russia's war against Ukraine began in late February. The news came after Ukraine said earlier in the day that Russian forces were making a "rapid retreat" from areas around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv, near Ukraine's border with southeast Belarus. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that much of the Russian military equipment being moved into Belarus was damaged, and that Russian military personnel were taking stolen items, including civilian vehicles, into Belarus in order to ship them to Russia. Retreating Russian forces have also been accused by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy of creating a complete disaster outside the capital and of planting mines across the country as they move toward Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. In his nightly video address to the nation, Zelenskiy said on April 1 that Russian forces were leaving mines, trip wires, and other obstacles in their wake. "They are mining homes, mining equipment, even the bodies of people who were killed, he said. In Bucha, a correspondent for AFP reported seeing the bodies of at least 20 people on a single street, including one with bound hands. The French news agency quoted Bucha Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk as saying that all of the victims had been "shot dead in the back of the head," and that 280 more bodies had been buried in a mass grave. Many of the bodies, he said, "had white bandages on them "to show that they were unarmed." Presidential aide Andriy Yermak said on April 2 that Ukrainian photographer and documentary maker Maks Levin had been found dead near Kyiv following his disappearance more than two weeks ago. "He went missing in the conflict area on March 13 in the Kyiv region. His body was found near the village of Huta Mezhyhirska on April 1," he said in a post on Telegram. Reporters Without Borders said in an April 2 tweet that Levin was unarmed and wearing a press jacket, and that he was the sixth journalist to be killed in the course of the war that began February 24. Zelenskiy warned during his address of difficult battles ahead as Russia redeploys troops. We are preparing for an even more active defense, he said, adding that he expected violent Russian attacks in the east of his country. "The Russian forces are accumulating in the Donbas, in the Kharkiv direction," he said. "They are preparing for powerful new blows." On April 2, the International Red Cross made its second attempt in two days to evacuate civilians from the southeastern city of Mariupol, a strategic port on the Sea of Azov that has been devastated by some of the heaviest urban fighting of the war. The humanitarian organization, which had to abandon an attempt to send a convoy to escort civilians out of the city the previous day, said late in the evening of April 2 that the effort was ongoing, but the situation on the ground was volatile. Russia's Defense Ministry blamed the Red Cross for any failure to evacuate civilians from Mariupol on April 2, saying its team had left too late to reach Mariupol in time, according to Russia's state-run RIA news agency. Live Briefing: Russia Invades Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the major developments on Russia's invasion, how Kyiv is fighting back, the plight of civilians, and Western reaction. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk announced on Telegram, however, that 765 civilians had managed to flee the city in their own vehicles. A further 500 civilians fled the nearby city of Berdyansk, and evacuations were expected to continue on April 3, Vereshchuk said. Roughly 3,000 people reportedly managed to escape Mariupol on April 1, and 3,000 had been evacuated from other cities, according to Ukrainian officials. In his April 1 address, Zelenskiy did not mention the latest round of talks with Russian negotiators that took place earlier that day by video. However, a Ukrainian negotiator was quoted as saying on April 2 that Russia had indicated that negotiations had advanced enough for direct consultations between the countries' presidents. Interfax Ukraine quoted David Arakhamia as telling Ukrainian television that Russia had accepted Ukraine's overall position with the exception of its stance on Crimea. The Ukrainian peninsula was annexed by Russia after its 2014 invasion of Ukraine, and Moscow has insisted that it be recognized as Russian territory. Ukraine has said it will not accept the loss of any of its sovereign territory. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by Russia's RIA news agency on April 2 as saying that it was important for talks to continue, but that Kyiv had rejected Moscow's desire to hold more talks in Belarus. With reporting by RFE/RL's Russian Service, Reuters, AP, and AFP Valentyn seems to have been the last resident of Teterivske, a village west of Kyiv, who stayed in his old wooden house as Russian shells hit his deserted neighborhood. With artillery detonations still dangerously close on March 31, Ukrainian soldiers managed to persuade the elderly, frail, and frightened man to let them take him to safety away from his already heavily damaged house. Russian President Vladimir Putin is seeking to recreate the Soviet Union, an aspiration that also threatens Central and Eastern Europe, Ukraines former prime minister said. Yulia Tymoshenko's remarks, made in an interview with Current Time, were some of the most extensive comments shes made since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.. Vladimir Putin deeply believes that he has a historic mission to recreate the Soviet Union, she said in the interview published on April 1. To return European countries to some past century with all those aspects of prison that were part of the Soviet Union. Live Briefing: Russia Invades Ukraine RFE/RL's Live Briefing gives you all of the major developments on Russia's invasion, how Kyiv is fighting back, the plight of civilians, and Western reaction. For all of RFE/RL's coverage of the war, click here. And his sense of his historic mission is so deep that he is ready to achieve this not only politically, but also economically, using the energy tools that he has, she said. Now a lawmaker in parliament and the head of an opposition political party, Tymoshenko is a fiery and sometimes divisive figure in Ukrainian politics. She served as prime minister twice, under President Viktor Yushchenko, before challenging Viktor Yanukovych for the presidency in 2010. She was jailed during the Yanukovych presidency for nearly 2 1/2 years until the February 2014 Maidan revolution, which culminated in violent street clashes and in Yanukovych fleeing Ukraine for Russia. She finished a distant second to Petro Poroshenko in the 2014 presidential election, and finished third in the 2019 presidential election, trailing both Poroshenko and Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who won the vote. In the 2019 parliamentary vote, her political bloc -- called Fatherland announced that its position would be in opposition to Zelenskiys Servant of the People bloc, which held a majority in the Ukrainian parliament. Among other things, the party opposed legislation backed by Zelenskiy to allow the sale of farmland -- a controversial move in Ukraine, where agriculture plays a traditional and important role in the countrys economy. Tymoshenko was also a key player in Ukraines oil and gas industry, and negotiated directly with Putin and top Russian industry officials in the 2000s amid a series of crises over Russian gas supplies to Ukraine. We must understand that this mistaken idea of Putin's mission in the world could disfigure the lives of not only those in Ukraine, Georgia, and Moldova, but it could affect every European country where he sees his interest in one way or another, she said. You can read this, among other things, in the ultimatum that he delivered to the Western world, the United States, and NATO. This is madness, this is some incredibly perverted perception of reality. Does this mean that the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Baltic countries should be thrown out of the Western world, from the NATO system, collective security? She said the Russian invasion had only bolstered her support for Ukraine joining NATO eventually. The Kremlin vehemently opposes Ukrainian membership, and has demanded that the Zelenskiy government foreswear it for the future. No one can tell us from the outside, especially the aggressor country, how we should build our lives, how we should form our constitution, how we should build the government of our country and the management of our army, she told Current Time, a Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA. No one has the right today to set conditions for Ukraine, that we ought to surrender part of our territory in exchange for the withdrawal from our country of someone carrying around dirty weapons. Ukraine's membership in NATO is the most powerful guarantee, second only to having a strong army, which can once and for all stop any attempts by the Russian Federation to seize Ukraine, she said. And such attempts will not stop. We should not be in any way naive, thinking that today's events, that peace talks will stop the aggressor's plans to seize Ukraine. KOMOROW, Poland -- When the Russian bombing got too close to their home near Kyiv, the Pavlenkos quickly decided it was time to flee Ukraine. In their desperate rush to get out, besides some clothing, the family grabbed three otherwise ordinary items: a giraffe keychain, a packet of buckwheat, and a desk lamp. Now, living as refugees in Poland, the Pavlenkos cling to those three mementos of everyone they left behind, their lives shattered when Russian leader Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of their homeland on February 24, triggering the largest exodus of refugees ever since World War II. Alyona, 45, and her husband, Viktor, 48, have five children: Nadia, Vika, Yana, Andriy, and Myroslava -- aged from seven to 24. Before the invasion, Viktor took odd jobs here and there and Alyona did cleaning on the side, but mainly she managed the family home, complete with a cow, chickens, a cat, a dog, as well as a fruit orchard. Nadia, 24, was teaching Ukrainian in a private school in Kyiv. Vika, 22, was working as a nurse in Zhytomyr. But as the Russian attack creeped closer, Alyona Pavlenko said life became unbearable for the family in their hometown of Vysoke, southeast of the capital, Kyiv. "Since we first heard the explosions on the Kyiv-Zhytomyr highway, we had been sleeping with our clothes on. [There was the sound of] missiles, explosions, planes," she told RFE/RL. "The house was shaking. I was scared and scared for our children: one was in Kyiv, one in Zhytomyr, and three at home with me. My husband was in the territorial defense. If we were in the house at the time, we'd run to the basement, or hide under a window or in the bathtub. My hands were shaking." In the early hours of March 2, with the sound of rocket fire very loud and very close, Alyona rushed outside and ran to the neighbors, who were readying to leave themselves and had space for the Pavlenko family if they wanted to come. They took up the offer and soon found themselves driving away from their homes, not sure when they would return and where exactly they were headed. According to Alyona, they quickly decided to veer toward Poland, given its proximity, a decision taken by more than 1 million Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion. In total, more than 4 million Ukrainians have left the country. They eventually reached and crossed the Ukrainian-Polish border at Medyka in southeastern Poland, where Polish border guards have struggled to process the huge procession of people leaving Ukraine. Alyona said that, while they were relieved to have reached the sanctuary offered by Poland, they were wary as well, hearing stories that some had preyed on refugees rather than help them. There have been reports of Ukrainian woman and girls being raped after fleeing Ukraine. "We were told that not all people are to be trusted. Two girls were lost at the station and everyone was looking for them," Alyona recounted. Two days after crossing into Poland, the family's journey came to an end in Komorow, a leafy town on the outskirts of Warsaw with many large, spacious homes. They were welcomed by Aneta Stremazalska in her three-story home, where she lives with her partner, two children, and mother. "At first I thought very rich people lived here. But now I understand this is a middle-class family," said Alyona, adding that, as she and her family adjusts to their new digs, the question of 'how long will it last?' is always in the back of her mind. "We're still taking advantage of their hospitality. It's clear we are a burden. This can't go on forever," said Alyona as she rummaged through the documents and other items taken from home, including a few articles of clothing stuffed in backpacks. "I have the children. That's all that matters, nothing else is important." She realizes that documents from home, however, are necessary to secure work in Poland, although she clings to the hope she won't need to and dreams of returning home soon. "Every day, I think about going back. One day we watch the news and it looks safe to go back, and then the next day everything is different. I also understand, it can't go on like this. I need to make a decision. If not for the kids, I would have gone back," Alyona explained. Alyona is also struggling to convince her disbelieving father living in Russia of the death and destruction that Putin's invasion of Ukraine has caused, a similar story told by other Ukrainians with relatives in Russia where state-controlled media speak only of a sanitized "special operation," or of destruction caused by "Ukrainian nationalists" or "Nazis." "Despite the fact that his daughter and grandchildren have fled the bombings, he says, 'This is your fault, you [Ukrainians] started it all. When this is all over, I will drive with you around Ukraine myself and show you that all you've been shown is a lie. Why did you leave anyway?'" Alyona said. As Alyona rummages through the documents and other family items, teacher Nadia is wrapping up another online lesson. Some of her students remain in Kyiv, but most are scattered across Europe, refugees like her, finding what they hope will be temporary homes from Greece to Norway. Nadia explained her students are quickly adapting to their new surroundings, noting one student "already knows how to count to 10 in Greek." Nadia, who teaches Ukrainian, says her students seem especially eager with their language lessons now. "They're happy to have classes and always get their homework done. The Ukrainian language is now an important thread that ties them to home," Nadia explained, adding that her efforts to find work as a Ukrainian teacher in Poland have so far come up short. "There are lots of teachers like me here." Asked to pose for a photo with something of value that she managed to take from home, Nadia pulls out a package of buckwheat, a food staple for many Ukrainians. "My boyfriend, Artem, packed this for me, when I left Kyiv, to remind me of home, and also for that so-called rainy day. I'm not thinking about opening it yet. I do love buckwheat though," she said, laughing. Nadia said Artem was now in a territorial defense unit in Kyiv and regretted she was not with him, split apart by the Russian invasion. "It feels so unfair that my whole life that I planned for myself is in doubt now. In the end, I decided my teaching skills would be more useful for children right now. So I teach online every day for free," she said. Twelve-year-old Yana, 10-year-old Andriy, and seven-year-old Myroslava are facing the additional challenges of a new school with teachers and students speaking a foreign language. "I didn't like school back at home either," joked Andriy, asking if "I must go back again tomorrow." Although in good spirits now, Andriy suffered greatly during the conflict in Ukraine, Alyona explained, throwing up nearly everything he ate. His deteriorating physical and mental health is what convinced Alyona that the family must leave. As they scrambled to pack what they could, Andriy grabbed one small keepsake -- a keychain giraffe that he gave to his sister Vika. She has carried it everywhere since. Andriy is not alone in his dislike for school. Yana is struggling as well. "It's boring, I can't get my head into it. I'm drawing in classes, look," she said, showing the doodles of hearts and stars in her notebook. Asked if she took anything from home that is especially important to her, Yana happily answers "yes," a family lamp, and runs out to retrieve it. "I know which lamp she's talking about," Nadia said. "It's a lucky charm of our family." RFE/RL Ukrainian Service correspondent Maryan Kushnir spoke with Ukrainian soldiers in the Kyiv region on March 31. They told him about their situation on the front line and also described details of a battle that took place the day before, in which they say they managed to recapture some territory and take advantageous positions. By SA Commercial Prop News Malibongwe Ridge is an extension to Cosmo City and will incorporate the informal settlement of Itsoseng and will be a mixed use, sustainable integrated development. Basil Read Developments a division of JSE-listed construction group Basil Read, on 11 March 2013 broke ground on a R1,85 billion Malibongwe Ridge mixed-use development, close to Cosmo City in northwest Johannesburg. The mixed-use development, adjacent to the groups Cosmo City development, would comprise affordable housing for over 5 500 families, as well as churches, clinics, parks, schools, commercial and retail opportunities. The entire development is expected to be completed within five years. The R1.85 billion affordable housing project is being developed for the Gauteng department of local government and housing and the City of Johannesburg by Codevco, a Basil Read subsidiary. Codevco's scope of work includes constructing 3,240 low-income housing units with rental rooms, as well as 244 low-income freestanding houses, 669 finance-linked, partially subsidised houses, 604 bonded houses and 754 rental or "social" housing units. In February, Basil Read Developments concluded another major sale at its Klipriver Business Park for R15 million to Chinese Investor, New Hope South Africa (Pty) Limited. The R390 million Klipriver Business Park is located on the farm Waterval and comprises a gross land size of 143ha and development land size of 118.9ha with 96 saleable erven which will be developed in four phases. The Klipriver Business Park covers the entire R59/R550 interchange and is accessible to all major road networks (N1 and N3) and rail network. It is considered to be the new major growth node of Gauteng Basil Read was awarded a road contract worth R279m by the South African National Roads Agency Limited, to rehabilitate the national route 5, section 4, between Vaalpensspruit and Winburg in North West. The 2020 business report on the performance of FDI companies released by the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Planning and Investment, shows that FDI companies have all kept their capital safe, increased their equity, and even expanded their businesses. Therefore, the reported losses by FDI companies is false, when instead they have made many gains. Increase in revenue Based on the 2020 financial statement of 25,171 companies, which make up 90.6% of governing FDI companies and 78.7% of all FDI companies, the Ministry of Finance said that FDI companies earned a total revenue of more than VND 7.5 mn bn in 2020, an increase of VND 340,000 bn, and up by 4.8% over 2019. The equity was almost VND 3.5 mn bn, rising by nearly VND 390,000 bn, and up by 12.4% over 2019, with the owners' investment capital being more than VND 2.3 mn bn. In 2020, 10,125 companies reported profits, which means that 40.2% of the companies turned in their financial statements. Gross profits shown were over VND 406,000 bn, growing by VND 37,000 bn, or up 10% over 2019. Five sectors that made the greatest contribution towards gross profits were industries for electronic components, computers, computer peripheral devices and optical devices; food processing, brewery and beverages; chemicals, plastic and cosmetics; assembly industry of automobile, motorcycles and other engines; and the leather and footwear industry. On the other hand, reports on losses in 2020 came from 14,108 companies, making up 56% of the companies that submitted their financial statements, with losses upto VND 151,000 bn. The total assets of the companies showing losses were over VND 2.4 mn bn, up 22% compared with the total assets of the companies with losses in 2019. The revenues of the companies with losses were nearly VND 1.1 mn bn, increasing 27% over 2019. By the end of 2020, 16,164 companies had reported accumulated losses in their financial statements, accounting for 64% of the companies, with total accumulated losses of more than VND 620,000 bn, or 44% of their equity. The total assets of the companies with accumulated losses were VND 2.9 mn bn, up by 8.1%, and the revenue was over VND 1.3 mn bn, increasing by 5.2%. Of the 4,250 companies that lost all their assets, 466 companies still added investment capital worth more than VND 5,400 bn. The domestic revenue of FDI companies was VND 206,000 bn in 2020, dropping by more than VND 6,000 bn over 2019. This was the first time during the 2016 to 2020 period that a year-on-year fall had been recorded in FDI payments to the state budget. The Ministry of Finance says that revenues and gross profits have increased every year, but there has been no positive sign of companies' reporting on losses, accumulated losses, and losses of original investments. This actually indicates some sign of transfer and tax evasion, causing losses to the tax revenue and adversely affecting the investment environment and fair competition. Proposed criteria The Ministry of Planning and Investment says that one of the hindrances in attracting and managing Foreign Direct Investment in the last few years has been the inefficient use of land at many investment projects and the small scale of projects. The technology used at FDI companies is not considered remarkably superior to domestic businesses. The number of projects applying advanced and modern technology from Europe and the US is only 5%, mainly medium technology, of which 30% to 40% originate from China. Low and outdated technology comprises 15%, which has led to risks and challenges for greater energy consumption and depletion of resources. In particular, technology transfer in Vietnam has been done mainly through capital contribution and procurement of machinery and equipment. This kind of technology transfer only takes place between parent companies overseas and their subsidiaries in Vietnam, rather than making any significant change in expertise, capacity, innovation and technology creation. Upto 85% of FDI companies in Vietnam are wholly foreign-owned companies. This has severely hampered FDI companies' efforts to transfer and spread technology. Currently, the localization rate in Vietnam is 20% to 25% on an average. The rate is 40% to 45% in the textile, leather and footwear sector; 30% to 35% in household electronics; 30% to 40% in synchronous equipment; 7% to 10% in car assembly; 55% in truck assembly; 40% in bus and specialized car assembly; 15% in information technology and electronics industry; and 5% to 10% in the high-tech industry. The report by the Ministry of Planning and Investment says it has proposed seven criteria for attracting Foreign Direct Investment, having learnt from experience over the last thirty years. The criteria for carefully selecting Foreign Direct Investment includes investment rates; labor; technology; technology transfer; connectivity; pivotal effects; environment; national defense and security. In this selection process, environmental criterion plays a key role. The Ministry of Planning and Investment says that this is an important criterion for achieving the goal of sustainable development, attracting further foreign investments, and conserving energy sources. Over the last few years, FDI projects in heavy industries, such as cement, steel, coal powered energy, and petrochemical refining, have caused huge emissions, that have negatively affected the environment. In order to comply with this criterion, the Ministry of Planning and Investment says it is necessary to abide by Article 44 of the 2020 Investment Law, and Decree 31/2021/ND-CP, which has detailed guidelines on enforcement of the Investment Law. These two documents prohibit expanding and extending operations for FDI projects with outdated technology, potentially causing environmental pollution and resource depletion. When their operating term expires, FDI projects that wish to extend their projects must meet the relevant technology and environmental criterion. Quang Minh Rebeccah Glisson will never forget the day in 2010 when her dad and brother showed up at the San Diego preschool where she worked with the news that her sister was dead. Glisson, then 17, said her goodbyes to her co-workers, picked up her things and walked out to the parking lot. Then she collapsed to her knees in grief. It was horrible, she said. Earth-shattering. It was also the experience that started Glisson down the path she walks today as a volunteer group facilitator for The Elizabeth Hospice Childrens Bereavement Centers in Escondido and Mission Valley. Grief is not something you outgrow, she said. There are days when I dont have the energy to put my feet on the floor. What helps is that I have the skills to get me through those kinds of days. I want to use my story to help kids cope with their grief when they have days like that. Advertisement Group facilitator Rebeccah Glisson, 25, talks with siblings Emily Roberts, 7, left, and Nathan Roberts, 10, before a childrens grief support group at The Elizabeth Hospice Childrens Bereavement Center in Escondido last week. The childrens father died two years ago. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) Over the past year, the 25-year-old San Diego State University psychology student has spent six hours a week helping facilitate peer-to-peer grief support groups for children ages 3 to 18. Shes one of 45 volunteers who help run the evening group sessions, which serve more than 200 children countywide. But Melissa Lunardini, childrens bereavement manager for The Elizabeth Hospice, said Glisson is one of the best facilitators shes seen in her 15 years in the business. Beccah is so genuine and authentic but still tied to her grief, Lunardini said. When you talk about gifts and instincts, shes just universally good at reaching even the most nonverbal kids. They will always fold to her and let her in. Glisson said she hopes one day to open her own center for youths recovering from all forms of trauma, including the deaths of loved ones, abuse, gang violence and sex trafficking. On Tuesday evening, Lunardini and Glisson toured visitors through the Childrens Bereavement Center in Escondido. Theres a room with low-to-the-ground couches for group talking sessions, an arts-and-crafts area, a game room, a music room filled with instruments and a fully decorated hospital room. Lunardini said some children find great comfort role-playing their stories in the hospital room because for many thats the last place they saw their loved one before they died. Theres also a newly opened volcano room, filled with colorful thick foam cushions, a punching bag and padded walls decorated with a big embroidered erupting vocano. Its the big energy room, Lunardini explains. Kids who arent as comfortable verbalizing, particularly boys, can deal with their rage, frustrations and anxiety in there without getting hurt. Group facilitator Rebeccah Glisson, left, plays in the volcano room with siblings Nathan Roberts, center, and Emily Roberts at The Elizabeth Hospice Childrens Bereavement Center. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) The centers walls are lined with childrens art projects. Theres one wall of photos of lost loved ones and another wall featuring Before/After drawings showing how childrens lives were changed by death. One Before drawing shows a smiling stick figure mother holding her childrens hands. In the After, the mother is in a coffin and the children are weeping. Theres also a wall of childrens stories titled How I Found Out ... One explained how the childs mother found her husband hanging from a computer cord in the closet of their home office. His suicide, the child wrote, didnt come as a surprise to anyone. Before a group session for grade school-age children on Tuesday, Glisson played with siblings Nathan Roberts, 10, and Emily Roberts, 7, of Rancho Bernardo. Their dad, Scott Roberts, died two years ago from a heart attack at the age of 49. Teresa Roberts said her children handled their fathers death in different ways. Emily is an exuberant child who processes her grief through talking. But Nathan, whos more introspective, wouldnt talk about it all. A year after Scotts death, Roberts brought the kids to the bereavement center in Escondido, where theyve both made dramatic progress, particularly Nathan. Theyre able to express themselves more now in words and pictures, she said. Talking about their dad isnt just about his death anymore, its about love and memories. Glisson said she tries to meet kids where theyre at by reflecting their behavior at the meetings. If they arrive like Emily, full of energy and enthusiasm, Glisson does the same. If theyre angry and sit silently with their arms crossed in a corner, shell sit beside them and we can just be angry together. Beccah has the get it factor, Lunardini said. She knows how to use her story to help kids tell their story and shes really cool. Kids love her. They flock to her. One of the Before/After drawings created during group grief therapy meetings at The Elizabeth Hospice Childrens Bereavement Center in Escondido. (Hayne Palmour IV / San Diego Union-Tribune) Glisson said she knew from an early age she wanted to work with kids, though initially thought it would be in the field of early childhood development. After high school, she was working full-time at the preschool and mulling a move to Boca Raton, Fla., where she could live with her 29-year-old sister Chasity Glisson while she attended college. But then her sister died from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. A few years later, Glisson also lost her father, who had multiple sclerosis and Parkinsons disease. Over the years, she said she has lost more than three dozens other family members and friends to age, illness, accidents and suicide. We all have our paths of hardship, she said. We dont get to choose our cards. I feel l can use all of those experiences to help children have an opportunity to heal. The Elizabeth Hospice Childrens Bereavement Center opened four years ago and now serves more than 500 children through group sessions, school programs and a summer camp. The sessions are free, with all costs supported through donations and grants. After undergoing an assessment, children are separated into age groups (3-6, 6-12, 10-13 and 13-18) and attend 90-minute evening meetings twice a month. These begin with a 30-minute group talking session followed by an hour of activities. Each group has 10 to 15 children, one paid staff member and six to seven facilitators. While the children are in private sessions, their parents and caregivers have their own support meetings. Lunardini said the children learn coping tools from adults and use them to help each other through heavy patches of grief. Boys tell other boys in group that its OK to cry. And at her grandfathers funeral, 7-year-old Emily Roberts gave her mourning uncle a notepad he could use to write down his feelings. Children usually attend the program for two years, though some have stayed for less and some for longer. The program mirrors the school year, running September through May. Glisson said her greatest reward is seeing how the children transform to help themselves and each other. Sometimes, Ill meet my mirror when I see someone going through what I went through, she said. I end up crying my eyes out when I see the support that comes from their peers. For information on The Elizabeth Hospice Childrens Bereavement Center, visit elizabethhospice.org. pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com Covid-19 patients commonly report having headaches, confusion and other neurological symptoms but doctors do not fully understand how the disease targets the brain during infection. And now, researchers have found severe brain inflammation and injury consistent with reduced blood flow or oxygen to the brain, including neuron damage and death. The findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, is said to be the first comprehensive assessment of neuropathology associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection in a nonhuman primate model. The study also found small bleeds in the brain. Surprisingly, these findings were present in subjects that did not experience severe respiratory disease from the virus. "Because the subjects didn't experience significant respiratory symptoms, no one expected them to have the severity of disease that we found in the brain," said lead investigator Tracy Fischer from Tulane University in the US. "But the findings were distinct and profound, and undeniably a result of the infection," Fischer added. The researchers said that the findings are also consistent with autopsy studies of people who have died of Covid-19, suggesting that nonhuman primates may serve as an appropriate model, or proxy, for how humans experience the disease. Neurological complications are often among the first symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 infection and can be the most severe and persistent. They also affect people indiscriminately -- all ages, with and without comorbidities, and with varying degrees of disease severity. Taking serious cognisance of the death of Prabhakar Sail due to a suspected heart attack, the Maharashtra government on Saturday ordered the police to probe his sudden demise. After doubts were raised over the death of Sail -- a key 'panch witness' in the infamous Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) raids on the Cordelia Cruise ship last October, Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil has directed Mumbai Police to investigate. Sail, in his mid-40s reportedly suffered a cardiac arrest at his home in Mahul, Chembur, according to his lawyer Tushar Khandare. His grieving and aged mother Hiravati Sail told mediapersons that her son had been incommunicado for the past few days, and leaves behind two minor daughters. Earlier, on Saturday morning, the ruling ally Nationalist Congress Party and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) raised questions on the witness' death that stunned political circles on the auspicious Gudi Padwa Day (Maharashtrian New Year). Terming it as a 'suspicious development', NCP chief spokesperson Mahesh Tapase demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe. BJP legislator Atul Bhatkalkar wondered whether Sail had meted a fate similar to the Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran who was found murdered after the sensational case involving a SUV with 20 gelatin sticks was recovered near the home of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, erupted in February 2021. Soon after the October 2 raids aboard the cruiser, Sail had created a stir accusing then NCB Mumbai Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede of various irregularities, and hurled allegations of extortion from Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan whose son Aryan was among those detained and later arrested. Besides Aryan Khan, around 19 others were nabbed and two are still in custody, while the NCB has been granted two months' extension to file its chargesheet in the Cordelia Cruise ship swoop case. Sail -- who was described as a personal bodyguard of another independent witness and a BJP activist K.P. Gosavi, had later made several shocking revelations that raised serious questions on the NCB raids and Wankhede. As Pakistan's political situation continues to twist and turn with Prime Minister Imran Khan trying his level best to retain his premiership, repeated claims of a foreign conspiracy to oust his government has raised major concerns over the countrys relations with the US and Europe along with the future of diplomatic ties via foreign policy. Imran Khan has claimed that the US and other western countries have facilitated and planned a plan to oust his government through the no-confidence motion, voting on which will be done tomorrow in the National Assembly of Pakistan. The premier said that foreign powers are using his opposition political parties to oust him because of his trip to Russia and refusing to US and Europe for supporting their position on the Russia-Ukraine crisis against Moscow and condemn the invasion, a demand that Pakistan refused. Khan had waved a letter, claiming it to be a direct threat of dire consequences if he succeeds to tackle the no-confidence motion, adding that all will be forgiven if the incumbent PTI government is thrown off power. While the Prime Minister seems to be using the foreign conspiracy tactic to his benefit among the masses and declared all those who have joined hands against him as "traitors" and "conscience sellers", the claims have been outrightly denied as baseless allegations. Khan's claims raised major reservations over Pakistan's future course of its relations with the US and European Union, which can cause major setbacks to Islamabad's cash-strapped economy. However, it seemed like the Pakistan Army chief took it upon himself to do some damage control as he details Pakistan's future intentions towards its engagements with global powers. Addressing a gathering in Islamabad, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa said that Pakistan does not believe in camp politics. "I believe today more than ever we need to inculcate and promote spaces of intellectual debate and discourse where people from around the world come together to share their ideas about the future of their country and world at large. "Pakistan, as a country located at the crossroads of economic and strategic confronts, is navigating these shared challenges in our immediate region and through our partnership in the international community," he added. Bajwa said Pakistan's first National Security Policy (NCP) highlights that safety, security, dignity and prosperity of its citizens is the nuclear focus of the country's larger interest policy. "It (NCP) recognises the symbiotic relationship between the economic, human and traditional security, placing economic security at the core." Talking about Pakistan's relations with the US and other countries, Bajwa said that Pakistan said Islamabad does not believe in bloc politics. "Pakistan enjoys close relationship with China, demonstrated by our commitment towards the Pakistan China Economic Corridor (CPEC). "Equally we share a long history of excellent and strategic relationship with the US, which remains our largest export market. We seek to broaden and strengthen our ties with both countries without impacting our relations with the other," he added. The COAS also stated that relations with European, Gulf and Southeast Asian countries are also vital for Pakistan's development and progress. The statement holds value because it seems that while Khan may be putting Pakistan's global position in jeopardy, the military establishment has come as a major guarantee to the country's policy and outreach plans moving forward. The Sri Lankan government has imposed an island-wide curfew from Saturday evening to Monday morning ahead of a plan for a massive apolitical public protest on Sunday. The Government Information Department announced that the curfew will be effective from 6 p.m. (Saturday) to 6 a.m. (Monday). A massive public protest is being planned over severe economic crisis including lack of fuel, LPG, electricity and food in Sri Lanka. Ahead of Sunday's protest, on Friday night, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa also imposed the emergency law allowing police to arrest any suspect without a warrant. The civil rights groups and legal experts have criticised the move by Rajapaksa. The Bar Association of Sri Lanka -- an independent body, comprising almost all judges and lawyers, condemned the introduction of emergency law and urged the President to revoke it. The agitated people were determined to get on to the streets despite introduction of the tough law. Opposition parties have said they would support Sunday's protest but disowned giving leadership to it claiming it was a "genuine people's uprising". On Thursday night, the public protest blocked the way to the President's residence, and it turned violent with police attacking protesters. Over 50 protesters were arrested, and over 30 policemen and protesters were injured. During the clash, a bus and several other vehicles belonged to the police were torched. The President's office alleged that the violence at the protest was introduced by an 'extremist' group which wanted enforce an Arab Spring in Sri Lanka. Marilyn Nieves/Getty Image A Los Angeles County judge ruled on Friday that a state law requiring company boards to have at least one director from an underrepresented community is unconstitutional. The law, approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom in September 2020, sets quotas for public companies headquartered in California, mandating that they have at least one board member who self-identifies as Black, African American, Hispanic, Latino, Asian, Pacific Islander, Native American, Native Hawaiian, or Alaska Native, or who self-identifies as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. A San Francisco private school teacher was indicted this week on charges that he received sexually explicit images from two minors in 2013, officials said. Charles Richard Barrett, 33, of San Francisco appeared in federal court on Friday, accused of having sent sexually explicit images of himself to two 16-year-old boys and requesting and receiving similar images from them in return, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Northern District of California said in a statement. Between December 2013 and February 2014, Barrett, then 24 years old, sent one of the boys sexually explicit images of himself via text message. The boy told Barrett that he was 16, but Barrett encouraged him to respond with his own images and the boy complied, sending nine photos. The conversation also included salacious descriptions of the images that were exchanged, according to the complaint. Barrett had a similar text exchange with another teenage boy in 2013. The boy told Barrett that he was 16 and a high school student in San Francisco. Barrett encouraged the boy to send him sexually explicit photos of himself, and he received at least four photos, officials said. Evidence of the exchange of images was discovered recently when federal agents searched a computer in Barretts home as part of an investigation into his partner, officials said. Barrett teaches at a private elementary and middle school, officials said without naming the school. It wasnt clear whether he is still employed or whether he was a teacher at the time of the text exchange. The U.S. Attorneys Office did not immediately respond to a request for additional information. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. The charge of receipt of child pornography could land Barrett in prison for five to 20 years if he is convicted. He could also face fines, assessments and supervised release. He remains in jail pending a detention hearing, which has been scheduled for Tuesday, officials said. Andy Picon (he/him) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: andy.picon@hearst.com Twitter: @andpicon Families with children struggling with addiction or lost to overdoses are putting up a colorful billboard in San Franciscos Union Square shopping district Monday calling attention to the citys dirt cheap fentanyl and arguing the officials should close down open-air drug markets. Its the latest salvo from a group thats held protests in the nearby Tenderloin at the center of the crisis and is now trying to get the attention, not only of San Franciscos elected officials, but also the tourists, office workers and visitors the city is hoping to lure back to the area. It comes weeks after the end of Mayor London Breeds Tenderloin emergency, meant to curb an alarming spike in overdoses in the struggling neighborhood over the past few years, many from the super-powerful opioid fentanyl. The billboard features a glowing nighttime photo of the Golden Gate Bridge with the message Famous the world over for our brains, beauty and, now, our dirt-cheap fentanyl above the span with the words Its time to close open-air drug markets below, along with name and logo of the sponsor, Mothers Against Drug Deaths and its hashtag, #maddtoo. Group co-founder Jacqui Berlinn, the Livermore mother of a homeless fentanyl addict who sometimes lives in the Tenderloin, said the billboard seeks to inform visitors that fentanyl has overrun the city and to pressure city leaders, including Breed and the Board of Supervisors, to take action to stop open drug sales and use. Breed had promised to crack down on drug dealers and open-air drug use and flood the Tenderloin with police as part of the emergency, declared in mid-December. But its only been in the past few weeks that more police have arrived. While some residents and business owners say daytime drug use and sales have quieted, they argue that after nightfall, the open-air drug markets resume. Berlinns group raised $25,000 to post the billboard at the corner of Geary and Stockton streets, overlooking Union Square. It seeks to use tourism, a key to the citys economy, as leverage to force the city to take a more aggressive approach to halting open dealing and use of fentanyl and other illegal drugs. We just want to discourage tourism until the city is able to get this under control, especially the open drug markets, Berlinn said. The message she wants to deliver to San Francisco visitors: Tourists, be aware. You might come and have great clam chowder and see beautiful views but youre also going to see needles on the ground, feces on the ground, open-air drug markets and very sick addicts. Berlinn criticized Breeds recent tourism-promoting trip to Europe and the end of her declared state of emergency in the Tenderloin. The police have said they are trying to address drug dealing but are understaffed. Breed has touted her push to open more housing for the homeless and more beds for addiction and mental health treatment over the past few years, including opening a linkage center in U.N. Plaza to direct people on the streets to services. Breed said reviving San Franciscos struggling tourism sector is vital to maintaining the citys fiscal health and that without a robust budget, the city cant pay for expensive programs to help those struggling with addiction. Before the pandemic, the city filled hotels, restaurants and its convention center with tourists from around the country and the globe. But Berlinn argues that tourists should probably visit another city, not San Francisco, right now because San Francisco should still be in a state of emergency. Mothers Against Drug Deaths is raising money, Berlinn said, for a possible international billboard campaign spreading that message. While the billboard targets tourists, Berlinn said the group of about 200 members is trying to get the city to shut down open fentanyl dealing and the tolerance toward the drugs open sale and use, which she said is the real reason San Franciscos economy is suffering. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. She expects people to ask about whether the billboard and campaign will hurt legitimate businesses in San Francisco, who are not responsible for the crisis. No, the open-air drug markets are whats hurting the economy in San Francisco, she argued. When Breed decided not to continue the emergency, she acknowledged that the state of the Tenderloin is not what it should be, we know, but its going to get better as we continue the pressure. She added that her goal is to improve the conditions, but most of all to improve safety for the people who live there and work there. Berlinn wants to keep up the pressure and said the group realizes the boldness of the billboard and its message. You could say were feeling desperate, she said. Thats why were doing this campaign. The billboard will be up for a month. Michael Cabanatuan (he/him) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported Jacqui Berlinns city of residence. A Bay Area elementary school has restored its mask mandate after reporting a sudden increase in COVID-19 cases. Since March 22, Coleman Elementary School in San Rafael has confirmed 23 total cases of the coronavirus across the school 17 in students and six in employees the district said. In response, the school informed families that it would be reinstating an indoor mask mandate through April 15. Marin County schools aligned with state guidelines that allowed lifting indoor mask mandates on March 12, though face coverings were still strongly recommended. This has not been a time for alarm, but for us to implement the recommended public health strategies to respond to an uptick in cases and decrease risk of transmission, Christina Perrino, a spokesperson for San Rafael City Schools, said Friday. Our community has displayed patience and support as we continue to make decisions in the best interests ... of our entire Coleman community. In the past few days, the number of new cases has also decreased significantly, said Perrino. At this point, Coleman Elementary appears to be the only school in the county to reinstate a mask mandate, but Bay Area infectious disease experts say that going forward, similar backtracks may occur across other schools, in other districts. This is to be expected, said UC Berkeley infectious disease expert Dr. John Swartzberg, referring to the spike. We still have circulating virus in our community, albeit at a much lower level than weve had since last year ... but its not like theres no virus here. Swartzberg and other infectious disease experts said that its more likely that individual schools could make choices to reinstate mask mandates versus districts, which would probably only make that decision if COVID-19 case counts started to increase rapidly both across the district and within their counties at large. Nearly three weeks have passed since school districts in the Bay Area dropped their indoor mask mandates, and case counts are quite low. Still, its unclear how the arrival of the new BA.2 subvariant of omicron which experts say is anywhere from 30% to 80% more transmissible will play out in the Bay Area. BA.2 now makes up roughly half of cases nationally and 60% of COVID cases in the Western region, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is definitely a dress rehearsal for whats going to happen once BA.2 becomes more prominent and spring break continues to fuel cases, said UCSF infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Chin-Hong. Again, most people are not worried about our hospital capacity, but were worried about disruptions in the community. Bay Area experts noted that while the school is returning to using one of the most powerful risk mitigation tools in our disposal masking it might not make much of a difference if the rest of the community isnt masking. Having individual mask mandates in the schools when the rest of the community isnt (masking) doesnt necessarily make sense, said Chin-Hong. Its porous. Nevertheless, this particular spike should still be looked at for what it is: one particular spike, said Swartzberg. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Perrino said that the district isnt aware of other Marin County schools restoring the indoor masking requirement, and that the district overall has seen a very minimal, if any, number of cases. The county has not given us any guidance about reinstating the mask requirement for all San Rafael City Schools, nor do we anticipate doing so in the near future, given our low numbers of cases at all our other schools, Perrino added. Mike Grant, director of the Marin County Office of Education, said that across all of the countys schools, things seem to be going well. There hasnt been an alarming increase in cases, and some students and staff are continuing to wear masks, said Grant, adding that with spring break a day away, students and staff have also been issued optional rapid tests to take upon their return. Annie Vainshtein (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: avainshtein@sfchronicle.com A coalition of port workers, truckers and cargo terminal operators is filing a lawsuit against Oakland and the As over the environmental review of the Howard Terminal waterfront project the first legal challenge that could potentially throw a curveball at the teams $12 billion ballpark and development. The forthcoming lawsuit comes more than a month after the City Council certified the environmental review of the ballpark and surrounding development. Certifying the environmental review, a nearly 3,500-page report, meant that the council agreed the city adequately studied the environmental impacts of the project and potential mitigation. The As and the city expected opponents to sue. The certification kicked off a 30-day window which ends Monday for legal challenges. The As are expected to benefit from a state law that says lawsuits related to the project must be resolved within 270 days, shortening any potential delay. The East Oakland Stadium Alliance; Schnitzer Steel, a metal shredding facility in West Oakland; Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, which represents port workers; the Harbor Trucking Association; California Trucking Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union filed the lawsuit in Alameda County Superior Court. The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) certified by the City of Oakland for the Oakland As proposed project at Howard Terminal did not adequately disclose, analyze, or mitigate all of the significant adverse impacts this massive and disruptive redevelopment on the working waterfront will cause, said Mike Jacob, the vice president of Pacific Merchant Shipping Association and spokesperson for the entire group. Jacob said the As proposal will have major disruptions and impacts to both the surrounding community and the operations of the Port, yet the EIR did not fully address these concerns or mitigate these well-known issues. Jacob and the group have been urging the city and the As to develop a ballpark at the Coliseum. The As have said the Coliseum is off the table. The Howard Terminal ballpark and development would be one of the largest real estate projects in California bringing needed housing, jobs, tax revenue and economic development to Oakland. Dave Kaval, the president of the As, said Friday the state law that limits the lawsuit timeline doesnt guarantee a win for the team, it just means youre going to know sooner. Kaval said the legal challenge puts a cloud over the project and obviously demonstrates why we need to be on parallel paths with Las Vegas. If you look at the people who filed the suit, you have the largest polluters in probably the state using an environmental bill, CEQA, to stop a project that is going to clean up the environment, improve air quality and provide access to the water, Kaval said. Its absolutely crazy that thats happening. City officials couldnt immediately be reached for comment. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. In March 2021, the As sued the California Department of Toxic Substances Control over alleged pollution at Schnitzer Steel and won. The settlement required Schnitzer to pay penalties and fund environmental cleanup projects that help the surrounding neighborhoods. Schnitzer was also ordered to make changes to its Oakland facility to control toxic emissions. CEQA challenges have been used by anti-development forces for decades. Opponents have argued that a new waterfront ballpark is incompatible with the port. Last month, a state committee recommended against eliminating maritime use at the Howard Terminal site a major setback for the team. The committees decision isnt final but its vote is a recommendation to the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission, a state agency that protects the bay. The agencys approval is needed for the As to build at Howard Terminal. The As, Mayor Libby Schaaf and port officials have argued that a new ballpark and a working port can coexist. Sarah Ravani (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: sravani@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @SarRavani Provided by Gran Electrica Gran Electrica, an upscale Mexican restaurant in downtown Napa that was beloved for its playful atmosphere and original margaritas, announced Friday that it will close its doors permanently. The news comes roughly three months after the restaurant shuttered temporarily for an extended winter break and almost four years to the day after it opened in 2018. Tamer Hamawi, co-owner of Gran Electrica with his wife Blaire Scheibal, said that the challenge of finding staff was ultimately the reason for closing following a difficult few years due to COVID-19 and wildfires. The restaurant was in a constant state of hemorrhaging staff, particularly over the past year, Hamawi said. Gran Electrica lost two key employees in 2021: opening chef Ignacio Beltran (formerly of Thomas Kellers Ad Hoc and the Restaurant at Meadowood) and longtime general manager Kat Weis, who departed to spend more time with her family. Staffing struggles also caused the restaurant to cut its menu in half, and it stopped serving main courses. California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis made national news on Thursday by becoming the first woman in history to sign a state measure into law. The bill she ratified, Assembly Bill 2179, extends statewide eviction protections through June for renters who have applied for a state relief program - protections that would have expired this past Thursday had action not been taken. Feel good story? Unfortunately, no. Seemingly lost (arguably by design) in the national fanfare over Kounalakis historic first is the fact that the bill she signed contained a poison pill. Embedded in its text is a preemption clause that prevents jurisdictions like San Francisco from enforcing their own local eviction moratoriums, while allowing moratoriums in some places - like Los Angeles to survive. There is no policy rationale for overriding local eviction protections in San Francisco, etc., while allowing other cities to protect their renters, State Sen. Scott Wiener D-San Francisco and Assembly Member Phil Ting D-San Francisco, both of whom voted against the bill, said in a joint statement this week. We shouldnt be playing favorites by allowing some cities to protect their renters while prohibiting other cities from doing so. Cities must have the ability to protect their residents from eviction and homelessness. San Francisco is a city known for its political excesses. Trying to help its residents from being tossed into the street amid a deadly pandemic that continues to cause chaos in the global economy, however, isnt one of them. And arbitrarily stripping the city of its ability to do so reeks of an ugly backroom deal. Data compiled by The Chronicle show that nearly 21,500 households in San Francisco County were behind on rent as of February. Collectively, these households owe nearly $199 million. More than $5 billion in federal funds has been made available to make the households whose back rent stems from COVID and the landlords they owe whole. But the state rental relief program charged with distributing most of these funds has been clouded by bureaucratic failures. Upwards of a year after California began accepting applications, not even half of the more than 507,000 households who have applied for the program have received aid. Those numbers dont include more recent applications sitting on desks, waiting for the machinery behind this program to process them. This is why flexible local eviction moratoriums remain so essential. And yet California didnt just eliminate the ability of places like San Francisco to protect its residents, it cut off new relief applications as of March 31 - even as it actively pursues funding sources to expand the programs pot. The state requested an additional $1.9 billion in federal funds last November, money that it is still seeking. And legislators recently passed a law to streamline the relief process to make it easier to quality. It still wasnt easy enough. In the wake of the bills signing, many lawmakers expressed concern that non-English speakers and some other groups had struggled to navigate the process and had been left behind. We urge these and other lawmakers to take stock of the systems failures and aggressively move to remedy them before a wave of evictions swells the ranks of the states homeless population. Its not as if California lacks the capability to put money in peoples pockets in a hurry. Gov. Newsom is lobbying for an $11 billion rebate that would give $400 debit cards to car owners including electric vehicle owners to combat the rising costs of gas. Payments could conceivably go out as soon as July. That Tesla owners could see direct relief from a momentary gas price hike, as thousands of struggling renters are thrown out of their homes due to bureaucratic bungling, is an injustice that cant be allowed to occur. Landlords are right to insist that tenants cant be allowed to forgo rent payments in perpetuity. Blanket eviction moratoriums have to end eventually. The quickest and most ethical way to get to this place, however, is for California to more efficiently use the massive pot of funds at its disposal to make those with COVID debt whole. If were prepared to clear the way to put cash in the pockets of Tesla owners, we can do the same for those at risk of eviction and homelessness. This commentary is from The Chronicles editorial board. We invite you to express your views in a letter to the editor. Please submit your letter via our online form: SFChronicle.com/letters. Commentary: Building China's "city of future" with grit, perseverance Xinhua) 09:29, April 02, 2022 BEIJING, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Five years after ground was broken on Xiong'an New Area, this sustainable, modern, and innovative urban model is well beyond the "blueprint" stage. A "city of the future" is on the horizon and with it, a future of infinite possibilities. A plan of this magnitude requires grit and perseverance unseen in a generation, as evidenced by the sweat and ambitions of the thousands of construction workers helping to build this project up from an idea to a livable city. Everything -- from its initial plans to construction on the ground -- has been designed to relieve Beijing of functions non-essential to its role as the national capital. Each stage advanced with the highest standards, ensuring both quality and efficiency. According to official statistics, with the financial backing of 618.4 billion yuan (97.2 billion U.S. dollars), construction has begun on 177 key projects. Among these priority projects, 60 -- accounting for over half of the investment to date -- have been completed. Since 2021, Beijing-based universities, hospitals, and centrally-administered state-owned enterprises (SOEs) have been brought into the project to assist the area's construction. SOEs have already set up more than 100 subsidiaries and branches across Xiong'an. The building drive, however, has not come at the cost of the environment. From the very beginning, authorities have been firm that Xiong'an's beautiful and tranquil surroundings should be equally essential elements of the project. About 30,000 hectares have been regreened since November 2017, increasing the forest coverage rate from 11 percent to 32 percent. The water quality of Baiyangdian, the largest wetland ecosystem in northern China, is now significantly higher than before the project began, and wildlife populations have similarly benefited. The progress of the new area, a microcopy of China's high-quality development, has been well observed by global watchers closely following the rebalancing of Chinese economic development. Xiong'an, therefore, is not only critically important for China's transition but is also relevant for the rest of the world, given the role that economic interdependence plays in the future of the global economy. As a commentary by the U.S. Brookings Institute put it in 2018, a successful Xiong'an may profoundly change China's geo-economic landscape and contribute to the rebalancing of Chinese economic development. Xiong'an -- both a symbol of and a challenge to China's ongoing economic transformation -- thus deserves careful attention now, and in the years to come. China will continue to adhere to its people-centered philosophy and proceed to realize green and low-carbon development with proper population density and return the environment to its original state. Only by providing a livable environment and quality public services will Xiong'an accommodate people's growing needs for a better life on China's great course toward modernization. (Web editor: Peng yukai, Liang Jun) Attempted to Embezzle $332,027 During the Purchase of a New Embassy Building WASHINGTON A former ambassador for Sri Lanka pleaded guilty today to diverting and attempting to embezzle $332,027 from the government of Sri Lanka during its 2013 purchase of a new embassy building in Washington, D.C. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, Raymond Villanueva, Special Agent in Charge, Washington, D.C. Field Office, Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of the FBIs Washington Field Office Criminal Division. Jaliya in red shirt Jaliya Chitran Wickramasuriya, 61, of Arlington, Virginia, served as ambassador for the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the United States and to Mexico from 2008 to 2014. He pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to a charge of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The charge carries a statutory maximum of five years in prison and potential financial penalties. The Honorable Tanya S. Chutkan scheduled sentencing for July 20, 2022. According to court documents, from in or around late 2012 through November 2013, Wickramasuriya devised a scheme to defraud the government of Sri Lanka during its 2013 purchase of a new embassy building in Washington, D.C. by inflating the price of the real estate transaction by $332,027 and, at closing, diverting those funds from the government to two companies which had no role in the real estate transaction. At and after the January 2013 closing, Wickramasuriya directed these payments. Later in 2013, Wickramasuriya ultimately had an equal amount of funds redirected back to government accounts, leaving the Sri Lankan government with no loss. In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Graves, HSI Special Agent in Charge Villanueva, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Jacobs commended the work of those who investigated the case from Homeland Security Investigations and FBI. They also acknowledged the efforts of those who handled the prosecution of the case, including Paralegal Specialists Brian Rickers and Angela DeFalco, Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew Grisier, Alejandra Arias and Steven Brantley, of the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section of the Department of Justice, Assistant U.S. Attorney Arvind Lal of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Columbia, and Christian A. Levesque, Acting Deputy Chief of the Human Rights and Special Prosecutions (HRSP) Section of the Departments Criminal Division. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance of the Justice Departments Office of International Affairs. ( US Justice Department) Just weeks after the George Floyd protests began in earnest in May 2020 and protesters calls to rein in police power and funding made their way into the mainstream a reactionary movement to refund the police was already beginning to take shape. An experiment was taking place, it told us. And in short time that experiment had already failed with deadly results. Of course, the vast majority of cities did not cut police funding, and the handful that did almost immediately backtracked. But that didnt stop a torrent of media coverage from echoing the burgeoning refund movement talking points, insisting that rises in crime sometimes real, sometimes imagined proved these cuts had failed. More definitive rises in crime in early 2021 were then paraded as further proof that police needed more money, not less. These days, American media is flooded with very concerned articles and takes about how cities are rethinking defunding the police amid spikes in crime. (Note: for the purposes of this piece, Im accepting the mainstream, state definition of crime. It is one that has been contested for centuries, but I will not here). Perhaps not surprisingly, police departments across the country have in turn received even more funding. Defunding was, in reality, incredibly rare. And yet crime continues to rise. New York City boosted its Police Department budget by $465 million from 2021 to 2022, an increase of 4.7%. As of March 5, according to CNN, overall crime reported in New York, compared to the same period last year, has gone up 41%, including a 54% increase in robberies, a 56% increase in grand larceny incidents and a 22% increase in rape. Chicago increased its 2022 police budget by $147.3 million, or 9.2%, and has seen a sizable spike in crime in 2022 as well, with an overall reported crime increase of 36% from 2021 to 2022 and a 29% increase in killings from pre-pandemic March 2020 figures. Meanwhile, a Third Way study from March 15 showed that tough on crime red states, not allegedly lenient blue states, were seeing the highest increase in homicide rates. Weve heard plenty about the alleged rise in crime under San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudins watch, but relatively little about nearby Sacramento County, where its district attorney, Anne Marie Schubert, is running for California Attorney General under a tough on crime banner. She frequents Fox News to bash far left Soros progressive prosecutors, and has made lowering crime by throwing the book at criminals her primary campaign theme. In service of this approach, the city of Sacramento increased its police budget a whopping 22% from 2020 to 2022. Yet, despite these increased funds and all the tough posturing from Schubert, Sacramento saw a sizable increase in reported crime from 2020 to 2021: a 31% increase in killings and a 12% increase in robberies. Early 2022 statistics arent fairing any better, with six killings; 25 non-fatal shooting incidents; 20 robberies involving guns or knives, assaults or violent threats; 13 assaults and two car-jackings in the first 18 days of the year. So where are the calls to examine and reconsider the refund the police movement? Where are the front-page stories about cities rethinking the policy of pumping millions more into police in the face of increasing crime rates? Where are the hand-wringing takes about tough on crime prosecutors proving ineffective against spikes in crimes under their watch? About how much their approach is failing? There wont be any because this line of criticism only goes one way. When street crime increases under soft on crime prosecutors or police budget cuts (even if these cuts are largely a phantom), its the fault of cutting resources and not throwing the book at enough bad guys. But when street crime increases under the watch of conservative prosecutors, and amid massive police budget increases, its proof that the public simply needs even tougher laws and enforcement, and even more money for the police. Its a rigged game. Carceral ideology, like all dogmas, cannot be disproven: It cannot fail, it can only be failed. This all speaks to a central contradiction at the heart of the U.S. approach to street crime. For decades the U.S. has had the highest homicide rate and one of the highest crime rates, in general among rich countries. It has also had, far and away, the highest incarceration rate. Using 2010 data culled long before any recent criminal justice reforms, one study found that the average American was 25 times more likely to be shot and killed by another American than those in other wealthy nations. Yet, at the same time, the U.S. had (and still has) the largest incarceration rate in the world. Not just among rich countries, but among any country. And its not even close, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. If all U.S. police budgets were combined, they would make the third largest military budget on Earth, behind only the U.S. and China, according to Security Policy Reform Institute. And with another $32 billion in federal funds recently proposed by the Biden administration, this number will no doubt balloon even more in 2023. And yet, the U.S. continues to have uniquely horrific levels of violence compared to other developed nations. U.S. police budgets, collectively, are almost double the size of the Russian military. Yet more is always needed. More tools, more money, more power, more criminalization. The U.S. incarceration rate is five times more than most countries in the world, but to solve this particular surge in crime, the carceral ideologues insist, it has to tick up to six times. None of this makes any moral or common sense, but its not supposed to. No experiment in history has failed more at its nominal goals, with higher human stakes, than carceralism. There is no actual correlation between counties with progressive prosecutors and high crime, or tough on crime district attorneys and low crime, according to one analysis. Indeed, Sacramento shows the opposite. But it doesnt matter: A narrative has been cemented, and it feels vaguely true that throwing more people in our prison system will make us safer. In our increasingly austerity-obsessed post pandemic economy, approaches to crime that focus on reducing inequality, staging community interventions and providing robust social welfare seem more distant than ever. More police and longer sentences are seen as the best option available because, just as throughout our countrys history, its the only option weve been offered regardless of how many times it fails at its nominal goal of actually making us safer. Adam Johnson is co-host of the Citations Needed podcast and writes at his Substack, The Column. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Matt Gonzalez, long one of San Franciscos leading progressives, understands better than most the political headwinds District Attorney Chesa Boudin is facing in the June 7 election to recall him. Gonzalez, the chief attorney in the San Francisco Public Defenders Office, supports his former colleague and opposes the recall. That said, Gonzalez said Boudin faces one big political challenge: Is the paint already dry in terms of what people think of him? That dynamic is shaping the nationally watched recall: How much will San Francisco voters pin their frustrations about crime, homelessness and life in general on Boudin? Will voters listen to him plead his case, or will he be made a scapegoat for the citys bigger problems? The anti-recall campaign understands this and is trying to depersonalize the campaign. Just look at how its signs have changed. The anti-recalls early signs read: Reject the recall in small letters above the words Chesa Boudin in large letters. On the bottom of the signs was the phrase Stand up for justice. The new campaign signs: Dont Get Conned in large red type above the smaller, Stop the Republican recall. No mention of Boudin until the tiny disclaimer type at the bottom: Ad paid for by Friends of Chesa Boudin Opposing the Recall. We are running against the recall, said Jim Ross, a veteran Democratic consultant advising the campaign. Ruth Bernstein, a longtime San Francisco pollster, recently published a poll that showed that 68% of likely voters will vote to recall Boudin. I wondered how there could be few undecided voters. Bernstein said she, too, was initially shocked by that aspect of the survey, which was paid for by the pro-recall campaign. But other questions on the poll showed that even after only two years in office, Boudins name recognition is very, very high. ... It is rare that an elected official has that much name ID and awareness. In other words, the paint is drying. Boudin isnt cowed. While his name might be off the signs, hes considered the campaigns strongest in-person asset as he explains his positions better than anyone. Over the past few weeks, hes been everywhere, headlining rallies, popping up at house parties and campaigning door to door from the Fillmore to the Excelsior neighborhoods. His tone is defiant and a bit defensive at times. He points out that the pandemic-related lockdown took place two months after he took office and hes had to try to impose reforms while his office like most conducted business via Zoom. Despite that, he points to his successes, like eliminating cash bail. He, too, is running against the recall. He points out that when he ran in 2019, the four candidates engaged in dozens of debates, forums and neighborhood meetings. Here, its a very different dynamic where voters are being asked to say yes or no, without any process, or frankly, discourse about what comes next, Boudin told me. Thats a really, really problematic process for deciding something especially in the middle of a first term, after two years where COVID-19 has turned the world upside down. Recall leader Brooke Jenkins, who left the District Attorneys Office last year over what she calls Boudins incompetent leadership, is frustrated that Boudin hasnt taken enough responsibility. Its either the mayor, its the police, its the pandemic, its poverty, its a host of other issues or agencies who are the issue and not Chesa, said Jenkins, one of dozens of attorneys who have left the office. Recall leaders such as Mary Jung, a former chair of the San Francisco Democratic Party, said Boudin continues to behave like a public defender, and thats not the way its supposed to work. Here are some things to watch as the campaign unfolds: Not the school board recall: Forget comparing the Boudin recall to the February ouster of three San Francisco school board members. The school board race was off the traditional election calendar. with roughly one-third of registered voters casting ballots. Boudins judgment day will be part of the statewide June primary ballot and a much larger pool of largely Democratic electorate not single-issue voters. Plus, the school board members on the ballot didnt raise much money and barely campaigned to defend themselves. Boudin will have plenty of money and a strong campaign. Democrats largely back Boudin: Unlike what happened during the school board recall, when San Franciscos top Democrats split, leaders are lining up against Boudins ouster. The San Francisco Democratic Party Central Committee composed of the citys top party leaders opposed the recall in February by a 20-2 vote. Many of the citys top Democratic clubs are opposing the recall. On Monday, the Noe Valley Democratic Club will announce that it voted to oppose the recall. Plus, hes got support from top unions, including the California Nurses Association, the Service Employees International Union and labor groups representing teachers and hotel workers, Recall supporters counter that more than 80,000 San Franciscans signed the petition to put the recall on the ballot a not-so-silent majority of roughly 10% of the citys residents. Can Boudin campaign? It is fair to wonder about how a relatively inexperienced campaigner like Boudin will perform under the hot lights of a recall; hes run for office only once. Boudin works a room like a seasoned pro, from chatting voters up in Spanish to showing photos of his 7-month-old son. He hands his business card to people he chats up, telling them to email him about their concerns. Motorists honked in support as they passed him campaigning along Fillmore Street last week, and several people stopped him to offer praise. Rich Celis, a retired San Franciscan, buttonholed Boudin last week at a breakfast honoring labor leader Cesar Chavez. Celis thanked him for defending his nephew when Boudin was a public defender. I cant believe it. He remembered every detail of the case, Celis, who opposes the recall, told me moments after they spoke. Hes a trusted guy. Enough time to explain? Boudin said a public education campaign is needed to explain what exactly district attorneys are responsible for and what they arent. That will be tough lesson to teach over the remaining two-plus months until election day, especially when there is so much frustration in the city about its many problems. Take what happened when Boudin appeared at a town hall at Mannys, a well-known political community space in the Mission District. The first audience question was about conservatorships the process of compelling those with mental illness to go into treatment. Good question but thats not the district attorneys turf. That didnt stop a handful of others from posing similar questions. Asian vote is key: Longtime Chinatown advocate Vanita Louie was inspired to volunteer for the pro-recall campaign after the death of 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee, which became a powerful symbol of the increase in anti-Asian violence. Louie lives in the Anza Vista neighborhood, where Ratanapakdee was fatally attacked. Anti-Asian hate and violence continues to rise, our seniors dont feel safe, violent criminal action is not being prosecuted correctly, Louie told me. Boudin has two more years of office. We cant wait that long. This is why recalls have become popular, because the people of San Francisco cant take much more, are not satisfied with what is going on within the schools and with crime. If pro-recall forces can rally Asian American voters to support Boudins recall in the same numbers as they backed the school board recall, the D.A. could be in trouble. The Republican factor: The anti-recall corps points out that hedge fund manager William Oberndorf gave $602,722 to recall backer Neighbors for a Better San Francisco Advocacy. Hes also been a major donor to Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. The blame-the-GOP-for-the-recall strategy worked for Gov. Gavin Newsom last year in part because there were Republicans on the ballot to replace the governor if voters booted him. Newsom warned voters that if he were recalled, the leading vote-getter to replace him was conservative talk radio host Larry Elder, who held many views that were far out of Californias mainstream. But Boudin doesnt have an Elder to scaremonger about. Hes running against himself even if his name isnt on the campaign signs. Joe Garofoli is The San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. Email: jgarofoli@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @joegarofoli Parts of downtown San Francisco may never be the same. The area roughly bounded by Kearny and Market streets, Pacific Avenue and the Embarcadero is no longer the boarded-up ghost town from the darkest days of the pandemic, when shelter-in-place orders and remote work emptied the citys economic heart. But the rivers of people that used to stream through the narrow, windy streets of the Financial District have not yet come back in full force. While some employees are starting to return to offices a few days a week, there are still vastly fewer people hopping trains and buses to head downtown for work. That means less money spent on lunches and after-work drinks, and less tax revenue for the city. But while some long for a return to the busy pathways and full offices of the past, others are realizing the area may have to evolve into more of a neighborhood to survive and thrive. Which is why downtown booster groups want the district to draw crowds as an events and dining destination, instead of relying on crammed trains of commuters pumping money into the area like in years past. That is partly why San Francisco business districts are using technology like collecting cell phone location data to analyze movement trends or street-level sensors that register human outlines and count each person that strolls by to closely watch how many people are returning to the downtown area, and when. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle We cant be known as just the Financial District anymore, said Robbie Silver, the executive director of Downtown SF, the nonprofit community benefit district funded by voluntary assessments on property owners that covers the roughly 43 blocks of the Financial District and Jackson Square. Silver said as more people return, getting away from the image of a downtown where all we have are banks and people walking around in suits is crucial to the areas long-term recovery, and to avoid a return to the pandemic days that saw the area emptied out and seemingly abandoned. One event from last year called Lets Glow SF saw local artists project light displays onto the areas historic buildings. Silver said it drew about 40,000 people, including many families, to the downtown core despite the pandemic, and at a time when the area would otherwise be mostly empty. Part of how Silvers group knew how many people were at the event and are going downtown these days is through data collected by sensors placed throughout the district, made by a company called Springboard, that count how many people are walking by, and by Placer Labs, which uses anonymized cell phone location data it gets from third-party apps to estimate the movements of large numbers of people over time. The four Springboard sensors on and around Montgomery Street between California and Market streets found pedestrians in the areas where they are set up nearly doubled from about 46,000 during the first week of the year to more than 88,000 during the second to last week of March. That is a shift from the slightly more than 36,000 people the sensors counted during the first full week in September 2021, shortly after they were first installed. The Placer Labs location data showed that more than 39,000 people visited San Franciscos downtown from Jan. 1 to March 15. Thats up from about 23,000 during the same period last year but still far below the more than 100,000 people who showed up in that period in early 2020, right before pandemic lockdowns took hold. The Placer data also looks at how long a particular cell phone spent in the area on average, called dwell time. That metric ticked up for people going downtown to nearly seven hours during the first six weeks of 2022 compared with last year, indicating people are not just headed downtown but staying there for most of the workday. The numbers are estimates and not exact counts, said Ethan Chernofsky, the companys vice president of marketing. The company receives anonymized cell phone location data from other apps that people have agreed to share their location data with, and uses an algorithm to draw insights about peoples locations in a given area. All those data points help Silver see when people are in the area and where, to help inform the search for ways to keep them coming and sticking around for a meal or event. Silver said a poll run by Downtown SF that reached more than 830 people showed cultural events and more food and beverage options topping respondents downtown wish lists. Downtown SF has also hired Sitelab Urban Studio, a strategic design firm, to develop a plan to build the area into more of a neighborhood and not just a business district. Our North Star is to become a 24-hour neighborhood, Silver said. Sitelabs plan is scheduled to be released at the end of June and will focus in part on the revitalization of public spaces. But the obstacles to realizing that vision were partly outlined in a report released Thursday, which showed city economists expect about a third of workers to telecommute long-term, more than double the 15% projected in a previous five-year plan. That is likely to hurt the citys business tax revenue by about $64.6 million, or 7%, in fiscal 2022-23, because where people are physically working can determine how much tax their companies pay to the city. Fewer people heading into commercial districts could also mean less sales tax revenue, the report found. Silver said the community benefit district also looks at other statistics like transit data and office swipe-ins reported to the city to get a sense of how close to a pre-pandemic normal the area is. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle The latest report from the city Controllers Office showed that while BART exits at downtown San Francisco stations increased from January to February, they were still only about 20% of February 2019 levels. Office entrance data from Kastle Systems also showed attendance rebounding in the San Francisco metro area as the omicron surge abated earlier this year, but the city was still behind other areas such as Los Angeles, New York and San Jose. The San Francisco area is still only seeing about a third of people showing up to offices each week compared with before the pandemic, although that number is trending up. The San Jose metro is seeing a similar trend, while Los Angeles is closer to 40%. Those numbers partly reflect the city pushing hard to get many of the areas largest employers on board with a return to in-person work. Google and Uber are among the companies going along with Mayor London Breeds plan to bring workers back, which goes a long way to persuading others to do the same, said Alex Kaplan, a Downtown SF board member who works at real estate investment firm Tidewater Capital. Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. Messaging is really critical, Kaplan said. It sets the right tone that San Francisco is coming back. The Financial District is not the only area of the city whose boosters are watching, and monitoring, the crowds as they trickle back. The Union Square Alliance, formerly the Union Square Business Improvement District, uses Springboard software installed in seven of the more than 450 cameras that surveil the roughly 27-block neighborhood, said Stacy Jed, the groups director of marketing and events. That is up from about 350 cameras in 2018. Those sensors use technology to determine a human outline and count people as they enter and exit the area, but dont use facial recognition technology, Jed said. In an email, she said the sensors are installed along Powell, Market and Stockton streets and Grant Avenue, but declined to say where exactly they are located, saying only, It is not in the publics best interest for us to disclose this. Those sensors counted close to 164,000 pedestrians moving through the area during the week of March 21, about double the same period the previous year and more than four times that same week during March 2020 when pandemic shelter-in-place orders had just taken effect. Back downtown, Silver said he hopes to use all the data his group is collecting and to combine it with other sources like transit ridership into an online dashboard to help businesses understand where and when people are heading downtown. If Im a restaurant and Im hearing good news about people coming back to work, I want to have a one-stop shop for all of that data, Silver said, alluding to one example of how the data could help businesses and event planners adapt to a changed downtown. Even without that information at his fingertips yet, the Placer Labs data are already showing other trends, including the days of the week Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays when people are more likely to visit downtown. Were finding (people) are coming back for full work days, during the middle of the week, Silver said, although the data still show far fewer visits compared with the same period during the first six weeks of 2020. But compared with the darkest days of the pandemic when people wondered whether offices might be gone for good and the fortunes of places like downtown with them, data showing more people heading to work midweek gives Silver a sliver of hope. Monday and Friday arent far behind, he said. Chase DiFeliciantonio is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: chase.difeliciantonio@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ChaseDiFelice In 2009, high school friends Michael Vincze and Colin Louis Dieden traveled from Calabasas to San Francisco on a whim. One night, while staying in a cheap motel, the pair stayed up late to pen an energetic musical homage to the city, featuring a chorus where its subject loses their head in San Francisco / Waiting for the fog to roll out. They didnt know it then, but Vincze and Dieden who later formed alt-rock band the Mowglis had just written what would become todays most popular San Francisco song, at least according to Spotify data. The infectious 2013 hit has now been streamed over 70 million times, propelling the band to a respectable level of indie stardom. To determine the most popular San Francisco song, The Chronicle searched Spotify for tracks with the term San Francisco in the title, combing through nearly 1,000 songs to curate a playlist of about 250 songs with the citys name in their titles, but excluding songs recorded live in San Francisco. There are a number of songs that dont have San Francisco in the title but are clearly about the city, like Grace Cathedral Hill by the Decemberists and 16th & Valencia Roxy Music by Devendra Banhart. Thus, our list might not be the the most comprehensive set of San Francisco songs, but at least the methodology is consistent. Although the total number of streams isnt available for all of these songs, Spotify does offer a popularity index for every song, which is based on how often and how recently it has been streamed. It is based on this metric that the Mowglis come out on top. Songs by Mac Miller, Foxygen and Train also make it into the top 20. While most of the popular songs are relatively new, some, including (I Left My Heart) In San Francisco by crooner Tony Bennett, have stood the test of time 60 years, to be precise. The nostalgic standard, first recorded in 1962, has also served as the victory theme song from the San Francisco Giants, and has been covered dozens of times by artists ranging from Brenda Lee to Bobby Womack. Also featured is the hippie-era hit San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair), sung by Scott McKenzie in 1967. In addition to tracking current popularity, Spotify also offers data on the musical characteristics of every song in its library. One of those characteristics is a songs danceability, which is based on how upbeat and consistent its tempo is. This data is collected based on data collected by the music intelligence company Echo Nest, which Spotify purchased in 2014. The single most danceable San Francisco song, according to the algorithm, is a bit of a surprise pick: titled San Francisco Office Music, by the ambient artist Morning Jazz, at first glance it doesnt seem like the kind of song that would get your feet tapping. But see if you can stop yourself from swaying when it comes on. Other especially dancy San Francisco songs include the mellow, pleasing San Francisco Street by Sun Rai; San Francisco Hustle by the 70s-era disco band Silver Convention; and San Frandisco by Australian techno artist Dom Dolla. Of course, no San Francisco playlist would be complete without Andre Nickatina. The celebrated local rapper makes it into most danceable category, with San Francisco Bay off the album Booty Star Glock Tawk. The artists lyrics reflect his love for the city and its landmarks, though we cannot endorse his speeding: As my driver goes 90 over da Bay Bridge // It's like smokin' weed all up in heaven. Echo Nest also created a valence metric for each song, which essentially measures how happy a song feels. The company had a music expert rate the positivity level of some sample songs and their characteristics, and then applied machine learning techniques to extend those rules to other songs. The most high valence, or positive, San Francisco song is San Francisco, a relatively unknown but undeniably pleasant tune by the lo-fi pop artist Jude Shuma. Other top positive songs include the thrilling Streets of San Francisco by film composer Henry Mancini and Save Me, San Francisco by Train (of Drops of Jupiter fame). If your energy is less marvel at the view from Bernal Hill and more fume at how the tech industry has driven my favorite bars out of business, try playing San Francisco '' by the country-rock band Lucero. The songs energy is perfect for a rage-filled walk through your neighborhood as you listen to frontman Ben Nichols accuse the waves and the fog of dooming his romantic relationships, and think about moving somewhere sunnier and cheaper. While the valence metric may capture certain attributes of songs, it does not encapsulate everything. For instance, one of the most positive songs about San Francisco according to the algorithm is San Francisco Bay Blues as performed by Paul McCartney, likely due to its catchy, upbeat rhythm. But the songs lyrics are actually quite depressing: Drought Map Track water shortages and restrictions across Bay Area Check the water shortage status of your area, plus see reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Areas largest water districts. I got the blues from my baby left me by the San Francisco Bay, The ocean liner's gone so far away. Didn't mean to treat her so bad, she was the best girl I ever have had, She said goodbye, I can take a cry, I want to lay down and die. But even if the data isnt perfect, it still yields a fun musical grab bag of San Francisco tunes that will make you fall in love with the Golden City all over again. And if you want to pick your own favorites, check out the complete playlist with all the songs The Chronicle analyzed here. The 20 most popular songs can be found in the playlist below: Susan Neilson (she/her) is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: susan.neilson@sfchronicle.com This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate A slew of controversial bills in Texas and Florida that opponents say discriminate against LGBTQ people and infringe on abortion rights is drawing a mixed response from some of the states biggest employers: Major tech companies and entrepreneurs, many of which moved their headquarters out of California to the states. Despite the ostensibly liberal ethos of Silicon Valley, some companies that have relocated or deepened their ties in each state have stayed mum on whether they support the controversial legislation or not. Others, like Founders Fund venture capitalist Keith Rabois, who have touted the business-friendly aspects of Florida say it doesnt make them reconsider their moves, while some tech transplants feel motivated to become more politically active in their adopted states. Tesla and Charles Schwab, which moved Bay Area headquarters to Texas in recent years, didnt respond to requests for comment on the states bill restricting abortions and Gov. Greg Abbotts order to investigate gender-affirming care of youths as child abuse, which has been blocked by a judge until a trial set for July. Ilana Panich-Linsman/Special to The Chronicle Tech giants Google, Apple and Facebook parent Meta have major expansion efforts in Austin, Texas, and signed a public letter denouncing the order. They were also among more than 200 businesses that signed a letter opposing anti-LGBTQ legislation in all states. Two recent Silicon Valley transplants also signed the letter: Austin-headquartered Oracle and Houston-headquartered Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Companies react to Texas, Florida bills or stay out No comment: Tesla, Charles Schwab, Fast, Verkada, Opsway, TrustLaye Oppose anti-LGBTQ bills: Disney, Apple, Google, Meta, Oracle, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Adobe, Affirm, Airbnb, Box, Dropbox, Gilead, HP Inc., Intel, Levi Strauss & Co., Lyft, Microsoft, Amazon, PayPal, Salesforce, SAP, Splunk, Twitter, Uber, Wells Fargo, Yahoo, Yelp, Zendesk, Zoom, Zynga See More Collapse Google and Meta declined to comment further, while Apple and Oracle didnt respond to a request for additional comment. As a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community, I am deeply concerned about laws being enacted across the country, particularly those focused on our vulnerable youth. I stand with them and the families, loved ones, and allies who support them, Apple CEO Tim Cook, a gay man, tweeted on March 10. Politico reported that Apple has lobbied against anti-LGBTQ legislation and took a lead role in calling for other companies to sign a letter opposing the Abbott order. Hewlett Packard Enterprise, which was spun out of Palo Alto firm Hewlett-Packard in 2015, has publicly advocated for unconditional inclusion for the LGBTQ community for many years, and we oppose efforts to discriminate against the transgender community in any form, said Adam Bauer, a company spokesperson. The consumer-electronics-focused HP Inc., once part of the same company, also signed the letter. On another hot-button issue, Hewlett Packard Enterprise hasnt taken a position. Weve not taken a position as a company on the issue of abortion, in Texas or anywhere else. HPE does cover abortion through its medical plans, including out-of-state care and certain costs associated with lodging and travel if its necessary to go out of state for care, Bauer said. Last month, some employees at the Walt Disney Co.s massive Orlando theme park protested Florida legislation that bars sexual orientation or gender identity topics from being taught between kindergarten and third grade. Opponents have dubbed it the Dont Say Gay bill. After weeks of silence, Disney later said it would seek to repeal the bill and that it never should have passed, signing onto multiple open letters along with a long list of other companies that oppose the measures. In response, Republican lawmakers in Florida are now threatening to repeal the 1967 law that empowers Disney to essentially self-govern at its theme park. Last month, Gov. Ron DeSantis said Disney crossed the line and has lost any moral authority to tell you what to do. The entertainment juggernaut that was founded in California continues to deepen its investments in Florida. Last year it was moving about 2,000 corporate jobs from its California headquarters to the Orlando area. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has recently urged the company giant to rethink its Florida expansion. Fewer California companies have relocated their headquarters to Florida, but Miami has become a much-hyped pandemic-era destination for tech entrepreneurs, a trend spurred on by its tech- and business-friendly mayor. That movement started in 2020, before the Florida Legislature passed the Dont Say Gay bill; the controversial Stop Woke Act, which bars education around critical race theory; and banning most abortions after 15 weeks. While that kind of legislation may run counter to the socially liberal image that Silicon Valley has fostered over the years, it hasnt caused any prominent companies or founders to visibly reverse course away from Florida. Lucy Guo co-founded Scale AI in San Francisco and now runs Backend Capital from Miami, where she has become a booster for tech moving to the city. She said that while she doesnt agree with some of the recent legislation, it hasnt directly affected her life. As a bisexual woman Im not happy about it, but no state is perfect. The pros outweigh the cons for me, and Ive never felt discriminated [against] in Miami, Guo said in an email. In fact, its the most welcoming city Ive lived in. Ive never felt so comfortable with stating my opinions and being open about my sexuality. People here are open minded and dont see things as black and white. Instead of abandoning their newly adopted states altogether, some Bay Area tech veterans see socially conservative legislation as a clarion call to become more involved in state and local politics. Alfonso Duran / Special to The Chronicle Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes Melanie Ensign, CEO of cybersecurity startup Discernible, moved to Miami partly to get away from what she described as the insular culture of Silicon Valley and to spend more time indulging her love of scuba diving. A registered Democrat, she said, These hateful laws that weve seen enacted by our state elected officials dont actually reflect what Floridians want. Nobody really wants a big brother government that tries to police our personal lives. Instead of relocating away from the state, she said she donates to Democratic political causes and voting against candidates who support the kinds of socially conservative policies the state has been enacting. It hasnt made me rethink my decision [to move here] in the sense that Im second guessing it, Ensign said. Its made me rethink what it is that I need to do while Im here. Tech transplants to Florida havent solely focused on Miami. Companies including Opswat and TrustLayer that were formerly headquartered in San Francisco have relocated their main offices to Tampa. Neither responded to emailed requests for comment. Financial tech company Fast and surveillance camera and software maker Verkada also opened offices there, and Fast CEO Domm Holland also moved to Tampa with his family. Neither company responded to emails seeking comment about the controversial state legislation. A spokesperson for Tampas mayor also did not respond to a request for comment, but Craig Richard, phe President and CEO of the citys Economic Development Council, called the legislation concerning in an email. However, in Tampa we celebrate our diversity as a strength, Richard said. For companies thinking about relocating or expanding to the Tampa area, I assure you that we are an inclusive community that is welcoming and accepting to everyone. The group also pointed to the city electing an openly gay woman as mayor and being rated highly for LGBTQ equality by Human Rights Campaign as proof the city could not easily be grouped in with other parts of the state. Rabois, the Founders Fund venture capitalist, has continued to preach the benefits of Florida, which he sees as more business friendly than California. Rabois, who is gay, was succinct when asked in an email whether he was rethinking his decision to relocate to Florida, writing: Nope. Roland Li and Chase DiFeliciantonio are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: roland.li@sfchronicle.com, chase.difeliciantonio@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @rolandlisf, @ChaseDiFelice The world loves Point Reyes for its beaches, its trails, glorious birdwatching, baby elephant seals and even its cheese. And every weekend, thousands of cars bomb down Sir Francis Drake Boulevard to revel in all it has to offer. But what many folks dont realize as they zip over the road from Fairfax, and past Lagunitas-Forest Knolls, is that they are passing right by some very fine hiking trails while en route to the Bay Area regions gem of a national seashore. One such trail is the hike to the top of Mount Barnabe, which is not only a lovely walk, but its summit offers unforgettable vistas in every direction. In fact, the vistas are so sweeping that this is one of two working lookout stations remaining in Marin County. I came upon the Mount Barnabe hike while scouring various guides for something new and different in the West Marin area. After flipping past the usual 5-star spots such as the Coastal Trail on Mount Tamalpais or the Estero Trail at Point Reyes, there it was: a BEST rating for a hike Id passed countless times driving down this road. In fact, Id camped right by it during weekends spent at Samuel P. Taylor State Park, one of the Bay Areas most popular camping destinations. So why would a person go to Mount Barnabe if its so close to a place like Point Reyes that lures hiking enthusiasts from all over the world? Well, one big reason is because its NOT Point Reyes. As youre probably aware, on a busy weekend, trails at Point Reyes can give some in Yosemite Valley a run for their money. A walk down the Bear Valley Trail or out at Tomales Point can feel as overrun as a day at the mall when people actually went to malls. David Curran David Curran David Curran David Curran Views and vistas from Mount Barnabe, along the Marin Coast (Photos by David Curran/SFGATE) Views and vistas from Mount Barnabe, along the Marin Coast (Photos by David Curran/SFGATE) By contrast, the average number of hikers per day on Mount Barnabe is between 15 and 25, according to Natasha Gilchrist of California State Parks, and this is spread over a few different trails to the top. Another reason is the aforementioned view. At 1,466 feet in elevation, Mount Barnabe towers high enough to offer sweeping vistas of Tomales Bay and beyond to the north. You can see Mount Diablo 42 miles to the east, and to the west, you can stare out at Inverness Ridge and Point Reyes. Not far to the south, there is Kent Lake, shimmering and (currently) full, surrounded by forest. And then there is the trail itself. As you ascend Mount Barnabe, the path is so well maintained and such a gentle grade you barely realize youre going up. If ever there was a hike that defined moderate difficulty, this is it. Getting to the Mount Barnabe trailhead is so simple you can give your Google Maps a day off. Head west on Sir Francis Drake Boulevard and travel 0.8 mile past the turnoff for the Samuel P. Taylor State Park Campground. At this point, you will see a sign for Devils Gulch. Across the road from here is a large turnout with room for about 15 cars to park. On a sunny Saturday afternoon, this may seem like frightfully few, but this is also a reason the hike never gets too crowded. You can also park in the Samuel P. Taylor daytime parking lot, which will cost you $8. Then you walk down through the park and get here. There are other routes up Mount Barnabe without starting at Devils Gulch, but today we are focusing on this one. As you begin your walk, youre heading north along Devils Gulch Creek. Stay on the paved section and then peel off onto the trail to the right adjacent to the creek. Within 5 minutes or so youll cross a bridge where you can go left or right. Go left. Here youll see a sign for Bills Trail and Stairstep Falls. In the other direction is the Deadmans Gulch Trail, which seems a little hyperbolic for such an unperilous trail, except for one thing: this trail actually passes a dead man. Yes, in 0.3 mile in this direction, you can see the grave of Samuel P. Taylor himself. David Curran Resist the temptation. Taking this route will get you up Mount Barnabe but only via a steeper and less pleasant fire road. Those looking for a cardio workout may get excited by this. But if its the grave site thats attracting you, you can pay your respects to Mr. Taylor on the way down. Instead, proceed up Bills Trail, which is 3.7 carefully maintained miles long and a dream for those needing an assured path underfoot. It is also so full of switchbacks it can be a little hypnotic, especially since the rise is so gently graded youll barely break a sweat while climbing more than 1,000 feet in elevation. But Bills Trail isnt just gentle; its a beautiful forest hike. The sweeping branches of bay laurels bend over the trail that is also lined with plenty of oaks and old mossy Douglas firs while ferns cover the hillside. It also just recently reopened a few days before April 1 after a winter closure that is typically from November to April due to flooding. So go on this trail soon and be among the first for 2022. I first took this hike on a sweltering summer day in 2021 and remained cool all the way up. It is a highly recommended heat-wave hiking destination. And while the trees offer shelter, the downslope direction has views out into a canyon and a grassy slope across the way. This is that perfect combination of a shaded forest hike with plenty of light. After 0.6 mile on Bills Trail, there is the option to turn off to see Stairstep Falls. It is a brief diversion, but, given the current lack of water, it is not much of a cascade and only recommended for the most die-hard waterfall seekers. David Curran From here to the top of Bills Trail, the hike enters a period of very long, gently graded switchbacks. It was only near the top of this mesmerizing back and forth that I realized Id lost complete sense of how long Id been walking it was about an hour and 45 minutes and soon after this, the trail ended, popping me out onto a fire road. Once on the fire road, you are instantly greeted with your first sweeping view, looking northwest toward Point Reyes and Tomales Bay. Now you will proceed along the fire road to the top of Mount Barnabe. This is only a quarter of a mile long but steeper than any part of Bills Trail. But it is actually not that steep, as I was reminded upon reaching the top, where I was met by eight toddlers who had walked up there with their dads. Now at the summit, you can take in the breathtaking views in every direction. Returning from Mount Barnabe, you can retrace your steps down Bills Trail, which means a 3.7-mile descent. Or, you can take the express route, the fire road, which is about half the distance. Since it is also much steeper than the gentle Bills Trail, those with knee troubles might want to bring along their hiking sticks. David Curran Walking down the fire road offers opportunities to glance up at this mountain which was incidentally named for the donkey of Samuel P. Taylor and see how far you climbed. And then, as you near the bottom, you can stop for a visit to the grave of Mr. Taylor, putting the capper on an altogether pleasant hike you otherwise may have just passed right by while heading to that more famous destination down the road. This article, Google: Bye-Bye, Bidets. Employees: Not So Fast., originally appeared on CNET.com. Googlers upset by the company's decision to remove bidets at its California offices may soon have a new option. Tushy, a bidet specialist company, stepped into the steaming pile of controversy earlier this week, offering in an open letter to send Google its travel bidets to help employees "wash away those pesky poop particles." The portable bidet, which looks like a squeezable water bottle, is handheld. The obvious PR stunt comes amid swirling discord at the search giant, which annoyed its staff by removing bidets, toilet attachments that offer a strategically targeted stream of water to clean behinds, from its facilities. Posts to Twitter indicate that removal of the bidets, made by Japan's Toto, began in March. That set off an emotional response from Googlers, who are returning to the office after two years of pandemic. Google is requiring employees to come into the office three days a week beginning on April 4. In a now-deleted tweet, Yasmine Evjen, a developer relations lead at Google, expressed her frustration in a message punctuated with emojis. Technology publication Protocol reported earlier that Googlers upset by the removals had posted their discontent to an internal meme page at the company. "The removal of bidets in the office is my #2 issue with RTO," one employee reportedly posted. Disappearing bidets are another item on a growing list of complaints employees have lobbed at Google leadership. An internal survey showed employees are dissatisfied with compensation and the potential for promotion. A recent lawsuit alleges that Google shows bias against Black employees and the company recently settled a separate suit with six employees over workplace activism. Last month, 500 employees signed a petition for "unjustly retaliating" against a product marketing manager for criticizing a contract with the Israeli military. Google didn't respond to a request for comment. A maintenance ticket regarding the bidet removal seen by Protocol included a reply from a facilities manager at Cushman & Wakefield, a real estate services firm that's contracted by Google. The facilities manager reportedly said removal of the bidets would help Google meet an environmental target that includes switching to recycled water systems, which aren't compatible with bidets. Cushman & Wakefield didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. While Googlers may miss their bidets, research has delivered both positive and mixed results about their use. Some research suggests that bidets can lead to components being contaminated with bacteria, raising the risk of cross infection. Anecdotal evidence suggests it helps patients with mobility issues, such as Parkinson's disease or arthritis. "There's no evidence that bidets increase or decrease the risk of urinary tract infections,'' said Dr. Shyam Sukumar, an assistant professor of urology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Attachable bidets can be found on Amazon for as little as $29. Google, however, opted for units manufactured by Toto, a company known for luxurious toilets that can cost more than $1,000. Images posted online suggest Google was using Toto Washlet C2 seats, which are fitted to an existing commode. The heated seats include a dryer and deodorizer. They retail for $405 on Amazon. Tushy's portable bidet is a less elegant lavatory accoutrement. But the company says it "won't throw a wrench" in Google's recycled water system as it can use potable water. Zac Bensing, associate director of product development at Tushy, said in an email that filters can be used to make recycled water all the safer. "Based on our experience, filters can easily be installed with most bidet attachments to prevent damage typically caused by minerals and other deposits found in varying water systems." Kevin Boutwell/Getty Images Remote valleys in Hawaii have become far and few between, but in the 1950s, when Dr. Bernard Wheatley wandered from Europe to the U.S. and, finally, to Hawaii, he found isolation in what is now the Napali Coast State Wilderness Park. Wheatley began living in Kalalau Valley in 1957, when he was about 38 years old, living off of taro, fruit and fish. He became known locally and nationally as the Hermit of Kalalau. It was an unlikely move for a man who had been a brilliant student and doctor, according to those who knew him. Wheatley was born in 1919 in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, one of 10 children. He graduated from Meharry Medical College at the top of his class in 1945, but because of racism Wheatley was Black he was rejected from a top Boston hospital despite earning the highest score during the application process, a December 1959 Ebony Magazine article reported. This was the real blow that crushed him, said Dr. John W. Parker, a Brooklyn surgeon and Wheatleys college roommate, according to the article. He had a different outlook after that. He simply lost interest." Wheatley began practicing in Sweden after a return to the Virgin Islands. But just six years later, for reasons that are still unknown, he left his medical practice, gave away all his money and personal belongings and arrived in Hawaii. Wheatleys home became a large cave on the beach, at the end of the Kalalau Trail, about 100 yards wide and 40 yards deep, which he kept impeccably clean. Westend61/Getty Images/Westend61 Located on Kauais Napali (the cliffs) coastline, the Kalalau Trail weaves in and out of five valleys and along the cliffs edges high above the sea. The trail is most widely known for its first 2 miles to Hanakapiai Beach, but backpackers with permits can continue to Kalalau Valley and its beach including the cave where Wheatley lived at the end of the 11-mile trail. Native Hawaiians lived in the Napali Coasts various valleys, and remnants of this history can still be seen today, such as rock wall shelters found in Hanakapiai Valley, agricultural terraces in Hanakoa Valley, and heiau (traditional Hawaiian place of worship) situated on cliffs. The Kalalau coastal trail wasnt built until the 1800s, and Hawaiians largely traveled the coast by ocean in a canoe or by land, climbing over the cliffs. Its believed Hawaiians left Kalalau Valley in the early part of the 20th century. From then through the 1950s, it was a largely uninhabited coastline. People may think I am a fool, said Wheatley, in a 1961 Honolulu Star-Bulletin article, but I have found real happiness and above all real peace of mind in the valley. There are conflicting reports about why Wheatley left his life behind to become a hermit. A heart attack in 1951 may have caused him to take a long look at his life, Ebony magazine reported. Another report says that he had lost his wife and son in an automobile accident. When he arrived in Hawaii, Wheatley didnt immediately hike to Kalalau. He lived in a Honolulu hotel, without means of support or a way to pay his hotel bills. He was arrested and jailed, until someone paid them and he was released. "My guess," a friend of his said, according to Ebony magazine, "is that these experiences are what finally drove him out of the world and into Kalalau. To a man of his sensitivity, I should think an arrest and appearance in court with attendant publicity would be a sort of final stamp of social disapproval in his mind." Whatever the reason, Wheatley talked of his time in isolation as a time for thinking, writing and immersing himself in the teachings of Christ. He was also vocal of his disdain toward modern society and medicine. He says the delights he found in civilization were bitter, the men he knew were dull and the medicine he practiced was spurious. He says the legendary Kalalau Valley is the only place he has found where a man can be honest 24 hours a day, Ebony reported. On the outside, Wheatley said, I constantly feel limitations around me. The instinctive reaction to a new situation is fear. There is so much that is negative in the world, so many people say, Thats impossible. Here in the valley I feel no fear or limitations. Here there is more than just quietness. There is a big peace. It is true that foreign exchange inflow due to tourism in Sri Lanka has severely fallen due to two years of pandemic. Sri Lankan government could do nothing about this. by N.S.Venkataraman All said and done, millions of Sri Lankans living in Sri Lanka and in several countries abroad as well as those who admire the Sri Lankan culture and traditions for various reasons and millions of tourists who have visited Sri Lanka and enjoyed the beautiful landscape of the land and local hospitality, are shocked and surprised that economic crisis in Sri Lanka has been allowed to become so severe now,. This is particularly so , since Sri Lankas human development index value for the year 2019 puts it in the high development category. More than one reason : There are more than one reason for Sri Lankas present crisis. While some reasons are beyond the control of the Sri Lankan government, there are other reasons which could have been prevented or anticipated and the intensity of the problem could have been reduced by implementing pragmatic forward planning measures. Factor beyond control : It is true that foreign exchange inflow due to tourism in Sri Lanka has severely fallen due to two years of pandemic. Sri Lankan government could do nothing about this. Factor due to faulty decision on farming operation : The decision of Sri Lankan government to switch over to organic farming and import organic fertilizer from China has resulted in disastrous consequences. The efficacy and overall advantages of organic fertilizers over chemical fertilisers is still a matter of debate all over the world. Organic fertilizer has a low shelf life and has to be stored , packed and transported in low temperature and sealed conditions and the farmers need to be trained adequately well in handling organic fertilizers. None of these precautions seem to have been adequately taken care of by Sri Lankan government. No country in the world has switched over to organic fertilizer in a massive way like what Sri Lanka has done. Further, the organic fertilizer supplied by China was declared as sub standard and was rejected by the testing laboratories in Sri Lanka. However, China rejected the complaint that the quality was bad and insisted that Sri Lanka should make the entire payment. Obviously, to keep China in good humour, Sri Lankan government paid huge money to China for organic fertilizer that was not used. Due to the use of organic fertilizer, production of crops such as tea came down severely and the export of such agro products declined , that were contributing to Sri Lankas foreign exchange earnings earlier. Certainly, the present government of Sri Lanka should admit this mistake. But,it has not done in the way that it should be done. High interest loan from China : Sri Lankan government has been availing loan from China which amount to around 10 to 15% of its total debt , at high interest Since the year 2000, China has become the leading provider of commercial loans to Sri Lanka for infrastructure projects including the Hambentota port. About half of Sri Lankas foreign debt was owed to capital markets. While taking such loans, the repaying capability and the capacity to serve the debt by paying interest was not adequately planned or calculated. All the past Sri Lankan governments in the last decade or so are responsible for making Sri Lanka debt ridden. Unproductive investment of loan amount Several of such loan amount were utilized for projects such as construction of stadium, Mattala airport, Lotus Tower in Colombo and others which are non revenue yielding projects. The Rajapaksa government is largely responsible for such wasted investment. What way out now ? Individuals can declare themselves as insolvent and run away. But, countries with millions of people do not have this option and have to find a way out. If such crisis are not sorted out by good planning and governance, the consequence would be very severe and the mass protest will start and violent incidents will take place, as it has started happening in Sri Lanka. With the debt burden of more than 35 billion US dollar, there is no way that Sri Lanka can repay such debt or service the debt for the next several months. Obviously , Sri Lanka need the support from friendly countries to tackle the present crisis. While India has responded with great speed by providing shipload of diesel and other credit , there is a limit beyond which India cannot assist Sri Lanka to overcome the crisis. In such situation, Sri Lankan government should give up the prejudice that it has developed with regard to IMF and some countries, which are rich enough to help Sri Lanka at this stage. Sri Lanka should realise that its relation with China has only resulted in a scenario , where Sri Lanka has been forced to surrender Hambentota port to China and got into a debt trap. There is little common between China and Sri Lanka , as Sri Lanka is a democratic country and China is a totalitarian regime . Sri Lanka is a country with people devoted to religion such as Buddhism, Hinduism , Christianity etc. China does not have such regime ,which accepts religion as way of life. As a matter of fact, in the relation between China and Sri Lanka, Chinas gain is much larger than that of Sri Lanka, as location of Sri Lanka provides several strategic advantages for China in military terms and transportation . Alliance with countries that share value system : Obviously, Sri Lanka has to become closer to countries like USA, Canada ,Japan and European countries , that advocate liberty and freedom in the way that Sri Lanka also does and practice democracy in the way that Sri Lanka does. In todays conditions, Sri Lanka certainly need financial and technological support which only countries like USA and Canada and European countries as well as Japan can provide. Obviously, this requires that Sri Lanka has to move away from depending on China and cast its eyes elsewhere. Focus on economics and growth rather than politics in external relations is the only option for Sri Lanka . Of course, Western countries have been accusing Sri Lanka of human rights violation unjustifiably. This issue can be sorted out by skillful diplomatic move by Sri Lankan government in dealing with USA and European countries. Form national government for one year : There is accusation that Sri Lankan government is being governed like a family concern by Rajapaksas. This impression should be removed. What is needed now is cooperation between all political parties realizing that entire Sri Lanka is now caught in an extremely difficult situation and political up manship by one political leader or the other would be counterproductive for the whole country. Let a national government be formed and a taskforce appointed to guide the country to overcome the economic crisis in one year period . Let there be election after this. Since the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan last August and Russias invasion of Ukraine in February, the White House has been desperate to showcase U.S. strength on the world stage. But the Biden administration has struggled to rally traditional Middle Eastern allies against Russia, raising questions over U.S. influence in the region. by John P. Ruehl For decades, U.S. policy in the Middle East has relied on coordination with the Saudi-led Gulf states, Israel, Egypt and Turkey. Since the Obama administration, however, relations between Washington and its core regional allies in the Middle East have floundered, confounding the United States ability to manage Middle Eastern crises and formulate consensus in the region. Washingtons troubled relations with its Middle Eastern allies have become particularly pronounced since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine. Though all the Middle Eastern countries that are American alliesSaudi-led Gulf states, Israel, Egypt and Turkeycondemned Russia at the UN Resolution in March for starting a war with Ukraine, only Israel has implemented sanctions, albeit minimally. The reluctance to impose sanctions by the United States allies in the Middle East reflects their intention to avoid antagonizing Russia, which is increasingly influential in the region, and also reflects their dissatisfaction with Washington and confirms the perception that its influence in the region is waning. U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia began to deteriorate notably in 2015. The Iran nuclear deal implemented by former President Barack Obama caused considerable alarm in Riyadh, while Saudi Arabias intervention in Yemen, which also began that year, received only lukewarm U.S. support. Obamas successor, President Donald Trump, took a more pro-Saudi approach upon entering the White House in 2017, traveling to Saudi Arabia on his first foreign trip as president and increasing weapons sales to the country. President Joe Biden, however, adopted a hard stance against Saudi Arabia during his 2020 presidential campaign. He declared he would make Saudi Arabia a pariah if elected, criticized Saudi policies in Yemen and called for the country to take accountability for the 2018 assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. These foreign policy stances taken during Bidens presidential campaign continued after he became president. Weeks after entering office in 2021, Biden released a 2018 U.S. intelligence report on the assassination of Khashoggiwhich concluded that the assassination in Turkey was carried out on behalf of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who considered the regime critic a threat to the kingdompaused weapons sales to Saudi Arabia, announced an end to U.S. support for the Saudi campaign in Yemen and removed Yemens Iran-backed Houthi rebels from the U.S. terrorism list. Bidens intent to downsize the U.S. presence in the Middle East, part of an ongoing trend seen since the Obama administration, has also caused alarm in Riyadh. The Saudis have long relied on the U.S. presence to deter threats in the Middle East, from when Saddam Hussein ruled Iraq to Iran today, and Bidens remarks spelling out the United States diplomatic stance in the Middle East have further enhanced Saudi fears over its own security. In 2021, more than 300 Houthi drone and missile attacks hit Saudi Arabia, and there have been recent attacks on the United Arab Emirates by the Houthi rebels as well. The UAE has also joined the Saudi-led campaign in Yemen. The Gulf States deteriorating security situation and the belief that the U.S. is unwilling to provide satisfactory assistance to them have instigated Arab attempts to diversify their security guarantors. In August 2021, for example, Saudi Arabia and Russia signed a military cooperation agreement aimed at developing joint military cooperation between the two countries. The UAE agreed to purchase dozens of French Rafale jets and helicopters in December 2021 and signed a multibillion-dollar contract with South Korea for an air defense system (based on a Russian design) in January 2022. It was also revealed in December 2021 that Saudi Arabia was building its own missiles with Chinese assistance, while a suspected Chinese military base under construction in the UAE was shut down in November 2021 following pressure from the U.S. Leaders of both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have recently declined calls from Biden to discuss the Ukraine crisis soon after Russia attacked the country, while Riyadh also rejected U.S. calls to increase oil production and help lower oil prices in mid-February 2022. And in March 2022, Saudi Arabia and Qatar criticized the West for the resolute response to Russia in Ukraine while neglecting crises in the Middle East. Israels relationship with the U.S. has also fluctuated in recent years. Obama and former Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu shared a strained relationship over Palestine as well as the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran. U.S.-Israeli ties were revived under Trump, who moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, recognized Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights and took a more forceful approach against Iran (including canceling the Iran nuclear deal). But the Biden administrations renewed efforts to reimplement the Iran nuclear deal, coupled with warnings over Israels expansion of settlements in the West Bank, have complicated U.S.-Israeli relations again. Russias influence over Iran and Syria has also made Israel cautious of condemning the Kremlin, lest it may need Moscows assistance to alleviate future crises with both these countries. Perceptions persist in Egypt that the U.S. abandoned former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in 2011 after he faced nationwide protests as part of the wider Arab Spring. Following his downfall, the Muslim Brotherhood under Mohammed Morsi led the country for more than a year until a military coup, denounced by the White House, deposed him in 2013. Biden has taken a tepid approach to build back the United States relationship with Egypt under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, who has led the country since 2014. While the U.S. has maintained its military assistance to Egypt, it cut $130 million in military aid to Egypt in January 2022 over human rights concerns in the country. The move blunted Egyptian enthusiasm for a tough response against Russia after its invasion of Ukraine the following month. Raising tensions with Russia over Ukraine will also have drastic consequences for Egypts food security. Ukraine and Russia are both major food exporters to Egypt, and the spike in grain prices in 2010-2011 played a major role in raising public frustration that culminated in the Arab Spring. Cairo will not jeopardize its fragile food situation further by sanctioning Russia. Moreover, increasing military and energy ties between Egypt and Russia since 2014 have also helped cement positive relations between the two countries. The degradation of the U.S.-Turkish relationship over the last decade has also become increasingly obvious. President Recep Erdogan has faced U.S. criticism over his domestic policies, while many in Turkey have accused the U.S. of involvement in the attempted coup that almost removed Erdogan from power in 2016. In 2018, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Turkeys aluminum and steel exports following rising tensions between the two countries. The following year, in 2019, Turkey agreed to purchase Russias S-400 air defense system, leading to Turkeys removal from the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program with the U.S, and more U.S. sanctions were imposed on Turkey in December 2020. Turkey has also increased its economic relationship with Russia through energy deals, tourism ties and trade. Russia is Turkeys largest importer, and their burgeoning economic relationship has continued to develop despite the shooting down of a Russian bomber by Turkish jets while it was flying over Syria in 2015according to Russiaas well as their opposing sides in proxy wars in Libya, Syria and the former Soviet Union countries. So far, Turkey has opposed sanctions on Russia, and has called on the West to avoid isolating Russia and, instead, look at focusing on dialogue as the way forward in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Clearly, Russias strained relations with major U.S. allies in the region, notably Turkey and Saudi Arabia, have not prevented the Kremlin from leveraging its power in the Middle East to prevent greater regional blowback for its invasion of Ukraine. The United States dismissal of Egypts Mubarak in 2011, alongside the Biden administrations current rapprochement with Iran, has again underlined the bipolar nature of U.S. foreign policy in an already unstable region. In comparison, Russias support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war has shown the Kremlin is willing to consistently back its allies even when they themselves are under intense pressure. The belief that the U.S. cannot offer its traditional Middle Eastern allies meaningful support means their allies are naturally wary of upsetting Russia, which, thanks to its more coherent strategy in the Middle East in recent years, has greatly increased its regional influence. With nothing new to offer them, the Biden administration risks seeing American allies continue to drift away in the region. This article was produced by Globetrotter. John P. Ruehl is an Australian-American journalist living in Washington, D.C. He is a contributing editor to Strategic Policy and a contributor to several other foreign affairs publications. He is currently finishing a book on Russia to be published in 2022. 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